A Tuareg knight receives visitors with a "hiding smile"
Expo Cultures.. 700 thousand manuscripts documenting Mali's history
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The Mali pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai reviews the history of the African country, its heritage of diversity of civilizations, and its popular tale passed down from one generation to another, through 700,000 manuscripts dealing with various scientific and life topics.
In the front of the pavilion is a young man, Muhammad Akhamid, dressed in the local dress of the Tuareg tribe from which he hails.
Akhamid attracts the attention of visitors to the pavilion, in the area of opportunities, through his striking appearance, with a smile obscured by the veil that accompanies all the men in the tribe during their travels to any part of the world.
Akhamid spoke to Emirates Today, stressing that he was very proud of his visit to Dubai for the first time.
He said: "I seek to represent the state of Mali in an honorable manner and introduce the world to the culture of my country, although I participated in many other events outside Mali, but there is no doubt that (Expo Dubai) remains an exceptional event different from any other event I participated in before."
The young man, who is committed to wearing the veil and tying it tightly on his face permanently, explained that Mali possesses many great potentials at the level of cultural tourism, “as there are many archaeological sites that have no equal in the world, and which are listed among the sites of global human heritage on the The list of UNESCO, Mali is also a unique tourist destination, because of its cultural diversity, the generosity and friendliness of its people, as well as the remnants of successive historical civilizations and ancient cities.”
He continued, "Tourists can enjoy visiting mosques made entirely of mud, villages with pinkish-gray stone, and enjoy many diverse tourist activities."
He added, "The Mali Pavilion includes another cultural treasure, which is the Timbuktu manuscripts, which were shown via a video clip, which contributes to giving visitors the opportunity to discover part of the diverse Malian heritage."
He indicated that the number of "Timbuktu Manuscripts" reaches 700,000, most of which are in Arabic, in addition to local languages written in Arabic letters. They are located in the city of Timbuktu, and their topics revolve around art, medicine, philosophy and science.
He added: “The manuscripts include a copy of the Holy Qur’an, dating back to the 16th century, and its luminous lines are written in pure gold, which is a very rare copy. The rotation of the earth around the sun, along with manuscripts dealing with mathematics, history, medicine and philosophy.
Akhamid pointed out that "this scientific heritage and the vast archive of texts dealt with various religious, applied, cultural and natural knowledge, and presented a picture of the nature of the city of Timbuktu and the flourishing of the scientific movement in it. In the Timbuktu families, most of them were in poor condition, and most of the manuscripts are still unexamined and not indexed.
The young man explained that Mali includes many cities that are among the main destinations for tourism, such as Timbuktu, Bandiagara, Sego, Dagon, Sangha, Mopti, Bamako and Nyono, pointing out that the beauty of Mali is not limited to desert areas, but in the south there are many green plains and refreshing weather, Among the heights covered with plants, there are two rivers that give wonderful beauty to its land, in harmony with them, waterfalls descending from a great height, dense forests, and natural reserves, calling on visitors to the exhibition to visit his country and discover its promising opportunities in various fields.
He said that participating in a major event such as "Expo 2020", in addition to traveling to the Emirates, is one of the things he will never forget.
• Mosques built entirely of mud, and villages of gray-pink stone.