Thread : The Qur’ān attributed to Caliph ‘Uthman found in the ‘Amr mosque in Cairo.
1/10. I wish you once again a happy new year to all of you ! My year 2020 is dedicated to the very special Codex Amrensis 22. And as you will see, this manuscript raises a lot of issues.
1/10. I wish you once again a happy new year to all of you ! My year 2020 is dedicated to the very special Codex Amrensis 22. And as you will see, this manuscript raises a lot of issues.
2/10. During my PhD, I had the chance to work on Arabe 324. It gathers 46 Qur’ān leaves which came from the ‘Amr mosque in Cairo. These and 12 others were acquired by Asselin de Cherville at the beginning of the 19th. He sold 12 folios which are now in the Gotha Library (Germany)
3/10. Arabe 324 is unique among the collection of Qur’an mss in Paris. I’d never expected such a monument. The volume is indeed a plano format, that is an entire animal skin for 1 leaf ! Opening the volume requires a large space: you need 2 places and you work mostly standing up.
4/10. But, despite the similar giant format and layout, the leaves are classified in 4 different sets with a script more or less distinct. In the catalogue, these are Arabe 324a, b, c and d.
So, here is the 1st issue: Are these leaves really part of one same single manuscript?
So, here is the 1st issue: Are these leaves really part of one same single manuscript?
5/10.At first glance, they aren't from the same period. And a carbon dating analysis confirmed this assumption. The earliest one is Ar.324c (between 660-780).
The others are later: Ar.324a is from the 11th-12th, and 324d is from the beginning of the 12th- beginning of the 13th
The others are later: Ar.324a is from the 11th-12th, and 324d is from the beginning of the 12th- beginning of the 13th
6/10. For now, I assume that these later folios are restorations of the original manuscript. At least, they were considered as one single unit at some later point, as all of them have the same additions in black at the beginning and end of the folios + sūras titles.
7/10. 2nd important issue: How old is the original manuscript? Is it from the Umayyad time? Or from the Abbasid one? The carbon dating cannot answer to that issue. So, we need to find other evidences for refining the dating, maybe in studying the ornaments or the paleography .
8/10. The 3rd issue regards its attribution to ‘Uthman. How old is its specific status? Egyptian historians from the 14th-15th, tell us that a Qur’ān of ‘Uthman with blood stains was brought to the ‘Amr mosque at the beginning of the 10th century CE. Is it our Codex Amrensis 22?
9/10. In any event, its attribution seems to be not well established until recently. In 1901, the Russian scholar Shebunin (who just published his study on the ‘Uthman ms from Samarqand), studied a part of the volume in Cairo.. He didn’t mention any attribution to ‘Uthman.
10/10. Here are the main issues of my project. Where it gets very interesting is that the Paris and Gotha leaves are only a small part of the Codex Amrensis 22. Some other hundreds leaves are still kept in Egypt and also.. in Istanbul! So, let’s get ready to explore new horizons!
