(MENAFN) Book lovers, educated people and everyone who has ever been to downtown in the Jordanian capital are mourning the death of Hisham Maaytah, whose shop was a magnet for readers of all ages and from all walks of life.

Maaytah died in a car accident on Saturday at the age of 48, just weeks after a fire at his warehouse near the shop destroyed thousands of valuable and rare books he had.

Maaytah's shop, Khazanat Al Jahith, a kiosk in downtown Amman, attracted intellectuals, writers, poets, lawyers, teachers and students. He was famous for being intellectual, intelligent and always willing to engage in discussions about books.

The shop's stock has old books and periodicals published in Jerusalem in the late 1800s. Among these are copies of Arabic literary journals such as An-nafais al-Assriah, which was published in Palestine under Ottoman rule and the British Mandate. There are also old magazines published in Egypt, religious and scientific books about Arab achievements as well as documents dating back to the Ottoman era.





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