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Equally significant has been the founding on Mt. Carmel of two international Archives, the one adjoining the shrine of the Bab, the other in the immediate vicinity of the resting- place of the Greatest Holy Leaf, where, for the first time in Baha'i history, priceless treasures, hitherto scattered and often hidden for safekeeping, have been collected and are now displayed to visiting pilgrims. These treasures include portraits of both the Bab and Baha'u'llah; personal relics such as the hair, the dust and garments of the Bab; the locks and blood of Baha'u'llah and such articles as His pen- case, His garments, His brocaded tajes (head dresses), the kashkul of His Sulaymaniyyih days, His watch and His Qur'an; manuscripts and Tablets of inestimable value, some of them illuminated, such as part of the Hidden Words written in Baha'u'llah's own hand, the Persian Bayan, in the handwriting of Siyyid Husayn, the Bab's amanuensis, the original Tablets to the Letters of the Living penned by the Bab, and the manuscript of "Some Answered Questions." This precious collection, moreover, includes objects and effects associated with Abdu'l- Baha; the blood- stained garment of the Purest Branch, the ring of Quddus, the sword of Mulla Husayn, the seals of the Vazir, the father of Baha'u'llah, the brooch presented by the Queen of Rumania to Martha Root, the originals of the Queen's letters to her and to others, and of her tributes to the Faith, as well as no less than twenty volumes of prayers and Tablets revealed by the Founders of the Faith, authenticated and transcribed by Baha'i Assemblies throughout the Orient, and supplementing the vast collection of their published writings.
(347:1)
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