Birmingham Quran manuscript

Birmingham Quran manuscript
Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham
folio 1 verso (right) and folio 2 recto
DateBetween c. 568 and 645
Language(s)Arabic
Scribe(s)Unknown
Material
Formatvertical
ScriptHijazi
ContentsParts of Surahs 19 to 20
Accession1572a
Comparison of a 20th-century edition of the Quran (left) and the Birmingham Quran manuscript (right)

The Birmingham Quran manuscript comprises two leaves of parchment from an early Quranic manuscript or muṣḥaf. In 2015, the manuscript, which is held by the University of Birmingham,[1] was radiocarbon dated to between 568 and 645 AD (in the Islamic calendar, between 56 before Hijrah and 24 after Hijrah).[2][3] It is part of the Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern manuscripts, held by the university's Cadbury Research Library.[2]

The manuscript is written in ink on parchment, using an Arabic Hejazi script and is still clearly legible.[3] The leaves preserve parts of Surahs 19 (Maryam) to 20 (Taha).[4] It was on display at the University of Birmingham in 2015 and then at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery until 5 August 2016.[5] The Cadbury Research Library has carried out multispectral analysis of the manuscript and XRF analysis of the inks.[6]

  1. ^ "Virtual Manuscript Room". University of Birmingham. Archived from the original on 25 August 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Birmingham Qur'an manuscript dated among the oldest in the world". University of Birmingham. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  3. ^ a b "'Oldest' Koran fragments found in Birmingham University". BBC. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Tests show UK Quran manuscript is among world's oldest". CNN. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  5. ^ Authi, Jasbir (22 July 2015). "Worldwide media frenzy as 'oldest Koran' found lying forgotten at University of Birmingham". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  6. ^ "FAQs - University of Birmingham".

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