Cairo – Mubasher: Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli and Sharjah Ruler Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi on Sunday opened the National Library and Archives (Dar Al Kotob) after four years of restoration work.

The inauguration ceremony took place in the presence of Egyptian Minister of Culture Enas Abdel-Dayem, Awqaf Minister Mohamed Gomaa, and Antiquities Minister Khaled Anani. 

Renovation cost exceeded EGP 30 million, offered as a grant from Sheikh Mohamed bin Sultan al Qassemi.

The library was damaged in 2014 after a car bomb exploded outside the adjacent Cairo Security Directorate building.

The blast destroyed the library’s decorative façade in several Islamic architectural styles, a number of showcases and furniture inside the building, seven manuscripts and three rare scientific papyri, in addition to the ventilation and lighting system of the building.

Established in 1904, the national library was the first to be built in the Arab world.