Some of the earliest texts in the Manuscripts and Archives Research Library are incised in cuneiform script on clay tablets from Sumeria (modern day Iraq); the tablets are upwards of two thousand years old.
There are over 70 Arabic manuscripts including some with Persian, Samaritan, Turkish, Hebrew and Hausa linguistic associations. A large proportion of the texts relate to the Islamic religion and laws; included are nearly 20 Korans.
Ancient Irish, classical and other antiquities include:
Two Ogham stones, probably dating to the 5th or 6th centuries, from Inishvickillaune, Co. Kerry and Fortwilliam, barony of Clanmaurice.
Three pre-10th-century brooches.
Two gold fibula [Ireland, ?8th-7th-century BC].
Bronze die (East Anglia, late 7th or early 8th century), used for impressing silver or gold foil.
Insular gilt bronze cross mount (8th century).
Medieval bronze bell, possibly associated with Abbey of Dough Mór, Co. Mayo.
Coptic textiles from the 3rd – 8th centuries
Pallaya, a stringed musical instrument, probably once part of collection of explorer Captain James Cook (1728-79) from his voyages in the South Seas.
Stauette of Pallas Athéné, Greek goddess
Greek stélé (stones used for commemorative purposes or as territorial markers) found in Egypt bearing a dedication of a site to the god Shebah, dated 93 BC.
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