Course of Islamic paleography by Jan Just Witkam

Tasks for the student:

1. Read the bibliographical description of the manuscript.
2. Carefully compare the images of the manuscript with the proposed transliteration. Get accustomed
with peculiarities of this hand.
3. Transcribe in the same way a considerable portion of that part of the manuscript which has not been
transliterated. Start where the given transliteration ends. See how far you come.
4. Note remarkable or unusual ligatures and make a list of these.
5. Make an inventory of all signs and peculiarities which are different from modern practice.

MS Paris, BnF, Arabe 328 (a)

Note that this manuscript has not been inspected by autopsy before its inclusion in the present paleography
course. The description is based on the description by Franois Droche, Les manuscrits du Coran. Aux origines de la
calligraphie coranique. Paris 1983 (Bibliothque Nationale. Dpartement des Manuscrits. Catalogue des manuscrits
arabes. Deuxime partie, Tome I, 1), pp. 59-60.
The images of the manuscript and the transliteration of the text have been derived from Franois Droche et
Sergio Noja Noseda, Sources de la transmission manuscrite du texte coranique. (I. Les manuscrits de style iz.
Volume 1. Le manuscrit arabe 328 (a) de la Bibliothque nationale de France). Lesa 1998. However, in one aspect I
have deviated from the transcription of the text as presented by Droche and Noja Noseda. They have indicated
the dent-like letter, which occurs in the rasm of the manuscript as what in later Qurns would evolve into a
hamza without a chair, by way of a separate sign. Their typography (based on Arabic Word 1995 of Microsoft)
shows that sign merely as an elongated line. Instead I offer here the visually better discernible basic dent-like
letter without diacritic.
The Paris manuscript, and also the fragments of the same codex which are now preserved in Saint Petersburg,
have in 2009 been the object of a thorough study and the entire fragment has als been edited: Franois Droche,
La transmission crite du Coran dans les dbuts de lIslam. Le codex Parisino-petropolitanus. Leiden, Bosron (E.J. Brill)
2009.
Arabic, parchment, 56 ff., 33 x 24 cm (text area 30-31 x 20.5/21 cm), iz script, two hands (hand A: ff. 1-28a,
30b-32a, 38b-56, and hand B: ff. 28b-30a, 32b-38a), 22-26 lines to the page, traces of ruling visible (blind ruling,
horizontal, ff. 1-4), brownish ink. The differences between hand A and hand B have been subject subject of a
detailed analysis by Droche, op. cit., p. 59, and in Droches monograph of 2009.
Content: Fragments of a Qurn.
ff. 1-3: Qurn 2:275-3:43.
ff. 4-22: Qurn 3:84-5:33.
ff. 23-40: Qurn 6:20-8:25.
ff. 41-48: Qurn 9:66-10:78.
ff. 49-54: Qurn 12:85-15:87.
f. 55: Qurn 35:13-41.
f. 56: Qurn 38:66-39:15.

Course in palaeography. Copyright, Jan Just Witkam, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2007

Paleographical exercise:
f. 40a (Qurn 8:1-13), 23 lines of text.


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Course in palaeography. Copyright, Jan Just Witkam, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2007

; <H8 9  
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 +  !T8 I$ 8 K
6$ !T   ! F * ,,,, 4
f. 40b (Qurn 8:13-25), 22 lines of text.

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Course in palaeography. Copyright, Jan Just Witkam, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2007

<" !  7  ,,,,

C8 ( # * D7# ,,,, ,,,,

Course in palaeography. Copyright, Jan Just Witkam, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2007

Fragment of a Qurn in iz (type 1) script, written on parchment (Qurn 8:1-13).

MS. Paris, BnF, Arabe 328 (a), f. 40a.

Course in palaeography. Copyright, Jan Just Witkam, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2007

Fragment of a Qurn in iz (type 1) script, written on parchment (Qurn 8:13-25).

MS. Paris, BnF, Arabe 328 (a), f. 40b.
Course in palaeography. Copyright, Jan Just Witkam, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2007

Fragment of a Qurn in iz (type 1) script, written on parchment (Qurn 9:67-73).

MS. Paris, BnF, Arabe 328 (a), f. 41a.
Course in palaeography. Copyright, Jan Just Witkam, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2007

Fragment of a Qurn in iz (type 1) script, written on parchment (Qurn 9:73-81).

MS. Paris, BnF, Arabe 328 (a), f. 41b.
Course in palaeography. Copyright, Jan Just Witkam, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2007