Quote:
Originally Posted by Shark Bait
The media have been covering the situation in Mali over the past few weeks. The French led military forces have pushed the rebels out of the heavily populated areas but not before they burnt a large number of very old texts.
It was a sorry sight to see the pile of smouldering texts from Timbuktu in the news footage. Groups which hold extreme ideologies seem determined to destroy history. Very sad.
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Hi Stu,
I have been following that as well.
Though it was heartening to see Mali and French troops cheered as they liberated the city -
http://media.smh.com.au/national/sel...u-3991107.html
it was sad to learn that thousands of manuscripts had been lost when the previous
occupiers torched a library -
http://www.smh.com.au/world/frenchle...129-2dhls.html
This was made all the more poignant after only having seen the documentary this
thread is about a few weeks earlier. The desert environment and the dedication of
many generations had helped preserve these texts for hundreds of years.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Marc Bastian, Sydney Morning Herald, AFP
However, fears soared for the city's cultural heritage when a building housing tens of thousands of manuscripts from the ancient Muslim world and Greece was set aflame.
Mayor Ousmane confirmed the fire at the Ahmed Baba Centre for Documentation and Research, which housed between 60,000 and 100,000 manuscripts, according to Mali's culture ministry.
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