The man on a mission to save Mauritania’s ‘city of libraries’ from encroaching desert sands | Mauritania

On a recent afternoon, 67-year-old Saif Islam walked into the courtyard of a library in Chinguetti, a small desert settlement in the Mauritanian Sahara.

Adorned in a flowing bubou gown Striped in two shades of blue, his steps unsteady but his presence still commanding, he was sitting on a hand-woven cushion, stroking his gray beard, his black crocodile sandals placed neatly to the side.

“These books are what give it this history, this importance,” he said, pointing to a 10th-century Quran whose pages had yellowed over time. “If it weren’t for these dusty old books, Chinguetti would be forgotten like other abandoned towns.”

Chinguetti came to prominence as a type of fortified settlement in the 13th century. ksar It served as a stopping point for caravans traveling on trans-Saharan trade routes. It later became a meeting place for Maghreb pilgrims heading to Mecca, and over time it became a center of Islamic and scientific knowledge, variously referred to as the city of libraries, the Sorbonne of the desert, and the seventh holy city of Islam. Manuscript libraries housed scientific and Qur’anic texts from the late Middle Ages.

For decades, expanding desert sands threatened to destroy this centuries-old well of knowledge. Residents left and tourist numbers dropped. Most of the current population lives in buildings outside the original ksar boundaries.

Islam, the custodian of the Al Ahmed Mahmoud Library Foundation, one of only two libraries still open to the public, is fighting to save the manuscripts and stimulate citizens’ interest in the ksar, one of the Mauritanian settlements designated a world heritage site by Unesco in 1996.

“Chinguetti is the spiritual capital of Africa,” said Islam, who was born and raised in the town and returned in 2015 when he retired from public service in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania.

Islam took out some manuscripts and other works and placed them on the ground. An air cooler sat in one corner to help against the intense Saharan sun. He said there were no visitors for weeks, sometimes months.

“The tourist season is September or sometimes December to March,” Islam said. “Previously, hundreds of tourists came every day. Now, there are only 200 per season. After Covid, tourism dropped greatly. The insecurity in Mali also affects Mauritania.”

In total there are 12 family-run red brick libraries still in operation in the town. Together they contain more than 2,000 volumes dating back to the 11th century, including Quranic manuscripts and books on astronomy, mathematics, medicine, poetry, and legal law in the Maghreb and West Africa.

Many of them were among the valuable items brought by merchants in the region. Others reportedly came from Abweir, a nearby settlement that, according to oral tradition, was founded in AD 777 and was later completely submerged under the dunes.

90% of Mauritania is considered desert or semi-desert. Desertification continues to accelerate across the Sahel. The dunes in Chinguetti are already at the level of the windows of some buildings in the town.

Locals say there were about 30 family-run libraries in the town in their memory, but that number dwindled as people left, especially during droughts in the 1960s and 1970s. The lack of tourists means little in terms of finances for the few who remain. They said Unesco recognition did not mean sustainable financial support and that funding promises from public and private organizations had not been fulfilled.

In recent years, Madrid-based nonprofit Terrachidia has helped restore many libraries, working with Mauritania’s cultural authorities and the Spanish government’s development agency.

The work was carried out using local builders and materials using traditional construction techniques to preserve the town’s centuries-old aesthetic while preserving valuable manuscripts. A cultural heritage project in 2024 brought schoolchildren to the ksar for games, lessons and scavenger hunts.

“It was amazing,” said Mamen Moreno, a Spanish landscape architect who visited the site and co-founded Terrachidia. “Some kids had always lived in Chinguetti but had never been there before.”

The ultimate goal, he said, is not just conservation, but also attracting more resources to generate activity and perhaps even bring people back. “The instability of the buildings… has led to overcrowding in the new quarters and the ksar remains lifeless,” he said. “Cities, like houses, are protected as long as they are lived in.”

Islam accepted. He said that he wanted his citizens to participate in the race to save the ancient heritage from sinking. “Unfortunately, I see that the Europeans are more interested in Chinguetti than the Arabs and even the Mauritanian officials. [but] “Chinguetti is in trouble,” he said. “He needs everyone.”