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The Book of Kings: Middle-Eastern Manuscripts in the Library

Firdausi's Shahnama (Book of Kings). Persian, 19th century. TCD MS 1550 folio 124v
Firdausi's Shahnama (Book of Kings). Persian, 19th century. TCD MS 1550 folio 124v

This year's MELCOM (Middle East Libraries Committee) UK meeting is being held in Dublin on 25 June 2013. To mark the occasion, this exhibition featuring some of Manuscripts & Archives's Middle-Eastern materials has been installed in the Long Room.

Some of the earliest texts in Manuscripts & Archives are incised in cuneiform script on clay tablets from Sumeria (modern-day Iraq); the tablets are upwards of two thousand years old. There are over 70 Arabic manuscripts including some with Samaritan, Turkish, Hebrew and Hausa linguistic associations. A large proportion of the texts relate to the Islamic religion and laws; included are nearly 20 Korans. The Syriac collection of 12 items contains significant material of a religious and scholarly nature. There are over 70 manuscripts in Persian. They include literary and historical works, grammars or dictionaries and epistolary material.

Take a look at Manuscripts & Archives's Asian, Middle Eastern and Ethiopic manuscripts website for more information about the Middle-Eastern collection.

Gallery