[al-Qurʼān, late 8th century?].

Fragment from an early ʻAbbāsid Qurʼān on parchment dyed orange-red (compare cat.11, p.58 in Déroche, The Abbasid tradition, Nasser D. Khalili collection of Islamic art, v.1 and Metropolitan Museum of Art accession nos. 40.164.1a and 40.164.1b) carrying Sūrat Hūd (11) verses 88 through 103 (11:88-11:103).

Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Library, Isl. Ms. 1048

Origin: Likely late 8th century on paleographical grounds as proposed by Déroche (compare cat.11, p.58 in Déroche, The Abbasid tradition, Nasser D. Khalili collection of Islamic art, v.1). Yasser Tabbaa has suggested a dating of 9th century on paleographical grounds along with the caveat that the tinting raises the possibility of 10th century Fatimid dating (see cat. no. 203, p.154 in The Beginning of understanding: writing in the ancient world, c1991).

Former shelfmark: Kelsey 64.2.3 (km1964.2.3)

Support: Parchment dyed a deep orange or salmon color ; recto is flesh side.

Decoration: Three oblique strokes one above the other (Déroche style 1.1.1) mark verse divisions ; circles in white (roundels of Déroche style 1.D.I) mark ten verses (on verso four additional circles or annuli also appear with the central circle) ; alif in white with contrasting outline marks five verses.

Script: Kufic or Early ʻAbbāsid script of Déroche style C.Ib (see George, The Rise of Islamic calligraphy, p.152 and Déroche, Les manuscrits du coran, p.40) ; short vowels provided in the form of white discs ; short strokes inserted at the end of certain lines to lengthen them (see Déroche, Les manuscrits du coran, p.21 and Whelan, Writing the word of God, p.114 and note 15).

Layout: Written in 16 lines per page.

Collation: Single leaf.

Title supplied by cataloguer.

Ms. fragment.

(verso) Sūrat Hūd (11) middle of verse 94 through end of verse 103 (11:94-103)

(recto) Sūrat Hūd (11) middle of verse 88 through middle of verse 94 (11:88-94)

Whelan, Estelle. "Writing the word of God: some early Qurʾān manuscripts and their milieux, part I." Ars Orientalis 20, (1990):

George, Alain. The Rise of Islamic calligraphy. London: Saqi, 2010.

Déroche, François. The Abbasid tradition : Qurʼans of the 8th to the 10th centuries AD. The Nasser D. Khalili collection of Islamic art, v. 1. New York : Nour Foundation in association with Azimuth Editions and Oxford University Press, c1992.

Déroche, François. Les manuscrits du coran. Aux origines de la calligraphie coranique. Catalogue des manuscrits arabes. Deuxième partie: manuscrits musulmans, Tome I, 1. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, 1983.

Tabbaa, Yasser. "The Art of writing: calligraphy in the Islamic world." In The Beginning of understanding: writing in the ancient world. Marti Lu Allen and T. Keith Dix, eds. (Ann Arbor : Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan, c1991):

Fragment from an early ʻAbbāsid Qurʼān on parchment dyed orange-red (compare cat.11, p.58 in Déroche, The Abbasid tradition, Nasser D. Khalili collection of Islamic art, v.1 and Metropolitan Museum of Art accession nos. 40.164.1a and 40.164.1b) carrying Sūrat Hūd (11) verses 88 through 103 (11:88-11:103).

Mode of access: Internet.

Gift of Dr. Alexander Grant Ruthven (1882-1971) who served as the Unversity of Michigan’s seventh president from 1929 to 1951 ; purchased in Egypt by his son Peter and presented to the Kelsey Museum 22 October 1964. Transferred to the Rare Book Room from the Kelsey Museum.

Gift of Dr. Alexander Grant Ruthven (1882-1971) who served as the Unversity of Michigan’s seventh president from 1929 to 1951 ; purchased in Egypt by his son Peter and presented to the Kelsey Museum in 1964.