Some remarks on one old Swahili manuscript

• Main Author: Zhukov, Andrei
• Other Authors: University of St. Petersburg, Faculty of Asian and African Studies
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig 2012
• Subjects: Swahili; altes Manuskript; Afrikanische Geschichte; old manuscript; African history; ddc:496; Ostafrika; Geschichte; Manuskript
• Online Access: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-91665; http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-91665; http://www.qucosa.de/fileadmin/data/qucosa/documents/9166/8_17_zhukov.pdf

As is well-known, there are presently several archives of old Swahili manuscripts: in Dar es Salaam, Halle and Hamburg, London etc. These collections and separate manuscripts are being studied from various points of view by both European and African scholars. Beside the vast collection of old Swahili manuscripts kept in SOAS, there is another collection of Swahili works at the British Library in London, which has been considerably expanded recently by acquisitions from Jan Knappert. There, one of the most interesting manuscripts which I have ever seen is kept. I am talking about the manuscripts (OR 4534) received in 1884 by a well-known expert of the Swahili language and literature: W.E. Taylor, who was a missionary in East Africa. In 1891 they have been acquired by the British Museum. It is a roll that is 200 cm long and 16-17 cm wide. Seven sheets, glued together, of a thick paper of special quality (2-3 sheets put together) which even resembles a kind of skin, it is skillfully written on in stable ink.