Transcribing God's Word

Qur'an Codices in Context

Bibliographic Data

ID22318293
AuthorsSheila S Blair (0000-0002-5857-4408, Boston College and Virginia Commonwealth University, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume10
Issue1
Pages72-97
Publication date2008-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Qur'anic Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1465-3591 • E-ISSN: 1755-1730
PublisherEdinburgh University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.3366/e1465359109000242
OpenAlexW1528703367
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited5

For Muslims the Qur'anic text is immutable, yet written versions vary enormously in materials, format and aspect. This article presents a broad overview of the various forms Qur'an codices have assumed during the first millennium of Islamic history, treating these manuscripts as both physical objects and cultural signifiers. It takes a functional approach, relating physical changes such as differing materials and format to social and historical ones such as changes in the status of copyists and illuminators who made these manuscripts, changes in the types of people or institutions for whom these written versions were made, and changes in the ways that these manuscripts were used. It concentrates on three of the finest examples that are well known, relatively well published, and readily dated or datable – the codex endowed by the ʿAbbāsid governor of Damascus in 262/875–76; the codex copied by the calligrapher Ibn al-Bawwāb in 391/1000–1; and the multi-volume codex copied by Aḥmad al-Suhrawardī between 702/1302 and 707/1308 – thereby showing how study of the objects themselves can help us understand the changing nature of Muslim societies, particularly at the highest levels

Archaeology · Art · Islam · Linguistics · Literature · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Historical and Linguistic Studies · History · Islamic Studies and History · Philosophy

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