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Destruction Of Ancient Timbuktu Shrines A ‘War Crime’ ICC Prosecutor Says

2 July, 2012

MessageToEagle.com - The centuries-old mausoleums of saints and at least seven tombs in a mythical city of Timbuktu known as the "City of 333 Saints" have been totally destroyed by armed islamists of Al-Qaida-linked Ansar Dine group.

It took place in front of shocked locals and only days after UNESCO placed the historical sites on its list of heritage places.

The 11th-century city, an intellectual and spiritual city of Timbuktu, throughout Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries is apparently in danger.

The group also threatened to destroy all of the 16 main mausoleum sites in the city of Timbuktu, one of which dates back to 1327.

Timbuktu in Mali, which dates as far back as the fifth century, was buried for centuries under the sands and now it could say much about the glorious past the fabled city and the whole region.

The city features a rich cultural and religious heritage and old precious manuscripts discovered in Timbuktu could get an opportunity to reveal many ancient secrets, if, of course, they aren't already lost or stolen.

These ancient texts were accumulated from generation to generation, and represents a vast knowledge of the 14th and 15th centuries: court works, texts on the harms of tobacco, descriptions of medicines and remedies; manuscripts on law, language, religion, and mathematics, with a variety of comments in the margins from the scientists of Cordoba, Baghdad or Djenne.


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Photo Credit: www.dragoman.com/


On shelves protected by metal fences are texts of fatwas on the treatment of Jews and Christians in Timbuktu, on the sale of slaves and their release, the price of salt, gold and feathers, which shows the active commercial life. In addition, there are correspondences of kings on both sides of the desert, decorated by gilded motifs.

These texts are not homogeneous. This is because they are mostly in Arabic, while others were written in local languages, drawing on the Moroccan writing. But thanks to the translators, an African fresco rises again to the surface of history and can influence future generations.


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Photo Credit: www.dragoman.com/


Nearly 100,000 ancient manuscripts are stored in family homes and private libraries, looked after by religious scholars. And this historic legacy should be spared and protected for the sake of future generations.

Fatou Bensouda, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), said that the attack is a “war crime”. the AFP news agency reported. Also UNESCO has strongly condemned the acts of vandalism and urged for an immediate halt.


Click on image to enlarge

Photo Credit: www.dragoman.com/


“There is no justification for such wanton destruction and I call on all parties engaged in the conflict to stop these terrible and irreversible acts,” UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova.

Mali's difficult political situation, can have disastrous consequences for ancient religious and cultural legacy of the country, which once prospered both intellectually, commercially, and trade wise.

The sites in danger of being totally destroyed, date from Timbuktu’s golden age in the 16th century. Once, it was home to priests, jurists, scribes and other intellectuals.



Click on image to enlarge

Photo Credit: www.dragoman.com/


Timbuktu has its own architectural style that distinguishes and unifies the city. It unifies the modern with the older buildings. Mosques have minarets filled with pieces of wood used on occasions to scale them for restoration. Their walls are covered with a thick layer of a product that protects them from the rain. There is a wall surrounding the mosque and its esplanade.

Simplicity marks mosque architecture, in which there are no decorative motifs and where it is dark for lack of openings.

Their doors are of local African wood all this is beautifully integrated into the desert scenery.

The attacks and destruction of Timbuktu's mausoleums were reminiscent of the Taliban blowing up the giant Buddhas of the Bamiyan valley in Afghanistan -- an ancient Buddhist shrine on the Silk Road and a world heritage site -- in 2001 after branding them un-Islamic.


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See also:
Mysterious Ancient Signs In The City Of David Remain Unexplained

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