Sept. 6th 2002.

Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qassimi inaugurated an Arabic calligraphy Exhibition held on the sidelines of the first International Conference on Middle East studies.

Sharjah participated with 30 works of calligraphy the from the museum of Sharjah. The opening was attended by the education minister of German province of Rheinland Pflatz.

He also visited the Johannes Museum in Gutenburg and the Roman Ships Museum, established in 1900. the Museum is one of the oldest which monitors the history and development of printing works throughout the history of mankind. Sheikh Sultan also saw the archaeological pieces of Holy Quran, the bible and a legacy of history, Islamic and Christian books.

He was told that Arabs and Muslims knew and practiced printing works nearly 500 years before Gutenberg.

The officials at the museum revealed that the museum has a printed chapter of the Holy Quran, which was printed in the year 1000 AD by Muslims in Egypt. They were followed by the Chinese in the year 1100 AD, before the Gutenberg printed a copy of the Bible in 1452, the official told.

Before leaving Germany, he commended the Johannes University of Gutenberg for organizing the first international conference on middle east studies. He urged officials of the Arab universities, cultural centers and museums to interact with the German people, who crave to know more about the Arab and Islamic worlds.