ABSTRACT
In earlier times, writing was the responsibility of the Kunbaw, the traditional Master Scribes of Songhoy society. Figure 10.1 illustrates the early form of Songhoy writing, ideograms, that in this case depict the worldview of the Songhoy people in the form of a cosmogram. The ideograms presented in this chapter were collected (2000-2003) from the Kunbaw and/ or Soŋanche of Gao by Moulaye Ali Traoré, a school Headmaster, under the supervision of BERADA (The Offi ce for Studies and Applied Research and Development in Africa, Gao, Mali).
