Item #: SCP-178
Object Class: Neutralized (was Safe)
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-178 and nearly all subdesignations were destroyed by fire in 1966. Previously, standard measures to keep SCP-178, as well as its containing site Reliquary-5, from public knowledge were in place (though due to Reliquary-5's location, such measures were rarely necessary). At present the site is nearly abandoned, though a skeleton guard remains to keep what is left of Site Reliquary-5 undiscovered.
Description: Discovered in 1938 by Dr. █████ ██-█████████ in ██████████, Egypt, SCP-178 was quickly determined to be a companion site to the ancient Library of Alexandria, with its original architecture dating from that period. Notably, SCP-178 (the SCP designation refers to the collection of works, subdesignations refer to individual manuscripts in the collection) contained a number of manuscripts from more modern eras, including replicas of volumes such as the Voynich Manuscript and the Book of Soyga, as well as previously unknown volumes of history, poetry and literature, as well as scientific and alchemical volumes from Dark Age Europe and a number of volumes in entirely unknown alphabets. Investigation into the site's level of decomposition (it was isolated in an area of arid highlands) seems to indicate the site was being maintained and the collection updated as recently as the late 17th century.
When Dr. ██-█████████ reported the site's existence to his friend and confidant, then curator of the ██████████████████ Museum, the SCP Foundation was alerted and took control of the situation. Site Reliquary-5 was built to contain and study the manuscripts in the SCP-178 collection. Dr. ██-█████████ was offered the opportunity to join the research team thanks to his cooperation in keeping the site's discovery a secret, and was given Level 2 security.
At its height shortly before its destruction, SCP-178 had a team of several dozen permanently stationed Level 1 researchers as well as additional oversight staff and security teams in place to study the volumes in the collection. The most potent item in the site's collection was a manuscript first analyzed in 1952, designated SCP-178-113. SCP-178-113 was an anonymously authored collection of information on objects that would today fit the description of present-day SCP designates. Original speculations it was a hoax seem to have been disproven when it was found the book contained a description, including schematics, of SCP-060 (discovered in 1906 in America). The implications and analysis of this can be found in Research Document #22-C.
Unfortunately, SCP-178 was destroyed in 1966. There is still much uncertainty as to how exactly the fire was started, but within a very short time frame the facility was ravaged and only a handful of documents were saved (see Addendum C for a list of manuscripts, their approximated contents, and present storage locations). There was some loss of life due to this event, including Dr. ██-█████████, who was instrumental in saving a handful of valuable manuscripts. The site itself remains closed and SCP-178 has been marked as neutralized, but there are a number of still-ongoing research projects concerning select manuscripts.