Timbuktu, often used to signify the foreign and unknown, lost some of its mystery this past week. No longer is it a place of children’s tales — it is now another victim of sectarian violence.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, the town served as a trading depot for all of northern Africa and the Mediterranean. But in this city, located in what is now central Mali, riches were not gauged by gold or spices. Instead, books measured prosperity and the town became a depository of texts on history, science and Islamic law.
But in recent years, the knowledge that resides there has been consistently and ruthlessly destroyed. In April 2012, a rebel group called Ansar Dine took over Timbuktu and imposed a rigid Islamic rule. Not only did the group stifle all tourist activity, it also destroyed many tombs, mosques and shrines designated as United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural World Heritage sites because they did not represent their particular sect of Islam.
As French and Malian troops pushed Ansar Dine out of the town, the retreating rebels torched the Ahmed Baba Institute as a parting gift. The institute houses 30,000 priceless manuscripts and texts dating back to the 13th century. The extent of the damage is currently unknown, but the loss of even one manuscript would be an irrevocable hole in the world’s history.
The news reports chronicling the havoc in Timbuktu consistently mentioned UNESCO “urging” the rebels to leave their World Heritage sites in peace. However, while the United Nations branch can help protect sites with funding, it has no way to physically protect them. UNESCO can only sit on the sidelines and “urge” violent and radical people to stop doing as they please. These suggestions mean nothing to a group who reportedly said to the New York Times, “We are subject to religion and not to international opinion.”
If UNESCO wants to save its sites, they’re going to need a way to secure them. Whether its seek the aid of individual nations or use UN peacekeepers, there needs to be something more than stern words between the world’s cultural treasures and those intent on destruction.
Timbuktu’s manuscripts will not be the last victims of zealotry. Similar occurrences dot our world’s history. The crusades of Catholicism in the Middle Ages devastated countless mosques and other Islamic holy places. When newly communist China experienced the Cultural Revolution, historical artifacts and nearly all religious items were annihilated. More recently, the Taliban blew up the Buddhas of Bamiyan, in central Afghanistan, in 2001.
Protecting the icons and history of the world not only preserves what is ancient, but also creates a better tomorrow. If all of Timbuktu’s libraries had been destroyed, much of the history of Africa (an already sparsely-known history), as well as many ancient Islamic teachings, would have been lost. Without understanding the roots of Islam and Africa, we cannot understand them in the modern world. When these roots are destroyed, the religion and continent are left to be blown by whatever wind of contemporary politics is strongest. They can be redefined at will.
UNESCO needs to expand their idea of “protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage” if they are to truly save the icons of the world. Armed with only harsh words, the organization will be able to defend little.