Egyptian National Library and Archives

Coordinates: 30°03′59″N 31°13′39″E / 30.06639°N 31.22750°E / 30.06639; 31.22750
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30°03′59″N 31°13′39″E / 30.06639°N 31.22750°E / 30.06639; 31.22750

Egyptian National Library and Archives
دار الكتب والوثائق القومية
Map
LocationCairo, Egypt
TypePublic, National library and National archives.
Established1870 (154 years ago) (1870)
Other information
DirectorLudwig Stern, Wilhelm Spitta, Ali al-Biblawi, Murad Mukhtar, Karl Vollers, Bernhard Moritz, Muhammad Ali Biblawi, Arthur Schaade, Muhammad Ali Biblawi, Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed, Ahmed Sadiq Bey, Abd al-Hamid Abu Hayf Edit this on Wikidata
Websitehttp://www.darelkotob.gov.eg

The Egyptian National Library and Archives (

Arabic: دار الكتب والوثائق القومية; "Dar el-Kotob") is located in Nile Corniche, Cairo and is the largest library in Egypt, followed by Al-Azhar University and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (New Library of Alexandria). The Egyptian National Library and Archives are a non-profit government organization.[1]

The National Library houses several million volumes on a wide range of topics.

National Archives
are contained in an annex beside the building.

The National Archives, located in an annex beside the library, houses a vast and diverse collection. The holdings are particularly significant to those who work on Egyptian social and political history, although it is not open to the public.

History

Cairo, the Khedival Library

The Egyptian National Library was proposed by minister Ali Pasha Mubarak, minister of public works, to Khedive Ismail in 1870. The library, which was known then as Khedivial Kutub Khana, was first located at the ground floor of Prince Mustafa Fadel's palace in Darb Al Gamamiz.

In 1889, the library was moved to the Salamlek of the same palace. Later, Khedive Tawfiq ordered a new facility to host the growing collection, but this was not accomplished until the time of Khedive Abbas Helmy II. In 1904 a new building in Bab Al Khalq opened its doors to the public housing both the National Library and the Museum of Islamic Art.

In the 1970s, a newer building was built on the Corniche, with an adjacent one for the archives, but Bab Al Khalq Library is still functioning and houses a museum.[2]

Damage sustained in the library's museum exhibition area after the 2014 car bombing.

On Friday, January 24, 2014, a car bomb meant to destroy the Police Headquarters across the street from the National Library and Archives did quite a bit of damage to the library's building and collections. National Library and Archive head Abdul Nasser Hassan estimated that the losses would be around $2.81 million in repairs.[3] Lighting and ventilation systems were destroyed and the Neo-Mamluk architectural facade was heavily damaged. Showcases and displays containing irreplaceable ancient manuscripts and papyri within the library's museum exhibition area were damaged along with all the furniture in the building. The conservation staff at the National Library and Archive's were able to save the documents on display, although they did sustain some damage.[4]

Contents

Collections include a wide variety of manuscripts of the

Persian and Ottoman
documents are also part of the collection.

The Port Said street facade.

The library remains Egypt's largest resource of manuscripts and documents that include more than 57,000 of the most valuable manuscripts in the world. The manuscript collection covers a vast number of subjects, fully documented, dated, and compiled. It also houses a rare number of Arabic papyri. These are related to marriage, rent, and exchange contracts, as well as records, accounts of taxes, distribution of inheritance, etc. The oldest papyrus group dates back to the year AH 87 (AD 705); only 444 papyri from this collection were published.

The library also has a large collection of medieval Arabic coins from as early as AD 696, which were published by Stanley Lane-Poole, Bernhardt Moritz and recently by Norman D. Nicol, Jere L. Bacharach and Rifa'at al-Nabarawy in 1982. These collections are of high archeological value.[5]

Collections formed by Ahmed Taymour Pasha, Ahmed Zaki Pasha, Ahmed Tal'aat Bey and Mustafa Fadel all came to the National Library in the early 20th century.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "The National Library and Archives". www.cairo.gov.eg. Archived from the original on 2018-11-05. Retrieved 2018-11-05.
  2. ^ السيد, أيمن فؤاد (2010). كنوز دار الكتب المصرية. Cairo: دار الكتب والوثائق القومية، جمعية المكنز الإسلامي. pp. 9, 10, 11, 12.
  3. ^ "Bomb damages Egypt's National Library and Archives - Islamic - Heritage - Ahram Online". english.ahram.org.eg. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  4. ^ "Preserving treasures in Cairo's National Library and Archives". Anita Chowdry. 2014-01-27. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  5. ^ "دار الكتب والوثائق القومية". www.darelkotob.gov.eg. Archived from the original on 2018-11-17. Retrieved 2018-11-18.

Catalogues

  • Moritz, Bernhardt: "Additions à la collection numismatique de la Bibliothèque Khédiviale". In: Bulletin de l'Institut Egyptien; 4e sér. 4 (1903), pp. 199–204.
  • Nicol, Norman D.; el-Nabarawy, R. & Bacharach, J. L.: Catalog of the Islamic Coins, Glass Weights, Dies and Medals in the Egyptian National Library, Cairo. Malibu, California 1983.

Bibliography

External links