Palaeography, History of the Arabic script

Transcription

1 Palaeography, History of the Arabic script Leipzig, 25 September 2012 Jan Just Witkam Islamic Manuscripts Culture Second Alfried-Krupp Summer Course for Manuscript Culture, Leipzig Source: MS Leipzig 33, ff. 31b-32a

2 Paleography the study of (old) scripts: Greek paleos = old / graphein = to write Tacit assumption: Reading scripts is something for which one must have a talent, or else one will never be able to do it well. Talent is important of course, not only in paleography but in all walks of life. However: paleography is a craft that can be learned by everyone who can read and write. By treating both paleography and its didactics we look at the same time both at the craft and at the strategies to acquire it. It provides us with a double perspective. This tacit assumption and my reaction to it can be seen in several of the recent definitions of paleography

3 Some recent definitions of palaeography : palaeography, which is an art of seeing and comprehending, (Bischoff 1979/1990, p. 3) the study of the history of scripts, their adjuncts (such as abbreviation and punctuation) and their decipherment (Brown 1994, p. 92) one of the most important tasks is dating and localizing undated manuscripts of unknown origin. (Derolez 2003, p. 1) ʻPalaeography is the science of deciphering and determining the date of ancient documents or systems of writing. Arabic palaeography is the study of the development of Arabic script through time and place.ʼ (Sijpesteijn 2008, p. 613)

4 Some recent definitions of palaeography 2: The definitions by Bischoff, Brown, and Derolez come from works on Latin palaeography. Only Bischoff s definition is a prescientific definition, where feeling and imagination play an important rôle. Students of Arabic and Islamic palaeography will profit from the methodological remarks of Western palaeographers. Even if Western palaeographers often look at works on non- Western palaeography as oddities. Particular relevant are the works by specialists on Hebrew palaeography and codicology (such as Malachi Beit-Arié). The definition by the Arabic scholar Sijpesteijn is a Western definition applied to Arabic.

5 The components and proportions of the Arabic script, here shown for a type font, but they can equally be used for a better understanding of the Arabic script. Don t forget: Type designers are calligraphers. Useful terminology for describing the constituent elements of script. Source: Edo Smitshuijzen, Arabic Font Specimen Book. Amsterdam 2009, p. 19.

6 Main stages in the history of Arabic script - seventh century: Higazi - seventh-tenth century: Other forms of Kufi - Script of papyri - Script reform, ninth cent. Beginning forms of round script - c CE al-aqlam al-sitta - Naskh, Thuluth - al-maghrib, al-andalus, Sudani - Regional styles -- Naskh (book hand), many forms in many regions. -- Nasta`liq, Shekaste (Persian world) -- Bihari, Chinese, South-East Asia, etc. - Present day: Ruq`a (Arab world, Middle East) Note that old scripts usually do not entirely disappear, nor that new scripts come about by spontaneous generation.

7 Main stages in the history of Arabic script seventh century: Higazi source: Paris, BnF, Arabe 328a, f. 40a... الله ورسوله ان كنتم مومنين انما المومنون الذين اذا ذكر الله وجلت قلوبھم واذا تليت عليھم ايته زادتھم ايمنا وعلى ربھم يتوكلون... الله ورسوله اٮ كٮٮم مومٮٮٮ اٮما المومٮوٮ الديٮ ادا دكر الله وحلٮ ٯلوٮھم وادا ٮلٮٮ علٮھم اٮٮه رادٮھم اٮمٮا وعلى رٮھم ٮٮوكلوٮ Qur an 8:1-2 Leaning script (ma il), standing format, without punctuation, without vowels, with interpunction.

8 An early dated Qur an text, the beginning of sura 112 (al-ikhlas), on a gold dinar of the year 77 AH ( ), the first purely islamic coin. At left (obverse) the shahada in the Qur anic formula. At right the beginning of surat al-ikhlas, and the date sanat 77. Consonants without punctuation Source: Private collection (Morton & Eden, 7 March 2006), No. 14.

9 Standing lay-out. Two different Qur ans (sura 2, sura 17). A simple ductus (rasm) here with diacritics (strokes) and with vowels (dots). Addition by the Munaqqitun? Source: MS Leiden, Or a, ff. 1b-2a

10 A Kufi Qur an MS Dots are there, but in the form of little lines. No vowels, some punctuation. Recto side: Sura 63:1 (first word: almunāfiqūn) - 63:7 (last words: lā yafqahūna). Standing format. Source: MS Leiden, Or c, recto

11 Qur an on parchment. Kufic script, oblong format (20 x 26,8 cm), end 9th or beginning 10th century. Incidental use of vowels.. Source: Paris, BnF, Arabe 333, f. 35b.

12 Frontispice of guz 23 of a Qur an on parchment. Oblong format (23,3 x 31 cm), 9th or 10th century. Source: Paris, BnF, Arabe 341, f. 102a.

13 Qur an on parchment. Oblong format (23,3 x 31 cm), end 9th or beginning 10th century. Beginning sura 53, with sura title in illumination. Source: Paris, BnF, Arabe 350, f. 129b.

14 The Blue Qur an. Gold ink in blue parchment. Kairouan (Tunisia), eind 8th, beginning 9th century. Source: Paris, Institut du Monde arabe, AC

15 Qur anonparchment. Standing format (24,5 x 17,7 cm), Oriental Kufi script, 10th century. Completely elaborated system of vowels and punctuation. Qur an 2: Source: Paris, BnF, Arabe 342, f. 36b

16 Qur an on parchment. Oblong format (23,9 x 28,1 cm). Place and date difficult to ascertain (8th-10th century?). Elaborate system of vowels, no punctuation. Qur an 38: Source: Paris, BnF, Arabe 334, f.

17 Qur an on parchment, here as palimpsest underneath a Christian Arabic text. Bron: Birmingham, Mingana collection

18 A bilingual (Greek and Arabic) text (a document of financial content) on papyrus. This is possibly the oldest dated Arabic text on papyrus: Gumada I of the year 22 Higra (643 AD). Source: Vienna, National Library.

19 A document on papyrus from the 2nd century Higra Fragment of a financial receipt, dated [ ] and hundred. A typical example of the fragmentary state of papyrus literature. The formulaic nature of the texts often makes it possible to supplement missing text. The script, though more modern than Qur an manuscripts of the time, still makes an ancient impression. Source: Original in the Nasser D. Khalili collection, London, PPS 185. Quoted from J. Bloom, Paper (2001), p. 103.

20 The origins of the six pens (al-aqlam al-sitta), or rather the six writing styles, are usually ascribed to the vizir Ibn Muqla (d. 940 CE). This is a historical simplification, and there are even grave doubts about the authenticity of his treatise on the Arabic script. The six pens are: Muhaqqaq and Rayhani, ornamental scripts, mostly used for copying Qur ans. Tawqi` and Riqa`, mostly in use as chancery scripts. Naskh and Thuluth, scripts for the regular production of books, where Naskh is the book hand and Thuluth is used as the contrasting script (for special effects: headings and the colophon).

21 From square to round scripts Gharib al-hadith by Abu Ubayd al-qasim b. Salam. The oldest dated Arabic manuscript on paper in a European collection (dated 252/866) Complete script, refined lay-out. Less than fifty dated manuscripts of the 3rd/9th century are now known to exist. Source: MS Leiden, Or. 298, f. 2b

22 Gharib al-hadith by Abu Ubayd al-qasim b. Salam. The oldest dated Arabic manuscript on paper (252/866) Colophon: completed in Dhu al- Qa`da 252. Several old owners notes Source: MS Leiden, Or. 298, f. 241b

23 اخر الكتاب صلى الله على محمد وسلم كثيرا فرغ منه فى ذى القعده من سنه اثنتين وخمسين ومايتين Source: MS Leiden, Or. 298, f. 241b

24 Kitab Mushkil al-qur an, by Ibn Qutayba. Manuscript on paper, dated in the colophon 404/1014. Source: MS Leiden, Or. 704, f. 183b-184a.

25 Shiʽr Abi Talib. Colophon dated Baghdad, Muharram 380 (990), copied from and collated with a manuscript in the handwriting of Ibn Ginni (d. 392/1002). Source: MS Leipzig 33, f. 32a

26 Opening page of the Qur an copied by Ibn al- Bawwab in 391/1000. Here the transformation to a round script is complete. Source: MS Dublin, Ch.Beatty K 16, f. 4b

27 Last page of the Qur an copied by Ibn al-bawwab in Baghdad in 391/1000. Text of the colophon with the date, place and name of the copyist. Source: MS Dublin, Ch.Beatty K 16, last page

28 Kitab Khalq al-nabi wa- Khulqih, by Abu Bakr Muhammad b. `Abdallah b. `Abd al-`aziz. Manuscript on paper, dated by circumstance / Copied in Ghazna (presentday Ghazni in Afghanistan). Source: MS Leiden, Or. 437, p. 2

29 Kitab Khalq al-nabi wa- Khulqih, by Abu Bakr Muhammad b. `Abdallah b. `Abd al-`aziz. Dated by the ex-libris of a Ghaznawid prince who reigned / , and which has been covered and made almost illegible. Deciphered by S.M. Stern. Source: MS Leiden, Or. 437, p. 1.

30 Kitab Khalq al-nabi wa- Khulqih, by Abu Bakr Muhammad b. `Abdallah b. `Abd al-`aziz. Colophon with name of the copyist (Abu Bakr Muhammad b. Abi Rafi` al-warraq), and place of copying: Ghazna. Source: MS Leiden, Or. 437, p. 387.

31 Qur an in Muhaqqaq script. Titles in Thuluth script. Format: 30 x 21,5 cm. Source: Private collection (Sotheby s 27 april 2005, No. 4

32 Qur anonpaper. Possibly made in Singar (Northern Iraq) and datable to between CE (on the basis of a waqf note in a related manuscript in the Khalili collection in London). Thuluth script, gold ink, with outline in black. Source: Paris, BnF, Arabe 5949, f. 9a

33 Maghribi, Andalusi and Sudani scripts Qur an on parchment. Maghribi or Andalusian script, 13th or 14th century. The volume contains agza 25 and 26. Here shown sura 53: Almost square format (16,4 x 15 cm). Source: Paris, BnF, Arabe 5935, f. 18b-19a

34 Not all Islamic manuscripts are always in Arabic, though written in Arabic script. Example: Fragment of an old (15th-century?) text in Berber. This extremely rare (just this damaged leaf preserved!) example of a work written in Berber proves that already in the Middle Ages there was a written Berber culture. There are several words recognizable in Arabic, but the overall text is in Berber. Source: MS Leiden Or , recto side

35 Qur an on paper (repaired). Sudani script, end 18th or beginning 19th century. Surat al-fatiha, followed by a geometrical ilumination. Acquired in Nigeria. Format: 19 x 12 cm Source: Private collection, Leiden, No. 54, f. 1b

36 West-African manuscripts are usually written on single leaves or on sheets, but these are not made into quires. These leaves and sheets are put onto a pile, and then kept in a satchel. Source: MS Leiden Or (7) A typical sub-saharan book satchel. MS. Leiden Or

37 Naskh scripts of the later period MateriaMedicaby Dioscurides. Revised Arabic translation by al-natili. Manuscript dated 475/1082, copied in Samarqand Illustration of Qasab, reed, and the Papyrus plant (Fafirus, al- Bardi). Source: MS Leiden, Or. 289, f. 35a

38 MateriaMedicaby Dioscurides. Revised Arabic translation by al-natili. End of the text, followed by the colophon of the copyist and note by the translator of the Arabic text into Persian. Manuscript dated 475/1082, copied in Samarqand, with note dated 510/1116. Two hands: text, additions. Three writing styles: text, colophon, addition. Source: MS Leiden, Or. 289, f.

39 Kitab al-alfaz, by Abd al-rahman b. Isa al- Hamadani. Dated 522/1128, with a qira a mark by Ibn al- Gawaliqi, dated 522/1128, on the titlepage. Source: MS Leiden, Or. 1070, f. 1c

40 Kitab al-alfaz, by Abd al- Rahman b. Isa al- Hamadani. Colophon, with date 522/1128 Source: MS Leiden, Or. 1070, f. 111b

41 Al-Durar wal-ghurar, by Abu al-husayn al-ahwazi. Dated 630/1233 Manuscript in Safinashape. Corrections in the waqf-note on the titlepage. Source: MS Leiden, Or. 1093, f. 47a

42 Kitab Makarim al-akhlaq, by al-khara iti Copied before 669/1271 in Damascus Title-page with riwayat Source: MS Leiden, Or. 122, f. 1a

43 Kitab Makarim al-akhlaq, by al-khara iti. Copied before 669/1271 in Damascus. End of guz 1, with reader protocols. Source: MS Leiden, Or. 122, ff. 8b-9a

44 End of al-risala al-adhawiyya, by Ibn Sina, dated in 674 (1275) and beginning of al-risala al-aminiyya by al-razi. Source: MS Leiden, Or. 1067, ff. 41b-42a

45 Kitab Sulwan al-muta` fi `Udwan al-atba` by the Sicilian author Muhammad Ibn Zafar (d. 565/1169). Possibly copied in Damascus around Beginning of the text. Source: MS Kuwait, Humayzi Private Collection, f. 1b

46 Kitab Sulwan al-muta` fi `Udwan al-atba` by the Sicilian author Muhammad Ibn Zafar (d. 565/1169). Possibly copied in Damascus around End of the text, followed by the colophon of the author, dated Sicily, 554/1159. Source: MS Kuwait, Humayzi Private Collection

47 Kitab Sulwan al-muta` fi `Udwan al-atba` by the Sicilian author Muhammad Ibn Zafar (d. 565/1169). Possibly copied in Damascus around Dedicatory panel (right halve) at the beginning. Source: MS Kuwait, Humayzi Private Collection

48 Guz. Hayat al-anbiya fi Quburihim, by Ahmad b. al- Husayn al-bayhaqi (d. 458/1066). Copied by Ahmad al- Lubudi in 866/1461. A small booklet, as they were issued to students of Hadith. Source: MS Leiden Or. 2481, ff. 1b-2a.

49 al-bayan al-shafi al- Muntaza` min al-burhan al- Kafi, by al-qadi Muhammad b. Ahmad b. `Ali b. Muzaffar. Copied (in Yaman) in 869/1465 Source: MS Leiden, Or , f. 68b

50 Gami` al-usul li-ahadith al- Rasul, by Magd al-din Ibn al-athir. Copied in San a (Yaman) in 924 (1518) Source: MS Leiden, Or b, f. 1b

51 Sirat al-haymi, by al-hasan b. Ahmad al- Haymi. Copied in Kawkaban (Yaman) in 1060 (1650) Source: MS Leiden, Or. 2600, f. 33b

52 Commentary by Khalid al-azhari on al-muqaddima al-agurrumiyya, by Ibn Agurrum. Copied in Yaman in 1060 (1650). Source: MS Leiden, Or , ff. 35b-36a.

53 Kitab Sharh al-azhâr, by `Abdallah b. Abi al-qasim b. Miftah. Copied in Madinat Kuhlan Tag al- Din (Yaman) in 1095 (1684) Title-page Source: MS Leiden, Or , f. 5a

54 Kitab Sharh al-azhâr, by `Abdallah b. Abi al-qasim b. Miftah. Copied in Madinat Kuhlan Tag al-din (Yaman) in 1095 (1684) Beginning of the text Source: MS Leiden, Or , f. 5b

55 Kitab Sharh al-azhâr, by `Abdallah b. Abi al-qasim b. Miftah. Copied in Madinat Kuhlan Tag al-din (Yaman) in 1095 (1684) Beginning of the text Source: MS Leiden, Or , f. 312a

56 Qur an on paper, written in. Bihari script, 14e century, North India. Bihari is a monumental script used to copy Qur ans. In the margin Tafsir in Persian. Sura 21:1-3. Source: Paris, BnF, Arabe 7260, p. 671

57 Qur an on paper. China, dated Lanjwa, 1004 (1595). Illuminated, or rather illustrated, frontispice of guz 18 (sura 23). Source: Sotheby s, 5 april 2006, nr. 9

58 Qur an on paper. China, dated Lanjwa, 1004 (1595). Beginning of guz 18 (sura 23). Source: Sotheby s, 5 april 2006, nr. 9

59 The commentary by Galal al-din al-mahalli on the Minhag al-talibin by al- Nawawi, Copied (possibly in Daghestan) in 1148 (1735) The chapter on al-wadi`a, the deposit. Source: MS Leiden, Or , f. 23b

60 Qur an on paper. Aceh (North Sumatra, Indonesia), 19th century. Right half of the illuminated double page marking the middle of the text. Source: MS Leiden, Or , f. 159b

61 Syair Ken Tambuhan. Malay poetical text. Not dated, but first half 19th century. Lay-out from South-East Asia. Illuminated opening page. Script possibly derived from Nasta aliq style. Source: MS Leiden Or f. 1b.

62 Illuminated Qur an, from South-East Asia, possibly Java, not dated, but 19th century, assumed so because of provenance history as it was once owned by the Dutch orientalist Taco Roorda (d. 1874). Naskh script for text. Elongated script used for the headings. Beginning of sura 18 (al-kahf), whereby the illumination serves to indicate that the reader is halfway the text. Right half of an illuminated double page. Source: MS Leiden Or f. 140b.

63 Illuminated Qur an, from Mindanao, Philippines. Opening page: Surat al-fatiha. Source: Kuala Lumpur, IAMM, The Message and the Monsoon, pp

64 Modern calligraphic Ruq`a script. Calligraphic panel with ligatures by Muhammad `Ali al-makkawi. Ruq`a is the common script in the present-day Arab Middle East. Source: Kamil Salman al-gaburi, Mawsu`at al-khatt al-`arabi. Khatt al-ruq`a [ ], Beirut 2000, p. 60

65 Modern calligraphic Shekaste script. Calligraphic panel by Yadullah Kabuli Khwansari. A quotation from Nizami Ganjawi. Shekaste is a highly cursive script, now still use in Iran. Source: Yadullah Kabuli Khwansari, Sama'-yi Qalam (vol. 2). Teheran, 2005

66 Calligraphic panel by Sa`d Muhammad Haddad. Nasta`liq script (al-khatt al-farisi), nowadays the national script of Iran, and also of Pakistan. Source: Kamil Salman al-gaburi, Mawsu`at al-khatt al-`arabi, vol. 1. Khatt al- Ta`liq, Beirut 1999, p. 96

67 About ihmāl The twenty-eight letters of the Arabic alphabet in fact consist of only some fourteen different groups of base forms. The letters in each composite group are usually distinguished from those in the same group by dots or no dots. Those dots are written on top or underneath the ductus (rasm in Arabic). Writing such dots is called iʿǧām, ʻto provide with a diacritical pointʼ. Not writing such dots is called ihmāl, ʻto neglectʼ, ʻto omitʼ, ʻnot-providing with dotsʼ. The following fourteen groups of base forms are distinguished in the Arabic alphabet: 1. alif; 2. bāʾ, tāʾ, thāʾ, nūn, yāʾ; 3. ǧīm, ḥāʾ, khāʾ; 4. dāl, dhāl; 5. rāʾ, zāy; 6. sīn, shīn; 7. ṣād, ḍād; 8. ṭāʾ, ẓāʾ; 9. ʿayn, ghayn; 10. fāʾ, qāf; 11. kāf, lām; 12. mīm; 13. wāw; 14. hāʾ. Each copyist has his own choices for providing the muhmalāt with ihmāl signs. The alif, mīm, wāw and hāʾ are not really groupes and do not need ihmāl signs. A copyist will not always use all possibilities.

68 Ibn al-salāh (d. 643 AH) about ihmāl Five. In the same way as the letters that have diacritical points must be provided with these points, so necessary is it that the letters that have no points must be correctly provided with the signs that indicate that no points are written. The way in which people write these signs can vary. There are people who turn upside down the points, and then they write the point that stands above the letter, which does have a diacritic, underneath the letter which has no diacritical point, and so they place a point underneath the rāʾ, the ṣād, the ṭāʾ and the ʿayn, and so on with the other letters that have no diacritics. Some of these scholars say that the points that are written underneath the sīn (without diacritical dots) have to be extended in one row, and that the points that must be written over the shīn (with diacritical dots) must be written like the three stones on which one cooks. => to be continued

69 Ibn al-salāh (d. 643 AH) about ihmāl (continued) There are others who place the sign of absence of diacritics on top of those letters that are devoid of diacritics, just as nail clippings that are lying on their back. Other people write underneath the ḥāʾ without dots a single small ḥāʾ, and similarly under the dāl, the ṭāʾ, the ṣād, the sīn, the ʿayn, and the other letters that are devoid of diacritics and that may create a similar ambiguity. Now, these are ways in writing the sign that indicate absence of diacritics that are wide spread and well-known. However, there are also signs that cannot be found in many old books, and of which few people are aware, such as the sign consisting of a small line, which one places over the letter which carries no diacritical marks, and such as the hamza-like sign that one places underneath the letter which does not carry diacritics. And God knows best. Source: Ibn al-salah al-shahrazuri, Muqaddima fi `Ulum al-hadith. Ed. Usama al-balkhi. Beirut 1426/2005, chapter 25, par. 5.

70 About ihmāl 2 The ihmāl system, which seems so accurate, can have reverse effects, however. A minute v-sign on the letter ra can create the impression that in fact a zay is meant. An ihmāl sign can look almost exactly the same way as the diacritical dot that is is meant to replace. In a text fully provided with ihmāl signs one can sometimes observe in the trio ǧīm, ḥāʾ, khāʾ as follows: - that the ha will usually be provided with an ihmāl sign of one sort or another, - that the kha is usually provided with a diacritical dot on top, - and that the letter that has no dot, nor an ihmāl sign, is thus the gim. If such an orthographic context is recognized, the reader should be extremely circumspect, since while reading he has no choice in placing a dot underneath or on top of the dotless letter of this trio, since that dotless letter is forcibly a gim.

71 Teaching palaeography in practice - The student should not read and interpret at the same time. He should first concentrate on the script that he sees, and only later he may satisfy his curiosity by trying to find out what the text means. - The student is unable to exactly copy a text. This has been taken away from the school curriculum. It means that he will make many copying errors while writing. - It necessitates that he gives much of his time and effort to correcting his own work. He should collate several times, till he is sure that his copy is (almost) free of error. -He should make exercises from paleographical atlases and similar teaching aids.

72 Bibliography: Bernhard Bischoff, Latin Palaeography. Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Translated by Dáibhí Ó Cróinín & David Ganz. Cambridge (University Press) 1990 Michelle P. Brown, Understanding illuminated manuscripts. A guide to technical terms. Los Angeles (Getty Publications) 1994 Albert Derolez, The palaeography of Gothic Manuscript Books. From the Twelfth to the Early Sixteenth Century. Cambridge (University Press) 2008 Ibn al-salah al-shahrazuri, al-muqaddima fi `Ulum al-hadith. Ed. Usama al-balkhi. Beirut 1426/2005, Qa`ida Baghdadiyya. New Delhi, n.d. (many editions exist) Petra Sijpesteijn, Palaeography, in Kees Versteegh (ed.), Encyclopedia of Arabic language and Linguistics, vol. 3 (Leiden, E.J. Brill, 2008), pp Edo Smitshuijzen, Arabic Font Specimen Book. Amsterdam (de Buitenkant) 2009 J.J. Witkam, Course in Arabic and Persian paleography. On the internet, URL: