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Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy

Qur'anic Verses

ALTERNATE TITLE(S)
Koran (fragment), leaf no. 10

AUTHOR/CREATOR
Calligrapher: unknown

CREATED/PUBLISHED
9th century

NOTES
Dimensions of Written Surface: 23.8 (w) x 14.7 (h) cm

Script: Kufi

This calligraphic fragment includes verses 85-88 of the 6th chapter of the Qur'an entitled Surat al-An'am (The Cattle). This late Meccan surah describes the nature of God and how He reveals Himself. Verses 85-88 in particular describe a number of prophets such as Jesus, Elias, and Jonah as capable of guiding believers to the "straight path" (al-sirat al-mustaqim).

The text is executed in Kufi script in black ink at six lines per page, surrounded by a gold painted frame. Verses on the fragment's recto have worn off substantially, as they have been executed on the flesh side of the parchment. On the recto's third line appears a fifth-verse marker separating verse 85 from 86. It is in the shape of a gold upturned virgule. Other verse markers on the recto and verso take the form of a gold painted flower with a central blue dot. Diacritics appear as red dots and marks for vowellesness (sukun) as green dots. Other diacritical marks are shaped as diagonal strokes and may have been inserted at a later date.

The text's Kufi script is in the D.I. style typical of horizontal Qur'ans produced on parchment during the 9th century (Déroche 1992, p. 69, cat. no. 21).

SUBJECT
Arabic script calligraphy
Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
Islamic calligraphy
Islamic manuscripts
Kufi
Arabic calligraphy
Qur'anic verses

MEDIUM
27.5 (w) x 17 (h) cm

CALL NUMBER
AL-10

REPOSITORY
Library of Congress, African and Middle Eastern Division, Washington, D.C. 20540

DIGITAL ID
ascs 288
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.288

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