The House of Manuscripts archive "is a leading collection in Iraq and the region", said Zakaria Haffar, Iraq project manager at the National Library of France (BNF). Specialised equipment or hiring more staff.ĭespite the obstacles, Alyawi expressed optimism that his teams could restore up to 100 works per year - making a slow dent in the potentially thousands of works requiring attention. While his team has just four scanners to digitise the entire archive, Alyawi decried a lack of funding that prevented purchasing other The programme also helps reintroduce traditional conservation materials that are now coming "back into fashion", Di Bella said, such as starch as an adhesive. we describe the damage" and try "to understand. deciding what to do and how to intervene on the manuscript", the Italian conservator told AFP. Peering over an 18th-century Ottoman astronomy book, its pages filled with elegant black ink calligraphy, Di Bella made comments in English that were translated into Arabic. The programme involves working with Italian expert Marco Di Bella, whose country has previously funded equipment for the House of Manuscripts' offices, including lighting. "You can spend several months with the same book."Īhmed is one of seven Iraqi conservators who are currently undergoing training, funded by the Italian embassy, to help them carry out their colossal restoration mission. Said Tayba Ahmed, 30, who has been doing restoration for three years.īut it also must reduce any damage to the work "so that it can live longer", she added.Ī text "may not have a cover, the pages might be detached, you may have to sew and make a leather cover", she said. Some manuscripts date from the early Abbasid era, while some seventh-century calligraphy boards in Kufic script were written on parchment "even before the manufacture of paper", Alyawi said.Ī conservator wearing a white lab coat brushed dust from a gnarled board, as a colleague cut fine paper to repair a 17th-century Persian text dedicated to the Shiite religious commemoration of Ashura.Įach intervention must "preserve the old appearance" of a work, The collection, now ensconced in the national museum in the capital Baghdad, includes books, parchments and calligraphy boards, some of them damaged by humidity, pests and centuries of use. Employees and residents prevented subsequent looting attempts at the "underground shelter" where it was stored, Alyawi said. It was safely stashed away in the Baghdad suburbs, while the national museum was ransacked in the turmoil following the 2003 US-led invasion. ![]() In a country that bears the scars of decades of conflict and has seen antiquities and cultural heritage regularly plundered, the House of Manuscripts' collection has managed to survive. The House of Manuscripts' collection was stashed in Baghdad suburbs while the national museum was ransacked following the 2003 US-led invasion © Sabah ARAR / AFP "There are writings in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Hebrew and Kurdish," he added, noting the texts' "immense cultural diversity". "Some manuscripts date back almost 1,000 years," said Ahmed al-Alyawi, who heads the House of Manuscripts body. After all repairs, the folios were collated and given a new binding to protect them.In an annex of Iraq's national museum, a conservator pores over a 17th-century manuscript, carrying out delicate restoration work as part of efforts to preserve and digitise 47,000 precious texts. The folio is then brushed out to remove tiny air bubbles and ensure a strong bond, and the other side is lined the same way.ħ. The humidified folio is turned over and lowered directly onto the pasted Japanese lining tissue.Ħ. ![]() The folio (parchment) is lined then humidified on a sheet of Bondina with all the tears unfolded and aligned properly.ĥ. The tissue is then pasted out the same way.Ĥ. A thin sheet of Japanese tissue is placed on the pasted Bondinaģ. A wheat starch paste is first brushed out onto a sheet of Bondina.Ģ. The British Library Japanese tissue onto Bondinaġ. Finally, the folios are washed again in a de-acidification bath that contains calcium bicarbonate this will remain in the paper after treatment to help neutralize acidity from natural aging and the ink. The folios are placed in the phytate solution to complex the free iron ion to prevent further degradation.Ĥ. ![]() The folio is sandwiched between two sheets of archival polyester film to ensure damaged areas are not distorted.ģ. Wash the folios (parchment) in a bath of reverse osmosis water.Ģ. A new treatment for iron gall ink that uses a solution of Calcium Phytate along with a de-acidification was in a solution of calcium bicarbonate and designed to remove excess sulfuric acid to prevent further degradation.īritish Library Calcium Phytate Treatmentġ.
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