Large Qur'an section

Title

Year/Period

Ottoman Turkey, 16th century

Region

Turkey

Object Type

Qur'ans

Material

ink, morocco (leather), paper (fiber product)

Technique

bookbinding (process), calligraphy (process), stamping (marking)

Dimension

Image size: L 35.5 x W 24

Accession No.

1997-04823

Collection of

Asian Civilisations Museum

This 16th century Qur’an section comes from juz’10 (part 10 of a 30-part Qur’an) and is written in bold muhaqqaq script. Muhaqqaq is one of the six classical cursive scripts but is currently obsolete. It was a script which was favoured by calligraphers for large Qur'ans. This Qur'an has a fine contemporary gilt-stamped brown morocco binding.Calligraphy is an important art form for the Islamic world. The Qur’an was one of the main impetuses in the development of this art form. The rich patrons of art in the Islamic world would collect beautiful Qur’ans not only for aesthetic reasons but also to show their piety.