- Title: EGYPT: Alexandria library sets up advanced lab to restore rare books
- Date: 26th May 2009
- Summary: RESTORATION EXPERT TREATING BOOK RESTORATION EXPERT CATALOGUING BOOK VARIOUS OF RESTORATION EXPERT REPAIRING BOOK (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MUSEUM DISPLAY EXPERT, NADIA AL-SAREEF, SAYING: "First of all people are very amazed with the restoration work that we do here, because we have restoration experts who are trained at a very high level in Italy in the latest restoration techniques, and we use Italian technology in restoration. And so when people come to look at the manuscripts that we have, they don't believe it because we have the biggest restoration workshop in the Middle East and the restoration works takes place in the correct scientific way." VARIOUS OF STACKS OF RESTORED BOOKS ON DISPLAY OLD PICTURES ON DISPLAY BOOKS IN DISPLAY CASES IN EXHIBIT AREA PEOPLE STANDING OVER DISPLAY CASE DISCUSSING BOOKS VARIOUS OF BOOKS IN DISPLAY
- Embargoed: 10th June 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Egypt
- Country: Egypt
- Topics: History
- Reuters ID: LVACG9VSFENE0O1XEG48HMKDJDM8
- Story Text: When the Alexandria Library was reborn near the site of the storied Ancient Library of Alexandria destroyed in antiquity, one of its key mandates was to build up a collection of rare books and manuscripts.
As the library strives to do so, a dedicated restoration laboratory has been tasked with the painstaking work of preserving some of its most valued ancient texts from the Arab world and beyond.
Inside of the Restoration Laboratory highly trained experts use the latest technology to examine and repair the library's collection of timeworn documents.
Special microscopes are used to establish whether documents are being destroyed by bacteria or fungi, and, as the chemical laboratory's director explains, special techniques are then used for treatment.
"We have here several machines that do 'treatment' for the manuscripts or damaged books, by way of 'thermal treatment' or 'freezing'. We reach temperatures below zero, 20 below zero, even more than -20 as well, and temperatures over 50 degrees above zero. The 'fluctuation' in the temperature could lead to killing insects without us having to do any 'fumigation'. This is one point. If the attack was fungal, we can do a 'stopping' or 'static' of the fungi through 'freezing' that stops the fungi activity until we isolate it and from that isolation we can identify the fungi and start to treat it," said Hossam Taha Ahmed Adeeb.
While certain documents are strong enough to be fortified using special machines, some of which use specially imported Japanese paper to augment the frail pages of old books, Adeeb explains that many can only be worked on by hand.
"With regards to dealing with manuscript restoration, it is restoration by hand, because these manuscripts are something 'precious', so therefore we have to deal with them in a way involving a high level of 'care'. With regards to books, generally we deal with books through restoration involving equipment, which you will see, but hand restoration adds value to the objects that have been restored, and we have very valuable manuscripts and we have to restore them by hand," he added.
The Ancient Library of Alexandria, built in Ptolemaic Egypt and reputed to have been one of the most important repositories of ancient learning, was destroyed around the first century BCE, and its collection lost.
As part of its effort to restore the ancient library's lost glory, the Restorations Laboratory has brought over 200 manuscripts and maps, and over 500 rare books back to life since it was established in 2001.
In addition to the chemical laboratory work that is central to the preservation process, restoration experts also work by hand, using all natural materials like glue, paper, thread and leather to repair bindings, fortify documents and rebuild book covers.
"It's 100 percent identical to the original. Meaning - if we are presented with a book which has an original cover we try and restore it to the same state of the original cover, we try and do a restoration for it. But if we are presented with a book or a manuscript which does not have an original cover we try and give it new binding in the same style as the tradition of that time for the manuscript or book," said Senior Restoration Specialist Sherif Afifi.
There library now has over 3,000 rare books and manuscripts in its possession, many of which are available in an electronic Virtual Library as well.
Among the most valuable works in the collection are a copy of the 'Muqaddimat Ibn al-Salah', [The Introduction of Ibn al-Salah] an important book on the study of the Hadith, or Prophetic traditions, and an illuminated copy of the 'Siraj al-Muluk' [The light of Kings], an important Islamic political work written during the Fatimid era.
Nadia al-Sareef, an expert in charge of the display section, said that many people who see the display are impressed with the quality of the Library's work.
"First of all people are very amazed with the restoration work that we do here, because we have restoration experts who are trained at a very high level in Italy in the latest restoration techniques, and we use Italian technology in restoration. And so when people come to look at the manuscripts that we have, they don't believe it because we have the biggest restoration workshop in the Middle East and the restoration works takes place in the correct scientific way," said al-Sareef.
In addition to several hundred of the rare books restored by the library, the display also includes a digital copy of the purported only surviving vestige of the old library, a papyrus held at the National Austrian Library in Vienna.
The library also has in its possession two pieces of the Kiswa, the decorative gold embroidered black brocade cover of the Kaaba, which were given to Egyptian industrialist Talat Harb by King al-Saud of Saudi Arabia in 1936.
The Alexandria Library may never regain the unique role of its ancient predecessor, but with the invaluable work of the restorations department, it is slowly gaining a reputation as an important repository of knowledge in its own right. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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