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Auction: 16043 - Autographs, Historical Documents, Ephemera and Postal History
Lot: 140

Documents
Middle East
Koran
Thirteenth century folio page from an illustrated Koran; there are some personal commentaries made in another hand between the lines. The manuscript is in Arabic, of Seljuk origin, and in a fine hand. The margins are worn from use with some age staining and edge reinforcements. Traces of the original gold leaf remain and divisions of five and ten verses are marked by illuminated circular and pear-shaped devices. Some Sura headings are in illuminated panels.


This was written when great events were occuring in Islam. In 1258 the Khan Hulaga, Gengis Khan's great grandson, sacked Baghdad but Sultan Baibars turned the tables on the Mongols by expelling them from Syria in 1277, paving the way for the great flowering of Islamic culture and influence over the next five centuries. This manuscript is written in Naskhi, one of the six Koranic scripts considered worthy of the Holy Book. The others are Thuluth, Muhaqqaq, Rayhani, Requ'a and Tawqi; all of these are in some way derivatives from Kufic, the script in which it was first recorded. Naskhi proved to be specially popular because it was more easily read and written by the people themselves. Its form was perfected by Ibn al-Bawwah in the eleventh century. Photo

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Sold for
£280