Vat. Ar. 1605: A Qur'anic Manuscript From 1st Century Hijra In Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
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First Composed: 14th December 2001
Last Updated: 14th December 2001
Verso
Date
1st century hijra.
Manuscript Number
Vaticani Arabi 1605. Folio 1v.
Size
28.8 x 20.3 cm.
Contents
Recto: Surah Yunus verses 102 to Surah Hud verse 3. Verso: Surah Hud verses 4 to 13. See above picture.
Script
Makkan [or Hijazi] script.
It was written in italic script that was used in copying the Qur'an at that time. Occasional diacritical marks are observed as seen in line 9 for kha and nun.
This manuscript, the one folio in The Nasser David Khalili Collection (Accession No. KFQ 60, published by Déroche) and a few folios in Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (Arabe 328a) are parts of the same mushaf. They all are dated to first century of hijra.
Location
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana [Vatican Library, Vatican City].
References
[1] G. Levi Della Vida, Frammenti Coranici In Carattere Cufico: Nella Biblioteca Vaticana, 1947, Studi e testi no. 132, Citta Del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana: Vatican City, pp. 1-2 and Tavola 1.
[2] B. Gruendler, The Development Of The Arabic Scripts: From The Nabatean Era To The First Islamic Century According To The Dated Texts, 1993, Harvard Semitic Series No. 43, Scholars Press: Atlanta, GA., p. 171.
[3] F. Déroche, The Abbasid Tradition: Qur'ans Of The 8th To The 10th Centuries AD, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art Vol. I, 1992, Oxford University Press, p. 32.
[4] Y. Dutton, "An Early Mushaf According To The Reading Of Ibn `Amir", Journal Of Qur'anic Studies, 2001, Volume III (no. I), pp. 71-89.
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