![]() ![]() 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. “ Caring for Your Treasures,” American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.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 Use of White Cotton Gloves for Handling Collection Items” by Jane Pimlott, Preservation Coordinator at the British Library. Baker and Randy Silverman in International Preservation News, No. “ Misperceptions About White Gloves” by Cathleen A. When CSNTM’s digitizers handle any manuscript-whether or not they are wearing gloves-they wash their hands and then periodically wash again as needed. Rather than wearing gloves, the American Institute for Conservation of Historical and Artistic Works instructs conservators to “handle books only with freshly washed hands.” Then they recognize that “wearing white cotton gloves for handling rare bindings is a good preventive measure, but turning fragile or brittle pages with gloves may cause damage and is not advised.” Thoroughly washing hands with lotion-free soap will remove most of the dirt, grease, and oils that may be left on pages. These include that gloves limit tactile perception, do not eliminate the chance of transferring dirt, ointment, and other chemicals to the pages, and make turning fragile or fragmentary pages more difficult. Many archival organizations have recognized that there are some disadvantages to wearing gloves while handling books. Baker and Randy Silverman concluded that using gloves to handle manuscripts and other books is a recent phenomenon-possibly developing in the last twenty years. In an article for International Preservation News, Cathleen A. Since the popular perception of a museum or library conservator is a person wearing white gloves, let us explain why some archivists prefer to handle them with bare hands. In some cases, that requires Center staff to wear white cotton gloves, and in other cases it does not. Thus, the staff at CSNTM follow the protocols established by the institution whose manuscripts we are digitizing. We share a commitment to preserve NT manuscripts with the organizations that own them. These are excellent questions because it is imperative to properly care for and handle valuable objects like manuscripts. As the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts shares images and videos of its digitization teams working with manuscripts, we consistently receive questions about the use of white gloves. ![]()
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