Thousands of old manuscripts burned amidst renewed clashes in Cairo
Cross posted from Nature Middle East’s House of Wisdom blog on behalf of Mohammed Yahia. Renewed clashes between protesters and soldiers over the weekend near Tahrir square, the epicentre of Egypt’s January revolution, saw the Institut d’Egypte, home to some of Egypt’s oldest manuscripts and books, set on fire. Ismail Serageldin, director of the Library of Alexandria commented on his Twitter account that the institute, Egypt’s Academy of Science, was the second oldest modern academy outside Europe, after the American Philosophical Society. “Priceless manuscripts and irreplaceable books are lost.” Nobody is sure who started the fire, but it quickly spread through … Read more
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