The hidden treasures of Timbuktu - Elizabeth Cox

Dig into the ancient manuscripts, scrolls, and books of Timbuktu— and find out why they’ve been hidden for centuries.

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On the edge of the vast Sahara desert, citizens snuck out of the city of Timbuktu and took to the wilderness. They buried chests in the desert sand, hid them in caves, and sealed them in secret rooms. Inside these chests was a treasure more valuable than gold: the city’s ancient books. Why were they hiding these priceless manuscripts? Elizabeth Cox digs into the literary tradition of Timbuktu.

Lesson by Elizabeth Cox, directed by AIM Creative Studios.

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[ofdragonsandbooks]

Every time i hear how much knowledge was lost due to war and ignorance towards other my heart aches

[KiddoLoLOfficial]

Books are the most exciting treasure that a person can find.

[boogeymann]

It's a shame what conquest and war does to important artifacts

[mushfiqurrahman]

The history of Africa, buried under sands

[saumyashree]

I always wanted to go to Timbuktu.
First of all I think it has the best name of anywhere in the world

[abthedragon]

This is something that always saddens me as a history major; to learn about all these ancient and medieval centers of knowledge like Timbuktu, Alexandria, Bagdad and Nineveh and watch their knowledge be lost (some almost forever). It just leaves me wondering how much more we could know if more of these texts survive.

I seriously hope the chronicles of Timbuktu survive and are properly translated, so much could be learned form them.

[smallspace]

This hurts .I hope these heroes could keep their history

[MuhammadRafy]

Someone should pdf them. Once on the internet, they're safe forever.

[jacobandrews]

I'm copying a comment here that I agree with wholeheartedly: Burning books should be classified as a war crime and should be punished severely.

[slowcavalry]

Strange how certain people will call West Africans savages when the Malian empire's knowledge and wealth rivaled that of Europe. Mansa Must literally destabilized the Egyptian economy by stepping foot in Egypt, European scholars studied in Timbuktu, and the gold from the West ended up being traded across the world.

[tekuaniaakab]

Dear Humanity,
Please stop burning books. They’re treasures and should be protected. Not be used as pyre.
Best wishes.

[eyuin]

Ahmad Baba al-Timbukti (1556 - 1627) was also the greatest and most influential poet from the region.

[syllavilla]

Wow that's sad. Hopefully all the books can be recovered and be put in a safe place

[varimas]

So the phrase "All the way to Timbaktu" came from here.

[QuestionEverythingButWHY]

“Never discourage anyone...who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.”
― Plato

[F-bc]

If peace was all we knew then our advancements would be monumental in all aspects.

[notesmaker]

The animation...
The story...
The art style...
My day...

... has been made better.

[boubacarsissoko]

So beautiful 🤩 to see this story in English about my country 🥰 and I’ve seen lot of people know about Mali 🇲🇱 also know the wealthiest man of all the time came from Mali 🇲🇱.
Sadly 🥲 there is still war and insecurity in Timbuktu 😔.
TED-Ed thank you for this video🙏🏾

[Alkalus]

Timbuktu books: *exist*
Songhai Empire, Moroccans, and French: _Hippity hoppity, these manuscripts are now our property._

[Bro]

I can't believe how much wars have regressed humanity. And even more it still does.