Mamadou Biaye Manuscript Collection
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Item Jankaroolu Jaarariŋo aniŋ Tankandiro: Addressing Local Health Issues and ProtectionYaffa, SaloumContains a collection of 15 ephemeral texts primarily written in Mandinka Ajami with some figures, recipes, and litanies in Arabic. They are copied from the original documents by Saloum Yaffa. The documents deal with various treatments of sexual health challenges, including problems of virility and impotence. They also deal with treatments of diabetes, asthma, HIV/AIDS, and men and women’s fertility challenges. Some of the recipes include roots of trees. There are also documents that deal with how to make someone more attractive, how to keep couples together, and recipes to make people lucky, famous, and successful in their jobs. One document deals with how to make a football team win in a competition. Another document contains a calendar with the months in Mandinka and Arabic, which shows the most important days in the Islamic calendar. One document deals with how to fight one's enemies (including decreasing their physical performance) using supernatural means.Item Jajimoo aniŋ Duwaaraŋ Kummaayariŋo: Divination and Special PrayersYaffa, SaloumThe manuscript is a copy from the original document written by Saloum Yaffa. It deals with techniques used to address people's social problems. The techniques include divination to identify people's specific concerns and finding appropriate recipes and prayers to address them. The concerns discussed in the manuscript include among others, protection from enemies. The manuscript is written in Mandinka Ajami with some Arabic words.Item Liifoo: A Special Divination TechniqueYaffa, SaloumThe manuscript is a copy from the original document written by Saloum Yaffa. It is called Liifoo in Mandinka by its owner and deals with techniques of incantation and divination that local marabouts (local religious leaders and healers) use to find specific solutions to people's problems. The techniques are also used for protection against visible and invisible enemies (including humans, Satan, and evils spirits). The manuscript is written in Mandinka Ajami with some words in Arabic.Item Ramuloo II: Divination IIYaffa, SaloumThe manuscript is a copy from the original document written by Saloum Yaffa. It deals with divination techniques (including astrological signs) used to identify people's problems and to address their preoccupations, including fame and dealing with enemies. The manuscript is written in Mandinka Ajami with some words in Arabic.Item Ramuloo I: Divination IYaffa, SaloumThe manuscript is a copy from the original document written by Saloum Yaffa. It deals with divination techniques (including astrological signs) used to identify people's problems and to find appropriate solutions. The techniques in the document are also used to predict people's furture, anticipate the challenges they might face, and the ways to thwart or overcome them. This art of divination is part of Khatt al-Raml in Arabic, which is very old and popular in Mandinka communities. The popularity of this genre is reflected in the multiple copies and manuscripts dealing with divination and astrology found in Mandinka communities of Casamance. The manuscript is written in Mandinka Ajami with some words in Arabic. The explanation on one page is written in Mandinka with the Roman script.Item Image of manuscript owner Mamadou Biaye(2018-07-04) Ngom, IbrahimaImages taken for interview with manuscript owner Mamadou Biaye (right) in Tanaff, Sedhiou, Senegal, for the manuscript digitization work done in July 2018.