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.

14th June 2011

Auction houses are fertile ground for early Qur'anic manuscripts. Recently, a folio written in ḥijāzī script was sold at Christie's. We have thus taken the opportunity to provide the fifth interim update to our article Concise List Of Arabic Manuscripts Of The Qur'ān Attributable To The First Century Hijra. Additionally, a full table of contents is now available for the Qur'anic manuscript DAM 01.29.1 based on Professor Alba Fedeli's field notes. This remarkable manuscript contains extensive portions of the Qur'an even including some of the later surahs. All the relevant statistics and tables have been updated accordingly as well as providing a few additional references and comments. The total text of the Qur'an in the manuscripts from 1st century hijra now stand at ~90.4%.

These articles are present in the section The Qur'anic Manuscripts.

8th April 2011

We are back after a long break (and we have been working on various documents which will be updated in the coming days and months, insha'allah!). The first update of the year constitutes of two interesting coins.

Arab-Sassanian Coins From Year 20 (Assume Yazdgird Era, So 31 AH / 652 CE) Onwards. Typical late Arab-Sassanian bust and fire-altar with attendants. Obverse margin: jayyid ("Valid" or "Good"). These are some of the earliest dated Islamic coins and believed to have been struck for about 15 years.

Anonymous Arab-Sassanian Coin From Kirmān, 70 AH / 689 CE. Obverse field: Typical late Arab-Sassanian bust without the name of governor. Instead it is occupied by Middle Persian legend MHMT PGTAMI Y DAT ("Muhammad is the messenger of God"). Obverse margin: bism Allāh walī / al-Amr ("In the name of God, the Master / of affairs"). The reverse field has typical Arab-Sassanian fire-altar with attendants with unidentified mint (GRM-KRMAN) in the Kirman province and the date. This is the second earliest known record where the name "Muḥammad" is mentioned in a dated Muslim text. Furthermore, this is the earliest mention of the name "Muḥammad" in Middle Persian (Pahlavi).

The importance of the latter coin is not to be underestimated as it forms the documentary evidence for early Islam. Consequently, we have updated the articles Dated Muslim Texts From 1-72 AH / 622-691 CE: Documentary Evidence For Early Islam and Dated Texts Mentioning Prophet Muḥammad From 1-100 AH / 622-719 CE.

These are added in the section The Islamic Coins.