The Meanings of Timbuktu

Abstract

Former South African president Thabo Mbeki took a proactive stand in recognizingthe significance and importance of Timbuktu’s rich AfricanMuslim scholarly legacy after he visited the city during his official visit toMali in November 2001. As a consequence of this trip, he initiated the SouthAfrica-Mali Timbuktu project, which was subsequently declared a special“South African President” project. Apart from deepening the relationsbetween these two nation-states, one extremely important outcome was theSouth African Department of Arts and Culture-supported conference held inCape Town in August 2005. The book under review, which consists of thepapers presented, was produced by Shamil Jeppie (advisor to SouthAfrica’s inter-ministerial committee, which is also responsible for this specialproject, and a historian based at the University of Cape Town) andSouleymane Bachir Diagne (professor of philosophy, Northwestern University[Illinois]).This invaluable text makes African scholarship proud and has injectednew life into Timbuktu and its manuscript tradition. The mere fact that it wasaesthetically produced and accompanied by appropriate eye-catching illustrationsis evidence that the editors took pride in compiling and editing materialthat would, upon first glance, attract the public eye. That said, the book itself is divided into five distinct sections consisting of twenty-four chapters,including the editors’ two introductory chapters ...