Birmingham Quran manuscript
The Birmingham Quran manuscript is a single sheet of parchment on which two leaves of an early Quranic manuscript or muṣḥaf have been written. In 2015, the manuscript, which is held by the University of Birmingham, was radiocarbon dated to between 568 and 645 CE (in the Islamic calendar, between 56 before Hijrah and 24 after Hijrah). It is part of the Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern manuscripts, held by the university's Cadbury Research Library.
| Birmingham Quran manuscript | |
|---|---|
| Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham | |
folio 1 verso (right) and folio 2 recto | |
| Date | Between c. 568 and 645 |
| Language(s) | Arabic |
| Scribe(s) | Unknown |
| Material |
|
| Format | vertical |
| Script | Hijazi |
| Contents | Parts of Surahs 19 to 20 |
| Accession | 1572a |
| Quran |
|---|
|
The manuscript is written in ink on parchment, using an Arabic Hejazi script and is still clearly legible. The leaves preserve parts of Surahs 19 (Maryam) to 20 (Taha). It was on display at the University of Birmingham in 2015 and then at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery until 5 August 2016. The Cadbury Research Library has carried out multispectral analysis of the manuscript and XRF analysis of the inks.