New phase of Jerusalem manuscript restoration project completed

AMMAN — Awqaf authorities in Jerusalem on Tuesday celebrated the completion of the third phase of the Development of Al Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al Sharif Manuscripts Restoration Centre Project.

Awqaf Minister Wael Arabiyat attended an event to mark the achievement, which also included the graduation ceremony of 10 of the centre's employees who had completed a training programme, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The centre was established in 1999 as a key component of the Hashemite restoration plan of holy sites in Jerusalem, which is under the custodianship of His Majesty King Abdullah.

The King has personally funded and followed up on the establishment of the centre and its development phases. In 2015, the Monarch gave directives to train and employ the 10 restoration technicians as part of the Awqaf Ministry’s staff to contribute to restoring and archiving thousands of valuable manuscripts in Al Aqsa Mosque and in Jerusalem’s libraries.

In his remarks at the ceremony, the minister said that Al Aqsa Mosque Manuscripts Restoration Centre Project aims at preserving the written heritage of Jerusalem to protect its Arab and Islamic identity.

He thanked the UNESCO for supporting the project through providing expertise and organising training courses in and outside the holy city. He also thanked the Kingdom of Norway for contributing to the project’s third phase.

For his part, head of the Representative Office of Norway to the Palestinian Authority Tor Gjerde said his country was glad to be part of such a historical project.

The UNESCO representative and coordinator of the project, Nao Hayashi, voiced her gratitude to King Abdullah for granting the UNESCO “this precious opportunity” to be part of the Hashemite restoration projects inside Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif.

She pointed out that the achievement was a result of extensive efforts and cooperation with Jordan, represented by the Royal Hashemite Court, the Ministry of Awqaf, the Jordanian Awqaf Department in Jerusalem, and the Norwegian and Palestinian sides.

Director General of Jerusalem Awqaf Sheikh Azam Al Khatib recalled the Royal directives to establish the centre at Al Ashrafiyah School in the western part of Al Aqsa in 1999, to serve as an instrument to protect the school and the invaluable treasures of Islamic history.

Khatib noted that the project started by sending Awqaf employees to Italy in cooperation with the UNESCO and importing laboratory devices from Italy in 2005.

However, Israeli occupation authorities confiscated the equipment in Ashdod Port for three years until King Abdullah personally intervened and paid the transportation and setup expenses.

Director of the Revival of Heritage and Islamic Research Foundation Mohammad Safadi highlighted the cooperation between the foundation, which holds hundreds of thousands of valuable documents that belong to Al Aqsa Mosque and the Sharia Courts in Jerusalem, with the newly established manuscripts centre.

Wasfi Kilani, the project’s coordinator said the project is still ongoing and that the fourth phase is about to be launched, funded through a $1.8 million grant. Kilani noted that the upcoming phase of the project will include the training of five additional employees to ensure the continuity of the restoration work.

He pointed out that the facility currently has a mission to restore around 4,000 manuscripts, 1,000 of which require extensive restoration, in addition to millions of historical papers and documents.

Kilani added that the fourth phase will also include service provision to the Jerusalemite society and Palestinian academic institutions.

Among the scripts housed by the center are the “Ihya Uloom Ad Deen” book manuscript by Imam Abu Hamid Al Ghazali during his stay at Ar Rahma Gate in Al Aqsa Mosque, “Ar Roba Al Azmiri”, which constitutes 30 sections of the Holy Koran dating back to the beginning of the Ottoman era, and rare editions of “Saheeh Al Imam Muslim” (a collection of Prophet Mohammad’s sayings) from the Mamluki era.