Course on palaeography of early Qur'anic scripts

Introduction to the Palaeography of Early Qur'anic Scripts
The Islamic Manuscript Association Course Series
University of Cambridge
Cambridge, UK
11-13 May 2015

The Islamic Manuscript Association
<URL:http://www.islamicmanuscript.org/home.aspx> in cooperation with
the Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation
<URL:http://www.thesaurus-islamicus.li/index.htm> and Cambridge
University Library <URL:http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk> is pleased to
announce a short course entitled Introduction to the Palaeography of
Early Qur'anic Scripts, which will be held at the University of
Cambridge 11-13 May 2015 and followed by a one-day symposium on the
codicology and palaeography of early Qur'an manuscripts on 14 May
2015.

This three-day course will introduce participants to the codicology
and palaeography of Qur'an manuscripts made during the Umayyad and
Abbasid dynasties between the seventh and early eleventh centuries
CE.  The possible survival of Fatimid manuscripts will also be
examined.

The course will begin with a description of the historical context
in which early Qur'an manuscripts were produced, as well as the
discovery of the four major deposits that comprise most of the
surviving evidence of these manuscripts: Damascus, Kairouan, Fustat
(Cairo), and Sanaa.  This will be followed with a brief overview of
Islamic codicology, knowledge of which is essential in order to
reconstruct the original codices from the extant fragmentary
manuscripts.  Finally, the course will survey the various early
Qur'anic scripts, with a focus on those used in Umayyad and Abbasid
Qur'an manuscripts; and participants will learn to identify and read
Hijazi scripts and Abbasid script styles B, C, and D by working with
actual manuscripts from Cambridge University Library and images from
collections in Berlin, Birmingham, Kairouan, Paris, and Tubingen.

The day after the course, participants are invited to attend the
Symposium on the Codicology and Palaeography of Early Qur'an
Manuscripts.  Please be advised that course participants do not need
to register for the Symposium.

The course will be taught by Prof. Frana�ois Deroche, holder of the
Chair of History of the Qur'an: Text and Transmission at the College
de France and one of the leading scholars of Islamic codicology and
palaeography, whose works, including Catalogue des manuscrits
arabes, The Abbasid Tradition, and Qur'ans of the Umayyads: A
Preliminary Overview, have revolutionised the typology of early
Qur'anic scripts.

The course is limited to twelve persons for pedagogical and security
reasons.  All instruction will be in English, but a good reading
knowledge of Arabic is required.  Further details, including the
programme and registration form, can be found at

    <URL:http://www.islamicmanuscript.org/courses/introduction-to-the-palaeography-of-early-quranic-scripts.aspx>

Thanks to the generosity of the Barakat Trust, the Association is
very pleased to be able to offer a scholarship for a senior Muslim
conservator, codicologist, librarian, art historian, curator,
researcher, or any other scholar or specialist of Islamic
manuscripts who resides in the Islamic world.

    <URL:http://www.islamicmanuscript.org/courses/introduction-to-the-palaeography-of-early-quranic-scripts/barakat-trust-scholarship.aspx>

The scholarship is offered on a competitive basis and all eligible
and interested persons are invited to apply via the registration
form by Sunday, 26 April 2015.

Davidson MacLaren
Executive Director
The Islamic Manuscript Association


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