Codex M a VI 165 – A Qur'ānic Manuscript From The 1st Century Hijra At The Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen, Germany

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First Composed: 17th October 2010

Last Updated: 8th April 2020

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(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

Folios (a) 1 recto, (b) 24 recto, (c) 33 recto, (d) 37 verso, (e) 50 recto and (f) 54 verso of Codex M a VI 165 at the Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen, Germany.

Date

Second half of the 1st century of hijra.

It is unclear if this manuscript was included in Noseda's table of ḥijāzī manuscripts from 1st century hijra. Giving information about a ḥijāzī manuscript kept at the Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen, he marks a single dash (i.e., ‘fragmented’ text) for sūrah 17 alone.[1] As far as we are aware, there are no ḥijāzī manuscripts at the Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen that contain sūrah 17 only. Could this be a typographical error? Perhaps Noseda had only limited information concerning this manuscript at the time of writing and made note of the starting sūrah only. Alba Fedeli cautiously attributed this manuscript to the 8th century CE and commented upon some of its variants.[2]

Three folios of Codex M a VI 165 were radiocarbon dated under the auspices of the Corpus Coranicum project. Folio 23 has been dated to 637–758 CE with 95.4% probability, with that range being broken down into a 94.8% probability that it dates to between 637 and 690 CE and a 0.6% probability that it dates to between 753 and 758 CE. Folio 28 has been dated to 611–669 CE with 95.4% probability. Folio 37 has been dated to 655–767 CE with 95.4% probability, with that range being broken down into a 75.3% probability that it dates to between 655 and 718 CE and a 20.1% probability that it dates to between 742 and 767 CE. Radiocarbon analyses of folios combinedly date the codex to 649–675 CE with 95.4% probability.[3]

Manuscript Number

M a VI 165.

Size & Folios

19.5 cm x 15.3 cm. There are 18-21 lines per page. Manuscript on parchment.

This manuscript has 77 folios, containing continuous text of the Qur'an from 17:35 to 36:57. This constitutes about 26.2% of the total text of the Qur'an.

History Of The Manuscript

Whilst serving in his position as first Prussian Consul to Damascus in the middle of the 19th century, Johann Gottfried Wetzstein made numerous acquisitions of ancient Arabic manuscripts, many of which belonged to the Qur'an. Wetzstein's acquisitions ended up in several collections across Germany, with this particular ḥijāzī manuscript now kept at the Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen, Germany. In his foreword to a small catalogue he published, Wetzstein said he hoped these more than 1,100 kufic folios of the Qur'an he had collected would be of some interest to those involved in palaeography and Qur'anic criticism,[4] and gave a brief entry for M a VI 165.[5] Weisweiler was the first person to give a brief description of this manuscript in his handlist of manuscripts at the Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen, Germany.[6]

Script & Ornamentation

Ḥijāzī. B1a according to the classification of Déroche.

The script is ḥijāzī though listed as kufic in the catalogue entry. The script is fairly large, thick, rather narrow, slightly rounded, with high shafts and slight tilt to the right. In some folios, the script has faded and it has been retouched by a later hand with black ink. The consonants are frequently differentiated by dashes. A set of 2 or 3 oval dots punctuate the verses. Every tenth verse is marked by a red hollow circle surrounded by dots. The end of sūrahs is characterized by a series of sets of dots forming triangles to fill the line.

The beginning and end of the sūrahs is characterized by ornamentation and with sūrah heading written in the naskhi script, both of which are done inconsistently by a later hand. The muṣḥaf is vocalised by red dots and black dashes, the latter very inconsistently, and is of a later hand.

Contents

The contents of the manuscript are tabulated below. The whole manuscript is online at the library.

Codex M a VI 165
Folios Qur'anic Surah / Ayah Image Publication Comments
1r 17:35 - 17:46
1v 17:46 - 17:56
2r 17:56 - 17:64
2v 17:64 - 17:71
3r 17:71 - 17:82
3v 17:82 - 17:93
4r 17:93 - 17:100
4v 17:100 - 17:110
5r 17:110 - 17:111; 18:1 - 18:10
5v 18:10 - 18:17
6r 18:17 - 18:21
6v 18:21 - 18:28
7r 18:28 - 18:36
7v 18:37 - 18:47
8r 18:47 - 18:55
8v 18:55 - 18:63
9r 18:63 - 18:76
9v 18:76 - 18:85
10r 18:85 - 18:96
10v 18:96 - 18:106
11r 18:107 - 18:110; 19:1 - 19:7
11v 19:7 - 19:20
12r 19:20 - 19:33
12v 19:33 - 19:45
13r 19:45 - 19:58
13v 19:58 - 19:67
14r 19:67 - 19:79
14v 19:79 - 19:97 Fedeli, 2009
15r 19:97 - 19:98; 20:1 - 20:16 Fedeli, 2009; Fedeli, 2010
15v 20:16 - 20:40
16r 20:40 - 20:55
16v 20:56 - 20:70
17r 20:70 - 20:80
17v 20:80 - 20:90
18r 20:90 - 20:104
18v 20:104 - 20:117
19r 20:117 - 20:129
19v 20:129 - 20:135; 21:1 - 21:3
20r 21:3 - 21:17
20v 21:17 - 21:30
21r 21:30 - 21:43
21v 21:43 - 21:57
22r 21:58 - 21:73
22v 21:73 - 21:84
23r 21:84 - 21:94
23v 21:94 - 21:105
24r 21:105 - 21:112; 22:1 - 22:4 Fedeli, 2010
24v 22:5 - 22:11
25r 22:11 - 22:18
25v 22:18 - 22:28
26r 22:28 - 22:35
26v 22:36 - 22:42
27r 22:42 - 22:52
27v 22:52 - 22:61
28r 22:61 - 22:70
28v 22:71 - 22:78
29r 22:78; 23:1 - 23:13
29v 23:14 - 23:24
30r 23:25 - 23:37
30v 23:37 - 23:52
31r 23:53 - 23:69
31v 23:69 - 23:82
32r 23:82 - 23:100
32v 23:100 - 23:118
33r 23:118; 24:1 - 24:10
33v 24:10 - 24:20
34r 24:20 - 24:27
34v 24:27 - 24:31
35r 24:31 - 24:35
35v 24:35 - 24:42
36r 24:42 - 24:51 Fedeli, 2010
36v 24:51 - 24:58
37r 24:58 - 24:61
37v 24:61 - 24:64; 25:1 - 25:3
38r 25:3 - 25:13
38v 25:14 - 25:23
39r 25:23 - 25:35
39v 25:35 - 25:45
40r 25:45 - 25:60
40v 25:60 - 25:75
41r 25:75 - 25:77; 26:1 - 26:18
41v 26:18 - 26:41
42r 26:41 - 26:64
42v 26:64 - 26:94
43r 26:94 - 26:123
43v 26:124 - 26:152
44r 26:152 - 26:178
44v 26:178 - 26:204
45r 26:204 - 26:227; 27:1 - 27:3
45v 27:3 - 27:16
46r 27:16 - 27:28
46v 27:28 - 27:40
47r 27:40 - 27:50
47v 27:50 - 27:61
48r 27:61 - 27:71
48v 27:71 - 27:85
49r 27:85 - 27:93; 28:1 - 28:2
49v 28:2 - 28:11
50r 28:11 - 28:20
50v 28:20 - 28:28
51r 28:28 - 28:36
51v 28:36 - 28:46
52r 28:46 - 28:55
52v 28:55 - 28:63
53r 28:64 - 28:74
53v 28:74 - 28:80
54r 28:80 - 28:88
54v 28:88; 29:1 - 29:10
55r 29:10 - 29:18
55v 29:18 - 29:27
56r 29:27 - 29:34
56v 29:34 - 29:42
57r 29:42 - 29:51
57v 29:51 - 29:61
58r 29:61 - 29:69
58v 30:1 - 30:10
59r 30:10 - 30:22 Fedeli, 2010
59v 30:22 - 30:28
60r 30:28 - 30:38
60v 30:38 - 30:46
61r 30:46 - 30:56
61v 30:56 - 30:60; 31:1 - 31:8
62r 31:8 - 31:16
62v 31:16 - 31:23
63r 31:23 - 31:32
63v 31:33 - 31:34; 32:1 - 32:5
64r 32:5 - 32:19
64v 32:19 - 32:30
65r 32:30; 33:1 - 33:7
65v 33:7 - 33:17
66r 33:17 - 33:24
66v 33:24 - 33:33
67r 33:33 - 33:38
67v 33:38 - 33:50
68r 33:50 - 33:53
68v 33:53 - 33:62
69r 33:62 - 33:72
69v 33:72 - 33:73; 34:1 - 34:6 Fedeli, 2010
70r 34:6 - 34:13
70v 34:13 - 34:19
71r 34:19 - 34:28
71v 34:28 - 34:34
72r 34:34 - 34:43
72v 34:43 - 34:52
73r 34:52 - 34:54; 35:1 - 35:5
73v 35:5 - 35:12
74r 35:12 - 35:22
74v 35:22 - 35:32
75r 35:32 - 35:40
75v 35:40 - 35:45 Fedeli, 2010
76r 36:1 - 36:16
76v 36:16 - 36:31
77r 36:31 - 36:45
77v 36:45 - 36:57

Location

Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen, Germany.

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References & Notes

[1] S. N. Noseda, "Note Esterne In Margin Al 1° Volume Dei ‘Materiali Per Un'edizione Critica Del Corano’", Rendiconti: Classe Di Lettere E Scienze Morali E Storiche, 2000, Vol. 134, Fasc. 1, p. 20.

[2] A. Fedeli, "Relevance Of The Oldest Qur'ānic Manuscripts For The Readings Mentioned By Commentaries. A Note On Sura ‘Ta-Ha’", Manuscripta Orientalia, 2009, Volume 15, Number. 1, pp. 3-10; For more information about this manuscript and the collection where it is located see, idem., "The Kufic Collection Of The Prussian Consul Wetzstein: The 1100 Leaves Of The The Universitätsbibliothek In Tübingen And Their Importance For Palaeography And Qur'ānic Criticism", in R. M. Kerr & T. Milo (Eds.), Writings And Writing From Another World And Another Era: Investigations In Islamic Text And Script In Honour Of Dr Januarius Justus Witkam, 2010, Archetype: Cambridge, pp. 117-142.

[3] M. J. Marx & T. J. Jocham, "Radiocarbon (14C) Dating Of Qur'ān Manuscripts", in A. Kaplony, M. Marx (Eds.), Qur'ān Quotations Preserved On Papyrus Documents, 7th-10th Centuries, 2019, Documenta Coranica: Volume 2, Brill: Leiden, pp. 188-221, esp. Table 6.2 on p. 216. Also see M. J. Marx & T. J. Jocham, "Zu Den Datierungen Von Koranhandschriften Durch Die 14C-Methode", Frankfurter Zeitschrift Für Islamisch-Theologische Studien, 2015, Volume 2, p. 23. More at "Rarität entdeckt: Koranhandschrift stammt aus der Frühzeit des Islam" at Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen, Germany. Accessed on 25th December 2014.

[4] J. G. Wetzstein, Catalog Arabischer Manuscripte In Damaskus Gesammelt, 1863, Druck von Trowitzsch & Sohn: Berlin, p. 2.

[5] ibid., p. 17.

[6] M. Weisweiler, Verzeichnis Der Arabischen Handschriften, 1930, Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen, Volume II, Verlag von Otto Harrassowitz: Leipzig, p. 125. (No. 161). Weisweiler gives the starting verse as 17:37. According to the verse numbering system adopted by the well-known modern printed editions, it is 17:35. The script is ḥijāzī though listed as kufic in the catalogue entry.

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