By: AAP FactCheck
A Facebook post claims that secret manuscripts uncovered in a Tibetan monastery detail more than 10,000 years of human history. The February 8 post features an image of a man staring up at a wall of shelves stacked with piles of scrolls. The text reads, “Library found in Tibet with 84,000 secret manuscripts (books) which include the history of humanity of over 10,000 years!”
The post goes on to claim the find at “Sakia (sic) Monastery” is “possibly the largest library in the world on the distant history of the planet. It was discovered behind a huge wall”. At the time of publication, the post had been viewed 7.5 million times and shared nearly 200 times, including by New Zealand users.
THE ANALYSIS
Tibet’s Sakya monastery contains a library of international renown, but its works don’t date back 10,000 years – which would predate the earliest known writing and recorded history. The monastery was reportedly founded in 1073 by the Lama Khön Könchok Gyalpo. The initial temple, built to the north of a river, no longer remains, however a southern temple complex erected in 1268 still stands. Sakya is one of Tibet’s four major schools of Buddhism and the monastery’s library, as shown here in a video tour, is considered one of Tibet’s cultural treasures. It contains an enormous archive of texts including thousands of sacred Buddhist scriptures. Similar images to the one seen in the post can be found online (examples here, here and here). Read more
