Codex Ṣanʿāʾ DAM 01-29.1 – A Qur'ānic Manuscript From 1st Century Of Hijra

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First Composed: 19th April 2000

Last Updated: 8th March 2020

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Assalamu ʿalaykum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatuhu:
(a) UNESCO Image No. 028005B
(b) UNESCO Image No. 029006B
(c) UNESCO Image No.030007B
(d) UNESCO Image No.158280B
(e) Maṣāḥif Ṣanʿāʾ, 1985
(f) UNESCO Image No.158281B

Folios from codex DAM 01-29.1

Date

1st century of hijra.[1] Recently, two folios of this codex have been radiocarbon dated by the ETH, Zürich (Switzerland), under the auspices of the Corpus Coranicum project. Folio 7/8 has been dated to 638-669 CE with 95.4% probability. Folio 13 has been dated to 615-660 CE with 95.4% probability. The combined results give the date 633-665 CE with a confidence level (2σ) of 95.4%.[2] Earlier, folio 13 of this manuscript was also subjected to radiocarbon analysis under the auspices of the ANR Project “De l’Antiquité tardive à l’Islam” (DATI, headed by Christian Robin) at the Centre de Datation par le Radiocarbone de Lyon, and has been dated to 603–662 CE with 68% probability.[3]

Inventory No.

DAM 01-29.1

Size & Folios

The folios have the approximate dimensions of 42.0 cm (height) x 29.0 cms (width). The codex consists of 35 folios.[4]

History Of The Manuscript

This manuscript was found in the Great Mosque in Ṣanʿāʾ, Yemen.

Script & Ornamentation

Ḥijāzī.

There are few diacritical marks but no vocalization. This codex was probably written by at least two different copyists as the scripts differ in various folios. For example, in UNESCO Image No. 029006B, the script is italic in the first half and regular in the second half of the fragment except for the letter alīf. On the other hand, in UNESCO Image No. 028005B, although the script in this fragment is italic, yet its angles are sharp. The extremities of its letters are elongated under the line until they almost reach the following line, especially the letters sīn and nūn.

The sūrahs are separated by simple ornaments.

Contents

It has Qur'an 2-8; 14-17; 19-22; 33-34; 36-37; 39-40; 42-53; 69-74; 80-89 (fragmented, not sequential text). The total content of the Qur'an in this codex is ~22%.

Below are the folios of this codex.[5]

Codex Ṣanʿāʾ DAM 01-29.1
Folio Number Qur'anic Surah Size of the Folio (cm.) Image Publication Comments
1a 2:140 – 2:150      
1b 2:150 – 2:164 (40.0 x 26.0) UNESCO Image No. 158279B  
2a 2:164 – 2:177      
2b 2:177 – 2:186      
3a 3:36 – 3:45      
3b 3:45 – 3:55 42.0 x 29.0 UNESCO Image No. 028005B  
4a 3:153 – 3:156     Fragment
4b 3:164 – 3:175     Fragment
5a 4:31 – 4:44      
5b 4:45 – 4:60      
6a 4:89 – 4:102     Folio not entire
6b 4:102 – 4:119     Folio not entire
7a 5:18 – 5:33      
7b 5:33 – 5:45      
8a 5:45 – 5:57      
8b 5:57 – 5:70      
9a 6:74 – 6:93      
9b 6:93 – 6:111      
10a 7:70     Very small fragment
10b 7:83     Very small fragment
11a 7:134 – 7:146      
11b 7:146 – 7:157      
12a 8:11 – 8:26      
12b 8:26 – 8:41      
13a 14:24 – 14:43      
13b 14:43 – 15:19 43.0 x 29.7 Maṣāḥif Ṣanʿāʾ, 1985  
14a 16:86 – 16:107      
14b 16:107 – 17:4      
15a 17:53 – 17:82     Fragment
15b 17:82 – 17:96     Fragment
16a 19:89 – 20:40 42.0 x 29.0 UNESCO Image No. 029006B  
16b 20:40 – 20:78      
17a 20:78 – 20:117      
17b 20:117 – 21:8      
18a 21:8 – 21:34      
18b 21:34 – 21:50      
19a 22:36 – 22:59      
19b 22:59 – 22:78      
20a 33:50 – 33:64      
20b 33:65 – 34:10      
21a 36:75 – 37:27     Fragment
21b 37:35 – 37:81     Fragment
22a 39:75 – 40:17 – von Bothmer et al., 1999[6]  
22b 40:18 – 40:34 42.0 x 29.0 UNESCO Image No. 030007B  
23a 42:45 – 42:53 (22.0 x 30.0) UNESCO Image No. 158282B Fragment
23b 43:16 – 43:30     Fragment
24a 43:46 – 43:71     Folio not entire
24b 43:77 – 44:19 (37.0 x 28.0) UNESCO Image No. 158281B Folio not entire
25a Blank      
25b 45:27 – 45:36      
26a 45:36 – 46:15     Folio not entire
26b 46:15 – 46:26     Folio not entire
27a 46:26 – 46:32 42.0 x 30.0 UNESCO Image No. 158280B  
27b 46:32 – 46:35      
28a 47:1 – 47:21      
28b 47:21 – 48:7      
29a 48:7 – 48:29     Folio not entire
29b 49:1 – 49:18     Folio not entire
30a 50:1 – 50:26      
30b 50:26 – 50:45      
31a 51:1 – 52:26      
31b 52:26 – 53:52      
32a 69:44 – 71:28      
32b 72:8 – 74:28      
33a 80:xx – 82:xx     Fragment
33b 83:xx – 89:xx     Fragment
34a –     Small fragment, edge of folio
34b –     Small fragment, edge of folio
35a –     Small fragment
35b –     Small fragment

Location

Dār al-Makhṭūtāt, Ṣanʿāʾ, Yemen.

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References

[1] Maṣāḥif Ṣanʿāʾ, 1985, Dār al-Athar al-Islamiyyah: Kuwait, pp. 58, Plate 11.

[2] 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.

[3] C. J. Robin, "L’Arabie Dans Le Coran. Réexamen De Quelques Termes À La Lumière Des Inscriptions Préislamiques", in F. Déroche, C. J. Robin & M. Zink (Eds.), Les Origines Du Coran, Le Coran Des Origines, 2015, Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres: Paris, p. 65. It is worth adding that Folio 8 of this codex was dated 439 - 606 with 95% probability. The same laboratory also produced an impossibly early date when it carbon tested a folio from Codex Ṣanʿāʾ 1. It would be prudent to treat these results with caution.

[4] Noja Noseda only mentions this codex without the total folios. See S. Noja Noseda, "La Mia Vista A Sanaa E Il Corano Palinseto", Rendiconti: Classe Di Lettere E Scienze Morali E Storiche, 2003 (Published 2004), Volume 137, Fasc. 1, p. 53.

[5] The data was compiled using the information provided by Dr. Alba Fedeli (Professor of Arabic Language, University of Milan, Italy) who has examined the manuscript first-hand and Memory Of The World: Ṣanʿāʾ Manuscripts, CD-ROM Presentation by UNESCO. Also see K. Small & E. Puin, "UNESCO CD of Ṣanʿāʾ Mss. Part 3: Qur'ān Palimpsests, And Unique Qur'ān Illustrations", Manuscripta Orientalia, 2007, Volume 13, Number 2, pp. 63, 69.

[6] H-C. G. von Bothmer, K-H. Ohlig & G-R. Puin, "Neue Wege Der Koranforschung", Magazin Forschung (Universität des Saarlandes), 1999, No. 1, p. 39.

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