Date/Time
Date(s) - 22 Feb 2013 until 23 Feb 2013
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Location
Penn Museum Rainey Auditorium
Category(ies) No Categories
Toward a ‘Biography’ of a Manuscript: A copy of the Qur’an from 12th c. Iran
A Project in the History of the Book
Friday, February 22, 2013 at 9:00 AM – Saturday, February 23, 2013 at 4:00 PM
Penn Museum
Classroom 2
The NEP-27 Qur’an manuscript was purchased by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in 1927. Manuscripts that have survived from northwestern Iran of the mid-12th century are very rare, and this one is an important example of Seljuk period book production with the illumination practices continuing from models established in late Abbasid workshops. It is also an interesting case of book ‘restoration’ that must be closely examined as it points to a complex history of usage. Between the time of its copying and its donation as waqf by Amīr Ahmad Jāwīsh (d. 1786) to the al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, the manuscript underwent many changes and vicissitudes. An examination thus far reveals that there were several interventions to the integrity of the original: an interlinear commentary, the framing of the text, the enhancement or reconfiguration of the headings and sub-headings, repairs and replacements of many folios. Even greater is the observation that the manuscript, as we now find it, has been collapsed into one volume from two or perhaps more. This challenge means that a careful study of every folio must be undertaken to ascertain the integrity of the text and commentary.
More information can be found by following the link below.
http://sites.sas.upenn.edu/nep27wksp
To register, visit http://nep27.eventbrite.com/