The importance of ancient handwritten documents for the cultural heritage of peoples is beyond doubt. The main task of the depositaries of research institutes involved in the study of written artefacts is to ensure the long-term physical preservation of manuscripts. This is a vast field of knowledge, including certain information from archival, engineering and technical disciplines, from the fields of history, chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology, astronomy...

The physical safety of written documents at Magtymguly Institute of Language, Literature and National Manuscripts of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan is ensured by a set of measures. And here it is important to know the nature of the document, the conditions of storage and use and ways to extend its life by methods of restoration and conservation.