7. The Destruction of Timbuktu Manuscripts
During recent civil conflict in Mali, Islamist militants set fire to libraries in Timbuktu, endangering thousands of irreplaceable medieval Islamic manuscripts. These texts, which covered science, mathematics, law, and poetry, represented centuries of West African scholarly achievement.
Brave residents risked their lives to smuggle many manuscripts to safety, but countless volumes were lost forever. The attack was a devastating blow to the region’s literary and intellectual heritage, with global repercussions for historical research. Read about saving Timbuktu’s manuscripts
