The Sarajevo Haggadah and the Manuscript Collection of Gazi Husrev-Beg Library have been inscribed at the General Assembly of UNESCO in Paris in the International Memory of the World Register, dedicated to the movable world cultural heritage, giving Bosnia and Herzegovina the first two entries in this register, but also opening the door for new nominations from the segment of movable cultural heritage, told FENA the Head of UNESCO Office in BiH Siniša Šešum.

The International Memory of the World Register was established in 1997 in order to preserve the documentary heritage of global significance. So far, 348 items have been inscribed into it, including documents, manuscripts and library, museum and archival materials or collections.

Šešum emphasizes that, unlike the Haggadah, the Manuscript Collection of Gazi Husrev-Beg Library has been inscribed provisionally pending confirmation of minor points.

Šešum emphasized the extraordinary significance of the Memory of the World Register, with the emphasis being placed on the movable cultural heritage since the focus has always been placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List based on immovable cultural and historical heritage.

“Bosnia and Herzegovina has a lot of movable heritage property and this is yet another aspect of their promotion. These are preserved in different places and in BiH institutions. It is very important to say that this is the beginning of the promotion of movable cultural property in BiH because we have a lot to show, and we think that the inscription of these two will be the starting point that will attract others to promote all those values ​​that BiH possesses,” explained Šešum.

The Manuscript Collection of Gazi Husrev-Beg Library in Sarajevo contains 10,561 unique manuscripts, which are an integral part of some 20,000 major and minor works from Islamic, Oriental Literature, Philosophy, Logic, History, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Mathematics, Astronomy and other sciences. The oldest preserved manuscript from this collection dates back to 1105.

Many of the manuscripts possess extraordinary calligraphy and various decorations. The Manuscript Collection of Gazi Husrev-Beg Library represents five percent of the remaining, total number of heritage in written documents in BiH from the Ottoman period, and is considered to be the most valuable collection of this kind in the Balkans today.

The Sarajevo Haggadah is an outstanding example of medieval Jewish decorative art. It is written on parchment, with a number of illustrations and is among the most famous and most beautiful Hebrew, illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages in the world.

The Sarajevo Haggadah originates from the mid-14th century, as assumed from the northern part of Spain. In 1894, it was bought by the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the Cohen family, and in 2003, it was proclaimed a piece of moveable national cultural heritage of BiH.