Section of a Qur'an

Title
Section of a Qur'an
Year/Period
c. 1300-1335
Region
Turkey (Anatolia)
Object Type
calligraphy (visual works), illuminated manuscripts, religious texts
Material
colour (pigment), ink, paper (fiber product)
Technique
calligraphy (process), illumination (image-making process)
Dimension
Image size: L:28.0 x W:18.5 x T:1.0 cm
Accession No.
1999-00798
Collection of
Asian Civilisations Museum

This Qur'an section containing surah 102-108 has three lines of bold muhaqqaq script on each page. Muhaqqaq which means ‘accurate’ or ‘measured’, is a straight script with flat endings that look like swords. It was a script favoured for copying Qur’ans from the 14th century onwards but lost its prominence in the 17th century. This section corresponds to more-or less an eighth of a juz' (part). The calligraphy in this Qur'an is very powerful and has been variously ascribed to the work of calligraphers in Sultanate India, Central Asia and Anatolia. Most scholars believe it comes from Anatolia.