The handwritten Qurans
With Umar Tall's sandals.
GuillaumeG — CC BY-SA 4.0 · GuillaumeG — CC BY-SA 4.0 · GuillaumeG — CC BY-SA 4.0 · GuillaumeG — CC BY-SA 4.0 · GuillaumeG — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Museum of Black Civilisations is a modern national museum in Dakar that opened on 6 December 2018. It was created, in its director's words, to highlight Africa's contribution to the world's cultural and scientific heritage. It tells a long story starting with human origins and moving through industries, beliefs and arts up to the modern era. It is directed by Hamady Bocoum, an archaeologist and researcher at Cheikh Anta Diop University. A 2018 report on the return of African cultural heritage listed it among the ultramodern museums able to receive objects from the continent. The director points out that ironworking was known in Africa some 2,500 years before Christ, an idea that returns through the display. The visit usually starts with skulls of early humans, including one from Senegal. Then come bronze heads of a king of Benin and a horse's eye-guard. Of special interest to Arabic readers are handwritten Qurans from West Africa, together with a leather case for carrying a Quran and a pair of sandals credited to El Hadj Umar Tall. The Théodore Monod African Art Museum is about 2 km away in a straight line. The museum is large, so allow at least an hour. Labels are mostly in French, with some English. Temporary exhibitions change from time to time, so ask what is on. It may close on Mondays, so check before going.
With Umar Tall's sandals.
Works in bronze.
Skulls from deep time.
Central Dakar, Senegal
Usually one to two hours, depending on your interest in the temporary shows.
Yes, handwritten Qurans in Arabic script and belongings of West African Muslim scholars.
