Discover the Qur’an as a source of artistic inspiration and expression in this selection of works on paper.
Unlike the rest of the Islamic world, where Qur’ans were written on paper from the 11th century on, North Africa and Spain continued to copy the revelation on parchment well into the 15th century. This page is written in a round script known as maghribi that is considered to be a further evolution of kufic, and occurred in Maghreb (North Africa), hence the name.
Compared to earlier examples, the text on this page (Qur’an, 80:24-32) is written more clearly and is easier to read. Each letter is accompanied by diacritical marks, as well as by vowels and pauses, conveniently marked in a different ink from the main words. The page also contains illuminated verse divisions, in the form of gold knots, and drop-shaped and round medallions in the margin which indicate the fifth and tenth verse stop respectively.
kufic
A term denoting various styles of angular Arabic script. Emerged in the early centuries of Islam, kufic soon became the preferred hand to copy holy texts.
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
Objects from past exhibitions may have now returned to our stores or a lender. Click into an individual object record to confirm whether or not an object is currently on display. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis, so please contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular Eastern Art object.
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