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Primary sourceDocumentNovember 2007 (photograph); manuscript by Ibn Yunus, c. 950-1009

Timbuktu Astronomy Manuscript (Ahmed Baba Institute 2163)

Ibn Yunus · November 2007 (photograph); manuscript by Ibn Yunus, c. 950-1009

A photograph of a Timbuktu manuscript of astronomy tables, showing the scholarly culture of the region linked to Mansa Musa's empire.

This manuscript reflects the scholarly culture of Timbuktu, a city that flourished under Mansa Musa's empire.

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Two loose, torn pages of an aged handwritten Arabic manuscript laid side by side on a grey surface. Both pages have brown ink lines forming ruled tables with columns of Arabic script in black and red ink. The left page is more damaged with a large number of table cells; the right page has a bold tabular layout with stains and worn edges.
Timbuktu manuscript 2163, Ahmed Baba Institute, astronomy tables by Ibn Yunus. Photograph, November 2007.

About this source

What it is

This is a photograph, taken in November 2007, of manuscript 2163 held at the Ahmed Baba Institute in Timbuktu. The manuscript contains astronomy tables written by the Arab Egyptian astronomer Ibn Yunus, who lived centuries before Mansa Musa.

Why it matters

Though the manuscript itself predates Musa, it represents the kind of scholarly manuscripts collected and studied in Timbuktu, a city that flourished as a center of learning partly thanks to the wealth and patronage associated with Musa's empire.

Look closer

  • What do the damaged, torn pages tell you about how manuscripts like this survived over time?
  • Why would a city like Timbuktu collect scientific works written by an author from Egypt?
  • What does this manuscript suggest about the kinds of knowledge valued in Mali's intellectual centers?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Mansa Musa on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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