What's New and Updated?
Updates for the years 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.
20th November 2010
DAM 01-25.1 holds a unique position amongst the earliest manuscripts of the Qur'an. It is the only ḥijāzī manuscript published so far that preserves the opening sūrah of the Qur'an and is thus of tremendous significance. Contained on the first folio are small parts of the last verses of sūrah al-Fātiḥah immediately followed by sūrah al-Baqarah; the reverse side is blank indicating the sūrah was not preceded by any other text. Given the tendency of frequently handled manuscripts to be acephalous and apodal, attention should be given to this welcome observation. We have updated the article Codex Ṣanʿāʾ DAM 01-25.1 – A Qur'ānic Manuscript From 1st Century Of Hijra giving a full table of contents based on an examination of the manuscript by Professor Alba Fedeli, who has kindly provided an updated folio by folio breakdown which corrects a few typos in her original article. We have also updated our article Concise List Of Arabic Manuscripts Of The Qur'ān Attributable To The First Century Hijra to take account of the full contents of this manuscript. All the relevant statistics and tables have been updated accordingly.
These articles are present in the section The Qur'anic Manuscripts.
13th November 2010
One of the folios believed to be from codex Ṣanʿāʾ DAM 01-27.1, sold at the Sotheby's in 1993 as Lot 31 (also known as Stanford '07), one of the most ancient manuscripts of the Qur'an, has been radiocarbon dated to the middle of the 1st century of hijra. This is a highly significant result corroborating the early date ascribed to this manuscript on the basis of palaeography. A detailed examination of the undertext has shown that it is not ‘Uthmanic and there is now an additional column in the table identifying this particular characteristic. There are two new additions to the concise list being a sizeable ḥijāzī manuscript kept at the Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen (M a VI 165) and a single ḥijāzī folio recently sold at Sotheby's. We have also commented on a strange claim surfacing in the last few years, that 22% of all Qur'anic manuscripts in the Ṣanʿāʾ discovery contain a different order of sūrahs compared to the modern printed editions. We have thus taken the opportunity to provide the fourth interim update to our article Concise List Of Arabic Manuscripts Of The Qur'ān Attributable To The First Century Hijra. All the relevant statistics and tables have been updated accordingly as well as providing a few additional references and comments.
This article is present in the section The Qur'anic Manuscripts.
9th November 2010
Addition of Sotheby's 1993, Lot 31 / Stanford '07 palimpsest folio to the article Radiocarbon (Carbon-14) Dating And The Qur'ānic Manuscripts. This folio, believed to be belonging to the codex Ṣanʿāʾ DAM 01-27.1, has been carbon dated recently. The results indicate that the parchment has a 68% (1σ) probability of belonging to the period between 614 CE to 656 CE. It has a 95% (2σ) probability of belonging to the period between 578 CE and 669 CE. The carbon dating is applicable to the scriptio inferior text. The date which the scriptio superior text was written could be the first or second half of the 7th century or even the early 8th century (more generally the 1st century hijra). Sadeghi and Bergmann, the authors of this study, point out that for historical reasons, however, what is of greater interest is the probability that the parchment is older than a certain date. The probability that the parchment is older than 646 CE is 75.1%, or a three-to-one likelihood. On this basis, therefore, they suggest that it is highly probable that this manuscript was produced no more than 15 years after the death of Muhammad (d. June, 632 CE). They conclude that the scriptio inferior text belonged to the codex of a companion of Prophet Muhammad, whilst the scriptio superior text belongs to the ʿUthmānic tradition, and using stemmatics, it is shown as the prototype to be identified with the Prophet.
Consequently, the article Codex Ṣanʿāʾ DAM 01-27.1 – A Qur'ānic Manuscript From Mid-1st Century Of Hijra is also updated with this information.
These articles are in the section The Qur'anic Manuscripts.
26th June 2010
Was the Qur'an originally written entirely in Garshuni? At least Christoph Luxenberg thinks it was. The publication of an article from conference proceedings relating to the 13th Italian Meeting Of Afro-Asiatic Linguistics Held In Udine, May 21st-24th, 2007, provides a good overview for the evidence of Garshuni as a writing system. We have thus taken the opportunity to provide the third interim update of our article Concise List Of Arabic Manuscripts Of The Qur'ān Attributable To The First Century Hijra giving a brief summary of the evidence, emphasising the rather obvious fact that none of the earliest manuscripts of the Qur'an are written in Garshuni. We have also re-ordered the additional manuscripts given after the table by country of location, for better readability and mentioned a few more important manuscripts in the process.
This article is present in the section The Qur'anic Manuscripts.
7th June 2010
Finally, we now have a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Islamic-Awareness.org. With our articles appearing in scholarly literature and the rise of queries about us and our work, we have decided to put together a FAQ to disseminate necessary information.
24th April 2010
Dr. Elisabeth Puin has recently published an article giving information relating to 5 new folios of Codex Ṣanʿāʾ DAM 01-27.1 - being one of a number of scholars presently examining this codex. Though these are small fragments, they are highly significant. Furthermore, she has given a complete listing of the undertext (i.e., scriptio inferior) as far as was discernable. We have thus taken the opportunity to provide the second interim update to our article Concise List Of Arabic Manuscripts Of The Qur'ān Attributable To The First Century Hijra. All the relevant statistics and tables have been updated accordingly as well as providing a few additional references and comments. The scriptio inferior text of Codex Ṣanʿāʾ DAM 01-27.1 is not used in this update to maintain the uniformity of the material used to form the statistics.
This article is present in the section The Qur'anic Manuscripts.
9th April 2010
Codex Ṣanʿāʾ DAM 01-27.1 is perhaps the most important manuscript of the Qur'an and is dated to the mid-1st century hijra. Its importance is highlighted by the fact that it is a palimpsest and hence has both the scriptio inferior and scriptio inferior texts. This codex exemplifies the principal tendencies of the early ḥijāzī script and is of tremendous importance regarding the textual transmission of the Qur'an, Arabic palaeography, codicology and other related disciplines. The current update of Codex Ṣanʿāʾ DAM 01-27.1 – A Qur'ānic Manuscript From Mid-1st Century Of Hijra includes detailed description of the folios, including the textual contents of scriptio superior and scriptio inferior. The scriptio inferior text also shows a non-standard transition of the sūrahs suggesting that this text could be from the pre-‘Uthmanic times.
This article is present in the section The Qur'anic Manuscripts.
27th February 2010
An Early Arabic Inscription From Petra Carrying Diacritic Marks, Mid-6th / Beginning Of 7th Century CE. This is a one-word Arabic inscription. It was engraved in a piece of wood that was found carbonized with an archive of Greek papyri found in a Byzantine church in Petra. The archaeological context suggests the 2nd quarter of the 6th century to the beginning of the 7th century CE as the date of the piece of charcoal. The palaeographical analysis postulated the same period as a date for the inscription. This fact is of a special significance, since the inscription carries diacritic marks, and becomes thus to be the earliest evidence for the use of the diacritic marks in the Arabic script.
This is added in the section The Arabic & Islamic Inscriptions.
26th January 2010
Addition of Transitional Fals Issue From The Time Of Umayyad Caliph ʿAbd al-Malik, 66 AH / 685 CE. Two standing figures, facing, wearing long robes and Arab head-dress adorned with six-pointed stars. Their right hand is on their swords. Between them, on three steps, a pointed staff with globe. Obverse margin: bism Allāh ʿAbd Allāh ʿAbd al-Malik Amīr al-Muʾminīn ("In the name of God. The slave of God ʿAbd al-Malik, Commander of the Faithful"). Although the coins bears no mintmark, the kufic inscription leaves no doubt that it was an official issue of the Umayyad caliph. Clive Floss is of the opinion that this type apparently represents the caliph ʿAbd al-Malik and his brother ʿAbd al-Azīz, who were jointly proclaimed as successors to their father Marwan in 684/85 CE.
This is added in the section The Islamic Coins.
3rd January 2010
We have already seen the modifications made in the Arab-Byzantine "three standing imperial figures" gold solidus (i.e., dīnār) as a result of removal or mutiliation of the crosses and the addition of a kufic legend. Not all Arab-Byzantine imitations of Byzantine prototypes went this far. The Arab-Byzantine One And Two “Standing Imperial Figures” Dīnārs From The Time Of Umayyad Caliph ʿAbd al-Malik, 72-74 AH / 692-694 CE show that some of the imitations were confined only to removal or mutiliation of the crosses, keeping everything else almost the same.
This is added in the section The Islamic Coins.