- The conclusion of the workshop on protecting and preserving Iraqi Christian manuscripts which lasted for ten days.
- Director General of the Iraqi Manuscripts House, Dr. Ahmed Aleyawi, provides important assistance for the convening and success of the workshop
- The Diocese of the Assyrian Church of the East in Baghdad provides more services for the success of the workshop.
- The training workshop implemented by Hammurabi Human Rights Organization for the preservation of Iraqi Christian manuscripts was concluded in Baghdad on Thursday, November 30, 2023.
The workshop was held with the support of the Pope John Paul II Foundation (FGPII) and with funding from the Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development in coordination with the Iraqi Manuscript House, the Assyrian Church of the East contributed to providing a hall for the workshop to be held at the headquarters of its diocese, with a diverse agenda that focused on the basics of preventive preservation within an approved mechanism, which are receiving the manuscript , drawing a map, cleaning then carrying out maintenance using inks and adhesives, as well as mechanisms for preserving and storing it according to a temperature ranging between 18 to 20 degrees and a humidity rate between 55 to 60 degrees, taking care to photograph the manuscript during maintenance and after completion.
The workshop lasted ten days, forty hours at a rate of four hours per day with 14 participants .The success of the workshop is due to a number of factors that can be summarized as follows:
The support provided by the Iraqi Manuscripts House, under the guidance of the Director General of the House, Dr. Ahmed Aleyawi, and the two employees who are experts in manuscript maintenance namely: Rana Abdul Hasib Rezik and Suhair Zeki Mohammad Hussein to train the participants.
Dr. Aleyawi visited the workshop on the seventh day providing valuable guidance on the heritage importance of manuscripts as the cognitive identity of the creativity of nations, expressing keen to receive the project management and participants at the headquarters of the Iraqi Manuscripts House.
In his speech Dr. Aleyawi praised the achievement then the ceremony concluded by distributing certificates to participants.
He exchanged words with Mrs. Pascale Warda, Head of Hammurabi Organization and Mr. William Warda, Coordinator of the Organization in the project of comprehensive of the right, indicating the importance of the achievement and the hopes placed on a general national project that provides guarantees for the maintenance and preservation of ancient Iraqi manuscripts and documents through laws specific to the subject and a national will to manage the state for its wealth and a cultural legacy of a country that has thousands of years of innovations and achievements at all levels and during all eras in an unquestionable manner and that it practically entered into ancient times due to the falsification of history, during the ages BC, during which Mesopotamia represented the superpower in a world when, it was no more. The names of the countries that dominate the world today have been heard, and the ancient manuscripts in the House of Manuscripts are one of the living examples of this fact in all the languages used in the region, and the oldest pieces are in the Syriac language (Aramaic).
It is worth noting and praising the support provided by His Eminence Bishop Eliyah Ishaq, Head of the Diocese of the Assyrian Church of the East in Baghdad for providing a place and other logistical assistance for the workshop as well as the contribution of His Eminence by attending number of the workshop sessions. His unlimited cooperation deserves gratitude and respect at the highest levels.
The project management also prepared the maintenance requirements as papers, adhesives, cleaning materials, restoration, patching, binding, and storage mechanisms.
Mr. William Warda highly appreciated the efforts of Dr. Ahmed Aleyawi and His Eminence the Bishop Eliyah Ishaq in ensuring the success achieved for the workshop, expressing his hope that this achievement would provide opportunities to preserve manuscripts and ensure their long life, as besides the beginning of other projects in the service of the broad Iraqi heritage.
