Codex Marcel 5 – A Qur'ānic Manuscript From 1st Century Of Hijra
Islamic Awareness
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First Composed: 1st January 2020
Last Updated: 8th March 2020
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Assalamu ʿalaykum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatuhu:
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Folio 28v |
Folio 31v |
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Folio 5v |
Folio 4r |
Folios from Codex Marcel 5.
Date
1st century of hijra.
Two folios located at Leiden were radiocarbon dated under the auspices of the Corpus Coranicum project. Folio 4 has been dated to 649-764 CE with 95.4% probability, with that range being broken down into a 86.3% probability that it dates to between 649 and 711 CE and a 9.1% probability that it dates to between 746 and 764 CE. Folio 2/3 has been dated to 654-766 CE with 95.4% probability, with that range being broken down into a 77.6% probability that it dates to between 654 and 715 CE and a 17.8% probability that it dates to between 743 and 766 CE. Although the combined dating is given as 652–763 CE, it does not give the true nature of distribution of probabilities of dates.[1] Radiocarbon analyses of folios combinely date the codex to 652-763 CE with 95.4% probability, with that range being broken down into a 89.3% probability that it dates to between 652 and 694 CE and a 6.1% probability that it dates to between 747 and 763 CE.
History Of The Manuscript
This manuscript was kept at the ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀṣ mosque, Fusṭāṭ until, at the end of the 18th century, a member of French expedition to Egypt, Jean-Joseph Marcel, acquired a few leaves which, in 1864, became part of the collection of what is now known as National Library of Russia at St. Petersburgh. A few years later another Frenchman, Jean-Louis Asselin de Cherville (d. 1822), a consular agent of France in Cairo from 1806 to 1822, was able to buy a larger number of folios. These were passed to the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, in 1833, and became part of Arabe 331 collection of Qur'an manuscripts. François Déroche was the first person to give a brief description in his handlist of manuscripts at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Ms. Leiden Or. 14.545a were purchased in May 1979 from Mr. H. C. Jorissen, former Dutch ambassador in Beirut, where he had purchased the fragments.
Size & Folios
Parchment manuscript with an approximate size of 50.5 cm x 33.0 cm. There are 20 lines per page.
This manuscript has 35 folios = 17 (Marcel 5, National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg) + 10 (Arabe 335, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris)[2] + 4 (Ms. Leiden Or. 14.545a, University Library, Leiden)[3] + 1 (KFQ50, Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London)[4] + 1 (A 6958, Oriental Institute, Chicago)[5] + 1 (E16264 K, University of Pennsylvania Museum) + 1 (Ms. 276, Museum of Islamic Art, Doha).
Script & Ornamentation
Kufic. In Déroche's terminology, the manuscript is written in B Ib.
Written in light brown to dark ink. Diacritics are shown by oblique lines with qaf indicated by a point placed under the letter. Vocalization is shown using red dots. The verses are separated by yellow diamonds with outlines drawn in ink. Half-green, half-red alif indicate the groups of five verses, rubric squares those of ten. Under the banner which separates the suras from each other, a more recent hand has added in black ink the formula "fātihatu sūrati ..." followed by the title and the number of verses.
Contents
Below are the published information of folios in this codex.
Codex Marcel 5 Folio Number Qur'anic Surah Image Publication Comments 1r 2:269 – 2:275 – Ms. Leiden Or. 14.545a 1v 2:277 – 2:282 – Ms. Leiden Or. 14.545a 2r 5:91 – 5:94 Abbott, 1939 A 6958 2v 5:97 – 5:102 Abbott, 1939 A 6958 3r 10:90 – 10:101 – KFQ50 3v 10:101 – 10:109 ; 11:1 – 11:3 Déroche, 1992 KFQ50 4r 17:40 – 17:51 – Ms. Leiden Or. 14.545a 4v 17:51 – 17:61 – Ms. Leiden Or. 14.545a 5r 17:62 – 17:73 – Ms. Leiden Or. 14.545a 5v 17:73 – 17:87 – Ms. Leiden Or. 14.545a 6r 17:87 – 17:98 – Ms. Leiden Or. 14.545a 6v 17:98 – 17:110 – Ms. Leiden Or. 14.545a 7r 18:20 – 18:28 – Arabe 335 7v 18:28 – 18:38 – Arabe 335 8r 29:10 – 29:21 – Marcel 5 8v 29:21 – 29:30 – Marcel 5 9r 29:50 – 29:62 – Marcel 5 9v 29:62 – 29:69; 30:1 – 30:6 – Marcel 5 10r 30:6 – 30:17 – Marcel 5 10v 30:18 – 30:27 – Marcel 5 11r 30:27 – 30:38 – Marcel 5 11v 30:38 – 30:47 – Marcel 5 12r 30:47 – 30:57 – Marcel 5 12v 30:57 – 30:60; 31:1 – 31:11 – Marcel 5 13r 31:11 – 31:20 – Marcel 5 13v 31:20 – 31:30 – Marcel 5 14r 31:30 – 31:34; 32:1 – 32:5 – Marcel 5 14v 32:6 – 32:19 – Marcel 5 15r 33:9 – 33:18 – Marcel 5 15v 33:18 – 33:25 – Marcel 5 16r 33:54 – 33:63 – Marcel 5 16v 33:63 – 33:73; 34:1 – Marcel 5 17r 34:1 – 34:10 – Marcel 5 17v 34:10 – 34:19 – Marcel 5 18r 34:19 – 34:31 – Marcel 5 18v 34:31 – 34:39 – Marcel 5 19r 34:39 – 34:49 – Marcel 5 19v 34:49 – 34:54; 35:1 – 35:5 – Marcel 5 20r 35:5 – 35:13 – Marcel 5 20v 35:13 – 35:26 – Marcel 5 21r 35:27 – 35:36 – Marcel 5 21v 35:36 – 35:43 – Marcel 5 22r 36:31 – 36:47 – Marcel 5 22v 36:47 – 36:66 – Marcel 5 23r 36:66 – 36:82 – Marcel 5 23v 36:83; 37:1 – 37:25 – Marcel 5 24r 37:26 – 37:54 – Marcel 5 24v 37:54 – 37:86 – Marcel 5 25r 40:8 – 40:20 – Arabe 335 25v 40:20 – 40:28 – Arabe 335 26r 40:28 – 40:38 – Arabe 335 26v 40:38 – 40:49 – Arabe 335 27r 40:49 – 40:61 – Arabe 335 27v 40:61 – 40:71 – Arabe 335 28r 40:72 – 40:83 – Arabe 335 28v 40:83 – 40:85; 41:1 – 41:11 – Arabe 335 29r 41:11 – 41:21 – Arabe 335 29v 41:21 – 41:30 – Arabe 335 30r 41:31 – 41:41 – Arabe 335 30v 41:41 – 41:50 – Arabe 335 31r 41:50 – 41:54; 42:1 – 42:8 – Arabe 335 31v 42:8 – 42:15 – Arabe 335 32r 42:15 – 42:23 – Arabe 335 32v 42:23 – 42:33 – Arabe 335 33r 42:33 – 42:45 – Arabe 335 33v 42:45 – 42:53 – Arabe 335 34r 54:11 – 54:15 – E16264 K 34v 54:34 – 54:37 – E16264 K
Location
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg; University Library, Leiden; Museum of Islamic Art, Doha (Qatar); University of Pennsylvania Museum (USA); Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London; Oriental Institute, Chicago (USA).
References
[1] 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.
[2] F. Déroche, Catalogue Des Manuscrits Arabes: Deuxième Partie: Manuscrits Musulmans - Tome I, 1: Les Manuscrits Du Coran: Aux Origines De La Calligraphie Coranique, 1983, Bibliothèque Nationale: Paris, p. 69.
[3] J. J. Witkam, Inventory Of The Oriental Manuscripts Of The Library Of The University Of Leiden, 2007, Volume 15, Manuscripts Or. 14.001 - Or. 15.000, Ter Lugt Press: Leiden, p. 253.
[4] F. Déroche, The Abbasid Tradition: Qur'ans Of The 8th To The 10th Centuries AD, 1992, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, Volume I, Oxford University Press, p. 49.
[5] N. Abbott, The Rise Of The North Arabic Script And Its Kur'ānic Development, With A Full Description Of The Kur'ān Manuscripts In The Oriental Institute, 1939, University of Chicago Press, p. 64, Plates XV.
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