Memory of the World: The treasures that record our history from 1700 BC to the present day. UNESCO
based on justice (dharma) and the rule of law for all, which he urged his people to follow. He was generous and merciful, as well as responsive and accessible to his citizens. The absence of the first pronoun in the last two parts has given rise to the speculation that they were composed by the king’s successors.
The inscription on the fourth side of the stone, showing clearly the Thai script that was used.
The first side of the King Ram Khamhaeng Inscription.
The National Museum, Bangkok, Thailand.
The King Ram Khamhaeng inscription was discovered in 1833 by Prince Mongkut of Siam, later King Chomklao or Rama IV, in the old city of Sukhothai during his visit there while he was in the Buddhist monkhood, and it was brought to Bangkok. After many moves within Bangkok, the King Ram Khamhaeng inscription was placed in the Siwamokhaphiman Hall which is now part of the National Museum. It was put on display as a part of the Sukhothai exhibits where it still stands today.
Library Ets Haim – Livraria Montezinos
Inscribed 2003
What is it
The entire collection of Ets Haim Library – Livraria Montezinos, comprising approximately 500 manuscripts and around 30,000 printed works in 20,000 volumes.
Why was it inscribed
The collections allow an understanding of the unique combination of Jewish religious and secular education provided by the Portuguese-Jewish Community in Amsterdam from 1616 until the Second World War.
They also reflect the cultural and social history of a Jewish community that contributed substantially to the rise of the Dutch Republic and the New World in the age of mercantilism.
Where is it
Portuguese-Jewish Seminary Ets Haim, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
The Ets Haim (Tree of Life) Academy has been internationally renowned since the Dutch Golden Age. Its rich collections of manuscripts, books, sheet music and graphic materials reflect the institute’s influence until the early 20th century and the international ties it maintained.
The collections of the Library Ets Haim – Livraria Montezinos comprise 500 manuscripts dating from 1282 onwards and 30,000 printed works, the earliest from 1484; around 65 percent are in Hebrew. The printed books include six Hebrew incunabula (books printed before 1501), four hundred Hebrew unique works, approximately 400 unique and rare Spanish and Portuguese works and 750 ephemera. Ets Haim also has approximately 250 prints and sheet music for children’s and men’s choirs.
The collections are a unique and irreplaceable example of Sephardic Jewish heritage. The culture of the Sephardic Jews, who originated in the Iberian Peninsula, was characterized by open exchange with their environment – integration without assimilation. Continuing this tradition, the curriculum of Ets Haim combined a thorough Jewish education in combination with an excellent knowledge of literature, philosophy, rhetoric and science. In training its students for leadership positions in international Sephardic communities, the institute made important contributions to societies in which several religions coexisted peacefully. In addition, Sephardic Jews, based in this location since 1675, were central to the rise and prosperity of the Dutch Republic and mercantilism in the Golden Age.
The collections reflect the 17th-century humanist ideal, documenting all fields of human knowledge, science and activities. Many editions are available of all Jewish standard works: editions of the Bible, exegetic, hermeneutic, homiletic, legal and didactic works, and there are also various Christian publications. History, language and literature, rhetoric, calligraphy, lexicography, medicine, mysticism and economics are all represented.
The Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam, home to the library.
The vast liturgical collection comprises virtually all Jewish prayer books printed in the Netherlands. In addition to Hebrew and Aramaic books, the library contains works in Latin, Greek, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, English, Yiddish and other languages. The collection represents the history of the output of Jewish book printing from Eastern Europe to the Americas and from Portugal via the Levant to Cochin.
In 1889 the then librarian David Montezinos donated his valuable personal collection to the library and since then it has been known as Ets Haim Library – Livraria Montezinos.
Since the monumental complex of the Portuguese Synagogue was built in Amsterdam in 1675, the library has been located there almost continuously, with the exception of its confiscation for some years by Germany during the Second World War.
The manuscript of Ubayd Zakoni’s Kulliyat and Hafez Sherozi’s Gazalliyt (XIV century)
Inscribed 2003
What is it
A unique manuscript featuring the works of two famous Tajik-Persian poets.
Why was it inscribed
This rare and unique manuscript is a notable example of classic Tajik-Persian literature and oriental culture in general.
Where is it
Institute of the Written Heritage of the Academy of Sciences, Tajikistan
Ubayd Zakoni was a Persian poet and satirist of the 14th century. His work is noted for its satire and obscene verses, many of which contain homosexual allusions that have often been censored. Originally from the city of Qazvin, he studied in Shiraz, where he became one of the most accomplished men of letters of his time and a court poet for Shah Abu Ishaq. Also present in Shiraz was the young Hafez Sherozi.
Calligraphy of a poem by Hafez
Hafez Sherozi was a Persian lyric poet whose collected works are often found in the homes of Persian speakers in Iran and Afghanistan. His poems are frequently learnt by heart and used as proverbs and sayings. Hafez was acclaimed throughout the Islamic world during his lifetime, with other Persian poets imitating his work, and offered patronage from Baghdad to India. Today, he is the most popular poet in Iran and most libraries in India, Pakistan and Iran contain his works. Much later, the work of Hafez would leave a mark on such Western writers as Thoreau, Goethe and Ralph Waldo Emerson – the latter referring to him as ‘a poet’s poet’.
This unique joint manuscript consists of two parts: the complete works (‘Kulliyat’) of Ubayd Zakoni and Hafez’s work Gazalliyt. This is the most ancient version of this manuscript and the only one of its kind. It was re-written in 1405 only thirty-five years after the death of Ubayd Zakoni and nine years after the death of Hafez Sherozi. The manuscript has a unique design with Hafez’s poems inscribed around Ubayd Zakoni’s text.
The Tajiks are one of the ancient native populations of Central Asia and Afghanistan who, over thousands of years, created a rich literary and spiritual culture. Notable writers and scientists from this civilisation include Avicenna, Ferdowsi, Rumi and Omar Khayyam. This rare manuscript is a notable example of classic Tajik-Persian literature and oriental culture in general.
The region these poets lived and worked in has historically been a place of social meeting and intellectual interaction between East and West. The national cultural and spiritual heritage of Tajik-Persian literature has had a wide influence on world history and literature. From the 18th century, Western writers began to discover many Tajik-Persian masterpieces and they featured in several famous works, including Goethe’s West–Eastern Divan, Hugo’s