Rare manuscripts, a cultural, historical treasure and intangible heritage preserved in the Al-Assad National Library

Damascus (ST): Manuscripts and rare books are among the most important components of the intangible cultural heritage. They contain valuable and unique information written by our ancient ancestors and contain cultural treasures and great historical value. Therefore, preserving them and their components  from danger is a national duty.

Director of Al-Assad Library, critic Iyad Murshid Bayn said that the manuscripts preserved in the Al-Assad Library are among the very rare manuscripts, some of which date back hundreds of years, as they constitute a civilizational, cultural and historical treasure, pointing out that they are a rich heritage and fertile material for those who wanted to trace the trail of ancient scholars and move forward with study and research, stressing that preserving the ancestral legacy means preserving the entity and identity.

Murshid explained that the manuscripts received great attention from researchers because they were the preoccupation of scholars and librarians who wrote research to save them from danger by maintaining them periodically and continuously.

Regarding the forms of heritage preserved in the Al-Assad Library, Murshid stated that it contains everything related to rare books and manuscripts that are part of the intangible heritage. The Syrian and Damascene manuscripts, especially those in the Al-Zahiriyah Library, were transferred to it based on the decree establishing the Al-Assad Library in 1983, as it became the body concerned with preserving Manuscripts.

K.Q.