UK / Arabia: The 'Birmingham Quran' manuscript, folio 1 verso (right), folio 2 recto (left). Hijaz, Arabia, c. 568-645

Two leaves of an early Quranic manuscript in the Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern manuscripts of the University of Birmingham's Cadbury Research Library were identified in 2015 as being dated between 568 and 645, making this the oldest Quran manuscript to date.

The manuscript is written in ink on parchment, using a monumental Arabic Hijazi script and is still clearly legible. The leaves preserve parts of Surahs 18 to 20. The university intends to place the manuscript on display for the first time at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts during October 2015, and then at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in 2016.

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