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Show December 24, 1949. NIGHT BULLETIN PAGE 2* Cont 'd. From Page 1. "This was but one of 3,000 volumes which constituted the Monastery library." Dr Atiya went on to say that while in the Royal. Archives of AT agon in Barcelona, in 1934 he discovered eight rolls dating from 1300 to I33O A.D. containing correspondence from the Mamluk Sultan al-Nasir Kalawun. "I lectured on these rolls at the Oriental Congress at Gottengen in 1937* The scholars present considered these scanty rolls such a golden find they requested me to publish them immediately in Leipzig. What then would be the case-with 2,000 rolls of earlier documents?" Million Pages Mr William Terry, the administrative director of. the expedition, arrived here yesterday* The /two , ( American scholars are expected in Cairo next'week. The expedition will start work about January 15. .# In four months it is hoped to photograph approximately one million pages of various sizes. Two sets will be made, one for Farouk 1 University and the other for the American Library of Congress. This collection has been written by scholars Tanging from the early Christian era down to the Middle Ages and modern times. Dr Atiya said: "Some of the material is even older than the Monastery. The Codex Syriacus is said to have been completed in the third century .on the* basis of an . older manuscript. Monks coming from all .parts of the world brought such treasures with them to be preserved in this Monastery. "It is not easy to define the immense value of putting this colossal set of manuscripts at the disposal of scholars throughout the world. It will undoubtedly give them food for work during the next five centuries." TONS OF EQUIPMENT The A.N.A.'s special correspondent in N€w York writes that permission to film the priceless library involved prolonged negotiations with King Farouk, the. Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church and many others. Authorisation was finally received from Porphyries 111, Arch-Bishop of Mount Sinai and Superior of the Monastery of St Catherine. Tons of modern equipment have been shipped from Philadelphia for the task in"hand. In addition to cameras and film in great varieties, there i% a special generator to provide power for the cameras and a specially built truck with a refigeration unit to protect the photo supplies. V//2 |