Thread by @incunabula

This extract barely scratches the surface of the misinformation, vested interests, political maneuvering, and even outright duplicity surrounding the claimed looting of the libraries of Timbuktu. The real story of what happened has not yet been written.
dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-0…

I have some first-hand knowledge about this. When reading about the Timbuktu libraries, bear in mind three things:

1. The news in 2013 was almost pure catnip to NGOs and cultural charities, instantly confirmed the world-view....1/2

of right-leaning ones (ISIS are culture-destroying Islamofascists) AND left leaning ones (Africa is the repository of ancient wisdom). You could hardly, even in theory, conjure up a set of circumstances more likely to engage the interests of NGOs & philanthropic foundations. 2/2

2. Contrary to the impression created in most news reports, only a tiny fraction of the manuscripts in these libraries are particularly early, most are 18th to early 20th century, and most of them are standard texts and Qur'ans.

3. The families who control these manuscript are not necessarily all selfless guardians of ancient desert wisdom. Many - including most of the owners of the largest libraries - are wealthy and politically well-connected Malian elite "aristocracy".... 1/2

..... for whom the western reaction to the 2013 reports of the “destruction of Timbuktu libraries” represented an unprecedented, once-in-a-lifetime monetization opportunity. 2/2

None of this is to deny that some manuscripts were destroyed, nor to deny the some Western organizations have done wonderful work in Timbuktu, especially the @visitHMML digitization efforts under the guidance of the extraordinary @ColumbaStewart.
hmml.org/about/father-c…

But there really is a vast gulf between what one learns about the Timbuktu libraries from press reports (based as they almost always are on NGO or publisher's press-releases), and what actually happened in 2013, and has happened in Timbuktu since then.

For an idea of what I mean by "monetization opportunities" look at Swann's 2015 sale of an ordinary 18th cent. West African qur'an for $50 000. The normal value of a ms like this is $500, so the Timbuktu provenance accounted for literally 99% of the price.
swanngalleries.com/3dcat/2408/fil…

To limit this to what I know from direct knowledge not hearsay, I should have said "some of the owners" in the tweet above, not "most of the owners"