Saudi Arabia to finance manuscript conservation project in Uzbekistan

Saudi Arabia will finance a manuscript conservation project in Uzbekistan, Deputy Minister of Education Faisal Muammar said today. The $362,000 donation for the conservation project was approved by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, to help preserve a unique collection of Islamic manuscripts at the Al-Beruni Institute of Oriental Studies, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The most ancient works deposited at the Institute date back more than one thousand years.

The project is being overseen by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).