The seeds, weighing 330kg (730lb), are made up of varieties of domesticated and wild cowpea, maize, soybean and bambara groundnut.

BBC: Seeds destined for the 'doomsday' vault (Image: IITA)

Most of the manuscripts are in Arabic and are from the 14th to 16th Centuries, but many are written in local languages, including Songhai, Tamashek and Bambara.

BBC: Timbuktu��s treasure trove of African history

In Bambara and French.

NEWYORKER: Moolaad��