250,000-page documents on Palestinian history stored in Saudi public library

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The 250,000-page documents containing the Palestinian history have been digitized in the Arabic Union Catalogue and are now stored in the King Abdul Aziz Public Library in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

In collaboration with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the library has collected 820 Jerusalem Sharia Court records, each containing between 150 and 500 pages.

The archive of more than 250,000 pages is in the form of books, maps and manuscripts covering the history of Jerusalem since 1528 and is available on the UNRWA Library Network.

The Arabic and Islamic heritages are the main pillars of the King Abdul Aziz Public Library.

Regarding Palestine, the library has a large database for books, documents and maps.

The database has been published in large volumes containing rare documents and photos titled Al-Aqsa.

The publication includes a sacred site, a heritage site, as well as the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Through various cultural projects, the King Abdul Aziz Public Library has documented Arabic creativity and intellectuals, and collected more than three million rare books, journals, documents, manuscripts and photographs.

In 2009, UNESCO compiled the Memory of the World Register which contained an audiovisual archive consisting of more than 10,000 prints, 85,000 images and more than 70 films about the life and history of the Palestinian people.

Reporting by Indonesia Window