Baghdad: The Iraqi House of Manuscripts has completed the cataloging of its Syriac manuscripts within the holdings of the National Library, a first in nearly 80 years.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the Director General of the House, Ahmed Karim Al-Ulayawi, stated that the cataloging is part of a comprehensive project to document the House’s manuscripts and prepare descriptive guides for them, particularly those manuscripts that have not been previously cataloged, foremost among them the Syriac manuscripts.

He explained that the work was carried out by a team from the Cataloging Department, with the participation of Syriac language specialists, and lasted four months on a voluntary basis. He noted that the nature of the manuscripts required specialized efforts in the linguistic, scientific, and historical aspects related to the Syriac heritage.

Al-Ulayawi emphasized that the completion of the cataloging will provide descriptive guides that will help researchers identify and study the contents of the manuscripts, and will contribute to the preservation of the Syriac manuscript heritage and its promotion both locally and internationally. He pointed out that Syriac manuscripts represent an aspect of the cultural diversity that Iraq has known throughout its history, explaining that cataloging them opens the door to more specialized studies and strengthens the library’s efforts to document its holdings and make its manuscript heritage available to researchers.