The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, in collaboration with the Egyptian National Committee for Museums and the Centre for Economic, Judicial, and Social Study and Documentation (CEDEJ) (Centre D’études et de Documentation Economiques, Juridiques et Sociales), has donated 1,500 books to the Library of Ashurbanipal in Iraq, the world’s oldest library, founded in the 7th century BCE, and named after Ashurbanipal, the last great emperor of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in Mesopotamia.
The donation formed part of a campaign to provide the Library of Ashurbanipal, which was renovated in 2001, with 100,000 books. The ultimate goal is to promote the library’s historical status and restore its original collectibles from the British Museum, which has more than 30,000 texts on clay and rock tablets which were discovered by British archaeologists between 1845-1854.
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is encouraging publishing houses and scientific and cultural organisations to take part in the campaign by donating books in recognition of Iraq’s global role in establishing libraries and producing some of the world’s most important scientists, writers, artists and innovators.