(CNN) The Library of Congress made public a rare 2,000-year-old text of early Buddhism on Monday, and it offers a glimpse into early Buddhist history during its formative years.

The scroll originated in Gandhara, an ancient Buddhist region in northern Afghanistan and Pakistan. Only a few hundred Gandharan manuscripts are known to scholars worldwide, and each is vital to understanding the early development of Buddhist literature. For instance, using linguistic analysis, scholars study these manuscripts to chart the spread of Buddhism throughout Asia.

The Gandhara text is narrated by Shakyamuni Buddha, the religious leader also known as Siddhartha Gautama, and tells the story of the 13 Buddhas who preceded him, his own emergence and the prediction of a future Buddha. Information on how long each Buddha lived, the social class they were born into and how long their teachings endured are all chronicled in the text.

"This is a unique item because it is very old compared to similar manuscripts and, as such, it does bring us, historically speaking, relatively close to the lifetime of the Buddha," Jonathan Loar , reference librarian in the Asian Division at the Library of Congress, said in a statement.

The library's scroll retains nearly 80% of the original text, with only the beginning and end missing. Most other Gandharan scrolls known to scholars are more fragmentary.

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