Malians Looking for Africans save 700,000 ancient manuscripts

The Malian government and the Timbuktu Foundation are looking for Africans and Africans in the Diaspora to help save about 700,000 manuscripts and books from the ancient university of Sankore, and Timbuktu, Mali. According to the Timbuktu Foundation www.timbuktufoundation.org the people of Mali are also going to rebuild and repair the actual buildings and structures of the ancient universities at Timbuktu, Genne and Gao.

African-Americans and other experts in the field of preservation, history, culture and translation are needed for this important endeavor.

The Malians and other West Africans are determined to write the history of West Africa from an African perspective and the translation of books with ancient African knowledge in the sciences, mathematics, letters, poetry, physics, medicinie and other important disciplines will help
elevate Africa and Blacks worldwide.

The University of Timbuktu was one of the most important universities during the Middle Ages and it followed a very ancient system of African education called the "age grade" system, where African communities were educated through a system of age levels till old age. This system included the very sophisticated system of trade guilds and secret societies where subjects like astronomy, metalurgy, crafts, playing musical instruments, learning to translate on "talking drums," and "talking harps," writing, reciting and telling history, leadership, healing and traditional medicine, civics and a number of important trades and skills were taught.

According to African sources, some of the manuscripts are in a very fragile condition and the help of experts is needed to help save and preserve them. Many of these manuscripts are still kept in the university's buildings, while others are being kept by African collectors. The sad outcome from this situation is that Africans are being exploited and coaxed to sell their heritage for a few dollars to foreign collectors who remove these fantastic treasures from the African continent. This tragic situation is very dangerous for the future of Africans in Africa and worldwide due to the great amount of scientifiç, medical, cultural and economical knowledge that these books contain.

Apart from the period of 800 A.D. to 1600 A.D., when thee books were written, the history of West Africa and its connection to ancient Mexico's Olmec (Mende-Shi) civilization covers a period in African history that extends over ten thousand years, when much of the Sahara was wet, and great civilizations and cultures existed in West Africa and the Sahara.