The manuscript, produced between 800 AD and 830 AD, has never left the Vatican.

Newsroom (13/10/2021 12:41, Gaudium Press) The Vatican Library has sent three original manuscripts to Dubai. They will be on display until March 31, 2022, at a world fair in the United Arab Emirates.

The oldest of the documents was written between 800 AD and 830 AD by Bayt al-Ḥikmah. It is an Arabic translation of Greek scholar Theon of Alexandria’s introduction to Ptolemy’s ‘Useful Tables.’ the manuscript has never left the Vatican Library.

The other two manuscripts on display are a manual on Arabic numerals in the West by Leonardo Fibonacci, dating ca. 1170 and 1250, and the 16th-century astronomer Thomas of Orta’s observation on the reform of the Gregorian calendar.

Vatican Pavilion at Expo Dubai

The Vatican pavilion was designed by Msgr. Tomasz Trafny and architect Giuseppe Di Nicola. It showcases a reproduction of Giotto’s fresco on meeting the Sultan, a copy of Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam” from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, a video installation on the Vatican Library and some uniforms of the Swiss Guard.

With multi-million pavilions and over 190 participating countries, Expo Dubai is the first world fair held in the Middle East. Among the exhibits, the Italian Pavilion features a 3-D marble replica of Michelangelo’s ‘David.’ (EPC)

Compiled by Gustavo Kralj