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Dr. Éléonore Cellard Profile picture
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7 Jan, 7 tweets, 3 min read
My research project the Qur’ān attributed to the caliph ‘Uthmān ended last month. I think I’ve accomplished a lot during this last year, in accessing all of the dispersed fragments of this manuscript. But so much remains to be discovered about its fascinating history… Image
I examinated a total of 942 leaves, dispersed in Paris, Gotha, Cairo, Istanbul and Detroit.. That's many materials for me, used to work on fragments of dozen of folios! And actually, Codex Amrensis 22 is not one but two manuscripts, mixed together at one moment of their history! ImageImage
February 2020: Egypt

October 2020: Turkey

January 2020: Paris

I add one more step:

September 2020: the discovery of a new folio in Detroit, Institute of Arts
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More from @CellardEleonore

Dr. Éléonore Cellard Profile picture
28 Sep 20
1/5. The Codex Topkapı Sarayı Medine nr.1 could be the Qur’ān attributed to Caliph ‘Uthmān, once kept in the Mosque of Medina, next to the Tomb of the Prophet. This and other Qur’āns and objects were removed by the Ottoman troups during the 1st World War and sent to Istanbul.
2/5. This issue had a great impact. In 1918, the King of Hijaz asked for its restitution. The Qur’ān of ‘Uthmān even appeared in the Treaty of Versailles: France and Great Britain suspected Germany to have it and asked for its restitution. But Germany denied this claim. Image
3/5. In 1920, the Foreign Office concluded “The Turks must have it…[they are maybe] unable to recover it", and the case was closed. In 1920-30’s, the German scholar, G. Bergsträsser, visited the collection of Topkapi and photographed 2 mss with shelfmark Kodex Medina 1a and 1b. Image
Read 5 tweets
Dr. Éléonore Cellard Profile picture
3 Jul 20
One of the most beautiful decorative forms of Eastern Kufic is the so-called Qarmathian Qur’ān, a huge multi-volume manuscript on paper, probably written in the 12th CE, in eastern Iran. The leaves (around 2200 originally) are today dispersed in many collections and libraries. Image
Safadi gave 2 explanations for the origin of the term Qarmathian : 1/. Linguistic derivation from the Arabic word qarmaṭa meaning to make the letter finer and to write the ligatures closer together. 2/. Possible relationship to the Qarmathians (al-Qarāmiṭa), the Shīa movement.
The illustrations (from right to left) are from the Aga Khan Collection (AKM256) and Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (S1986.65a-b)
Read 4 tweets
Dr. Éléonore Cellard Profile picture
20 May 20
Thread. Parchment, papyrus, paper : which materials for ancient Qur’ān manuscripts?

1/11. The writing material is the 1st basic component of a codex.. And a very significant feature for shedding light on the history of the Qur’ān but also on the history of writing technology.
2/11. One of the most ancient writing materials, inherited from Antiquity, is of course papyrus. But already in the 4th CE, papyrus isn’t anymore the most suitable material for producing books, as its physi-cal properties aren’t well adapted to the codex’s shape.
3/11. Yet papyrus has been used for Arabic literary codices. Fragments of traditions, grammatical or poetical texts, from the 8th to the mid. 10th CE, are still existent today. The oldest dated codex on papyrus is from 229/844. What about the writing of the Qur’ān on papyrus?
Read 11 tweets
Dr. Éléonore Cellard Profile picture
16 Apr 20
Thread. Codex Amrensis 1

1/10. This Qur’ān is the 1st edited volume of the Serie Documenta Coranica. In the early 19th, groups of leaves, kept in the 'Amr mosque in Fustat, were collected by French scholars and antiquities dealers. The ms is now scattered in several collections.
2/10. In total, there are 75 leaves (about 20% of the Qur’ān). Their preservation actually could be partly explained with codicology. On 2 occasions, groups of 4 quires (each with 8 leaves) were collected together. Probably because these were still stitched together.
3/10. CA1 is a medium-size volume, different from the early Qur’āns as the Birmingham one. Actually, CA1 is exactly half (in height) of a standard Professional Hijazi or early Kufi volume. As I see it, that could explain its horizontal orientation:

Read 11 tweets
Dr. Éléonore Cellard Profile picture
7 Apr 20
Thread. Ṣan‘ā’ DAM 01.29-1

1/12. We know today dozens of very early Qur’āns. All of them have only slight consonantal variants and follow the same order of the sūras (identical to our current edition). There are very few exception, the most famous one is the Ṣan‘ā’ palimpsest.
2/12. For now, the Ṣan‘ā’ palimpsest is very difficult to understand, because it is an isolated witness. But another ms, DAM 01-29.1, could help in our understanding of the palimpsest and shed light on its connection to ‘Uthmanic text.
3/12. DAM 01-29.1 is indeed related to the palimpsest in various ways. They came from the same deposit. Materially speaking, both are quite similar: almost same size and codex’s structure, same layout. Script styles of 01-29.1 are close to the under script of the palimpsest.
Read 13 tweets
Dr. Éléonore Cellard Profile picture
29 Mar 20
Thread: The earliest dated Qur’ān ?

1/10. Dating the old Qur’ān manuscripts is a big challenge. This is due to the scarcity of clearly dated copies, which could serve as landmarks. Dated Qur’āns from early times are indeed very rare. Here are some thoughts about dates..
2/10. In the ancient scribal rule, people use to write dates on manuscripts. Very often, the copyists write a colophon : a short text with sometimes his name, the date and place of copy, his patron’s name, location, etc... Other dates – for storage, restoration – could be added.
3/10. As far as I know, the first Qur’ān dated by colophon is from 246/860. I found it in the Damascus collection, now in Istanbul. From that time on (slightly later), we find more and more colophons : at least 5 just for the 4th H./10th CE (2 written in Palermo, see picture).
Read 10 tweets

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