bent-el-maghrib:

Morocco/Essaouira by Mait Jüriado on Flickr.

schisms:

In the village of Chinguetti, hidden amongst the encroaching dunes of the Sahara Desert in Mauritania, the inhabitants are the guardians of centuries-old manuscripts, amongst the oldest in Islam.

These “desert librarians” are struggling to save this treasure from wind and sand as remnants from the time when Chinguetti was a flourishing city along the caravan route, a cultural lighthouse for poets and scholars alike.