Does anybody know what happened to this 19th century somali manuscripts

[Midas]

So I saw this on a Facebook account I follow this is a somali language manuscript that this Italian explorer guy called vitorrio boteggo collected. Does anybody know what's inside this manuscript or what happened to it ? @NidarNidar @Idilinaa @Emir of Zayla

 

[NidarNidar]

So I saw this on a Facebook account I follow this is a somali language manuscript that this Italian explorer guy called vitorrio boteggo collected. Does anybody know what's inside this manuscript or what happened to it ? @NidarNidar @Idilinaa @Emir of Zayla

View attachment 361342

No idea bud, looks to be owned by the Bottego family and probably the Vatican at this stage xD.

 

[makadoor]

So I saw this on a Facebook account I follow this is a somali language manuscript that this Italian explorer guy called vitorrio boteggo collected. Does anybody know what's inside this manuscript or what happened to it ? @NidarNidar @Idilinaa @Emir of Zayla

View attachment 361342

Somalis written heritage is small compared to our neighbors, yet almost nothing has been saved, It's truly sad ..

 

[Idilinaa]

This actually just supports what i've been saying that Somalis were not an oral society, they had deep written literary culture and communicated through written letters.

This may also show that writing was used to document, communicate, and preserve Somali language, law (Xeer), poetry, trade, and religious thought.

It also gives material proof to what was told this one European explorer in the early 1800s by a Swahili

''"He stated that the Southern Somali. They have many books, which are written with the Arabic character, but in a different language, and that there are learned men among the Somali, who make books.".''

As for the content of the book i have no idea but it might contain some historical knowledge or administrative/economic insights or religious knowledge since Hornaristocrat shared an example of private manuscripts in the possession from Grandson of Bardheere sheikh

Somalis written heritage is small compared to our neighbors, yet almost nothing has been saved, It's truly sad ..

No doubt a lot have been lost through centuries of upheavals and displacement but a lot potentially remain to be collected . Much of Somalia's literary heritage may now be scattered across European( & other foreign archives) and private collections

 

[Midas]

View attachment 361402

This actually just supports what i've been saying that Somalis were not an oral society, they had deep written literary culture and communicated through written letters.

This may also show that writing was used to document, communicate, and preserve Somali language, law (Xeer), poetry, trade, and religious thought.

It also gives material proof to what was told this one European explorer in the early 1800s by a Swahili

''"He stated that the Southern Somali. They have many books, which are written with the Arabic character, but in a different language, and that there are learned men among the Somali, who make books.".''

View attachment 361403


As for the content of the book i have no idea but it might contain some historical knowledge or administrative/economic insights or religious knowledge since Hornaristocrat shared an example of private manuscripts in the possession from Grandson of Bardheere sheikh
View attachment 361406



No doubt a lot have been lost through centuries of upheavals and displacement but a lot potentially remain to be collected . Much of Somalia's literary heritage may now be scattered across European( & other foreign archives) and private collections

I susoect its more in private collections in somali hands with a few in arab and European hands. There really wasn't any period where a European could just go into somalia and explore and try to collect stuff. With few exceptions like this explorer. Even when the they colonized somalia the British and Italians restricted who could come into somalia. Since they couldn't guarantee the safety of any random explorer.

Although I wonder how much stuff has survived. I could see people mistaking somali manuscripts for hard to read arabic writing.

 

[Idilinaa]

I susoect its more in private collections in somali hands with a few in arab and European hands. There really wasn't any period where a European could just go into somalia and explore and try to collect stuff. With few exceptions like this explorer. Even when the they colonized somalia the British and Italians restricted who could come into somalia. Since they couldn't guarantee the safety of any random explorer.

Although I wonder how much stuff has survived. I could see people mistaking somali manuscripts for hard to read arabic writing.

European xplorers where even restricted by Somalis and restricted in access to things.

We could possible find some through small copies made or the donations after the colonial period to archives & libraries and those left behind in the outward migration by Somalis themselves throughout history.

But yeah majority will probably comes from private collection in Somali hands.

 

[Midas]

European xplorers where even restricted by Somalis and restricted in access to things.

We could possible find some through small copies made or the donations after the colonial period to archives & libraries and those left behind in the outward migration by Somalis themselves throughout history.

But yeah majority will probably comes from private collection in Somali hands.

Part of why they have such a good understanding of Ethiopian manuscript culture is that manuscript production was based around moansetries. So it was easy to locate most manuscripts since they would be in one of the monasteries. Whereas with us most manuscript are in the hands of scholarly famlies spread all over the country. Who would be loathed to give outsider acess especially ajnabi