Folio from a Qur'an Manuscript

8th–9th century

Not on view

While the earliest surviving Qur’ans were copied in a tall, streamlined script known as hijazi on a vertical parchment support , such preferences were abandoned during the Umayyad period as scribes developed the horizontal format and kufic script of the kind seen in this folio. The wide, elongated calligraphy spreads out elegantly across the horizontally formatted parchment as scribes manipulate the width of individual letters to fill out lines. The earliest script lacked dots and signs indicating vowels and specific consonants, arguably because the words on the page functioned as a memory aide for a text that its reader already knew by heart. The shift away from this oral tradition is manifested in this folio, which includes colored dots and marks to help the reader follow the text properly.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Title: Folio from a Qur'an Manuscript
Date: 8th–9th century
Geography: Made in Egypt or Iraq
Medium: Ink on parchment
Dimensions: H. 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm)
W. 5 3/4 in. (14.6 cm)
Classification: Codices
Credit Line: Gift of Marilyn Jenkins, 1984
Object Number: 1984.504.1
Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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