Swahili manuscripts

Evidence

"The damp, humid conditions along the coast have meant that... few old manuscripts have survived – the earliest we have are from the late seventeenth century."

Remarks

Coastal East African manuscripts face severe preservation issues due to humid conditions, with surviving paper documents only dating back to the late 17th century (p. 334). The collection at the University of Dar es Salaam (Kiswahili Research) contains approximately 4,000 items but is 'badly in need of conservation' (p. 335). Manuscripts are typically written in the Arabic script, known locally as Kiarabu (p. 340).