Juma Al Majid Center for Culture and Heritage in Dubai, in cooperation with the Holy Qur’an Manuscripts Initiative, organized a virtual symposium On Wednesday, March 2, 2022, entitled “Consuls, Orientalists, and Book Dealers: Wetzstein and Arabic Manuscripts in Damascus.” Participating in the symposium were Ahmed Wissam Shaker, researcher and supervisor of the Qur’an Manuscripts Initiative, Dr. Firas Karimesti, Curator of the Oriental Collection at the Goethe Research Library, Christoph Rauch, Director of the Oriental Manuscripts Department at the Berlin State Library, Farid Al-Ghawabi, PhD researcher at the Free University of Berlin, and Iyad Khaled Al-Tabbaa. , a researcher in the Arabic manuscript heritage, and it was moderated by Sheikha Al-Mutairi, Head of the National Culture, Public Relations and Media Department at the Center.
The symposium aimed to shed light on orientalists and western travelers and their role in transferring oriental manuscripts to western libraries.
