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Walters Ms. W.553, Koran

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Shelf mark

W.553


Manuscript

Koran


Text title
al-Qurʾān

Vernacular: القرآن


Abstract

This horizontal-format manuscript on parchment is an illuminated fragment of the Qur'an, containing portions of chapters 4 (Sūrat al-nisāʾ), 6 (Sūrat al-anʿām), 7 (Sūrat al-aʿrāf), and 10 (Sūrat Yūnus). The fragment probably dates to the third century AH / ninth CE. The text is written in an Early Abbasid (Kufic) script in dark brown ink and vocalized with red and green dots. Verse markers in the shape of a stylized letter hā' and rosettes indicate groups of five and ten verses. The text is framed by later red, blue, and gold framing lines and a polychrome and gold floral border. The black blind-tooled leather binding with central lobed, pointed oval and pendants is attributable to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE.


Date

3rd century AH / 9th CE


Origin

Central Arab lands


Form

Book


Genre

Scriptural


Language:

The primary language in this manuscript is Arabic.


Extent

Foliation: ii+23+ii


Collation

Catchwords: None

Comments: Contains a number of narrow stubs


Dimensions

24.0 cm wide by 16.0 cm high


Written surface

18.0 cm wide by 11.5 cm high


Layout
  1. Columns: 1
  2. Ruled lines: 14
  3. Later framing lines in red, blue, and gold that probably date to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE

Contents:
fols. 3a - 23b:
  1. Title: al-Qurʾān
  2. Incipit: لقوم يعلمون وهو الذى انشاكم من نفس واحدة ...
  3. Text note: Contains chapters 6 (Sūrat al-anʿām), end of verse 97 through verse 145 and verses 152-158 (fols. 3a-9b); 10 (Sūrat Yūnus), verses 81-91 (fol. 10a-b); 6 (Sūrat al-anʿām), verses 145-151 (fol. 11a-b); 7 (Sūrat al-aʿrāf), verses 14-81 (fols. 12a-19b); 10 (Sūrat Yūnus), verses 23-39 (fols. 20a-21b); 4 (Sūrat al-nisāʾ), verses 93-99 (fol. 22a-b); and 10 (Sūrat Yūnus), verses 91-102 (fol. 23a-b)
  4. Hand note: Written in Early Abbasid (Kufic) script vocalized with red and green dots; no letter-pointing
  5. Decoration note: Verse markers in the shape of a stylized letter hā' and rosettes indicating groups of five and ten verses; later framing lines in red, blue, and gold and a polychrome and gold floral border that probably dates to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE

Binding

The binding is not original.

Probably thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE; black blind-tooled leather (without flap); central lobed, pointed oval and pendants; pastedowns of colored paper


Acquisition

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest


Contributors

Principal cataloger: Gacek, Adam

Catalogers: Landau, Amy; Smith, Sita

Copy editor: Bockrath, Diane

Conservators: Jewell, Stephanie; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Barrera, Christina; Emery, Doug; Herbert, Lynley; Noel, William; Simpson, Shreve; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.; Valle, Chiara


Publisher

The Walters Art Museum


License

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.