Codex Parisino-Petropolitanus

Date

Second half of first century of hijra / 7th century CE.Déroche has studied this manuscript in detail and suggested it be dated to the third quarter of the 1st / 7th century CE.[1] Noseda places this manuscript more generally in the 1st century of hijra.[2]

History Of The Manuscript

This manuscript was kept at the ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀṣ mosque, Fusṭāṭ until, at the end of the 18th century, a member of French expedition to Egypt, Jean-Joseph Marcel, acquired a few leaves which, in 1864, became part of the collection of what is now known as National Library of Russia at St. Petersburgh. A few years later another Frenchman, Jean-Louis Asselin de Cherville (d. 1822), a consular agent of France in Cairo from 1806 to 1822, was able to buy a larger number of folios. These were passed to the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, in 1833, and became part of Arabe 328 collection of Qur'an manuscripts. Thus it can be surmised that the single folios at the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana and Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London, must have the same provenance – the ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀṣ mosque at Fusṭāṭ.[3] However, it does not mean that this manuscript was penned there. By studying the consonantal text of Arabe 328a, Yasin Dutton suggested that this manuscript is written in the qira'at of Ibn ʿAmir, the Syrian.[4] Therefore, it may have been in Syria that this manuscript was actually written.

Size & Folios

Parchment manuscript with a size of 33 cm x 24 cm. Writing area: 30 cm x 20.5 cm. There are 22-26 lines per page. Traces of ruling are visible (folios 1-4), but the copyist did not always keep strictly to the horizontal.[5]Total number of folios are 98 = 56 (Arabe 328a, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris)[6] + 14 (Arabe 328b, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris)[7] + 26 (Marcel 18/1, National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg)[8] + 1 (Vaticani Arabi 1605, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vatican City)[9] + 1 (KFQ60, Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London).[10] Originally this Qur'an would have contained around 210-220 folios. The extant folios contain about 46% of the text of the Qur'an.[11]

Script & Ornamentation

Ḥijāzī.[12]The format is vertical, and the script which is thin and slender, also has a distinct vertical emphasis, despite the slant to the right. The codex is written by five copyists each with their own characteristic writing. The text is written in brown-black ink, with occasional diacritical strokes. There is no vocalization. Six oval dots ranked in three pairs punctuate the verses. Every fifth verse is marked by a red alif surrounded by dots. The surahs are separated by a space.

Contents

The contents of the manuscript are gathered primarily from the facsimile edition of Arabe 328a.[13] The content of other folios is noted from their respective sources.

Codex Parisino-Petropolitanus
Folios	Qur'anic Surah / Ayah	Image Publication	Comments
1r	2:275 - 2:281	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
1v	2:281 - 2:286	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
2r	3:1 - 3:13	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
2v	3:13 - 3:24	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
3r	3:24 - 3:33	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
3v	3:34 - 3:43	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
4r	3:84 - 3:96	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
4v	3:96 - 3:106	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
5r	3:106 - 3:117	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
5v	3:117 - 3:127	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
6r	3:128 - 3:140	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
6v	3:140 - 3:151	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
7r	3:152 - 3:156	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
7v	3:156 - 3:165	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
8r	3:166 - 3:176	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
8v	3:176 - 3:185	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
9r	3:186 - 3:195	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
9v	3:195 - 3:200, 4:1 - 4:2	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
10r	4:3 - 4:9	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
10v	4:9 - 4:12	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
11r	4:12 - 4:20	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
11v	4:20 - 4:25	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
12r	4:25 - 4:33	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
12v	4:33 - 4:40	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
13r	4:40 - 4:37	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
13v	4:37 - 4:58	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
14r	4:58 - 4:66	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
14v	4:66 - 4:77	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
15r	4:77 - 4:84	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
15v	4:84 - 4:91	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
16r	4:91 - 4:96	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
16v	4:96 - 4:103	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
17r	4:103 - 4:113	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
17v	4:114 - 4:124	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
18r	4:125 - 4:132	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
18v	4:132 - 4:140	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
19r	4:140 - 4:150	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
19v	4:150 - 4:160	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
20r	4:160 - 4:173	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
20v	4:173 - 4:176, 5:1 - 5:3	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
21r	5:3 - 5:6	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
21v	5:6 - 5:14	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
22r	5:15 - 5:23	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
22v	5:23 - 5:33	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
23r	6:20 - 6:33	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
23v	6:33 - 6:44	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
24r	6:44 - 6:56	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
24v	6:56 - 6:68	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
25r	6:68 - 6:76	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
25v	6:76 - 6:91	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
26r	6:91 - 6:99	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
26v	6:99 - 6:112	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
27r	6:112 - 6:123	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
27v	6:123 - 6:134	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
28r	6:134 - 6:142	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
28v	6:142 - 6:148	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
29r	6:148 - 6:154	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
29v	6:154 - 6:162	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
30r	6:162 - 6:165, 7:1 - 7:10	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
30v	7:10 - 7:25	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
31r	7:26 - 7:34	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
31v	7:35 - 7:43	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
32r	7:43 - 7:53	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
32v	7:53 - 7:64	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
33r	7:64 - 7:74	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
33v	7:74 - 7:85	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
34r	7:85 - 7:94	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
34v	7:94 - 7:111	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
35r	7:111 - 7:131	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
35v	7:131 - 7:139	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
36r	7:139 - 7:146	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
36v	7:146 - 7:154	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
37r	7:154 - 7:158	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
37v	7:158 - 7:165	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
38r	7:165 - 7:173	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
38v	7:173 - 7:184	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
39r	7:185 - 7:195	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
39v	7:195 - 7:206, 8:1	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
40r	8:1 - 8:13	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
40v	8:13 - 8:25	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
– 1r	8:25 - 8:34	–	Marcel 18/1
– 1v	8:34 - 8:42	–	Marcel 18/1
– 2r	8:42 - 8:51	–	Marcel 18/1
– 2v	8:52 - 8:63	–	Marcel 18/1
– 3r	8:63 - 8:72	–	Marcel 18/1
– 3v	8:72 - 9:6	–	Marcel 18/1
– 4r	9:6 - 9:17	–	Marcel 18/1
– 4v	9:17 - 9:27	–	Marcel 18/1
– 5r	9:28 - 9:36	–	Marcel 18/1
– 5v	9:36 - 9:44	–	Marcel 18/1
– 6r	9:44 - 9:55	–	Marcel 18/1
– 6v	9:56 - 9:66	Déroche, 2014	Marcel 18/1
41r	9:66 - 9:73	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
41v	9:73 - 9:81	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
42r	9:81 - 9:90	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
42v	9:90 - 9:97	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
43r	9:97 - 9:105	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
43v	9:106 - 9:113	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
44r	9:113 - 9:121	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
44v	9:121 - 9:129, 10:1 - 10:2	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
45r	10:2 - 10:11	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
45v	10:11 - 10:19	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
46r	10:19 - 10:25	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
46v	10:26 - 10:34	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
47r	10:34 - 10:44	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
47v	10:44 - 10:57	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
48r	10:57 - 10:67	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
48v	10:67 - 10:78	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
–	10:102 - 10:109, 11:1 - 11:3	Levi Della Vida, 1947	Vaticani Arabi 1605. Folio 1v
–	11:4 - 11:13	–	Vaticani Arabi 1605. Folio 1r
–	11:14 - 11:24	Déroche, 1992	KFQ60 (recto), Nasser D. Khalili Collection
–	11:24 - 11:36	–	KFQ60 (verso), Nasser D. Khalili Collection
49r	12:85 - 12:100	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
49v	12:100 - 12:111, 13:1 - 13:2	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
50r	13:2 - 13:13	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
50v	13:13 - 13:23	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
51r	13:23 - 13:33	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
51v	13:33 - 13:43, 14:1 - 14:3	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
52r	14:3 - 14:13	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
52v	14:13 - 14:28	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
53r	14:28 - 14:44	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
53v	14:44 - 14:52, 15:1 - 15:19	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
54r	15:19 - 15:52	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
54v	15:52 - 15:87	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
– 7r	23:15 - 23:31	–	Marcel 18/1
– 7v	23:32 - 23:52	–	Marcel 18/1
– 8r	23:53 - 23:74	–	Marcel 18/1
– 8v	23:74 - 23:97	–	Marcel 18/1
– 9r	23:97 - 24:1	–	Marcel 18/1
– 9v	24:1 - 24:13	–	Marcel 18/1
– 10r	24:14 - 24:25	–	Marcel 18/1
– 10v	24:26 - 24:33	–	Marcel 18/1
– 11r	24:33 - 24:40	–	Marcel 18/1
– 11v	24:40 - 24:52	–	Marcel 18/1
– 12r	24:53 - 24:60	–	Marcel 18/1
– 12v	24:60 - 25:2	–	Marcel 18/1
– 13r	25:2 - 25:17	–	Marcel 18/1
– 13v	25:17 - 25:32	–	Marcel 18/1
– 14r	25:32 - 25:48	–	Marcel 18/1
– 14v	25:48 - 25:65	–	Marcel 18/1
– 15r	25:65 - 26:7	–	Marcel 18/1
– 15v	26:7 - 26:36	–	Marcel 18/1
– 16r	26:36 - 26:67	–	Marcel 18/1
– 16v	26:67 - 26:109	–	Marcel 18/1
– 17r	26:109 - 26:143	–	Marcel 18/1
– 17v	26:144 - 26:175	–	Marcel 18/1
– 18r	26:176 - 26:209	–	Marcel 18/1
– 18v	26:209 - 27:7	–	Marcel 18/1
– 19r	27:7 - 27:22	–	Marcel 18/1
– 19v	27:22 - 27:37	–	Marcel 18/1
– 20r	27:37 - 27:49	–	Marcel 18/1
– 20v	27:49 - 27:63	–	Marcel 18/1
– 21r	27:63 - 27:83	–	Marcel 18/1
– 21v	27:83 - 28:06	–	Marcel 18/1
– 22r	28:6 - 28:18	–	Marcel 18/1
– 22v	28:18 - 28:28	–	Marcel 18/1
– 23r	28:28 - 28:39	–	Marcel 18/1
– 23v	28:40 - 28:53	–	Marcel 18/1
– 24r	30:58 - 31:13	–	Marcel 18/1
– 24v	31:13 - 31:23	–	Marcel 18/1
55r	35:13 - 35:30	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
55v	35:30 - 35:41	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
56r	38:66 - 38:88, 39:1 - 39:4	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
56v	39:4 - 39:15	Déroche and Noseda, 1998	Arabe 328a
57r	41:31 - 41:44	–	Arabe 328b
57v	41:44 - 41:54	–	Arabe 328b
58r	42:1 - 42:14	–	Arabe 328b
58v	42:14 - 42:23	–	Arabe 328b
59r	42:23 - 42:40	–	Arabe 328b
59v	42:40 - 42:53	–	Arabe 328b
60r	43:1 - 43:23	–	Arabe 328b
60v	43:23 - 43:38	–	Arabe 328b
61r	43:38 - 43:58	–	Arabe 328b
61v	43:58 - 43:78	–	Arabe 328b
62r	43:78 - 43:89; 44:1 - 44:12	–	Arabe 328b
62v	44:13 - 44:39	–	Arabe 328b
63r	44:40 - 44:59; 45:1 - 45:7	–	Arabe 328b
63v	45:8 - 45:20	–	Arabe 328b
64r	45:21 - 45:32	–	Arabe 328b
64v	45:32 - 45:37; 46:1 - 46:8	–	Arabe 328b
– 25r	56:53 - 56:92	–	Marcel 18/1
– 25v	56:92 - 57:10	–	Marcel 18/1
– 26r	57:10 - 57:19	–	Marcel 18/1
– 26v	57:19 - 57:26	–	Marcel 18/1
65r	60:7 - 60:13; 61:1 - 61:2	–	Arabe 328b
65v	61:2 - 61:14	–	Arabe 328b
66r	62:1 - 62:11	–	Arabe 328b
66v	62:11 - 62:11; 63:1 - 63:9	–	Arabe 328b
67r	65:2 - 65:11	–	Arabe 328b
67v	65:11 - 65:12; 66:1 - 66:8	–	Arabe 328b
68r	66:8 - 66:12; 67:1 - 67:7	–	Arabe 328b
68v	67:7 - 67:27	–	Arabe 328b
69r	69:3 - 69:36	–	Arabe 328b
69v	69:36 - 69:52; 70:1 - 70:28	–	Arabe 328b
70r	70:28 - 70:44; 71:1 - 71:7	–	Arabe 328b
70v	71:7 - 71:28; 72:1 - 72:2	–	Arabe 328b

Location

Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; National Library of Russia; St. Petersburg; Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vatican City; Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London.

References

[1] F. Déroche, La Transmission Écrite Du Coran Dans Les Débuts De L’Islam: Le Codex Parisino-Petropolitanus, 2009, Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden: The Netherlands, p. 177.

[2] S. Noja Noseda, "Note Esterne In Margin Al 1° Volume Dei ‘Materiali Per Un'edizione Critica Del Corano’", Rendiconti: Classe Di Lettere E Scienze Morali E Storiche, 2000, Vol. 134, Fasc. 1, pp. 19–25.

[3] F. Déroche, La Transmission Écrite Du Coran Dans Les Débuts De L’Islam: Le Codex Parisino-Petropolitanus, 2009, op. cit., pp. 7-19; idem., "The Codex Parisino-Petropolitanus And The Ḥijāzī Scripts", in M. C. A. MacDonald (Ed.), The Development Of Arabic As A Written Language: Papers From The Special Session Of The Seminar For Arabian Studies Held On 24th July 2009, 2010, Supplement To The Proceedings Of The Seminar For Arabian Studies - Volume 40, Archaeopress: Oxford, pp. 113; idem., Qurʾans Of The Umayyads: A First Overview, 2014, Koninklijke Brill nv: Leiden (The Netherlands), pp. 17-18.

[4] Y. Dutton, "An Early Muṣḥaf According To The Reading Of Ibn ʿAmir", Journal Of Qur'anic Studies, 2001, Volume III (no. I), pp. 71-89.

[5] F. Déroche, Catalogue Des Manuscrits Arabes: Deuxième Partie: Manuscrits Musulmans - Tome I, 1: Les Manuscrits Du Coran: Aux Origines De La Calligraphie Coranique, 1983, Bibliothèque Nationale: Paris, pp. 59-60.

[6] ibid., p. 59.

[7] ibid., p. 60.

[8] F. Déroche, La Transmission Écrite Du Coran Dans Les Débuts De L’Islam: Le Codex Parisino-Petropolitanus, 2009, op. cit., pp. 8-13.

[9] G. Levi Della Vida, Frammenti Coranici In Carattere Cufico: Nella Biblioteca Vaticana, 1947, Studi e testi no. 132, Citta Del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana: Vatican City, pp. 1-2 and Tavola 1.

[10] F. Déroche, The Abbasid Tradition: Qur'ans Of The 8th To The 10th Centuries AD, 1992, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, Volume I, Oxford University Press, p. 32.

[11] F. Déroche, La Transmission Écrite Du Coran Dans Les Débuts De L’Islam: Le Codex Parisino-Petropolitanus, 2009, op. cit., 172.

[12] F. Déroche, Catalogue Des Manuscrits Arabes: Deuxième Partie: Manuscrits Musulmans - Tome I, 1: Les Manuscrits Du Coran: Aux Origines De La Calligraphie Coranique, 1983, op. cit., p. 59; idem., The Abbasid Tradition: Qur'ans Of The 8th To The 10th Centuries AD, 1992, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, Volume I, op. cit., p. 32.

[13] F. Déroche and S. N. Noseda (Eds.), Sources de la transmission manuscrite du texte coranique. I. Les manuscrits de style hijazi. Volume I. Le manuscrit arabe 328a (a) de la Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 1998, Fondazione Ferni Noja Noseda, Leda, and Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris.