Thousands of rare documents burned in Egypt clash
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article550955.ece
By AYA BATRAWY | AP
Published: Dec 20, 2011 13:03 Updated: Dec 20, 2011 13:04
CAIRO: Volunteers in white lab coats, surgical gloves and masks were standing on the back of a pickup truck along the banks of the Nile River in Cairo, rummaging through stacks of rare 200-year-old manuscripts that were little more than charcoal debris.
The volunteers, ranging from academic experts to appalled citizens, have spent the past two days trying to salvage whats left of some 192,000 books, journals and writings, casualties of Egypts latest bout of violence.
Institute dEgypte, a research center set up by Napoleon Bonaparte during Frances invasion in the late 18th century, caught fire during clashes between protesters and Egypts military over the weekend. It was home to a treasure trove of writings, most notably the handwritten 24-volume Description de lEgypte, which began during the 1798-1801 French occupation.
The compilation, which includes 20 years of observations by more than 150 French scholars and scientists ....