Ancient Manuscripts May Be Among Casualties of Malian Islamist Conflict

Jan 30, 2013

Timbuktu has been taken back over by the French, but the Islamists destroyed a lot of things in that city, most importantly the manuscripts.

The city of Timbuktu has suffered extensive damage at the hands of Islamic rebels, including destruction of ancient manuscripts and other artifacts. We get background from special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro, who traveled there 10 years ago, and Jeffrey Brown talks to Mary Jane Deeb of the Library of Congress.

All may not have been destroyed, but what has happened is very sad! What the city had was amazing.

the library contained hundreds of thousands of pages, some of which had gold illumination, astrological charts and sophisticated mathematical formulas. The manuscripts cover subjects including science, astrology, medicine, theology, grammar and geography, according to the AP.