As Extremists Invaded, Timbuktu Hid Artifacts of a Golden Age; New York Times, 2/3/13

Lydia Polgreen, New York Times; As Extremists Invaded, Timbuktu Hid Artifacts of a Golden Age: "“This is the record of the golden ages of the Malian empire,” Ms. Bokova said. “If you let this disappear, it would be a crime against all of humanity.” The cultural artifacts in Timbuktu — whose population of around 50,000 has shrunk with the latest troubles — have faced many dangers over the centuries. Harsh climate, termites and the ravages of time have taken a toll, along with repeated invasions — by the Songhai emperors, nomadic bandits, Moroccan princes and France. Yet many of the antiquities have endured. “It is a miracle that these things have survived so long,” Mr. Essayouti said... It turned out the worries were not unwarranted. In the chaotic final days of the Islamist occupation, all that changed. A group of militants stormed the library as they were fleeing and set fire to whatever they could find. Fortunately, they got their hands on only a tiny portion of the library’s collection. “They managed to find less than 5 percent,” he said. “Thank God they were not able to find anything else.”"