Dubai: How specialists give stories from the past 'a new life'

In a dim corner of the Sharjah Archaeology Museum, a man works at fragmented pieces of paper. The tattered pages are at least hundreds of years old, obtained by the Juma Majid Centre for Culture and Heritage.

The technician, who came to Sharjah for a visit as part of the Juma Majid team, masterfully and delicately works at the manuscript, preserving each fragment of paper and reuniting it with the page.

The oldest manuscript inside the centre dates to the 4th century AH, signed by prominent Islamic scholar Imam Malik.

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“Historical manuscripts and documents have a long history, which goes back hundreds of years, up to 1,000 or 1,200 years,” Bassam Daghestani, head of preservation, treatment and restoration department at the Juma Almajid Centre for Culture and Heritage, told Khaleej Times. “During this long history, they are exposed to injuries and damages, biological injuries, and natural chemical injuries.”

Located in Deira, the Juma Almajid Centre for Culture and Heritage primarily involves restoring historical manuscripts and documents back to their original form, in hopes of giving them “a new life” for another 200 or 300 years, Daghestani said. 

How are manuscripts restored?

Daghestani explained that documents, books, and other manuscripts undergo a thorough process for restoration. It begins with first sterilising the piece of document to get rid of bacteria, insects, or other remaining debris. Specialists use environmentally friendly materials that do not harm humans, plants, animals, or the manuscript itself. After sterilisation, the specialists both dry cleans and wet cleans the manuscript.

Next comes the fun part — manually restoring the manuscript. Using natural material that is similar to the original document, the specialist carefully adjoins them together.

Finally, after restoration, a process called casting is done, which makes the entire document cohesive, and helps it return to the same style that was used in the past. “The sewing threads, the silk threads, the stitching, the leather, the fabric has to be natural. Everything is the same as it was used in the past; we use it now in the same style,” Daghestani said.

He added, “After the casting is done, I take it to the warehouse. Storage is the most important thing. The warehouse must have regular conditions, from preservation, temperature, humidity, lighting, cleanliness, using special shelves for storing paper supplies. Here all the work of preservation, processing, and storage is done.”

The time it takes to restore them generally varies, depending on the state of the manuscript found. Daghestani said it could take up to six months if the condition of the manuscript is especially dire, whereas it could take 10 days to restore if not.

To preserve old books in your home library, Daghestani advises that they be stored at a regular temperature that is not too hot and not too cold. “The most important thing is to keep it away from the sun’s rays.

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