DUBAI: A historic copy of the Quran owned by President Thomas Jefferson is on display at the US pavilion of the Expo 2020 Dubai, after leaving its home at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. for the first time.
“It will be on display in the #USAPavilion as an integral part of our theme, ‘Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of the Future’,” the US pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai said on its official social media account.
Jefferson was the third president of the US, and is widely credited as the principal author of the Declaration of Independence.
Thomas Jefferson’s copy of the Quran left the U.S. for the first time from its home at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. It is on display in the USA Pavilion as an integral part of our theme.@StateDept @StateDept_NEA @UnderSecPD @librarycongress @USAinUAE @UAEEmbassyUS pic.twitter.com/dfdgGJD7TI
— USA Expo 2020 (@USAExpo2020) October 7, 2021
The Quran – a two-volume second edition English translation by George Sale in 1734 – as well as a framed map of Makkah was transferred from the Library of Congress via a custom-made wooden crate with four inches of padding and customized trays, along with a sensor that detects vibrations and temperature changes.
Conservation and security staff escorted the historical artifacts on their way to the global event in Dubai.
It is believed that Jefferson, who was US president for two terms from 1801-1809, acquired the copy of the Quran while he was a young man studying law. The two-volume set was printed in London and has never previously traveled outside the US since its arrival in then Colonial America.
