Sahara desert sands swallow ancient town and its trove of medieval manuscripts
From his roof, Sidi Mohamed Lemine Sidiya scans the medieval town of Oualata, a treasure that is disappearing under the sands of the Sahara desert.
'It's a magnificent, extraordinary town,' said Sidiya, who is battling to preserve the place known as the 'Shore of Eternity'.
Oualata is one of a Unesco-listed quartet of ancient, fortified towns, or ksour, which in their heyday were trading and religious centres and now hold jewels dating back to the Middle Ages.
Doors crafted from acacia wood and adorned with traditional motifs painted by local women still dot the town.
Oualata's imam and caretaker of its library of medieval manuscripts, Mohamed Ben Baty, enters his traditionally decorated home in the Mauritanian town. Photo: AFP
Centuries-old manuscripts, a rich source of cultural and literary heritage handed down through the generations, are also held in family libraries.
But the town in the southeast of Mauritania near the border with Mali in northwest Africa is vulnerable to the ravages of the Sahara's extreme conditions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
14 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Sudan's PM dissolves caretaker government, state news reports
Sudan's new Prime Minister Kamil Idris has dissolved the country's caretaker government, state news agency SUNA reported late on Sunday. SUNA did not specify when a new government, the first since war broke out between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), would be announced. Idris was appointed by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan's head of state. The RSF has said since earlier this year that it would form its own parallel government with allied parties. Idris took the oath of office on Saturday as the country's first prime minister since a military-led coup in 2021. In a speech on Sunday, he vowed to remain at equal distance from all political parties and to prioritise stability, security, and reconstruction in Sudan. Meanwhile, three drone strikes hit key paramilitary positions in western Sudan, witnesses said on Sunday, as fighting between the army and RSF escalated.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
How Ghana is losing its coastline and parts of its slave trade history to climate change
The salty wind blows across the ruins of Ghana's Fort Prinzenstein, where thick walls once held thousands of enslaved Africans before their journey across the Atlantic. Now only a shell remains – a crumbling monument teetering at the edge of the sea. Advertisement For centuries, Ghana's coastline has borne the brunt of history. Today it is being consumed by nature and neglect as climate change, rising sea levels and unchecked human activity eat away at the 550-kilometre (340-mile) shore. Villages are vanishing, and with them, centuries-old heritage. The modern economy is also at risk. A few metres away from the fort, Ernestina Gavor cleans a glass behind a bar. 'I'm hoping it survives a few more years,' she says, noting that the restaurant relies on tourists to keep afloat. Fort Prinzenstein, once a Danish slave fort and now a Unesco World Heritage site, is among the most threatened sites on Ghana's coast. The coastline used to be about 7km away from Ghana's Fort Prinzenstein. Photo: AFP James Ocloo Akorli, its caretaker for 24 years, has watched the Gulf of Guinea claw away at the structure – and his memories.
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Forget tourist fads. Let's better preserve, promote Hong Kong heritage
I have been trying to discover Hong Kong's 'hidden gems', as seen through the eyes of a budget traveller. Out of curiosity, I downloaded and explored mobile apps such as Meituan and RedNote (also known as Xiaohongshu ), to see what a local might be missing out on. Some of the recommended spots seem debatable, including the alleyways between Tai Wai's village houses that have been dubbed 'Little Kyoto', an ordinary street sign on the corner of New Praya in Kennedy Town and the Hong Kong Cemetery in Happy Valley . Some of the new hotspots are rediscovered backdrops for Hong Kong film scenes while others don't appear to offer much substance, as far as I can discern. Regardless of their credibility, however, these faddish 'landmarks' are a validation of the government's vision that 'tourism is everywhere' in Hong Kong. The government is also launching initiatives such as the 'Hong Kong industrial brand tourism' project to highlight iconic local brands and offer factory tours. One cannot help but wonder, however, if Hong Kong is so lacking in architectural and cultural heritage that travellers have to make up their own and the government has to seek help from local brands. In particular, what are we looking for when we seek heritage? Recommendations and definitions from the Heritage Discovery Centre and the Antiquities and Monuments Office aside, I would say anything handed down from the past, a practice or tradition, whether for a country, a city, or a family, counts as heritage. Indeed, what qualifies as heritage can be highly subjective. More importantly, we preserve and revisit our heritage because of a sense of purpose, honour, pride and value.
