![]() ![]() The documents are for the most part undated and many are incomplete. 20 The manuscripts are dated by the colophones.ġ2 Between August 2011 and August 2013, with the support of the EAP, we digitised 2,009 manuscripts in the Djenné Manuscript Library, producing nearly 150,000 digital images 18.19 This information has been provided by Yelpha Deité and Garba Yaro, our two archivists.18 EAP488: Major project to digitise and preserve the manuscripts of Djenné, Mali, (.).Most were kept in metal or wooden storage boxes in no discernable order. The existence of a Tārīkh of the Empire of Macina, written in Fulfulde was noted however, this manuscript has not yet been re-located into the library and we are still hoping the owners will bring it in.ĩ The manuscripts held in private family houses varied greatly in terms of the state of their preservation. During this phase, the archivists simply noted the theme, and returned the manuscript into the storage chest without entering into further investigation. 13 Indeed, these magical texts constituted more than half of the surveyed manuscripts. This discovery tallied with the fact that Djenné has traditionally been regarded as a centre for maraboutage, an Islamic form of magic which is still practised extensively by the Djenné marabouts. Marchand, The Masons of Djenné (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2009), (.)Ĩ The survey revealed that the manuscripts contained texts on a whole variety of subjects: along with Qurans, religious texts, grammars, historical texts, correspondence and works of literature there were also esoteric and magical texts. We identified more than 4,000 manuscripts, but we were fully aware that this was only a small portion of the total number preserved in Djenné. Over the four months, we explored collections in thirteen Djenné family homes, many of which were also Quranic schools. The work was carried out by Garba Yaro and Yelpha Deité, the two library archivists who are both members of ancient Djenné families, and without whose reassuring familiarity the doors would have remained shut. Djenné is a close-knit community and people tend to be reluctant to show their manuscripts to strangers. This work involved visiting private Djenné families, and most of the work was carried out in situ in the family houses. The aim of the pilot project was to survey the manuscripts in Djenné. The project was a collaboration between Mamadou Samake of the Mission Culturelle of Djenné, a Malian government body, 12 Babou Touré, a Djenné school teacher representing the Djenné Manuscript library, and myself. 11 With its support, we began our pilot project in the autumn of 2009. 32-35.ħ The idea of digitisation first emerged when, after reading the description of the Djenné Manuscript Library on my blog, 10 a reader informed me about the Endangered Archives Programme at the British Library. 12 On Mission Culturelle, see Joy, The Politics of Heritage Management in Mali, pp.11 The academic sponsors of our initiative were Dimitri Bondarev from SOAS, now at Hamburg University, (.). ![]() When fuel rationing made daytime work impossible, we worked only during night-time hours when electricity was available. The digitisation project carried on regardless of the momentous events that were unfolding only a day’s journey further north, and the team never stopped working during this time. Fortunately Djenné lies 130 miles south of Douentza, the southernmost town occupied by the rebels during their ten-month rule, and was never touched by this destructive force.Ĥ Since 2009, with the support of the Endangered Archives Programme, the Djenné Manuscript Library has begun work to survey and create an inventory of the manuscripts of Djenné, and, an effort to digitise the collection has been underway since 2011. 7 Alongside the traditional dangers such as mould, water, insects and other environmental hazards, a dramatic new menace to manuscripts had suddenly manifested itself in the form of a wilful destruction by fundamentalists. 6 During the recent occupation of the north of Mali by militants (April 2012-January 2013), a large number of mausoleums of saints in Timbuktu were destroyed by extremists, and several thousand manuscripts from the Ahmed Baba Institute of Timbuktu were burned. 7 For more on the 2012-2013 conflict in Mali, see Alexander Thurston and Andrew Lebovich, A Handbook (.)ģ The Islam practiced in Mali traditionally promotes the veneration of saints and often encompasses elements of Sufi mysticism. ![]()
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