New Guide Documents Amazigh Manuscripts

Moroccan historian Omar Afa is meticulously cataloging centuries of Amazigh manuscripts written in Arabic script in the Souss region. His ongoing project, "The Card Catalog Guide to Amazigh Manuscripts and Documents: Sources Written in Arabic Script in the Souss Region," seeks to preserve the rich memory of science, literature, and writing in Morocco.

The first volume of the guide was published over a decade ago, followed by a second volume. Afa is currently working on a third, covering knowledge ranging from astronomy and medicine to language, literature, and jurisprudence, as well as history, Sufism, and popular culture. He was motivated to continue by the positive reception of the first volume and the continuous accumulation of new materials.

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We were motivated to complete this second volume of the card catalog guide by the interest shown in the first volume by researchers, students, and the general public, as well as by the collection of Amazigh manuscripts and documents we gathered after completing the first volume in 2015, and because we continue the process of searching for and collecting this heritage without stopping.

Afa emphasizes the urgent need to "rescue this precious Amazigh heritage" by collecting, cataloging, and studying scattered resources. He believes these documents hold a cultural, historical, and civilizational memory that connects present generations to a promising future. Despite hundreds of pages detailing the manuscripts, Afa notes that the Souss region's documentary and manuscript resources are still largely unexplored, with vast collections remaining in both public and private hands.

The project encompasses the Amazigh written heritage in the Souss, Anti-Atlas, and Sahara regions over centuries. Afa hopes it will inspire similar cataloging efforts across Morocco and the wider Maghreb region, including Egypt's Siwa Oasis. He stresses that activating this heritage is crucial for renewing historical writing, reclaiming memory, reinforcing identity, and strengthening citizenship.

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The necessity of rescuing this heritage by working on its collection, cataloging, study, and analysis is urgently needed to reveal the civilizational and historical memory it holds, connecting the present of our generations to a promising future. The need for this resource is intensified to activate it in renewing historical writing, reclaiming memory, consolidating identity, and strengthening the spirit of citizenship.