from around the region. The library was nationally recognized by the Syrian state and opened to the public in 1880 or 1881. It continued to consolidate collections throughout the late 19th century and early 20th century and became the National Library. It played a part in the Arabic literary renaissance that was ongoing in Syria in that period. In 1919 the "Arab Academy was charged with the supervision of the al-Zahiriyya Library. … Its collection consisted at that time of the surviving manuscripts from different small libraries in Syria. … The collection grew from 2,465 manuscripts to 22,000 volumes between 1919 and 1945." In 1949 a legal deposit law decreed that two copies of every work published in Syria be deposited in the library. The law was not enforced until July 1983, when a presidential decree required the deposit of 5 copies of each work published by a Syrian author. In 1984 the Al-Assad Library became the Syrian national library, replacing al-Zahiriyah Library. The manuscript department includes over 13,000 classical Islamic manuscripts, the oldest being Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s Kitab al-zuhd and Kitab al-fada'il. Other notable manuscripts include Ta'rikh Dimashq by Ibn 'Asakir (1105–1175), al-Jam bayn al-gharibayn by Abu `Ubaydah Ahmad ibn Muhammad Al-Harawi (d. 1010), and Gharib al-hadith by Ibn Qutaybah al-Dinawari (d. 889). As of 2011, the library's holdings included some 100,000 holdings, 13,000 manuscripts, and 50,000 periodicals. See also Baybars Al-Adiliyah Madrasa Nur al-Din Madrasa Mausoleum of Saladin Mamluk Architecture References External links Madrasa al-Zahiriyya at ArchNet (includes pictures and floor plan) Images of the Mausoleum of Baybars, Manar al-Athar digital photo archive Buildings and structures completed in 1277 Libraries in Syria Buildings and structures in Damascus Mamluk architecture in Syria Mausoleums in Syria Buildings and structures inside the walled city of Damascus Madrasas in Damascus Syria Education in Damascus 13th-century establishments in the Mamluk Sultanate