Africa
Deep in the Sahara desert, in the former trading hub of Chinguetti, lie libraries that hold literary treasures from centuries ago.
This Mauritanian city, once a stop along the trans-Saharan trade route, boasts 13 libraries and some 6,000 manuscripts. Their teachings range from Islamic law to poetry to mathematics.
Preserving the documents, some of which date back to the 12th century, is no small feat.
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This aerial view shows the desert surrounding old city in Chinguetti, Mauritania.
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Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
A man walks toward the mosque in Chinguetti on Friday. In 1996, UNESCO designated the city a World Heritage site.
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Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
Abdullah Habbot, 45, holds an ancient manuscript in the library founded by his family over 200 years ago.
Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
Approximately 1,400 other privately owned manuscripts are preserved in Habbot’s library.
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Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
Habbot stands next to manuscripts on a display window at his library.
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Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
Habbot’s library is among 13 remaining historic libraries in Chinguetti.
Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
The Sahara is expanding southward, endangering the libraries in this city that was once a vibrant trading and religious center.
Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
Chinguetti used to have about 30 such libraries, all filled with writings from around the world. Now 13 remain, and just five are open to the public, according to Agence France-Presse. Their treasures were collected over hundreds of years from pilgrimages to Mecca and other voyages. But the Sahara is expanding, and as the desert sand encroaches on the oasis city with every year, some historians worry the texts may not be protected much longer.
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Despite calls for the texts to be moved to more protected sanctuaries, Saif al Islam al Ahmed Mahmoud, one of the libraries’ overseers, told the BBC in 2020 that the manuscripts would be nothing without the libraries that hold them.
“It’s impossible to give up your house, your leg or your eye and preserve them at the same time,” he said. “This is our inheritance.”
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Saif al Islam al Ahmed Mahmoud has 700 manuscripts preserved in his family’s library.
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Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
Ahmed Salah, 40, of the Moulaye Mhamed Ould Ahmed Sherif Library poses with one of his manuscripts.
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Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
Salah holds one of the manuscripts his family has been responsible for over the past 20 years.
Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
A young student reads before heading to school in Chinguetti.
Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
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Credits
Photo editing by Olivier Laurent. Production by Reem Akkad.