Hidden In The Sahara Is A Library You Won’t Believe

The vastness of the Sahara is like an inland ocean. For centuries, and even longer, plucky souls have cast themselves upon it, driven by trade, religion, opportunity, or other factors, in a bid to traverse this enormous space. And so, the desert is criss-crossed with well-trodden caravan routes, and dotted with trading posts and places of shelter.

One of those trading posts is Chinguetti. For well over a millennium, this city in Mauritania has been a waypoint for caravans and travelers crossing the Sahara. Some of these visitors settled here, swelling the population of this city in the desert. Others brought knowledge, ideas, and books, creating the network of libraries for which the city has become famous.

Today, Chinguetti’s medieval library of texts remains, a fitting testament to the endeavour and courage of the people who made these crossings. But in modern times, it is under threat.

The Rise of Chinguetti

The area around Chinguetti has been inhabited for thousands of years, thanks to a geography that is unique in this part of the world. Analysis of pre-historic rock paintings at nearby Agrour Amogjar suggests this area was once a verdant, fertile plain, with giraffes, cows and other animals. For traders crossing the Sahara in later centuries, this would have been an important place for rest and respite.

The city’s name, Chinguetti, actually means “Spring of Horses” in the Azayr language, and by 777 CE, it had become a vital staging post for traders and nomads crossing the Sahara. Over the next four centuries, Chinguetti would become a major economic center for the region, as a confederation of Berber tribes used the town as a regional trade hub.

The spread of Islam across this area of the western Sahara Desert helped characterize the region’s development. The Friday Mosque, for example, was constructed in the 13th or 14th century and is one of the prime examples of Mauritania’s late medieval architecture.

Chinguetti’s Libraries

For Muslims in the Maghreb region of northwestern Africa, making the Hajj pilgrimage east to Mecca was a long, arduous, and dangerous task. Many pilgrims simply did not make it, succumbing to the harsh climate of the Sahara as they made their way to the Arabian peninsula.

Chinguetti became a safe haven for pilgrims on this journey. Then, over time, it became more than that – it reached the status of holy city in its own right, as scholars, texts, and religious practices filtered in from across the Islamic world. Eventually, the pilgrimage to Chinguetti became a rite of passage for West African Muslims, for whom the journey to Mecca simply too difficult.

This gave rise to the medieval manuscript libraries for which the city is now so famous. Local Imams and holy figures wrote treatises and religious texts, while travellers brought copies of writing in from every corner of the Sahara and beyond. The city’s streets became alive with discourse and debate.

A Centre of Knowledge in the Desert

As well as Islamic texts, these libraries were stores of other knowledge too, of the scientific, geographic, and medical variety. Seif al-Islam, a library custodian at Chinguetti, describes the knowledge stored within these walls.

“Our ancestors wrote books and manuscripts on different subjects, like religion, astronomy, and astrology,” Seif says. “In the glory days of Chinguetti, there were more than 30 libraries here.”

Engaging with these libraries today involves a stroll down the sandy, medieval streets of the city’s old town. These avenues, like the Rue des Savants, are lined with small doorways, within which the knowledge and spirituality of hundreds of years are stored. It’s this network of culture, religion, science, and philosophy that helped Chinguetti achieve a well-deserved UNESCO World Heritage designation in 1996.

A Centuries-Old Literary History at Risk

Chinguetti was once a safe haven against the ravages of the Sahara desert that surrounded it. But  human structures can only offer temporary shelter against the forces of nature. Today, the mighty Sahara is encroaching upon the city and its medieval libraries.

The advancing sands threaten to erode the architecture that has stood proudly on this site for centuries. And, of course, they threaten the texts that are contained within.

Even without the threat of the Sahara on the fringe of the city, Chinguetti’s libraries have been dwindling for almost a century. From 1930 to 1995, al-Islam tells us, large numbers of residents left the city in search of new lives, and new opportunities, elsewhere. And many of these residents took their books with them. Today, only 12 of Chinguetti’s 30 libraries remain.

There is hope for Chinguetti, though. Contrary to how it is sometimes described, Chinguetti is not abandoned. Thousands of people still live here, and Chinguetti continues to be a national symbol for the people of Mauritania – the entire country was once known as Bilad Shinqit, or Land of Chinguetti. The city itself is sometimes referred to as the seventh holiest city in Islam.

With international protection, and with the excellent work of people like custodian Seif al-Islam, Chinguetti, and its treasure trove of literary works, can survive for many more centuries to come.