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Saudi Fund for Development Breaks Ground for Library at University of Sarajevo

Officials at the ceremony in Sarajevo. (SPA)
Officials at the ceremony in Sarajevo. (SPA)
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Saudi Fund for Development Breaks Ground for Library at University of Sarajevo

Officials at the ceremony in Sarajevo. (SPA)
Officials at the ceremony in Sarajevo. (SPA)

Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) Board of Directors Chairman Ahmed bin Aqeel Al-Khateeb laid the foundation stone on Monday for the construction of the new library at the University of Sarajevo.

The important project is being funded through a generous $22 million grant provided by Saudi Arabia through the SFD, reported the Saudi Press Agency.

Present at the ceremony were Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Elmedin Konakovic, Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton Nihad Uk, Saudi Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Osama bin Dakhil Al-Ahmadi, Rector of the University of Sarajevo Prof. Dr. Rifat Skrijelj, Deputy CEO of SFD Eng. Faisal Al-Kahtani, and other officials.

The new library will act as a central hub to connect the university’s 28 sub-libraries, and will help boost its educational and research capabilities. Covering an area of 13,590 square meters, it will be equipped with the latest technology and digital learning tools, helping to future-proof the university, and allowing it to better meet the needs of its students.

More than 22,000 male and female students, 1,618 staff and faculty members will be able to access the new facility.

Additionally, the library will play a key role in supporting the advancement of the university’s research and innovation capabilities, while helping build the research skills of students and graduates. It will also contribute towards realizing the UN Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDG 4, Quality Education, and SDG 10, Reduced Inequalities.

Al-Khateeb stressed: "This project reflects the strong and lasting developmental ties between Saudi Arabia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which began three decades ago. We are confident that the new library will help meet the needs of both male and female students at the University of Sarajevo, and the surrounding community."

Konakovic stated: "Thanks to a generous grant from the Kingdom, through SFD, this project has become the largest post-war investment in the infrastructure of our University. It will enrich our academic community, while reflecting the strong ties and mutual respect between our two nations.”

“The library will serve as a symbol of our joint efforts to promote education and advance knowledge, and as a place where generations of students and researchers can gather to contribute to the development of our society, country and wider region."

Uk said: "The building for which we are laying the foundation stone today is significant because it will also be the most visible bridge of friendship between Saudi Arabia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are grateful to Saudi Arabia for this investment.”

“The library is a symbol of knowledge, cultural upliftment, communication, and I believe that our cooperation and friendship will develop precisely in these directions in the future.”

During the past three decades, SFD has helped to fund 11 projects and development programs across Bosnia and Herzegovina, through soft development loans worth a total of $185 million.

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50 Well-preserved Viking Age Skeletons Unearthed in Denmark

Skeletons and skulls sit in graves at an excavation site of a 10th century Viking burial ground in Aasum, Denmark, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/James Brooks)
Skeletons and skulls sit in graves at an excavation site of a 10th century Viking burial ground in Aasum, Denmark, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/James Brooks)
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50 Well-preserved Viking Age Skeletons Unearthed in Denmark

Skeletons and skulls sit in graves at an excavation site of a 10th century Viking burial ground in Aasum, Denmark, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/James Brooks)
Skeletons and skulls sit in graves at an excavation site of a 10th century Viking burial ground in Aasum, Denmark, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/James Brooks)

In a village in central Denmark, archeologists made a landmark discovery that could hold important clues to the Viking era: a burial ground, containing some 50 “exceptionally well-preserved” skeletons.
“This is such an exciting find because we found these skeletons that are so very, very well preserved,” said archeologist Michael Borre Lundø, who led the six-month dig. “Normally, we would be lucky to find a few teeth in the graves, but here we have entire skeletons.”
The skeletons were preserved thanks to favorable soil chemistry, particularly chalk and high water levels, experts from Museum Odense said. The site was discovered last year during a routine survey, ahead of power line renovation work on the outskirts of the village of Aasum, 5 kilometers, northeast of Odense, Denmark’s third-largest city.
Experts hope to conduct DNA analyses and possibly reconstruct detailed life histories, as well as looking into social patterns in Viking Age, such as kinship, migration patterns and more.
“This opens a whole new toolbox for scientific discovery,” said Borre Lundø as he stood on the muddy, wind-swept excavation site. “Hopefully we can make a DNA analysis on all the skeletons and see if they are related to each other and even where they come from.”
During the Viking Age, considered to run from 793 to 1066 A.D., Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raids, colonizing, conquering and trading throughout Europe, even reaching North America.
The Vikings unearthed at Aasum likely weren’t warriors. Borre Lundø believes the site was probably a “standard settlement,” perhaps a farming community, located 5 kilometers from a ring fortress in what’s now central Odense.
The 2,000-square meter burial ground holds the remains of men, women and children. Besides the skeletons, there are a few cremated bodies.
In one grave, a woman is buried in a wagon -- the higher part of a Viking cart was used as a coffin — suggesting she was from the “upper part of society,” Borre Lundø told The Associated Press.
Archeologists also unearthed brooches, necklace beads, knives, and even a small shard of glass that may have served as an amulet.
Borre Lundø said the brooch designs suggest the dead were buried between 850 and 900 A.D.
“There’s different levels of burials,” he explained. “Some have nothing with them, others have brooches and pearl necklaces.”
Archeologists say many of the artefacts came from far beyond Denmark’s borders, shedding light on extensive Viking trade routes during the 10th century.
“There’s a lot of trade and commerce going on,” said Borre Lundø. “We also found a brooch that comes from the island of Gotland, on the eastern side of Sweden, but also whetstones for honing your knife ... all sorts of things point to Norway and Sweden.”
The burial site was discovered last year, and the dig, which started in April, ended Friday. Boxes of artefacts have shipped to Museum Odense’s preservation labs for cleaning and analysis.
Conservator Jannie Amsgaard Ebsen hopes the soil may also hold other preserved organic material on the backs of brooches or knife handles.
“We’re really hoping to gain the larger picture. Who were the people that were living out there? Who did they interact with?” she said. “It’s a little bit like a jigsaw puzzle: all the various puzzle parts will be placed together.”