Medieval Arabic Block Printed Amulets in American and European

ENIGMATIC CHARMS

HANDBOOK OF ORIENTAL STUDIESHANDBUCH DER ORIENTALISTIK

SECTION ONE

THE NEAR AND MIDDLE EAST

EDITED BY

H. ALTENMÜLLER · B. HROUDA · B.A. LEVINE · R.S. O’FAHEY

K.R. VEENHOF · C.H.M. VERSTEEGH

VOLUME EIGHTY-TWO

ENIGMATIC CHARMS

ENIGMATIC CHARMS

Medieval Arabic Block Printed Amulets

in American and European Libraries and Museums

BY

KARL R. SCHAEFER

LEIDEN • BOSTON2006

On the cover: 1978.546.37. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, gift of Nelly, Violet and Elie Abemayor,in Memory of Michael Abemayor, 1978 (1978.546.37) © 2005 The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A C.I.P. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISSN 0169-9423ISBN-10: 90 04 14789 6ISBN-13: 978 90 04 14789 8

© Copyright 2006 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The NetherlandsKoninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints,

Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored ina retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written

permission from the publisher.

Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personaluse is granted by Brill provided that

the appropriate fees are paid directly to The CopyrightClearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910

Danvers MA 01923, USA.Fees are subject to change.

printed in the netherlands

To the memoryof my parents

Helen Greene Schaefer (1916–2001)Karl George Schaefer (1912–2004)

SCHAEFER_f1_v-xiii.indd v 7/12/2006 4:57:38 PM

SCHAEFER_f1_v-xiii.indd vi 7/12/2006 4:57:38 PM

CONTENTS

Preface ............................................................................................................................ ixIntroduction ................................................................................................................... 1The Historico-religious Context of Arabic Block Printing ............................................ 7The (Re)discovery of Arabic Block Printing .................................................................. 21Calligraphy and the Issue of Dating the Arabic Block Prints ........................................ 41

BLOCK PRINTED AMULETS IN EUROPEAN LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS

Key to Transcriptions of Arabic Texts ........................................................................... 55Ägyptologisches Museum und Papyrussammlung Berlin .............................................. 57Cambridge University Library, Michaelides Collection ................................................ 67Cambridge University Library, Taylor-Schechter Geniza Collection ........................... 81Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Ireland ........................................................................ 97Gutenberg Museum, Mainz, Germany ......................................................................... 103Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, Institut für Papyrologie ........................................... 111John Rylands Library, University of Manchester .......................................................... 113Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Papyrussammlung ................................................ 115Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire de Strasbourg ................................................. 157Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge .................................................................... 163

BLOCK PRINTED AMULETS IN AMERICAN LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS

Columbia University Library, Papyrus Collection ......................................................... 169Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington ............................................................. 177Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, A Gift of Camilla Chandler Frost .............................................................................. 181Metropolitan Museum of Art, Department of Islamic Art, New York, New York ....... 187Scheide Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, Firestone Library, Princeton University .................................................................................................. 219

List of Locations and Accession Numbers for Known �arshes in Europe and the United States ........................................................................................................ 225

List of Works Consulted ................................................................................................. 235

Index to Qur’anic Chapters (Suras) and Verses (Ayat) Appearing in the Texts of the Amulets ................................................................................................................ 241

Index .............................................................................................................................. 243

Plates .............................................................................................................................. 245

SCHAEFER_f1_v-xiii.indd vii 7/12/2006 4:57:38 PM

SCHAEFER_f1_v-xiii.indd viii 7/12/2006 4:57:39 PM

PREFACE

What began as a relatively minor task—one only tangentially related to my primary purpose at the time—has grown into something of some substance, I hope. Much of what I have en-countered in my study of medieval Arabic block prints has been beyond my modest talents to analyze and elucidate. The results of this effort, therefore, while going to press with my name on the title page, owe much to the encouragement, advice and assistance of an entire phalanx of friends, scholars, and librarians. Especially librarians.

The genesis of this work lies in the suggestion offered to me in 1994 by Patricia H. Marks, then editor of the Princeton University Library Chronicle, that I compose an article on the unique example of Arabic block printing held by the William H. Scheide Library at Princeton. In this regard, I must thank Mr. Scheide, again, for granting me permission to publish his artifact, as well as William Stoneman, former Librarian of the Scheide Library, and Paul Needham, current Scheide Librarian, for making the block print available to me for close study. Dr. Don Skemer, Curator of Manuscripts in Firestone Library’s Department of Rare Books and Spe-cial Collections provided encouragement and, through his own research on European amulets, the outlines of a historical context for the present study.

The publication of the Scheide block print resulted in a very �attering review and enthu-siastic encouragement from Dr. Geoffrey J. Roper, late of the Islamic Bibliography Unit at Cambridge University Library. He urged me to continue my study of Arabic block printing and to that end made slides of Cambridge’s two collections available to me. Over the inter-vening years, he has not ceased to provide valuable insight, leads on previously unknown or recently discovered examples, bibliographic assistance, hospitality, and friendship. Dr. Stefan C. Reif, Director of the Taylor-Schechter Geniza Research Unit at Cambridge also provided timely help and advice about how to proceed with reproduction rights for images of that part of Cambridge’s important collection of Arabic block prints. Dr. Reif, Dr. Ben M. Outhwaite, and D.J. Hall, Deputy Librarian at Cambridge University Library, also granted permission to publish the images of the block prints in their collections. Ruth Long and her colleagues in the Photographic Department there carried out the digital photography with consummate professionalism.

Because the examples of medieval Arabic block printing are so widely scattered, archived as they are in more than a dozen university libraries, museums and private collections, the generous assistance of the librarians and curators I have had the good fortune to meet cannot be overstated. In addition to those people I have already mentioned, I am deeply indebted to the librarians and museum archivists who not only facilitated my study of objects known to reside in their institutions, but allowed me to have virtually unfettered access to their collections of Arabic materials. This generous degree of freedom enabled me to identify two previously unknown examples of the craft and to create a more reliable census of the total number of extant Arabic block prints.

Several institutions in Great Britain and Ireland are in possession of Arabic block printed amulets and my �rst foray into an investigation of a larger grouping of block prints was cen-tered on these places. At Cambridge University Library, in addition to the people mentioned

SCHAEFER_f1_v-xiii.indd ix 7/12/2006 4:57:39 PM

x PREFACE

above, I would like to thank Jill Butterworth and G.D. Bye who provided valuable technical assistance and helpful information. For enabling me to examine the block print at the John Rylands Library at the University of Manchester, my gratitude goes to Dr. Peter McNiven, former Head of the John Rylands Research Institute, and his colleagues on the library staff, particularly Ms. Anne Young, Dr. Dorothy Clayton, Ms. Carol Burrows and Ms. Anne M. Clarkson. My August 1999 visit to the Chester Beatty Library in Ballsbridge, Dublin was made most pleasant by its then Director, Dr. Elaine Wright, and her attentive staff. Dr. Wright’s pre-decessor, Dr. Anna Contadini, is also due my thanks for her provision of a photograph of the Chester Beatty block print. For permission to publish the Chester Beatty Library’s example of Arabic block printing, I thank the current director, Dr. Michael Ryan and Ms. Sinéad Ward of the Rights and Reproductions of�ce.

Most recently, long after my return from England, the existence of yet another Arabic block print was brought to my attention—again by Geoffrey Roper. He put me in contact with its (re)discoverer, Petra Sijpesteijn, currently at Oxford University, who came across it in the Wren Library of Trinity College, Cambridge. My thanks to Dr. Sijpesteijn, and to David McKitter-ick and Joanna Ball, Librarian and Sub-Librarian, respectively, of the Wren Library for their prompt assistance in obtaining a slide of the piece, for their continued interest in my project, and for permission to publish the unique example in their collection. My thanks to Jonathan Smith, also of the Wren Library, for providing a detailed prose description of the block print, and for allowing me to study it �rst-hand.

The second phase of my research led me to continental Europe where another cadre of li-brarians and curators was instrumental in advancing my project. The important collection held by the Erzherzog Rainer Papyrussamlung at the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (ÖNB) was opened to me by its collegial and engaging Leiter, Professor Dr. Hermann Harrauer in January of 1999. His interest in my project, and his knowledge of what those rare investigators who preceded me had discovered, have been extremely valuable to me. Dr. Cornelia Römer, current Director of the Papyrussammlung, has been equally interested in my work and I thank her for her permission to publish the ÖNB’s important Arabic block print collection here.

In Berlin, I had the good fortune to make the acquaintance of two scholars who made my visit to the Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Charlottenburg, productive and rewarding. In anticipation of my visit, Dr. Ingeborg Müller had prepared the museum’s one known block print for my study in very pleasant surroundings. Then, with the cooperation of Dr. William Brashear, who, sadly, has since passed away, I was allowed to peruse the museum’s holdings of Arabic manuscript pages, among which I discovered a second, previously unknown example of block printing. For that marvelous experience, I am deeply indebted to them both. Mr. Jürgen Liepe undertook the task of making available to me digital images of the two Berlin block prints. I gratefully acknowledge here his contribution to this study.

A similar degree of access was granted me by Dr. Volkmar Enderlein, Director of the Museum für Islamische Kunst on Bodenstrasse, Berlin. Although my search of those archives was not similarly rewarded, I want to thank him and his staff for their willingness to let me have a look. In Heidelberg, the library of Ruprecht-Karls-Universität had been reported as hold-ing as many as six Arabic block prints. Prof. Dr. Dieter Hagedorn, at that time Director of the Bibliothek des Instituts für Papyrologie, and James M.S. Cowey, a member of the library’s staff, permitted me to spend an afternoon looking through their collection of some three thousand Arabic manuscript leaves, among which I found another previously unknown block print. Also

SCHAEFER_f1_v-xiii.indd x 7/12/2006 4:57:39 PM

PREFACE xi

in Heidelberg, Professor Dr. Raif Georges Khoury of the Seminar für Sprachen und Kulturen des Vorderen Orients was kind enough to spend some time providing background on the fate of Prof. Adolf Grohmann’s un�nished work on Arabic palaeography and the artifacts relat-ing thereto. For permission to publish the Heidelberg block print, I thank Dr. Andrea Jördens, Director of the Seminar for Papyrology, and Dr. Thomas Kruse. In Holland, Jan Just Witkam, Head of the Oriental Department, Leiden University Library, was able to provide me with some very useful information about the block print held by Mr. J.W.Th. Van Meeuwen (now in the collections of the Gutenberg Museum, Mainz, Germany).

In the United States, this project has been helped along by several librarians and museum curators. The contributions of my former colleagues at Princeton have been mentioned al-ready. Additionally, Roger S. Bagnall of Columbia University and Rudolph S. Ellenbogen, former Curator of Rare Books in Butler Library at Columbia, provided me with access to the sole block print in their archives. Their assistance is gratefully acknowledged. Jean W. Ashton, current Director of Rare Books and Special Collections is due my thanks for permission to publish Columbia’s block print here. Ms. Tara C. Craig, Reference Services Supervisor, as-sisted in obtaining the image of it.

The Department of Islamic Art of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City gave me permission to study their important collection of Arabic block prints on two separate oc-casions. For this courtesy, and for publication permission, I would like to thank the head of the department, Dr. Stefano Carboni. Dr. Marilyn Jenkins-Madina, now retired, and Holly Shaffer also gave me a cordial reception and generous assistance. Saundra Taylor, Curator of Manu-scripts, and Francis E. Lapka of Public Services in the Lilly Library, University of Indiana, provided me with the opportunity to study their block print. Lilly Library’s permission to pub-lish their block print is acknowledged, with my thanks. Alessandro Pezzati, Reference Archivist, and Charles S. Kline of the Photographic Archives, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, helped to establish that the single block print in the collections of that institution is no longer to be found there.

A small number of Arabic block prints are (or were, until recently) in private collections. The owners of these examples were, without exception, extremely gracious in allowing me to examine the pieces they hold. I have already mentioned Mr. William Scheide, whose collection resides at Princeton. Dr. Ma�an Z. Madina, Professor Emeritus of Columbia University, very kindly allowed me to study and make slides of his collection. He took the time to read through my research and to listen to my plan for a catalogue of the known block prints. Dr. Madina’s two block prints were subsequently (in 2002) acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Dr. Linda Komaroff, Curator of Islamic Art and Department Head, Ancient and Islamic Art at that institution, generously granted permission to publish these two �ne examples. The assistance of her two colleagues, Ms. Megan Knox and Giselle Arteaga-Johnson, is also noted, with gratitude. Likewise, Mr. J.W.Th. van Meeuwen of the Hague in the Netherlands enthu-siastically embraced my project and provided me not only with generous access to his block print, but also a slide and technical reports on the composition of the amulet’s paper. He, too, has been an enthusiastic and interested supporter of my work. As noted above, his medieval Arabic block print is now owned by the Gutenberg Museum. Permission to publish that mag-ni�cent example was kindly granted by the museum director, Dr. Eva Hanebutt-Benz; the image was obtained through the kind of�ces of her colleague Dr. Claus Maywald-Pitellos, Curator. My contact at the Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire de Strasbourg, Mr. Daniel

SCHAEFER_f1_v-xiii.indd xi 7/12/2006 4:57:39 PM

xii PREFACE

Bournemann, was instrumental in helping me obtain the photo of that institution’s example of Arabic block printing.

At various times during this project, I have received generous �nancial support which en-abled me to continue my investigations. Dr. Michael R. Cheney, formerly Associate Provost and Director of Research at Drake University, made funds available for travel to collections in the United States; the Center for the Humanities at Drake and two of its previous directors, Prof. Richard O. Abel and Prof. Andrew Herman, provided me with the means to visit collec-tions in the United States as well as in Great Britain and Ireland. The Drake University Center for the Humanities also provided funding for the purchase of some of the images.

My ‘grand tour’ of Europe, undertaken to study Arabic block printed amulets in the col-lections of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna, the Ägyptisches Museum and the Museum für Islamische Kunst, both in Berlin, the library of the Institut für Papyrologie, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität in Heidelberg and of Mr. J.W.Th. van Meeuwen in the Hague, was supported most generously by a grant from the American Philosophical Society, and I want to express my deepest gratitude to that illustrious body for its contribution to this project. I hope they feel that their patience in awaiting the publication of this work has been rewarded. My success in winning the APS grant is due in no small measure to the wise counsel provided by Iris Cof�n, formerly of Drake University’s development of�ce. Her knowledge of grant writ-ing proved to be invaluable. Without the monetary assistance of the American Philosophical Society and Drake University, this work could not have been completed.

Dr. James Keenan of the Classical Studies Department at Loyola University of Chicago generously shared his research on thirteenth century Fayyum, the locus of discovery for many of the block printed amulets treated below.

Over the course of my work on the various pieces that comprise this catalogue, I have been helped in numerous ways, wittingly or unwittingly, by other scholars, colleagues and friends. Their interest and encouragement have sustained my efforts over the long course of this proj-ect. Andras Riedlmayer of the Fine Art Library, Harvard University, Michael L. Bates, Curator of Islamic Coins at the American Numismatic Society, Jere L. Bacharach, Director of the Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, Dr. Christopher Wright of the Department of Manuscripts in the British Library, Sheila Canby, Assistant Keeper of Islamic Art and Antiquities at the British Museum, Ursula Dreibholz, Dr. Chris Murphy, Area Specialist (Turcica) at the Library of Congress, all helped at one time or another in providing leads to obscure holdings, verifying references and keeping me from chasing mirages.

Early on, Dr. Dana Sajdi shared her knowledge of many of the Metropolitan Museum’s block prints with me, transcribed some of their texts, and helped in deciphering of some of the more dif�cult lines of the Scheide tarsh. Dr. Mohammad H. Faghfoory lent his expertise with Arabic manuscripts to that endeavor as well and his continued strong interest in this project has helped to sustain it. Dr. Cornelia al-Khaled read through transcriptions of the Scheide and Metropolitan Museum texts and made helpful suggestions. Amy Namowitz Worthen cast an expert engraver’s eye on the amulets in the Metropolitan Museum, offering keen insights about how the print blocks might have been made. Her enthusiastic interest and ready sharing of her observations are much appreciated. Prof. Phillip Chen of Drake University, a master print maker, introduced me to the processes involved in making a print by hand and in so doing enabled me to gain a deeper understanding of certain features of the �nal product. Wajih Halawa, a young man with an impressive range of useful talents, proofread my transcriptions

SCHAEFER_f1_v-xiii.indd xii 7/12/2006 4:57:40 PM

PREFACE xiii

and interpretations of virtually all the amuletic texts, created a useful electronic database for information about the block prints, and suggested possible sources in which some of the more obscure prayers and textual formulae might be found. Matt Esposito of Drake University’s Department of History helped me formulate an approach to a treatment of the historical context of Arabic amulets. Allen Scult of Drake’s Department of Philosophy and Religion and my friend and former colleague Barbara Hodgdon, now at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, provided invaluable critical readings and proofreadings of large sections of the text.

At Brill, Trudy Kamperveen and Caroline van Erp held my hand, provided astute guidance and knowledgeable assistance, and shepherded this work through the publication process with the skill and expertise for which that publisher is properly renowned. My sincere thanks goes to them for their efforts.

Finally, I am grateful to my colleagues in Cowles Library for their interest in my project and their patience in awaiting its completion. I am certain that they thought, at times, that it would never come to fruition. The electronic expertise of Marc Davis and Bruce Gilbert at a late stage of the manuscript’s genesis are particularly to be noted.

One person who never doubted that it would see the light of day is Vibs Petersen, whose con�dence in my ability to see this work through never wavered and whose support, wisdom, guidance, and commitment to the highest scholarly principles have sustained and inspired me for more than twenty years. My thanks to her cannot ever be adequately expressed. In the �nal analysis, however, the ultimate responsibility for what is recorded between these covers is mine and any shortcomings, omissions or errors are to be laid at my feet alone.

SCHAEFER_f1_v-xiii.indd xiii 7/12/2006 4:57:40 PM

INTRODUCTION

Printing, as we understand the term today, refers to the mechanical reproduction of text and images. For the past �ve hundred and �fty years, and until the advent of electronic printing, the reproduction of text has been accomplished most often through the use of moveable type. To create a page of printed text, reverse images of each letter of the alphabet, in various sizes, and styles, along with all the requisite punctuation marks and textual embellishments, are individu-ally cast in metal. These letter forms—the type—are then arranged to form words, sentences and paragraphs. The resulting assembly constitutes a matrix for a printed page. The matrix is then installed in a machine, a printing press, where the type is coated with ink. A sheet of paper is positioned so as to make contact with the matrix and the machine is activated, putting pres-sure on the paper and the matrix so that the ink is transferred from the matrix to the surface of the paper. The paper is then removed and, if the work has been done properly, an exact replica of the text in the matrix appears on the paper. In manufacturing a book, this process is repeated until the required number of copies of each page has been produced.

Early printing presses were hand operated and closely resembled the wine presses from which they were adapted. During the industrial revolution in eighteenth and nineteenth- century Europe, water, steam and, ultimately, electrical power were exploited to increase the speed with which printing could be accomplished and the amount of printed material produced. Not only were the presses gradually improved, so also were the methods by which the type was created. Throughout much of the history of printing by moveable type, the arrangement of the type relied on the hand setting of individual letters. Eventually, most typesetting, particularly that for newspapers, popular magazines and books came to be performed on machines that cre-ated entire lines of type. The sophistication of the machinery used to create the printed page has increased greatly over the past six centuries. The speed with which the type was cast and set grew exponentially to the point where text could be printed almost on demand. Until the advent of electronic computing and ink jet and laser printing, printing with moveable type was generally accomplished by some variation of the processes described above.

However, printing was not always produced in this way. Studies of printing history that address the pre-Gutenberg evolution of printing and alternate printing methods have often been overshadowed by those emphasizing the invention of moveable type. And while the suc-cessful commercialization of printing with moveable type is rightly attributed to its European developers, that step was preceded by centuries of experimentation across numerous lands and cultures. Evidence of such activity exists and can be found in dozens of museums and libraries across the world.

The impulse to create multiple copies of a single pattern, design, or mark certainly was not limited to one people, nor, indeed, to one medium. Long before moveable type appeared, repetitive patterns were being imprinted on cloth and impressed in wet plaster. The ancient Egyptians did this with ceramic cylinder seals; the Koreans, Japanese and Chinese also with carved wooden blocks, beginning around 700 CE.1 Among many medieval cultures,

1 On this, see Pow-Key Sohn, “Printing in China” (pp. 211–213) and “Early Korean Printing,” (pp. 217–231) and Luther Carrington Goodrich, “Two new Discoveries of Early Block Prints,” (pp. 214–216) all in Der Gegenwärtige

SCHAEFER_f2_1-6.indd 1 7/5/2006 2:03:25 PM

2 INTRODUCTION

semi- precious stones were incised with the names or insignia of their owners; these were pressed into hot wax to seal documents or coated with ink to place marks of ownership on manuscripts and books. Molds and later, metal stamps, were made to mint metal coins bearing the like-nesses of emperors, kings and queens and their names and titles. The mass production of words and texts stretches some considerable distance into the past, long antedating the appearance of the �rst page printed by means of moveable type.

While any direct connection between the production of coins, stamped cloth or block printed images and the printing of texts remains speculative,2 the essential principle underlying the cre-ation of such objects—the fashioning of a mirror image of the form or text to be printed—is the same as that for printing on paper. The primary difference between printing with moveable type and earlier analogues lies in the fact that the former is accomplished through the use of individually cast letters and the latter by carving or etching by hand—or by casting—an entire text or image into a �at surface, a printing block.

Printing with wooden blocks, also known as xylography, was a painstaking and time- consuming process. Pierce Butler, curator of the typography collection in Chicago’s Newberry Library during the 1920s, provides a vivid picture of the task in The Origin of Printing in Europe:

To engrave a stamp large enough to produce a whole page must have been a slow and dif�cult op-eration. The workman, after drawing the picture or text in reverse on his block, would have to cut down the wood in such a way as to leave this graphic pattern as an elevated surface. Every portion of the block that was intended to remain blank in the imprint must be gouged away suf�ciently to prevent its touching the paper and transferring ink to it. This required sharp tools and a sure hand to guide them. The hollow letters would be especially dif�cult. The white center of even the tiniest character had to be cut out quite deeply, yet without marring the rim that inclosed [sic] it. If the tool slipped even slightly, it might shave off portions of the surface needed in the imprint, and so the whole block would be ruined unless the workman could devise means for repairing it. His desire to save damaged blocks, upon which days of labor had already been expended, must have been a constant spur to his ingenuity. We can imagine him driving pegs, making inlays, and gluing new sections to salvaged portions with ever greater skill and delicacy.3

Despite the limitations posed by the tools, the workers’ skills and the properties of the materials from which the blocks were carved, such work was done, often with elegant results—witness the numerous block printed artifacts on view in libraries and museums world-wide.

BLOCK PRINTING IN ASIA AND Its TRANSMISSION TO THE WEST

A substantial amount of physical and textual evidence exists which illustrates the role of the inhabitants of Asian lands in printing history, and speci�cally in block printing. The Japanese

Stand der Gutenberg-Forschung, (Stuttgart, 1972). All three cultures seem to have been at roughly the same level of print-ing technology in the eighth century CE. The letters “CE” following dates given in this work are the abbreviation for the Common (or Christian) Era, and replaces the older form “AD” (Anno Domini).

2 At least insofar as Arabic block printing is concerned. The work of Naveh and Shaked, in Magic Spells and Formulae ( Jerusalem, 1993) suggests the possibility that someone made the connection between the images produced by the reverse of an incised amulet and the creation of letters, but tangible proof of such a connection has yet to be discovered. Examples of Hebrew amulets incised on metal are numerous as evidenced by plates 1–18 showing amulets 16–32 in Magic Spells and Formulae. However, if, when and where the jump was made from engraved metal amulets to printing matrices remains an unresolved issue.

3 Pierce Butler, The Origin of Printing in Europe, (Chicago, 1940), p. 34.


INTRODUCTION 3

and Chinese were the originators of the technique of block printing as well as being pioneers in the manufacture of paper: the coincidental emergence of two technologies superbly suited to one another perhaps helps to explain why printing �rst appeared in that part of the world. Moreover, the vast bureaucratic and educational institutions of the Chinese governments made extensive use of paper and printing in carrying out their responsibilities, with the result that paper and knowledge of its manufacture spread to the furthest reaches of Chinese in�uence, to Central Asia, into the lands of the Muslim Middle East and, ultimately, to Europe.

Europe’s indebtedness to Asia for its role in introducing paper—�rst to Italy and then to the rest of Europe—has long been acknowledged.4 The art of papermaking was transmitted from the Chinese to the Arabs sometime around the middle of the eighth century CE, possibly through the capture of Chinese paper makers as prisoners of war; yet however the transfer of papermaking technology occurred, it was an immediate success. Adopted by the Arabs for use in their own rapidly developing and far-�ung governmental, commercial and �nancial institu-tions, paper use surpassed that of all other writing materials within two centuries in all but the most remote regions. Through trading contacts, paper came to the notice of Europeans some-time in the eleventh century. And by Gutenberg’s time, its use in Europe was common.

For hundreds of years, it was assumed by those in the West that printing was invented in Europe. Indeed, many books written on printing, even within the past ten years, still give the impression that moveable type originated there; fourteenth-century European block books and Gutenberg’s moveable type have been brought forth to support such a claim. Only at the be-ginning of the twentieth century, with the discovery of incontrovertible proof of Chinese print-ing that pre-dated Gutenberg, was this notion displaced. In 1907, Sir Aurel Stein discovered, in a cave in China, a block printed book bearing a date equivalent to the year 868 CE,5 nearly six centuries before Gutenberg. Well crafted, the work indicates a level of skill commensurate with a long tradition of practice. By the early 1100s, that is, less than a century and a half from the original creation of Stein’s discovery, printing with moveable type was already well into in the experimental stage in China.6

What is fascinating about this progression of events is the disconnection that seems to occur between the history of paper and that of printing. At some point, as the two technologies crept westward across the Central Asian steppes, their lockstep progress seems to have been interrupted. There are strong indications that the invention of printing both in China—and later in Europe—followed closely on the heels of the invention of paper. Why, then, when the invention of paper is so readily attributed to the Chinese, has there been less attention paid to their contribution, and that of other non-Europeans, to the development of printing? More to the point for this present project, the intermediary role played by the Arabs in the transmission of papermaking technology to Europe is recognized while similar recognition has not been accorded to the Arabs with regard to printing technology.

4 The classic study on the history of papermaking is Dard Hunter’s Papermaking: the History and Technique of an Ancient Craft, (New York, 1978). Useful for the advent of paper in the Middle East are Helen Loveday, Islamic Paper: a Study of the Ancient Craft, (s.l., 2001) and Thomas Francis Carter, The Invention of Printing in China and its Spread West-ward, 2nd ed., (New York, 1955). Most recently, one may consult Jonathan M. Bloom, Paper Before Print: the History and Impact of Paper in the Islamic World, (New Haven, 2001).

5 For an image of the so-called Diamond Sutra, go to: http://www.bl.uk/collections/treasures/diamond.html.6 For a readable account of this history, see Lucien Febvre and Henri-Jean Martin, The Coming of the Book: the

Impact of Printing, 1450–1800. Translated by David Gerard, (London, 1990), pp. 71–76.


4 INTRODUCTION

In part, this may be the result of a Euro-centric worldview. Certainly a number of factors led to the rapid and pervasive expansion of printing in Europe and the resultant cultural transformation it helped to bring about. As I have mentioned, it is in Europe that printing with moveable type achieved its �rst and perhaps greatest commercial success—with much, if not most, of that success due to Johann Gutenberg’s invention. However, that same success has often obscured the historical importance of printing technology which not only preceded Gutenberg but also occurred outside of Europe. Even today, when knowledge of the existence of earlier printing is fairly widespread, books with titles such as John Man’s Gutenberg: How One Man Remade the World with Words7 continue to appear. No matter that these works (and Man’s is no exception) acknowledge the existence of printing—even moveable type printing—before Gutenberg, the titles alone suggests that the man named therein is the person responsible for the invention of printing. We now know this not to be the case and yet the myth that he invented printing is perpetuated while awareness of earlier methods of printing in other parts of the world remains in the shadows.

Block printing is one of these methods and, as the immediate precursor of moveable type printing, one of the most signi�cant for understanding the evolution of the printing craft. That medieval Arabs were engaged in the printing of texts with wood blocks has been a matter of historical record for more than one hundred years. Despite awareness of this within certain academic circles, scant attention has been paid to the known examples of Arab block printing and no effort has been given to any systematic inquiry of it. As I will detail further in a subse-quent chapter, public attention was �rst drawn to the existence of Arabic block printing in the mid-1890s with the inclusion of several examples in an exhibition of Egyptian Arabic artifacts mounted in a Viennese museum. A catalogue of the exhibition, complete with an illustration of one of the block prints, was published. Scholarly articles brie�y mentioning Arabic block prints had begun to appear already at the beginning of that decade. Yet, eleven years later, one Andre Geiss would write a two-part article, from Egypt, describing how the French under Napoleon had introduced printing to Egypt.8

Perhaps, at the time, Messr. Geiss was unaware of the Arabic block prints; news traveled much more slowly in those days, and after all, he was in Egypt, while the exhibition of Arabic block prints took place in Europe. However, some willful denial seems to have been operat-ing here as well, for just one year after the second installment of Geiss’s article appeared, he wrote another short piece for the same journal9 in which he took issue with the contention that medieval Arabs knew about printing. That claim had been made by Josef Hammer Purgstall, who published a brief article describing a medieval Arabic treatise which seems to refer in one instance to an activity which sounds suspiciously like printing.10 Geiss sounds haughtily dismis-sive in responding to such an idea:

7 New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2002. This is only one of hundreds of books published on Gutenberg. Other titles would include: Wolfgang Dobras, Gutenberg, Man of the Millennium: From a Secret Enterprise to the First Media Revolu-tion, (Mainz, 2000); Michael Pollard, Johann Gutenberg: the Story of the Invention of Movable Type and How Printing led to a Knowledge Explosion, (Watford, Herts, UK, 1994), among many others.

8 Andre Geiss, ‘Histoire de l’Imprimerie en Égypte,’ Bulletin de l’Institut égyptien 5th ser., 1 (1907), pp. 133–157; 5th ser., 2 (1908), pp. 195–220.

9 “Note sur l’Origine de l’Imprimerie Arabe en Europe par F. Bonola Bey,” Bulletin de l’Institut égyptien 5th ser., 3 (1909), pp. 74–80. On Bonola Bey’s article, see below.

10 On this article, see below. Josef von Hammer Purgstall, “Sur un passage curieux de l’Ihathet,” Journal Asiatique 4th serie, v. 20 (1852), pp. 252–255.


INTRODUCTION 5

It is impossible, given the evidence, to assert that the Arabs, even though they were the masters of Spain until 1469, could have known the art of Gutenberg, which was not introduced until 1468, even though it was invented about 1440. This [i.e. the Arabic] work can be nothing more than a copy of a European treatise on printing, the appearance of technical books on this industry having occurred only very recently.11

As I will show, the Arabs of the medieval Middle East were, indeed, involved in the produc-tion of block printed texts. Contrary to the notion that the technology of printing somehow bypassed them, the Arabs have left substantial evidence that block printing was a craft with which many in the medieval Islamic world (ca. 900–ca. 1400 CE) were familiar. The most common texts to have survived are amulets—that is, amulets are the type of document most frequently found to date in museum and library collections and are the primary focus of this study. Depending on how one construes the rare and problematic allusions to block printing found in Arabic historical and literary texts, however, the craft was employed to meet a variety of purposes, several examples of which are described and analyzed in this volume.

Block printed Arabic texts from fourteen institutions and private collections are represented here, a total of �fty-�ve individual pieces exhibiting diverse levels of creative skill, artistic execution and literary accomplishment. In order to place our knowledge of these pieces in context, I survey the current state of research about them and identify those medieval Arabic texts which may contain information about the practice of block printing. In addition, I have drawn up a census of the pieces in each collection indicating what has been published about those amulets that have been studied. As I have mentioned, virtually all studies to date are focused on individual examples or small groups and, with rare exceptions, they fail to provide suf�cient direction for investigations on a more elaborate scale. Although I have limited my study to collections, libraries, and museums in Europe and North America, I am aware that Arabic block prints are to be found in similar institutions in the Arabic speaking world. Given the necessary resources and suf�cient time, I hope to undertake a similar volume that considers those examples in the future.

The overarching intent of the material presented here is to promote interest in an area of medieval Islamic cultural history that I believe to have been sorely neglected or, at best, under-appreciated. This foray represents a modest attempt to provide a resource for broader and more sophisticated research into the area by future scholars. By shedding some light on this body of material culture, I hope to provide an impetus to further study in the �eld of Arabic printing history and a fuller appreciation of the people and cultures that produced the artifacts illustrated here. To that end, I provide, in addition to the catalog of block prints comprising the central part of this study, passages from the relevant Arabic historical and literary texts that refer to (or which can be construed as referring to) block printing in the medieval Islamic world

11 Andre Geiss, “Observations de M. Geiss a la suite de la note de M. Bonola Bey,” Bulletin de l’Institut égyptien 5th ser. 3 (1909), p. 84. “Il n’est guère possible, avec les données actuelles, d’admettre que les Arabes, même maitres de l’Espagne jusqu’en 1469, aient connu l’art de Gutenberg qui n’y fut introduit qu’en 1468, quoique inventé depuis 1440.”

“Cet ouvrage ne peut non plus être une copie d’un traité européen de l’imprimerie, l’apparition des livres tech-niques de cette industrie étant beaucoup plus récente.” English translation mine. A similar translation is offered by H.A. Avakian, in ‘Islam and the art of printing’ in Uit Bibliotheektuin en Informatieveld, (Utrecht, 1978), pp. 259–60.


6 INTRODUCTION

and a complete bibliography of those scholarly works published to date on Arabic block print-ing. The latter includes works dealing with the re-discovery of examples as well as scholarly treatments of individual pieces and collections. In short, what I have wanted to provide here is a source book that will serve as a starting point for more detailed and focused investigations. Should just one such study be undertaken, my own effort will have been amply rewarded.


THE HISTORICO-RELIGIOUS CONTEXT OF ARABIC BLOCK PRINTING

Given the scant coeval historical evidence for medieval Arabic block printing and the even more limited archaeological data for the provenance and vintage of surviving examples of block printed amulets bearing Arabic script, any attempt to understand their role or place in the societies that produced them is speculative at best. Innumerable examples of handwritten and three-dimensional (i.e. pendants, signet rings, plaques, bowls, etc.) Arabic amulets from the medieval period are extant and for this larger group of cultural artifacts a much more sub-stantial body of scholarship exists.1 However, if we are willing to accept what I would suggest is a reasonable hypothesis: that the block printed amulets served essentially the same role in medieval Islamic cultures as the handwritten variety—to offer protection against a variety of dangers or to assist their wearers to achieve speci�c spiritual or material ends—then it should be possible to draw some conclusions about them. In order to accomplish this, it is necessary to place these artifacts in their appropriate context.

Calligraphic and limited archaeological evidence2 suggests that workers in Arabic block printing were active roughly between 900 CE and 1430 CE, although other kinds of amulets had been in use for quite some time prior to this. It is beyond the scope of this study to offer a history of amulets in the Middle East; rather, this chapter, in general terms, will focus on that era known as the Late Antique. That period is calculated to begin approximately with the birth of Christ and to end with the Islamic conquest of the Middle East at the beginning of the sev-enth century CE. It is not my intention to present an exhaustive examination of those centuries but rather to give the reader a sense of the intellectual, theological and sociological currents that arguably had an impact on the production and use of amulets at that time, and that per-haps provided some of the conditions necessary for their adoption and continued employment in the period of Muslim cultural hegemony which followed the decline of Byzantium.

With regard to amulets as a cultural phenomenon, it is important to remember that such objects, popularly believed to provide their owners with a prophylactic or apotropaic effect against a variety of real or imaginary dangers, or to endow them with certain abilities or powers, have long been a feature of life in the Middle East (as they have been elsewhere). Their production and use pre-date Judaism, Christianity and Islam by millennia. Over time, they have appeared in a variety of forms and were created from a broad range of materials.

1 Any listing of relevant works must include E.A. Wallis Budge’s Amulets and Superstitions, originally published by Oxford University Press (1930), reprinted by Dover Publications (1978). This work has the virtue of placing Arabic amulets in the context of amulets from other Near Eastern cultures, both ancient and modern. Friedrich Bilabel and Adolf Grohmann’s Griechische, koptische und arabische Texte zur Religion und religiösen Literatur in Ägyptens Spätzeit, (Heidel-berg, 1934) is very useful as are the two articles by Tew�k Canaan, “Decipherment of Arabic Talismans,” Berytus: Archaeological Studies, v. 4 & 5 (1937). One should also consult Jean Marquès-Rivière’s Amulettes, Talismans et Pantacles dans les traditions orientales et occidentals, (Paris, 1972) and the Catalogue of Islamic Seals and Talismans by Ludvik Kalus, (Oxford, 1986). The works of Peter Schienerl on jewelry and ornamental amulets, some of which are cited herein, are also very valuable. More relevant works are listed in the bibliography at the end of the present volume.

2 Only a few examples of block printed Arabic amulets have been found in situ in archaeological excavations. To my knowledge, the only examples of excavated block prints to have been published to date are found in Wladyslaw Kubiak and George T. Scanlon, Fu�� Expedition Final Report, Vol. 2: Fu��-C, (Winona Lake, 1989).


8 THE HISTORICO-RELIGIOUS CONTEXT OF ARABIC BLOCK PRINTING

Organic items—animal skin, feathers, bones, pollen, herbs, wood—as well as minerals, pre-cious and semi-precious stones, metal and paper have all been employed at various historic and pre-historic junctures to avert misfortune from—and afford protection or advantage to—their owners. In some cases, the power attributed to an amulet was perceived to be inherent in the object itself. Such an object was believed to be possessed of a spirit or supernatural power and therefore required no human embellishment in order to reap its bene�t. A tiger claw fashioned into a necklace, for example, might be seen to embody that animal’s strength or speed, and to confer those properties on the person wearing it.

In other instances, the object was more elaborate, incorporating such elements as a carving or engraving in the form of the spirit—in animist cultures, a bear, for example—whose aid was being sought. A further enhancement might be the inclusion in the composition of the amulet of an item associated with that particular power. In this manner, zodiacal amulets frequently featured pendants or inlays of a particular stone associated with the planet whose power the amulet represented. Additional decoration in the form of ‘magic’ symbols, alphabetic charac-ters and the like, engraved into or painted onto the object, are also not uncommon. Over time, amulets tended to become increasingly elaborate in their appearance, design, and symbology.

Across the ages, while talismanic objects continued in use, amulets composed of words, in arti�cial or occult as well as common alphabets, became increasingly popular. As one researcher notes,3 the advent of the written word immeasurably enhanced the power of those members of the religious establishment who formulated prayers to enlarge the umbrella of sacred protection for members of their communities. Since ancient times, priests and other holy persons had uttered verbal assurances of divine guardianship over the heads of congre-gants or into the ears of individuals. Once such assurances could be written down in physical form, it became possible to extend, both in range and duration, the power of the Word to keep evil away. Bearing the appropriate formulae in writing on one’s person came to be seen as a way of perpetuating the invocation to whatever spirit or deity was believed to provide the desired sanctuary, relief, or cure sought.4

In the late antique period, many cultures in the Middle East shared a belief in supernatural powers and, more importantly, in the ability of humans to exert some in�uence over those powers. These beliefs can be traced back to much earlier times. The ancient Egyptians left an assortment of objects thought to impart protection from, or control over, supernatural forces. Ceramic scarabs and the ankh, the cruci�x with the distinctive loop at the top, are just two of the most recognizable examples,5 but written amulets were produced as well. Babylonians, Phoenicians and Assyrians made amulets of clay:6 some were in the form of animals, others represented fantastic creatures; still others were textual. The Romans and Greeks produced curse tablets comprised of thin lead sheets onto which wishes for harm to an individual were

3 Peter W. Schienerl, Schmuck und Amulett in Antike und Islam, (Aachen, 1988), pp. 10–11.4 Buddhist prayer wheels operate in somewhat analogous fashion. In that practice, prayers written on paper are

placed in a specialized container which is then spun about an axis. Each revolution of the wheel equates to one recitation of the prayer; the more the prayer is spun, the more repetitions are made and the power of the prayer is thereby magni�ed.

5 Recent works in this �eld include Carol Andrews, Amulets of Ancient Egypt, (London, 1994) and Geraldine Pinch, Magic in Ancient Egypt, (London, 1994).

6 See E.A. Wallis Budge, Amulets and Superstitions, (New York, 1978), pp. 82–126 & 250–257.


THE HISTORICO-RELIGIOUS CONTEXT OF ARABIC BLOCK PRINTING 9

inscribed.7 These were rolled in the manner of scrolls and worn under the clothing. The East-ern Romans and Christians of the �rst centuries following the birth of Christ often wore bullae, hemispheric objects of wood or metal which carried magic signs and inscriptions and which sometimes contained compartments into which were placed powders or other substances thought to provide the wearer protection against magic.8 The purpose of all such devices was to ward off evil in all its multiplicity of forms.9

The Jews created, used and apparently dealt in protective amulets. Many of their amulets were comprised of—or contained passages from—sacred texts and were written on paper, painted onto ceramics or engraved on metal.10 Coptic Christian Egyptians composed textual amulets as early as the second century CE and their work incorporates many of the elements of neighboring cultures.11 In similar fashion, the Arabs of the pre-Islamic era sought protec-tion from unseen forces through the use of charms. One of these, the tam�ma (pl. tam��im), was a white or black speckled stone worn on a cord around the neck; it was used to protect children from the evil eye.12

Extensive archeological and literary evidence proves that the Arabs continued to make use of amulets after the advent of Islam. That they incorporated into these amulets elements of the Islamic belief system is borne out by evidence contained in surviving examples from this time as well as in texts relating to their creation and use.13 How amulets evolved in this period has much to do with the social, religious and cultural dynamics at work in the Middle East at the time of the rise of Islam. For Muslims, as well as for Christians and Jews, the essential issue regarding the employment of amulets was intimately related to the nature of the relationship between humans and God. At one time or other, clerics of all three of the monotheistic reli-gions expressed concern about the use of amulets to invoke divine intervention and affect the lives of people. It is perhaps an indication of the pervasiveness of popular recourse to amulets that the leadership of all three religions felt obligated to address the matter.

The religious landscape of the Late Antique period was complicated by a political climate dominated by a protracted con�ict between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sasanian Empire, which ruled in Persia. By the middle of the seventh century of the Christian era, these two superpowers of their age had been engaged in intermittent warfare for the better part of a century, with neither able to gain a decisive advantage over the other. In the years just prior to the advent of Islam, their con�ict had devolved into a war of attrition. In this contest, both the Sasanians and the Byzantines engaged client groups to carry out raids and incursions against enemy territories. The employment of Arab tribal confederations created

7 Emilie Savage-Smith, “Introduction: Magic and Divination in Early Islam,” in Magic and Divination in Early Islam, Emilie Savage-Smith, ed., (Aldershot, Hants, 2004), p. xxi.

8 Budge, Amulets and Superstitions, pp. 14–15. On Byzantine amulets, see Jeffrey Spier, “Medieval Byzantine Magi-cal Amulets and Their Tradition,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes v. 56 (1993), pp. 25–62.

9 Budge, Amulets and Superstitions, p. 14.10 On this, see Naveh and Shaked, Amulets and Magic Bowls: Aramaic Incantations of Late Antiquity, ( Jerusalem, 1985),

pp. 13 ff., as well as their subsequent work, Magic Spells and Formulae: Aramaic Incantations of Late Antiquity, (Jerusalem, 1993). A study of the texts of Hebrew amulets is found in Theodore Schrire, Hebrew Magic Amulets: their Decipherment and Interpretation, (New York, 1966).

11 Marvin W. Meyer and Richard Smith, eds., Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power, (Princeton, 1999).

12 T. Fahd, “Tam�ma,” EI2, V. 10, p. 177 and J. Ruska and B. Carra de Vaux, “Tilsam,” EI2, V. 10, p. 500.13 On this, see David Pingree, “Some of the Sources for the Gh�yat al-�ak�m,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld

Institutes v. 43 (1980), pp. 1–15.



further complications for the two empires and ultimately did little to alter the outcome of the wars. It took the arrival of powerful Muslim Arab armies from the south in the mid-600s to break the stalemate.

In the seventh and eighth centuries CE, Muslim Arab armies pushed vigorously outward from the Arabian Peninsula, east into Iraq, Persia and Central Asia, west into Egypt and North Africa, and northeast into the lands of the eastern Mediterranean coast. In every direction, they encountered ancient established civilizations that, once subdued, brought the conquerors into contact with new ideas, new technologies, and new forms of cultural expression. In the �rst �ush of imperial power, the Arabs seized upon these trappings as a type of validation of their own recently acquired authority.

Greek philosophy, particularly theology, gave them the tools with which to defend and pro-mulgate the tenets of their faith. The adoption and continuation of Christian medicine as practiced under the Sasanids of Persia provided them with the means to treat diseases, physical ailments, and injuries more ef�caciously than they had been able to do until then. A knowledge of structural engineering and architecture acquired from Greek engineers and builders en-abled the Muslims to create distinctive houses of worship, a variety of other civic and military buildings, and, ultimately, their own architectural vernacular. The mosque, that distinctive Islamic structure one �nds in virtually every Middle Eastern city, came to serve not only as a locus for Muslim religious practice but also as a symbol of the ascendancy of Islam and its role as the preeminent religious and cultural force in that part of the world.

Islam emerged into a world characterized by a mosaic of competing, often con�icting, reli-gions. Although monotheism was making serious inroads on the spiritual landscape, none had cornered the market on people’s religious sensibilities, and, in fact, there was arguably more diversity in the beliefs held in the region in this period than there had been for some time heretofore. Christianity, a mere seven centuries old in the mid-600s of the present era, was still wrestling with such fundamental theological issues as the nature of Christ. Little more than three centuries had passed since the conversion of the Emperor Constantine and the estab-lishment of Christianity as the of�cial religion of the Byzantine Empire. Though by this time widely practiced, Christianity was scarcely uni�ed in its doctrine and numerous confessional variants were competing vigorously to gain adherents and, through them, greater legitimacy.

The two largest factions were the Nestorians and the Monophysites. The Nestorians held the view that Christ was at once human and divine, both parts of his nature being perfect and inseparable; the Monophysites countered that Jesus had but a single nature and that it was divine.14 The relative fortunes of these two positions ebbed and �owed; despite efforts to settle the dispute rationally, most notably at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 CE, there were periodic campaigns of suppression during which adherents of one group or the other suffered expulsion or yet more severe sanction. Converts and champions, sought by each side, included the major political �gures of both the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires, as well as the Arabs who dwelt at the margins of those two polities. In addition, a number of other confessions em-bracing varying measures of Christianity, Gnosticism and even paganism—the Manichaeans,

14 For readable accounts of this history, see F.E. Peters, The Harvest of Hellenism: a History of the Near East from Alex-ander the Great to the Triumph of Christianity, (New York, 1970) and Allah’s Commonwealth: a history of Islam in the Near East 600–1100 AD, (New York, 1973) and the bibliographies listed in those two works.



Daysanites and Sabians are the most prominent—were attempting to promulgate their own particular theological viewpoints with varying degrees of success.15

Christianity in the sixth and seventh centuries CE was in the ascendant. However, pagans were still to be found practicing their rites in numerous locations throughout the region. They, too, continued to profess a multitude of beliefs ranging from imperial cult polytheism, to wor-ship of localized deities and spirits, to a dualistic ‘theology’ which postulated a struggle be-tween the forces of a luminous and ethereal purity against those of a dark and malevolent materiality. One must consider that the ‘paganism’ of late antiquity was not the paganism of the Classical world. As Jonathan Berkey puts it, “paganism—or more accurately, some of the paganisms of late antiquity —had moved a good distance from the religion of Homer and Ramses, and in many respects shared a good deal with the Christian and Islamic traditions which replaced it.”16

Although polytheism within the Byzantine Empire was of�cially and vehemently suppressed in the middle of the sixth Christian century,17 polytheists continued to be found across South-west Asia, not only in remote regions of the Byzantine Empire but also in the Sasanian Empire. The most notable of these were the so-called Sabians of Harran, whose theology, a complex blend of polytheism, Gnosticism, and Hermeticism, completely �ummoxed the Muslims at the time of their initial contact, toward the beginning of the ninth century CE.18 It must be remembered, too, that the Arabs of this time were themselves no more than a few generations removed from polytheism; it was Muhammad, after all, who ordered the removal of pagan im-ages from the Ka�ba in Mecca after his triumphant Muslim forces seized that city in 630 CE. Remnants of pagan practice no doubt lingered in many places in the Arabian Peninsula, even after Islam was formally declared the one true faith there.

To the east, in Persia, Zoroastrianism, a reformed type of Magianism, had experienced a renaissance under the Sasanians. The then-reigning Shah, Khusraw I (531–579), restored it as the state religion in the aftermath of a challenge to the state from a lapsed Zoroastrian priest named Mazdak, who preached a radical social brand of Manichaeism that sought to com-munize all property and level all social classes.19 Zoroastrianism is a prophetic religion with a revealed scripture that, not unlike Christianity, offers salvation to the souls of its adherents. According to its belief system, humanity can be redeemed through the understanding that

15 Peters, Allah’s Commonwealth, pp. 267–269 and passim and Michael G. Morony, Iraq After the Muslim Conquest, (Princeton, 1984), pp. 403–404. See also the relevant articles in Encyclopaedia of Islam: On the Daysanites, A. Abel, “Day�an�yya,” EI2, V. 2, p. 199; on the Manichaeans, C.E. Bosworth, “M�n�,” EI2, V. 6, p. 421; on the Sabians, T. Fahd, “��bi�a,” EI2, V. 8, pp. 675–678, esp. section 2, and the sources cited in the bibliographies for each of these entries.

16 Jonathan P. Berkey, The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600–1800, (Cambridge, 2003), p. 33.

17 Peters, Harvest of Hellenism, pp. 715–718.18 The classic study of this group was done by D.A. Khvolson, Der Ssabier und der Ssabismus, (St. Petersburg, 1856–);

also reprinted twice: Amsterdam and New York, both 1956). See also the article on the Sabians in the Encylopaedia of Islam cited above in note 15, as well as another EI2 entry, F.C. De Blois, “��bi�,” V. 8, pp. 672–675, and the refer-ences listed there. The Harranians were ultimately able to convince the Arabs that they were the Sabians mentioned in the Qur��n and therefore protected as one of the ‘people of the Book,’ those monotheistic religions acknowledged by Islam as possessing divinely revealed scriptures and therefore special dispensation to continue following their beliefs and performing their rituals.

19 Seen as heretical and a threat to the state, it was crushed by force. See A.J. Carnoy, “Zoroastrianism,” Ency-clopaedia of Religion and Ethics, James Hastings, ed., (New York, 1908–1926), V. 12, p. 867. Also, in the same work, R.A. Nicholson, “Mazdak,” V. 8, pp. 508–510. For a more recent treatment, see Peters, Harvest of Hellenism, pp. 663–668.



there is in it something of the divine light that wants to return to its source. Only through proper conduct of one’s life can such a reunion be effected.20 It is unclear just how widely prac-ticed the religion was at the time. Certainly the fall of the Persian Empire to invading Arab Muslim armies in the mid-eighth century and the perceived economic and social advantages of conversion to Islam hindered that religion from further growth. Into the mix, in the eastern and southern regions of the Sasanian state, adherents of Buddhism could be found and their presence persisted well into the early Islamic period.21 And if this were not enough, an Indian cultural component, bearing the marks of Hellenism inscribed upon it in the time of Alexan-der the Great, echoed in the background.22

Judaism, the oldest of the monotheistic religions in the Near East, had been an established presence in the region for some time. In the urbanized areas of the late antique period, its fortunes had depended on the relative strength and tolerance of the Persians and later, the Romans. In the aftermath �rst, of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE, and sec-ond, the Bar Kokhba Revolt in 132 CE, many Jews had �ed eastward to the Persian Empire, where they were favorably received. Some Jews, however, remained within the territories of the Eastern Roman Empire where, particularly after the establishment of Christianity as the state religion, they were alternately tolerated and persecuted, the latter circumstance �nally culminating, in the third decade of the sixth century CE, with the denial of any legal standing to Jews living in the Byzantine realms.23

Outside the urban centers, however, Judaism continued to be practiced and Jewish commu-nities could be found not only in the Byzantine and Sasanian states but in those areas beyond their sway as well. Jewish groups lived in the Arabian Peninsula; we know that one reason for Muhammad’s departure from Mecca for the oasis of Yathrib (Mad�na) in 622 CE was to arbi-trate a dispute involving Jewish tribes resident there. Although numerous Jewish communities, even cities, existed in Iraq, the demographic center of Judaism at that time was Persia, where, for several centuries, Jews had found a welcome in varying degrees of warmth and where their numbers were most likely the greatest.24

The seeds of this mélange of cultural and religious practices were sown on �elds furrowed by the great plow of Hellenic civilization. Having fallen on lands in possession of rich indig-enous intellectual and theological traditions, these seeds sprouted into remarkably dynamic exchanges and syntheses of beliefs, ideas and philosophies. Some of the resultant fruits of this cross-pollination were sterile hybrids, incapable of propagating themselves and destined to wither quickly and die. Others were strengthened and invigorated, their progeny rendered more vibrant and vigorous for having struck root in the fertile loam of venerable intellectual and cultural traditions and �nding nourishment there. For a time, there was a great deal of �uidity among the religions, particularly between Judaism and Christianity, but also, in varying degrees, among other religions. To add to the complexity of this phenomenon, and to carry the analogy one step farther, many of the offspring of these religio-social saplings fell to earth in

20 A.J. Carnoy, “Zoroastrianism,” pp. 862–868.21 The Barmacids, a Buddhist family originally from the eastern province of Khurasan, served the early Abbasid

caliphs as viziers and patrons of literary translation activity. See Peters, Allah’s Commonwealth, pp. 158 ff.22 See Pingree, “Some of the Sources for the Gh�yat al-�ak�m,” p. 2.23 Peters, Harvest of Hellenism, pp. 716–717.24 See Morony, Iraq After the Muslim Conquest, pp. 308–309 and Jonathan P. Berkey, The Formation of Islam, pp.

13–14.



the hinterlands, far from their parent stock and, if they germinated at all, grew “in attenuated and problematic form.”25

This syncretistic impulse, the willingness (if not eagerness) to engage in exchanges of ideas and practices, was powerful; particularly with regard to popular practices, it seems, there were many similarities in the modes of expression of those beliefs.26 To a remarkable extent, pagans, Jews and Christians had, for some time, been participating in each other’s religious—as well as secular—lives, despite concerted efforts by rabbis and priests to enforce �rm confessional boundaries. As late as the fourth century CE, Jews were still proselytizing in apparently success-ful attempts to attract new adherents, although certain Jewish authorities opposed the practice. Conversely, some Christians saw no confessional in�delity in worshipping at Jewish temples, or being buried in Jewish cemeteries. Such evidence adds considerable weight to the argu-ment that, among certain people, there was a perception that differences between Judaism and Christianity were inconsequential.27 These two religions held much of scripture and tradition in common and this, no doubt, contributed to the sense among certain of their adherents that there was greater similarity than dissimilarity between the two.

At the same time, and overlapping with the arrival of Islam, efforts began to be undertaken by the clergies of the various monotheistic religions to demarcate the religio-social landscape more sharply. The religious leaderships of Christianity and Judaism seem to have been seeking to create more distinct religious boundaries for the adherents of their faiths, perhaps in order to establish ownership over certain religious traditions, but certainly in order to extend the po-litical and legal authority of the clergy over the broader community.28 It is perhaps obvious that for Jews and Christians, who shared a sacred text and certain traditions, this must have been a vexatious undertaking. However, the impulse toward the establishment of stricter communal boundaries also embraced the Zoroastrians. During this time, their clergy also tried to distance their faith from Judaism,29 which was, in Persia, the principal ‘rival’ to Zoroastrianism.

The necessity of establishing clear boundaries was certainly more pressing in cities where large numbers of people belonging to a variety of faiths dwelt in close proximity to one an-other. Many cities in the Near East, especially those situated in the contested regions that lay between the two warring states, had suffered serious declines in population and economic power in the early centuries of the Christian era. However, the advent of Islam brought about a rapid and far-reaching re-urbanization in territories that the Muslims seized from Byzantium and Persia. The consolidation of Muslim Arab political power over much of Southwestern Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean lands resulted in the re-settlement of many Arabs in existing urban centers and the foundation of a number of new cities. Two settlements, Basra, established in 636 CE, and Kufa, founded in 638 CE, were at �rst military encampments, but quickly developed into important towns. In addition, at least three new cities were founded by Muslims in the medieval period: Baghdad in 762 CE; Cairo in 969 CE; and, further west, F�s (Fez) in about 1069 CE. As Jonathan Berkey has recently observed, the cities were homes to a strong merchant class whose in�uence and power often connected cities with one another.

25 Berkey, The Formation of Islam, p. 5.26 Berkey refers to this phenomenon as a “religious koiné.” The Formation of Islam, p. 16.27 For a more thorough treatment of this topic, see Berkey, The Formation of Islam, pp. 16–19.28 See Morony, Iraq After the Muslim Conquest, speci�cally chapters 11 and 12 on the Jews and Christians,

respectively.29 Berkey, The Formation of Islam, p. 15.



Through their travels and personal connections, they helped to communicate religious as well as secular ideas. Their activities encouraged the development of traditions that reached across the inter-urban distances and helped to lessen the parochialism of scattered populations.30

In addition to (and no doubt overshadowing) the innumerable inter- and intra-confessional theological disputations, other broader, more catholic forces were at work across the Near East in late antiquity. Their in�uence transcended the bounds of religion, ethnicity, linguistic af�nity and political af�liation. One of the most in�uential of these was Gnosticism, a body of ideas that posited a dualistic vision of the universe and challenged other ways of knowing with “absolutist claims for a secret gnosis at the expense of both rational discourse and an open revelation.”31 Arising in the second Christian century, its origins are unclear. As it developed, Gnosticism manifested itself in subtle shadings of meaning and interpretation. In general terms, it held that creation was the result of the interplay of two forces: light and purity against darkness and materiality.32

A disruption between these two forces, according to Gnostic mythology, resulted in a por-tion of the light falling into the darkness, which constitutes the substance of the perceivable universe. This light was absorbed in varying proportions, according to a strict tripartite hier-archy, by humanity. Those people imbued with greater shares of light were the elect and were vouchsafed redemption upon their deaths, at which time their portion of the light would return to and become one with its source. A second group had to work for its salvation by avoiding the temptations of the world. People of this class were obliged to live cautiously and in denial of a prescribed list of pleasures and comforts if their souls were to win salvation. At the lowest rung stood those whose lot it was never to be redeemed.

According to the Gnostic conception of the cosmos, the supreme being,33 the power of purity and light, was remote and communicated with humanity, when He chose to do so, through prophets. The management of the cosmos and the oversight of the affairs of the world, how-ever, were the responsibility of intermediaries or factota of a sort, whose homes were the seven celestial bodies—the sun, Mercury, Venus, the Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Human affairs were conducted under the in�uence of these bodies and the twelve zodiacal signs, all of which, being part of the material world, were viewed as demonic in nature, but also as potentially helpful.34 The in�uence of these several bodies was projected by means of rays emanating from them and it was to this aspect of the cosmic machinery that humans who possessed the neces-sary knowledge could gain access.

Gnosticism appealed to many people across religious and cultural divisions. To varying de-grees, it in�uenced the theological and philosophical discourses of Christians, Jews, Magians, perhaps the residents of India, and, ultimately, the Muslims. It took both secular and religious forms, but, most importantly for the present study, what it preserved for certain and not insig-ni�cant segments of those increasingly monotheistic cultures was the concept that, for those

30 Berkey, The Formation of Islam, p. 5.31 Peters, Harvest of Hellenism, p. 671.32 This and what follows is a grossly oversimpli�ed account of Gnosticism. For much more succinct and no doubt

clearer explanations of this late antique phenomenon, see Peters, Harvest of Hellenism, pp. 648–662 and Morony, Iraq After the Muslim Conquest, speci�cally the chapter there entitled “Pagans and Gnostics,” pp. 384–430.

33 Who is known by various names, depending on the religious community in question. For example, to the Marcionites, he was the “Redeemer;” to the Sabians, the “First Cause.” See Morony, Iraq After the Muslim Conquest, p. 402 ff.

34 Morony, Iraq After the Muslim Conquest, pp. 411, 413.



who knew the requisite techniques and languages, the lines of communication between the divine and the material world worked in both directions and not exclusively for the prophets. Those claiming to know of alternate ways of communicating with God and, most particularly, knowledge of methods of exercising in�uence over His actions, came to be revered by certain segments of the several religious communities, although those claiming such abilities were gen-erally scorned as frauds or reviled as pagans by the leaders of those same communities.

In the midst of all this was magic. “Magic,” a culturally burdened and rather infelicitous term, is the word employed by those who have studied and written about the religious history of late antiquity to describe philosophies and bodies of practice which were used, among other things, to in�uence those powers and forces which were thought to exist beyond the visible world. According to some philosophies, these powers resided in the planets; for others, speci�c, earth-bound geographic locations were thought to harbor supernatural beings. In either case, the power those entities possessed could be drawn upon for good or ill by those who enjoyed a special relationship with them, or by those who had discovered the means by which their pow-ers could be harnessed to the will of their familiars.

The pre-Christian world had its share of oracles, seers, and diviners who professed the abil-ity to communicate with deities and spirits. People who practiced this esoteric craft continued to do so well into the early Islamic period. The existence of so-called sorcerers and magicians, the challenges they presented to monotheism, and the manner in which they were dealt with, are well chronicled in the contemporary accounts.35 The major religions all believed in the existence of one kind of supernatural being or other—angels, demons, jinn36 and the like. However, their existence, once acknowledged, constituted something of a problem for those who professed a belief in a solitary, omnipotent divinity. This god was characterized by his prophetic representatives as operating at a further remove from quotidian human affairs and as being much more chary regarding His choice of earthly interlocutors than the pagan deities he supplanted. Thus, claims to the ability to carry on intercourse with God came to be portrayed, especially by Christian and Jewish clerics, as fraud, charlatanry, or worse, blasphemy. Those who made such claims were accused of preying on the gullibility of the common folk, not to mention being dangerous to the teachings of the particular faith in question. Increasingly, the resort to such measures, smacking as they did of the “pagan” practices from which they derived, came to be seen as anathema to acceptable monotheistic religious behavior.

In spite of this, there were apparently many people who had need of reassurance that they could bring their personal concerns to the attention of the Almighty or, failing that, to His lieutenants and, once having done so, to have their requests acted upon. If the desired satisfac-tion was not to be found with the clergies of the monotheistic confessions, then people who, by virtue of a popularly endowed sanctity or recognized success in obtaining divine—or at least supernatural—assistance for others, would be addressed. The practitioners of such skills had a variety of tools at their disposal: potions, invocations in secret languages, instruction in modes of personal conduct that would gain favor with spirits—and the fashioning of amulets.

35 On this, see Morony, Iraq After the Muslim Conquest, pp. 416–417.36 The jinn (pl. ajn�n) (like the genie of Sindbad’s lamp) are creatures believed by some Muslims to be real; their

existence is attested in the Qur��n. They are both male and female, good and bad, Muslim and non-Muslim. They are capable of mischief as well as acts of benevolence toward humans. See D.B. MacDonald, “Djinn,” EI2, V. 2, pp. 546–548.



Just as some Christians attended Jewish religious services, there were Christians and Jews who attended worship having come directly from an amulet maker or soothsayer and who apparently saw no theological contradiction in having done so. In his valuable study of Iraq in the period immediately after the Islamic conquest, Michael Morony relates accounts of Nesto-rian Christians who consulted sorcerers, sought amulets and made animal sacri�ces. Even priests were involved on occasion, but not even their expulsion by church leaders seems to have dimmed the ardor of those who felt the need to avail themselves of such solutions.37

Although the Jewish and Christian religious leadership had serious problems with practi-tioners of ‘magic’ and tried to suppress them, they seem ultimately to have adopted the more pragmatic approach of making room for some magic within their systems of belief. This was not done without dif�culty, nor was such an approach universally approved, as one study on Jewish mysticism in this period has shown.38 At least among Jews, there was a difference of opinion with regard to the acceptable methods of soliciting spiritual assistance. Some held that divine assistance was earned by strict observance of the commandments; others believed that help could be obtained through prayer or by intoning the divine names.39

Faced with the widespread acceptance of these and similar practices among large segments of their respective populations, the clerics of both the Christian and Jewish faiths seem to have decided that it would be better to allow these practices, as long as certain rules were observed. It was in this way that the use of ‘magic’ came to be, if not permitted, then at least tolerated by the religious establishments, as long as it was wrought for good and not for evil and so long as it relied on Holy Writ, the Holy Names, and Jewish or Christian symbols as the grammar of its power. Thus it was that passages from the Torah and the Bible began to appear in written amulets, where they were used to invoke the assistance of the divine to achieve speci�c ends for the supplicants who requested them, although this practice, too, was controversial.40

Magic could be used to battle demons, evil spirits and the like—the existence of which had already been acknowledged—particularly since they were commonly understood to be the root causes not only of misfortune and danger, but of illnesses. The belief that illness was an indication of a sick soul or evidence of the commission of a sin was congruent with the idea that unseen forces or powers affected human activities; the equation of evil and illness transcended confessional boundaries. The adjuration of divine (i.e. good) power by means of ‘magic’ to counter such forces was judged to be acceptable both theologically and philosophi-cally by many elements of the three main monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism.

Into the midst of this polyglot, religiously polymorphous milieu the Arab Muslims inserted themselves, quickly becoming immersed in the debates and adopting many of the practices of the indigenous populations. No doubt they already were aware of some of the issues being bruited about by Jewish and Christian theologians. For instance, the Qur��n contains a number of allusions and references to religious differences between Jews and Christians. Moreover, both Christians and Jews had been living among the Arabs for some time and Arab nomads and traders were frequent visitors to the lands of the Byzantines and Persians. All these interac-

37 Morony, Iraq After the Muslim Conquest, pp. 416–418.38 Rebecca Macy Lesses, Ritual Practices to Gain Power: Angels, Incantations, and Revelation in Early Jewish Mysticism,

(Harrisburg, PA, 1998), p. 51.39 Lesses, Ritual Practices to Gain Power, p. 51.40 See Peter Schäfer and Shaul Shaked, eds., Magische Texte aus der Kairoer Geniza, v. 2, (Tübingen, 1997), p. 5.



tions certainly afforded the Arabs the opportunity to learn something about the nature of their theological discussions, however imperfect and lacunary that understanding may have been.

As the Arabs moved in ever greater numbers into the settled areas of the former Byzan-tine and Sasanian Empires, they were increasingly exposed to the syncretistic forces that had been at play among the Christians, Jews, and the Zoroastrians, among the speakers of Greek, Pahlavi, Aramaic, Kurdish and the other languages spoken in the region, and among the vari-ous ethnic groups that spoke them. While they most certainly found many of the religious and cultural practices they encountered strange—and many no doubt anathema to their own religious beliefs—they were at the same time selective in the imposition of their own ways on the indigenous peoples. A strong impulse toward practicality seems to have governed many of these decisions. For example, the pre-Islamic political arrangement between Persians and the Jewish and Christian communities in their midst, under which adherents of these religions were granted political authority over the internal affairs of their groups, was continued after the Arabs took political power in Sasanian Iran.41 This arrangement was eventually extended throughout the Islamic realms and applied to Sabian and even Zoroastrian communities.

The willingness of the Muslim Arabs to adopt ideas and practices they encountered in their expansive conquests of the former imperial realms of Byzantium and Sasanid Persia, and beyond, extended to material matters also. Principles of Byzantine city planning and architecture lent much to the development of cities founded by the Arabs and the mosques they built therein. Greek science, especially in the areas of mathematics, astronomy, and medi-cine formed the basis of numerous advances achieved by later Muslim scientists in these �elds. An early encounter between Arabs and the Chinese, perhaps the consequence of an armed con�ict, resulted in the transfer to and enthusiastic adoption of papermaking technology by the former.42 This process of selective adaptation commenced in the earliest stages of contact between the Muslim Arabs and these other groups and continued long after the conquests had been completed.43 Once begun, it seems, the habit of borrowing became just that. While the most widely known evidence for Arab Muslim cultural borrowing lies in the corpus of Ara-bic translations from Greek and Sanskrit, the cultural appropriation was much broader and pervaded all aspects of life, from the crafts and �ne arts to the mundane; from medicine and literature to habits of dress and eating.

Not surprisingly, such borrowing was not limited to the practices of others; in many instances, the Arab Muslims adapted their own pre-Islamic practices to post-Islamic realities. Justi�ca-tion for some of these adaptations was found in the Qur��n; in other cases, customary usage was recognized as a validating principle. In still other instances, the rationale for adopting a speci�c belief or practice was found through resort to a previously borrowed concept or prac-tice. One of the most noteworthy examples of this last case would be the employment, by early Arab Muslims, of Greek logical and theological constructs to defend the precepts of their faith against non-Muslim challenges to it and to develop their own Islamic theology.

41 Berkey, The Formation of Islam, p. 92.42 Paper, a mid-eighth century importation from China, gave the Arabs a marvelous vehicle for disseminating

their sacred text, the Qur��n, widely and at a relatively modest cost. Would the Qur��n have been so widely distributed in the medieval period had it not been for the availability of papermaking technology? Recall how reproduction of the Bible (and other books) increased signi�cantly after paper and printing were introduced in Europe.

43 Berkey notes, for example, that as late as the Fatimid period in Egypt (10th century CE), Muslims were chant-ing the Qur��n in styles which imitated Christian chants. See The Formation of Islam, pp. 197–198.



The use of amulets, I would argue, falls into this �nal category. Amulets were in wide use among the pre-Islamic Arabs and, like those employed by pagans elsewhere, their function was to gain the assistance of unseen forces to achieve certain desired outcomes over which supplicants had no other kind of power. Their subsequent employment by monotheists—Jews and Christians—continued a tradition of belief in their power that stretched back to the time of the ancient Egyptians. Rooted in the widely held notion that unseen powers in�uenced the affairs of humanity and that those powers could, in turn, be in�uenced by appropriate human actions, the wearing of amulets appears to have been one of those socio-cultural behaviors that transcended theologies and, in certain cases, even de�ed them.

For the Arabs, the idea that such powers existed and that some people could exert in�u-ence over them derived, in part, from the traditional belief, con�rmed by the Qur��n, of the ubiquitous presence of the jinn, and in part on the Neoplatonic idea of a network of ‘sym-pathies’ among all elements of the perceivable universe,44 which was adopted from late an-tique Hellenistic thinkers. Neoplatonists also introduced the idea of theurgy, the adjuration of divine power. Although not, strictly speaking, ‘magic,’ theurgy was understood to be a method of harnessing divine powers in a way that was acceptable, in the view of some—but not to Muslims.45

Muslims rejected the practice of theurgy apparently because it involved planetary powers, something Islamic theology held to be anathema. However, Islam did ultimately accept the use of ‘magic’ under rather strict conditions. Binding supernatural beings to human purposes was permitted as long as the goal was not to bring harm; this validated the use of amulets so long as they followed certain rules and incorporated speci�c religious formulae in their texts. This type of magic, �ilm al-sim�y��,46 or ‘white magic’ was carried out, in Islam, by practitioners who were regarded by members of the public as possessing the appropriate sanctity, skills, demeanor, and perhaps lineage to do so.

Many of the people so recognized, in the Islamic period, were, like their predecessors of other religious persuasions, people of local note, recognized for their exceptional piety and per-sonal reputations. The pagans had their oracles; the Christians their saints and seers; the Jews their kabbalists.47 It was to such people that some members of the public turned for assistance in bending divine will to their purposes or to invoke the aid of various other unseen forces. Islam produced its own strains of mystics. Some, like the earlier incarnations, received their bona �des through a sort of popular acclamation.48 Their ‘holiness’ was never acknowledged of-�cially by any organized religious body and their spheres of in�uence tended to remain tightly circumscribed. A few won repute from a wider audience and an even smaller number came to be recognized as ‘saints’ by many, if not most, members of the Muslim community.49 It was

44 Tou�c Fahd, “La magie comme ‘source de la sagesse,’ d’après l’oeuvre d’al-Buni,” in Charmes et Sortilèges Magie et Magiciens, Rika Gyselen, ed., (Bures-sur-Yvette, 2002), p. 62.

45 Jewish mysticism, particularly, employed this practice. See Lesses, Ritual Practices to Gain Power, (Harrisburg, 1998), p. 56.

46 Tou�c Fahd, “La magie comme ‘source de la sagesse,’ ” pp. 62 & 63, and G.H.A. Juynboll, “Si�r,” EI2, V. 9, p. 569.

47 See Lesses’ study, Ritual Practices to Gain Power, on early Jewish mystical practices, already cited above.48 A phenomenon which can be found yet today in many parts of the Islamic world. For a recent study of this,

see Helle Hinge, “Islamisk folkereligiøsitet,” Diwan 1 (1995), pp. 14–19.49 Formal Islamic doctrine does not recognize “saints,” nor does it provide for the elevation of people to saint-

hood. Popular Islamic practice, however, has frequently conferred such status on select people and their tombs and graves punctuate the Islamic landscape to this day. The resting places of many such people have become pilgrim-



to such people that those desirous of gaining supernatural assistance would turn for special prayers and handwritten amulets that addressed their individual concerns.

Organized Islamic mysticism appears within two centuries of the establishment of Islam.50 Already in the mid-eighth century CE, organized groups of �f�s —those who wear wool—are found contemplating the nature of the individual’s relationship to Allah and devising means to achieve spiritual unity with the Deity. The development of such abilities took many years of study and devotion as well as indoctrination to secret knowledge, the gnosis that allowed one to open the path to spiritual union. Signi�cantly, this training was predicated on the ability to read and write, skills essentially lacking in the general population of the time. Su�s, then, were also people to whom one could turn to solicit divine aid. Since such aid often included the composi-tion of protective amulets, Su�s, possessing the requisite esoteric knowledge and the ability to write, were the resource of �rst resort when amulets were called for.

By no means must we think that acceptance or approval of the use of amulets was immedi-ate or universal among the Muslim Arabs, however. According to Islamic lore, the Prophet Muhammad himself had been a victim of enchantment and held sorcery to be an expression of evil.51 While the Qur��n itself is silent on the matter, codi�ed ad�th declare that sorcerers were liable to be put to death for practicing their art.52 Over time, however, Islamic thinkers reasoned that both good and bad magic existed and that only the practice of bad magic—that used to bring about harm—was proscribed. The subject of magic was no small matter for the medieval Muslims. Scholars of the caliber of Ibn Khaldn and al-Ghaz�l� thought it worthy of serious consideration and several centuries would pass before magical ‘work’ was acknowl-edged to have a certain validity. Two works of al-Bn� (d. 1225 CE), Shams al-Ma��rif al-Kubrá and Mift� al-U�l al-�ikma, went a long way toward establishing magic as a legitimate practice by making a convincing case that the Qur��n was its foundation, and its practitioners, sages.53

Yet despite such an imprimatur, the esoteric nature of magic and the secretive habits of those who performed it meant that the entire enterprise perpetually trod on thin ice. Tolerance of the practice of ‘white,’ or “natural” magic (�ilm al-sim�y�� ) by Muslims was a very wary tol-erance, always bounded by suspicion and scrutinized with a skeptical eye. Those familiar with the arcane arts of acceptable magic, after all, were also privy to knowledge of its malevolent applications. The essential difference between good and bad magic was the purpose to which it was put. As Juynboll has succinctly stated it,

The practice of this [i.e. ‘natural’] magic is tolerated insofar as it causes no harm to others. But when the magician in�uences nature with the object of doing harm, he is exercising prohibited

age destinations for generations of penitents. On visitations to such shrines, see the article “Ziy�ra,” EI2, V. 11, pp. 524–539, but particularly the �rst section by J.W. Meri, “1. In the central and eastern Arab lands during the pre-modern period.”

50 The literature on ��sm is extensive. Classic expositions on the topic include works by Reynold A. Nicholson, The Mystics of Islam, (London, 1966); J. Spencer Trimmingham, The Su� Orders in Islam, (Oxford, 1971); and Julian Baldick, Mystical Islam, (New York, 1989), along with innumerable articles in the periodical literature and chapters in other works. See also B. Radtke, “Ta�awwuf: 1. Early development in the Arabic and Persian lands,” and W.C. Chittick, “2. Ibn al-�Arab� and after in the Arabic and Persian lands and beyond,” EI2, V. 10, pp. 313–324 and the sources cited there.

51 G.H.A. Juynboll, “Si�r,” EI2, V. 9, p. 569.52 G.H.A. Juynboll, “Si�r,” EI2, V. 9, p. 569. �ad�th are the codi�ed reports of the sayings and actions of Muham-

mad, based, according to Muslim belief, on �rst-hand accounts of reliable witnesses to those utterances and events. They constitute the second most important basis of Islamic law, after the Qur��n.

53 Tou�c Fahd, “La magie comme ‘source de la sagesse,’ ” pp. 61–63.



magic. This . . . implies recourse to demoniacal inspiration (black magic) and to the invocation of the planets (theurgy). It is by the awareness of the causal mechanism which rules nature and by penetrating the af�nities which bind mankind and the cosmos closely together that the magician attempts to in�uence the course of natural events, harnessing the forces emanating from the causal-ity and relativity which he establishes between beings. This is why the magician’s art is no business for amateurs; an innate predisposition, rich and multifarious knowledge, and consummate skill in handling composition, conjunction, mixture and combinations are indispensable. To obtain his objective, the magician sets in motion two procedures aimed at constraining higher forces to place their ef�cacy at his disposal.54

This, then, is a part of the cultural context within which we should place the study of amulets in general and block printed amulets in particular. Amulets constitute the embodiment of the ‘magical’ practices outlined above. For those who believed in their ef�cacy, amulets served as sources and reminders of protective or helpful powers harnessed for a speci�c personal purpose. They were worn on one’s person so that the protective powers, the lines of cosmic sympathy, would always be woven about their object. Depending upon the desired outcome, the amulet was meant to protect the wearer from speci�c threats or dangers, or to assure the successful achievement of a speci�ed goal. Put differently, the wearing of an amulet drew a veil of focused energy or power about the wearer; indeed, the Arabic term for amulets, ij�b,55 indicates just such a function.

Finally, the creation and use of amulets had long been a feature of popular religious practice in the Near East. Their popularity transcended confessional, ethnic and linguistic boundaries and their employment continued over time, despite periodic attempts by clerics of the vari-ous religious establishments to control or even halt the practice. Like many other features of the religious and social landscapes of the time, amulets were subject to powerful syncretistic impulses that led to the development of amulets that were, if not acceptable to the several re-ligious hierarchies, at least grudgingly tolerated as a necessary concession to those members of the communities who did not view the wearing of an amulet to be a violation of the precepts of their professed faith. More to the point, it is clear that Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and, ultimately, Islam, created spaces for these prophylactic devices within their theologies. In this context, block printed amulets comprise a subset of the much broader phenomenon of amulets. With regard to their purpose, it is likely that both handwritten and block printed amu-lets were created with the same ostensible intentions. What remains to be discovered is whether the people who composed handwritten amulets also crafted the block printed variety.

54 G.H.A. Juynboll, “Si�r,” EI2, V. 9, pp. 569–570.55 J. Chelhod, “idj�b,” EI2, V. 3, p. 361.


THE (RE)DISCOVERY OF ARABIC BLOCK PRINTING

As a locus of cultural synthesis in the pre-modern era, the Middle East has few, if any equals. The meeting and melding place of numerous societies over long spans of time, the region has served as both crucible and conduit for a variety of inventions and innovations—intellectual as well as material. One need only consider the numerous arenas of human thought to realize that advancements in philosophy, mathematics, medicine, literature, music, art or religion can-not properly be appreciated without giving careful consideration to their evolution in this part of the world where, among many other endeavors, abundant archaeological evidence speaks to continual—if occasionally erratic—advances in urban design and development, textiles, architecture, engineering, ceramics and glass production.

Such synthetic processes seem to have been at work in the realm of printing as well, but awareness of the role played in the development of this craft by medieval Arabic speakers—and possibly its transmission to Europe—has long been limited to specialists in Arabic pale-ography and historians of printing. Even among such specialists, evidence for the existence of printing in the medieval Islamic world has long been treated either as—at best—an oddity, a curiosity, or—at worst—as so unlikely a concept that alternate explanations had to be found for the rare, puzzling textual references to it. Despite the existence of a considerable number of allusions—some tantalizingly vague, others admittedly dubious—to the practice of printing in the Arabic historical and literary record, no systematic investigations of the Arabic block-printing phenomenon have materialized. The history of typography in the Middle East has received much greater attention and such studies have overshadowed the more modest investi-gations of earlier Middle Eastern printing techniques.1

Several Arabic texts written between the tenth and fourteenth centuries contain passages which can be understood as referring to a process which, I would argue, is block printing. Per-haps the earliest and certainly one of the more obscure and more suggestive passages of these appears in the Fihrist, a bio-bibliographic work composed in Baghdad at the end of the tenth century by Ibn al-Nad�m (d. 385/995 or 388/998) and constituting a catalog of books known (by its author) to have been written in Arabic up to his time.2 In chapter (maq�lah) eight, de-voted to magicians and sorcerers, Ibn al-Nad�m relates that he received a report about certain

1 A brief bibliography of books and articles on Arabic typography in the modern period would include: Josée Balagna, L’imprimerie arabe en occident (XVIe, XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles), (Paris, 1984); Wahid Gdoura, Le Début de l’Imprimerie Arabe à Istambul et en Syrie, Évolution de l’Environnement Culturel (1706–1787), (Tunis, 1985); Miroslav Krek, “The Enigma of the First Arabic Book Printed from Moveable Type,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 38:3 (1979), pp. 203–212; John A. Lane, R. Breugelmans & Jan Just Witkam, eds., The Arabic Type Specimen of Franciscus Raphelengius’s Plantinian Printing Of�ce (1595), (Leiden, 1997); P.J. Nasrallah, L’Imprimerie au Liban, (Beirut, 1948); and Hendrik D.L. Vervliet, Cyrillic and Oriental Typography in Rome at the End of the Sixteenth Century, an inquiry into the later works of Robert Granjon, (Berkeley, 1981). Most recently, there is Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès, Arabic Typography: a comprehensive sourcebook, (London, 2001). An international symposium on printing in the Middle East was held in Mainz, Germany in 2002 as part of the First World Congress of Middle Eastern Studies. The proceedings, published under the title Sprachen des Nahen Ostens und die Druckrevolution/Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution, (Westhofen, 2002), also contains useful articles on the history of Arabic printing and typography.

2 See J.W. Fück, “Ibn al-Nad�m,” EI2, Vol. 3, pp. 895–896.


22 THE (RE)DISCOVERY OF ARABIC BLOCK PRINTING

magicians (s��ir�n) in Egypt who had, among the tools of their trade, stamps (khaw�tim).3 Given the lack of any meaningful description of them, the precise nature of these stamps cannot be determined but in light of what we now know about medieval Arabic block printing, state-ments such as Ibn al-Nad�m’s may warrant closer scrutiny by present-day scholars.

Roughly contemporary to Ibn al-Nad�m was Mis�ar ibn Muhalhil al-Khazraj� al-Yanb��, known as Ab� Dulaf (�. ca. 952 CE).4 A poet familiar with an amorphous community of petty thieves, magicians, professional beggars and practitioners of the shady arts known collectively as the Ban� S�s�n, Ab� Dulaf composed a panegyric poem on that group. The text of the poem and a translation into English were published in a study of the Ban� S�s�n by C.E. Bosworth.5 In his ‘Qa��dah S�s�n�yah,’ Ab� Dulaf, too, alludes to the production of amulets or charms that involves carving (�a�r) a matrix of some sort. He writes, “And of our number is the one who engraves a pattern [�arsh] for mass-producing amulets, without shaping them individually and without smoothing them down.”6 These matrices—‘�arshes’—were used to create the amulets.

Again, however, Ab� Dulaf does not reveal to us the precise nature of the �arshes,” and Bosworth’s gloss on the phrase “��r al-�arsh” provides little clari�cation:

This is the person who hollows out moulds for making amulets, and then ignorant and illiterate people buy them from him. The vendor has kept back the matrix with the pattern engraved in it, and he then sells the amulets to the common people, letting them think that he has written them out individually himself. This mould or pattern is called a�-�arsh.7

Bosworth apparently misconstrued Ab� Dulaf ’s meaning altogether, explaining that the poet was referring to the manufacture of an object—a charm, perhaps—something like a pendant or a piece of jewelry with some design inscribed on it. Bosworth’s use of the terms “mould” and “pattern” when referring to these amulets8 suggest that he had in mind designs rather than texts. That he also refers in the same sentence to amulets written out does little to clarify the mat-ter, although his reference to “illiterate” customers indicates that he thought of the amulets as having textual features. However this may be, Bosworth makes no mention of that assumption in his study of the Ban� S�s�n.

Writing a little more than a decade after Bosworth, Richard Bulliet offers a re-evaluation of the poem in question. Taking issue with Bosworth’s interpretation of the passage cited above, he contends that the word ‘matrix’ (�arsh) does not refer to some device for creating a “three-dimensional object,”9 as Bosworth concludes, but rather to a printing block for mechanically

3 Ibn al-Nad�m, Mu�ammad ibn Is�aq, Fihrist li-Ibn al-Nad�m: dir�sah biy�jr�f�yah, bibliy�ghr�f�yah, bibliy�mitr�yah. Wa-ta�q�q wa-nashr Sha�b�n Khal�fah, Wal�d Mu�ammad al-�Awzah, (Q�hirah, 1960–), Vol. 1, p. 623.

4 On this �gure, see V. Minorsky, “Ab� Dulaf,” EI2, Vol. 1, p. 116 and R.W. Bulliet, “Ab� Dolaf al-Yanb��,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, (London, 1982–), Vol. 1, pp. 271–272. For examinations of his relevant writings and his place in the history of Arabic printing, see Richard W. Bulliet, “Medieval Arabic �arsh: a Forgotten Chapter in the History of Arabic Printing,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 107 (1987), pp. 427–438. The passage is not unambiguous. The text of the manuscript as transcribed in Hammer-Purgstall’s notice differs signi�cantly from that published by C.E. Bosworth (See next note).

5 C.E. Bosworth has edited this and a later poem on the same topic in The Mediaeval Arabic Underworld: the Ban� S�s�n in Arabic Literature and Society, (Leiden, 1976). References here and elsewhere in this work to these two poems are taken from Bosworth’s editions of them. See also Bosworth’s article “S�s�n” in EI2, Vol. 8, p. 70.

6 C.E. Bosworth, Mediaeval Islamic Underworld, pt. 2, p. 201. The translation is Bosworth’s.7 C.E. Bosworth, Mediaeval Islamic Underworld, pt. 2, p. 201.8 This line of reasoning has been proposed by Bulliet, “Medieval Arabic �arsh,” p. 430.9 Bulliet, “Medieval Arabic �arsh,” p. 430. Strictly speaking, the paper text is a three-dimensional object and

Bosworth’s explanation, cited above, does little to dispel the confusion.


THE (RE)DISCOVERY OF ARABIC BLOCK PRINTING 23

reproducing the text of an amulet.10 One possible explanation for this misunderstanding is that Bosworth was unaware not only of the existence of Arab block printing but also of its potential for shedding light on the passage in question.

Prior to the invention and widespread adoption of printing, texts were written by hand. A person wanting to reproduce a text copied it (or had it copied) by hand from an existing manu-script onto blank pages. Since there was little if any ‘quality control’ over this process, mistakes often crept in, some of which resulted from a badly produced ‘master copy.’ In other cases, the literary and calligraphic skills of the copyist—an ability to comprehend the material and to render it accurately—were at fault. Whatever the case, the copyist would make an attempt to understand the original meaning of a dubious passage and would insert into the new copy a more or less educated guess as to what the original text was. Over the course of years and centuries, these errors tended to be perpetuated and often compounded as successive copyists recopied the text from a variety of master copies. As a consequence, multiple variants of an original text came into being, some so corrupted as to be unintelligible. Examples of such tex-tual variations are frequently encountered by scholars involved in the study of ancient writings and are too numerous to mention. They present one of the most daunting challenges to the literary scholarship of any pre-modern era or culture.

This, apparently, is what has occurred with Ab� Dulaf ’s text. Moreover, in this particular case, the obscurity of the passage is no doubt related—in some degree—to the fact that there was little broad awareness of the existence of block printing among medieval Arab copyists, and certainly even less among those of later ages when the craft seems to have fallen into desuetude. One must also take into account the fact that Ab� Dulaf ’s poem is replete with the cant and jargon particular to the demi monde of tenth century Iraq and Persia. The exact meanings of many of the words used by that group of people in that time have been lost and cannot always be reconstructed with certainty. With no knowledge of block printing to guide them, copyists were prone to misinterpret a passage referring to an activity they knew little or nothing about and thus ran the risk of misrepresenting that activity in the copies of the texts they were writing.

If Ab� Dulaf ’s account of carving matrices were unique, one might assume the necessity for �nding an alternative explanation for the text in question. In other words, if there were only one obscure or corrupted historical text in the entire Arabic corpus that contained a passage that might be interpreted as referring to block printing, then solutions to the problematic word-ing that ignored such a possibility could be entertained. However, additional puzzling refer-ences have been encountered in Arabic writings of this and later periods. In fact, over the past century and a half, scholars have noted several such references, in addition to those mentioned above. This being the case, and in view of the incontrovertible evidence presented by the block prints themselves, we must consider the possibility that such texts are, in fact, describing block printing.

Within two centuries of Ab� Dulaf ’s poem, two further references to block printing occur at opposite ends of the Islamic realms. One passage quite unambiguously relates directly to one of the more fascinating episodes in the history of Ilkhanid Persia.11 The l Kh�ns, a dynasty descended from the great Mongol Kh�n Chingiz (Genghis), established political control over

10 Bulliet, “Medieval Arabic �arsh,” p. 430.11 On the Ilkhanid dynasty, see B. Spuler, “Ilkh�ns,” EI2, Vol. 3, pp. 1120–1122.



Persia, Iraq and eastern Anatolia in the middle of the thirteenth century. In 1294 CE (693 AH), Gaykh�t�, the great-grandson of Chingiz, found his realm in severe �nancial straits: due to his and his predecessors’ excesses, and to his own lack of �nancial acuity, the Persian state treasury had been emptied. Consequently, not only was Gaykh�t�’s hold on the throne placed in serious jeopardy, but Gaykh�t� had appointed as his vizier adr al-D�n, who apparently also had an unfortunate talent for �nancial mismanagement.12 In an attempt to salvage the realm’s crumbling economy, the two men decided to issue paper money in the form of scrip called ch’ao, a term borrowed directly from the Chinese, who had been using paper money since at least the thirteenth century. As head of the state chancellery, adr al-D�n had the task of producing and placing the paper money into circulation; in July 1294, in the city of Tabriz, the use of metal coins and, indeed, precious metal in any form, was outlawed and this paper currency was introduced in its place.

The signi�cance of this event for the present study is that adr al-D�n’s paper currency was printed; indeed, Rash�d al-D�n’s account clearly speaks of an apparatus (�l�t) used to produce the currency.13 The value of each denomination was printed in the center of a rectangular piece of paper; each bill had a decorative border of Chinese characters and bore the impres-sion, in red ink, of the imperial seal as a sign of the currency’s authenticity.14 Although people who refused to accept the paper money were threatened with execution, merchants and oth-ers refused to employ the currency as a medium of exchange. In the face of both passive and active resistance by the general populace, the government was forced, after a very short time, to withdraw it. Not only did adr al-D�n apparently pay for this failed �scal experiment with his life, but the paper money was so thoroughly eliminated from circulation that not a single example is known to have survived.15

Knowledge of block printing among medieval Arabic speakers was not restricted to the eastern Mediterranean, although, given the dates of the texts in which the putative allusions to printing occur, one could argue that some time elapsed between its appearance in Egypt and its manifestation in other parts of the medieval Islamic world. A treatise by one Ibn al-Abb�r (1199–1260),16 a historian and poet who served various rulers in Islamic Spain and North

12 For a detailed, and much more eloquent account of this event, see Karl Jahn, “Das Iranische Papiergeld: ein Beitrag zur Kultur- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte Ir�n’s in der Mongolzeit,” Archiv Orientálni X (1938), pp. 308–340. A revised English translation appears in the Journal of Asian History 4 (1970), pp. 101–135, under the title, “Paper currency in Iran: A contribution to the cultural and economic history of Iran in the Mongol Period.” The origi-nal article is supplemented by the appropriate passages in Farsi taken from the relevant historical works of Vass�f (Ta�r�kh-i-Vass�f ) and Rash�d al-D�n ( J�mi� al-Taw�r�kh), two historians of the period. On Vass�f, see P. Jackson, “Wass�f,” EI2, Vol. 11, p. 174; on Rash�d al-D�n, see D.O. Morgan, “Rash�d al-D�n �ab�b,” EI2, Vol. 8, pp. 443–444 and the sources noted in the bibliographies of these two articles.

13 See Jahn, “Das iranische Papiergeld,” p. 328, note 1. 14 Jahn, “Paper currency in Iran,” pp. 126–127. The great seal was known as the “�l.”15 Jahn notes (“Paper currency in Iran,” p. 135) that not even the word “ch��o” survives in Persian. Paper currency

had already been in use in China for some two centuries prior to this event and, from all accounts, it was quite successful there. Marco Polo, perhaps most famously, mentions its broad circulation. For more details on Chinese paper currency, see Thomas Francis Carter, The Invention of Printing in China and its Spread Westward. 2nd ed. Rev. by L. Carrington Goodrich, (New York, 1955) and the sources cited there.

16 Kit�b al-ulla al-Siyar�� has appeared in several editions. It is a biographical work on poets. For further informa-tion on the work and on its author, see M. Ben Cheneb, “Ibn al-Abb�r,” EI2, Vol. 3, p. 673. I have consulted the critical edition by Hussain Monés (2nd ed., Cairo, 1984) for the present work. The pertinent passage about printing cited by Joseph Hammer-Purgstall in “Sur un passage curieux de l’Ihathet, sur l’art d’imprimer chez les Arabes en Espagne,” ( Journal Asiatique, 4e. serie, tome 20, p. 255) is taken from the partial edition of the same work by R. Dozy, Notices sur quelques manuscrits arabes, (Leiden, 1847–51).



Africa, alludes to printing activity. In al-ulla al-Siyar��, under a biographical entry for one Badr ibn A�mad al-Kha��, the text states:17

He [al-Kha��] was a slave of the Emir �Abd All�h who manumitted him and put him in charge of the royal lands. Then al-N��ir appointed him to the vizerate, the of�ce of gatekeeper, the leadership [council?=qiy�dah], the horses and the posts. He was without equal in the provinces. The of�cial edicts were written in his house. Then he sent them to be printed (lil-�ab�). Once they were printed they were returned to him and he sent them to the governors who executed them by his authority.

A little more than a century later, and near the eastern end of the Arab Islamic realms, yet another possible reference to printing among the Arabs appears, written by af� al-D�n al- ill� (1278–1348? CE). One of the most renowned Arab poets of the fourteenth century,18 his D�w�n contains a seventy-�ve line poem written in the argot of the Ban� S�s�n (see above), one line of which refers to the creation of amulets by carving or molding:19

And in making moulds for lead in casting amulets and charms (or: in making moulds from tin for turning out amulets and charms?), how often has my hand written on the mould in the script of Syriac and then that of phylactery-writing (sc. in Hebrew)!

Finally, what may be the most intriguing—yet tenuous—allusion to printing activity in the medieval Islamic world occurs in the account of one �Abd al-Ra��m al-Jawbar�,20 a thirteenth century dervish, alchemist and traveler who, like the two Iraqi poets introduced earlier, was also familiar with the Ban� S�s�n. Sometime between 1232 and 1248, at the behest of his pa-tron, the ruler of an area in what is today southeastern Turkey, al-Jawbar� recounted21 the vari-ous ruses employed at that time by some of the shadier elements of society against the gullible and unsuspecting. In this book, he relates a very intriguing episode which, while not explicitly describing printing, points to a possible use of printing by one segment of the populace.

Al-Jawbar� writes that he once encountered someone claiming to be an itinerant holy man. Preaching on a street corner to a sizeable audience, this man proclaimed that he had a special connection with Allah. To prove that he could intercede on behalf of his listeners and that his intercession would be heard by Allah, he distributed to the assembly small pieces of paper upon which was written in musk and rose water the most powerful name of Allah. He then gathered up these pieces of paper and, holding them in his hands, he intoned a prayer over them; then as he opened his palms, the pieces of paper rose skyward, bursting into �ames. This, said the holy man to the enthralled group, was proof that the prayers had found favor

17 ulla al-Siyar��, v. 1, pp. 252–253. This edition lists al-Kha�� under entry number 97. The translation given here is mine. An alternate translation may be found in H.A. Avakian, “Islam and the Art of Printing,” in Uit Biblio-theektuin en Informatieveld, (Utrecht, 1978), p. 259.

18 See W.P. Heinrichs, “af� al-D�n al- ill�,” EI2, Vol. 8, pp. 801–805. On the poem under discussion here, see especially p. 803, col. 1.

19 This translation is from C.E. Bosworth, Mediaeval Islamic Underworld, pt. 2 p. 298, line 39. The Arabic text appears on p. 49 of Part 2 of that work. The parentheses in the quote are Bosworth’s commentary. N.B. The abbreviation ‘sc.’ in parentheses, for those readers of the post- ibid., idem, op. cit. generation, means ‘to be permitted to know’ (Random House Unabridged Dictionary (2nd ed.)), a contraction —‘scilicet’—from Latin scire licet.

20 On al-Jawbar� and his work, see S. Wild, “al-Djawbar�, �Abd al-Ra��m,” EI2, Vol. 2, p. 250.21 �Abd al-Rahman al-Djawbari, Le Voile Arrache: l-autre visage de l’Islam. v. II. Traduction integrale sur les manu-

scrits originaux par René R. Khawam, (Paris: Éditions Phebus, 1980). I have also consulted another edition of this work: �Abd al-Ra��m [sic] al-Jawbar�, al-Mut�r f� Kashf al-Asr�r wa-Hatk al-Ast�r. Edited by �I��m Shab�r�, (Beirut, 1992).



with Allah. The people immediately rushed forward to purchase great numbers of the remain-ing copies of the prayer.

Although the account differs slightly in the two versions of the text I have read,22 the point I want to make here is that this seems to me to be a most appropriate occasion to use printed texts. On the one hand, the production of large numbers of handwritten copies of talismans seems to be too laborious an undertaking for something that was intended to be destroyed, at least in part. On the other, mechanical reproduction of a large number of simple texts like the ones described by al-Jawbar� makes such an undertaking almost ef�cient, even by modern stan-dards. Moreover, the fact that the story concerns a member of the Ban� S�s�n, a group known to be associated with block printing activity, makes such a conclusion very tempting.

The passages cited above do not, I am certain, constitute an exhaustive rehearsal of all the medieval Arabic texts that allude to printing; indeed, they may very well refer to other activi-ties as yet unidenti�ed. However this may be, one conclusion seems unavoidable. Most of the texts came to the attention of scholars in part because of their puzzling, obscure references to an activity that appears to have been imperfectly understood by the people who copied the manuscripts in which the passages appear. Taken at face value, it would be very dif�cult to determine what the original texts were. Only by conducting a thorough comparative analysis of each of the surviving works in question would it be possible to propose correct readings. In the event, the strongest evidence arguing for an interpretation of these passages as referring to block printing comes from outside the texts, from the small but not insigni�cant number of block printed medieval Arabic amulets now residing in private and institutional collections in this hemisphere and elsewhere. If one takes these amulets into account, then one must, at the very least, reconsider the murky texts in their light.

The dawning of modern awareness about Arabic block printing came about quite gradually. Until well into the nineteenth century, it was a widely acknowledged fact—in the West at any rate—that printing with moveable type, or typography, was a European invention. The histori-cal record was clear: the genealogy of the idea could be traced to its roots in Mainz, Germany and the fruit of that idea was to be found in libraries, booksellers’ shops, homes, and churches across the continent. Only after Europeans began to study the cultural production of other areas of the world did they begin to develop an appreciation of those peoples’ contributions to technical and scienti�c progress. The Chinese were among the �rst to be recognized for their invention of paper, gunpowder and the like. The role of the Islamic lands in the transmission and development of these and other technologies took longer to be revealed, no doubt due—at least in part—to the European perception of the Islamic world at that time as backward or, at best, decadent.

Given the absence of knowledge in the �rst half of the nineteenth century about medieval printed Arabic artifacts, skepticism regarding the existence of printing among Arabs of that time was understandable. However, in 1852, Joseph Hammer-Purgstall (1774–1856)23 wrote

22 Al-Djawbari, Le Voile Arrache, pp. 219–222. A slightly different account is found in the Beirut edition: al-Jawbar�, al-Mut�r f� Kashf al-Asr�r, pp. 142–143. The �rst version has the papers rising into the air and bursting into �ame; the Beirut edition says only that they rose into the air until they were out of sight.

23 Hammer-Purgstall, Joseph, “Sur un passage curieux de l’Ithathet, sur l’art d’imprimer chez les Arabes en Espagne,” Journal Asiatique 4. Serie, Tome 20 (Aout–Septembre 1852), pp. 252–255. Hammer-Purgstall is perhaps best known as the translator of the Diwan of the Persian poet Ha�z used by Goethe (1812) in composing his “Westöstlicher Diwan.” See “Hammer-Purgstall,” Der Grosse Brockhaus, vol. 5, (Wiesbaden, 1954), p. 255.



a brief note regarding passages from two Andalusian Arabic manuscripts, one from the thir-teenth and one from the fourteenth centuries, which appear to allude to printing.24 Even tak-ing into account some uncertainty about the reading of one particular word in the relevant passage of al-I��ah, the later work, Hammer-Purgstall concludes from the available evidence that some sort of printing in Arabic was being done in the medieval period. To underscore the validity of such a conclusion, Hammer-Purgstall reproduces an impression from a wood block bearing the name of the town of Almería and the date 750 AH (i.e. 1349–1350 CE).25 Judg-ing from the text it bears, the stamp was the property of the city’s customs administration and may have been used to mark goods brought into the market or to validate of�cial documents, or perhaps both.

Another forty years then elapsed before the issue of Arab block printing was again treated in the scholarly literature. This was apparently a suf�cient span of time for block printing to be considered once more a novelty. In 1890, Josef Karabacek (1845–1918), at that time Director of the Hofbibliothek in Vienna, published an article based on his research into a collection of Arabic and papyrus documents that had been assembled by the library over the previous decade.26 While devoted primarily to a discussion of the importance of Egyptian paper for what it revealed about the history of linen paper production, Karabacek includes a substantial section about a block printed Arabic amulet he discovered among the contents of the collection.

The �rst shipment of papyri, paper documents, and fragments from Egypt arrived at the Kaiserliche Königliche Österreichische Museum für Kunst und Industrie in Vienna in 1881.27 This and further consignments, arriving in Vienna at intervals over the next several years, were made available to the museum by a Viennese merchant with business connections in Egypt.28

24 “Al-ulla al-Siyar�� ’’ by Mu�ammad ibn �Abd All�h ibn al-Abb�r (1199–1260), already discussed above, and Kit�b al-I��ah f� Akhb�r �arn��ah by Mu�ammad ibn �Abd All�h Ibn al-�a��b (1313–1374). Hammer-Purgstall (loc. cit., p. 255), in what may be a typographical error, mistakenly identi�es the author of the �rst work as Ibn al-Att�r. A. Geiss commits the same error of identi�cation in his 1909 article (see below). R. Dozy had edited and published a part of ulla al-Siyar�� in Notices sur quelques manuscrits arabes (Leiden, 1847–51) and it is this work to which Hammer-Purgstall is referring.

25 The text reads: “��bi� Qaysar�yat al-Mar�yah ��m �ams�n wa-sab�m�yah” [Transliteration mine]. Hammer-Purgstall, Passage curieux, p. 254. Another possibility is that the stamp indicated receipt of payment of the city’s impost or duty on goods.

26 “Neue Entdeckungen zur Geschichte des Papieres und Druckes,” Oesterreichische Monatsschrift für den Orient 11/12 (Nov.–Dec. 1890), pp. 161–170.

27 Today called the Museum für angewandte Kunst. The block prints are now housed in the Papyrussammlung of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (ÖNB). The material in the ÖNB collection came to Europe over a pe-riod of time. Some of the material, according to Adolf Grohmann (Allgemeine Einführung in die arabischen Papyri nebst Grundzügen der arabischen Diplomatik, Wien, 1924, p. 7), was already in Berlin in 1879. Other elements were purchased with funds provided by Erzherzog Rainer (1827–1913), whose interest in and support of scienti�c inquiry won him honorary membership in the Austrian Imperial Academy of Sciences in 1861 (see Mitteilungen aus der Papyrsussamm-lung der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek (Papyrus Erzherzog Rainer), Neue Serie, Folge 7, (Wien, 1962) which also bears the monographic title Aus der Vorgeschichte der Papyrussammlung der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek: Briefe Theodor Grafs, Josef von Karabaceks, Erzherzog Rainers und anderer. Herbert Hunger, editor, (Vienna, 1962), p. 58, note 49). Hereinafter cited as AVPÖN.

28 Otto Theodor Graf (1840–1903) was a merchant with business interests in Egypt. He also acted as a dealer in antiquities, primarily textiles. As a result of these Egyptian contacts, he was able to purchase numerous examples of ancient textiles, as well as documents and literary fragments in Greek, Coptic and Arabic, which he sent back to R.R. von Eitelberger, the Director of the Österreichische Museum für Kunst und Industrie. For a detailed account of the development of the collection, see Adolf Grohmann, Allgemeine Einführung in die arabischen Papyri nebst Grund-zügen der arabischen Diplomatik, (Wien, 1924). Much of the history of the early development of the Papyrus collection is also recorded in a series of letters exchanged between Graf, Karabacek, Rainer and others. A selection of these letters has been published in the AVPÖN.



Karabacek, who had been studying the acquisitions since 1882, was given responsibility for the Arabic materials in these shipments and his early interest in them focused on their value for a better understanding of paper manufacture in the Arab world.29

Adolf Grohmann30 says that most of the Arabic paper and papyri in the collections came from the excavation of “k�m” (pl. k�m�n), or rubbish heaps, outside the villages of the Fayyum and were unearthed by farmers who sought to exploit the nutrient-rich material of these mid-dens as fertilizer for their �elds. The medieval Arabic paper, which constituted the upper-most (i.e. chronologically the most recent) layers of the k�ms, would have been the �rst to be unearthed. Some of the excavators may have been aware of the value being placed on old documents by Europeans, who, in the nineteenth century, were wandering the Middle East in sizeable numbers. The farmers may have sought to augment their agricultural incomes through the sale of these items to interested Europeans.31

In 1883, Erzherzog Rainer provided funding for an endowment that allowed the Austrian Museum for Art and Industry to house and catalogue the papyri.32 The material now had an institutional home, as well as the resources necessary for its proper study and classi�cation. In January 1885, Karabacek presented a lecture on the Fayyum paper in the Oriental Museum in Vienna and, over the course of the next �ve years, he published a series of articles on his observations.33 At some point, now impossible to determine with any precision, Karabacek noticed that several of the items appeared to bear printed text. Closer examination con�rmed this suspicion. In an 1890 article, his excitement at this discovery is evident, yet he also sounds somewhat chagrined that the import of his discovery is lost on many people, particularly the French and the Americans, who totally misapprehended the event.34 No doubt due to the

29 Adolf Grohmann, in his Allgemeine Einführung, presents a highly detailed account of Karabacek’s work on the Arabic materials in what came to be known as the Erzherzog Rainer Collection. See pages 5–14 especially, and the extensive annotations thereto.

30 Adolf Grohmann, From the World of Arabic Papyri, (Cairo, 1952), p. 8.31 In an earlier publication on Arabic block printing (“The Scheide Tarsh,” Princeton University Library Chronicle

(Spring 1995)), I stated that many of these artifacts were brought to light as a result of archaeological work carried out in Egypt. This statement was in error. I misinterpreted Thomas F. Carter’s (Invention of Printing, p. 176) assertion to wit:

About the year 1880 excavations in the region of El-Fayyum in Egypt, near the ruins of the ancient city of Crocodilopolis or Arsinoë, brought to light great masses of documents. Whether they belonged to refuse heaps or to archives of an earlier age does not seem to be altogether clear. From this �nd more than a hundred thou-sand sheets and fragments of papyrus, parchment, and paper have been brought to Vienna and now constitute the Erzherzog Rainer Collection in the Austrian National Library.

to refer to an archaeological excavation when, in fact, this was not the case, as Carter’s recounting of the events shows.

32 See AVPÖN, p. 54 ff. The term “papyri” is used in this section to refer to the documentary material obtained by the museum through the of�ces of Herr Graf. However, both papyrus and paper artifacts were included in the shipments. Today, the Austrian National Library, the present owner of the collection, houses these materials in a unit called the “Papyrussammlung,” although both paper and papyrus artifacts are to be found there. In this section of the chapter, the term “papyri” is used to refer to both paper and papyrus objects, re�ecting the generic usage employed by the early writers surveyed here.

33 Cited in Julius Wiesner, “Mikroskopische Untersuchung der Papiere von el-Faijum,” Oesterreichische Monatschrift für den Orient 9 (Sept. 1886), p. 159, note 1. According to Wiesner, Karabacek’s �rst article appeared in the Monats-schrift in 1885. Karabacek wrote another three articles on the importance of the Fayyum paper for the history of papermaking: “Das arabische Papier,” Mittheilungen aus der Sammlung der Papyrus Erzherzog Rainer 2/3 (1887), pp. 87–178; “Neue Quellen zur Papiergeschichte,” Mittheilungen aus der Sammlung der Papyrus Erzherzog Rainer 4 (1888), pp. 75–122; and “Neue Entdeckungen sur Geschichte des Papieres und Druckes,” Oesterreichische Monatsschrift für den Orient 11/12 (Nov.–Dec. 1890), pp. 161–176.

34 Karabacek, “Neue Entedckungen,” pp. 167–168. Some French and American journals apparently had gar-bled the news of Karabacek’s �ndings and were reporting that what had been discovered were examples of printing



implications of this discovery for printing history, nineteen examples of block printing were included in the 1894 exhibition of paper artifacts mounted at Vienna’s Austrian Museum of Art and Industry.35 Karabacek wrote the section describing them, and it is he to whom credit is given for uncovering this incontrovertible evidence that medieval Arabs were engaged in block printing.

In 1886, the papyrus collection had been moved to the apartment of the founder and re-cently deceased director of the Museum, Rudolf R. von Eitelberger (1817–1885).36 This site, on one of the upper �oors of the museum building, was employed as a repository, conservation laboratory and study center for the papers. In the early 1890’s, the rooms were renovated and re-decorated in preparation for the 1894 exhibition. A representative sample of about one thousand documents was selected for display in glass-covered cases arranged throughout the apartment’s six rooms.37 A catalogue was compiled and printed and, on February 16th of that year, the exhibition opened its doors. For the �rst time in �ve centuries, Arabic block printing was on display. The catalogue descriptions of the block prints extend to a mere four pages (247–250), including one plate depicting item number 946 (now A.Ch. 12.150). Seventeen of the pieces (929–945) are described collectively under a single heading; the remaining two, numbers 946 and 948, are given separate entries and contain both detailed technical descrip-tions and German translations of the texts.

Whatever potential bene�t this treatment and this exposure might have had for broader, deeper studies of medieval Arabic block printing, that promise appears to have been stillborn. While Karabacek provides a practical model for descriptions of both physical object and text, and perhaps even for investigations into the social location of the amulets, such a project has

done with moveable type on papyrus and dating to the time of the Pharaohs! It is interesting to note that mention of the block printed materials appears some eight years after his work on the Fayyum paper began, re�ecting his more immediate interest in the papyrological aspects of the collection.

35 See Vienna. Austrian National Library. Papyrus Erzherzog Rainer. Führer durch die Ausstellung, (Wien, 1894), pp. 247–250. See also, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien. Philosophisch-Historische Klasse. Denk-schriften, 94. Band, I. Abhandlung, (Forschungen zur Islamischen Philologie und Kulturgeschichte, Band I), Adolf Grohmann, “Arabische Paläographie, 1. Teil,” (Wien, 1967). Plate XVI: 1 is a photograph of PERF 946 (= A.Ch. 12.150, the current accession number), apparently an accession number of the same vintage as those assigned to the pieces in the exhibition). I have been able to correlate most of the identifying numbers given in the Führer with the current numbers. See the handlist at the end of this volume for a list of them and references to other publications in which they may be found.

The problem of determining the exact number of Arabic block prints held by the Papyrussammlung of the ÖNB has yet to be resolved. I have slides of twenty-one Arabic block prints from the Papyrussammlung, so the “nineteen” of Karabacek’s Führer obviously refers to a selection from the total number of Arabic block prints known to exist in the collection. That there were more than nineteen block prints is indicated by Karabacek himself in his 1890 article (“Neue Entdeckungen zur Geschichte des Papieres und Druckes”) in the Oesterreichische Monatsschrift für den Orient (11/12, Nov.–Dec. 1890) where he states (p. 167) that there were no fewer than thirty-two Arabic block prints in the collection. This same number is given in a letter from Karabacek to Erzherzog Rainer, dated July 26, 1890, in which the author makes mention of thirty-two “Drucke.” Although the letter concerns the purchase of some Hebrew texts, it is clear from the context that the comment refers to Arabic materials already in the collection. (AVPÖN, p. 95, letter no. 68: “Karabacek an Erzherzog Rainer.”) T.F. Carter, in his The Invention of Printing in China and its Spread Westward (2nd ed., New York, 1955, p. 176), states that “. . . the collection contains some �fty fragments of block printing . . .” M. Krek (“Arabic Block Printing as the Precursor of Printing in Europe,” ARCE Newsletter 129 (1985)) avers that Karabacek discovered “two dozen” (p. 12) block prints among the thousands of documents comprising the Rainer Collection. Later in the same article (p. 16, note 1) he says that he found six block prints “among six thousand uncatalogued manuscript scraps . . .” It is quite possible, therefore, that undiscovered examples exist in the collection.

36 A. Grohman, Allgemeine Einführung, p. 6. This “Dienstwohnung” was apparently one of the perquisites of the directorship.

37 Grohmann, Allgemeine Einführung, p. 6.



not, until now, been undertaken. What impression those artifacts in the Viennese exhibition had on their viewers is dif�cult to ascertain. Did the amulets draw about their display cases a disbelieving crush of people murmuring in amazement, or were they passed over, their signi�-cance discounted because they lacked the impressive scale or visual magni�cence of some of the other items on display? Maybe their impact was diminished by the sheer number of items in the exhibition, or perhaps they were regarded, as the earlier discoveries of Arabic block prints seem to have been, as curiosities, brie�y noted and soon forgotten. Most certainly, a four-page treatment in a three hundred-page volume did little to emphasize the cultural or historical importance of the block prints. What is fairly apparent from subsequent writings about Arabic block printing is that any broad awareness of its existence, if it ever came into being as a result of the exhibition, evaporated rather quickly.

In all fairness to Karabacek, the block prints were not the primary focus of his interest. Throughout his publications on the Rainer collection, as his introduction to the 1894 exhi-bition catalogue particularly makes clear,38 he saw the collection’s vast trove of papyrus and paper samples, whose manufacture spanned some 2700 years, to be an unmatched resource for the study of papyrus and papermaking in Egypt. While the texts that the papers bore were of great importance in many instances, he was interested primarily in the medium; the messages he was content to leave to specialists in those areas. Perhaps for all these reasons, as well as oth-ers, scholarly interest in the block prints seems to have faded even before it sparked.

In 1907 and 1908, nearly three decades after the Vienna exhibition, the Bulletin de l’Institut Égyptien published a pair of articles by Albert Geiss on the history of printing in Egypt.39 These pieces trace the arrival in Egypt in 1798 of two Frenchmen, Jean-Joseph Marcel and Joseph-Emmanuel Marc Aurel, both members of the famous Commission Scienti�que which accom-panied Napoleon’s army on its ill-starred “Expédition d’Égypte.” Messrs. Aurel and Marcel were responsible for setting up a printing operation whose purpose was to produce journals in which the reports and discoveries of the French scientists would be published. In addition, the printers would provide the army with posters, broadsides, proclamations and the like in both French and Arabic. Geiss contends that this activity led to the foundation of the Arabic print-ing enterprise in Egypt, in particular the National Press of Egypt.

What is immediately obvious to a reader of these two articles is the author’s focus on the practice of printing with moveable type, the invention of which he attributes to Johannes Gutenberg (ca. 1400–1468). Given this narrow view of the concept of printing, it is perhaps acceptable to argue, as Geiss does, that the two French citizens are “. . . the �rst pioneers of printing in the land of the Pharaohs.”40 There is, indeed, no evidence that printing with move-able type was being done in Egypt before the French arrived at the end of the eighteenth century and Geiss is probably justi�ed in claiming that the French were responsible for the introduction of typography to that country. However, if one de�nes printing as the mechanical reproduction of text by whatever means, then such a statement is rather misleading. Certainly what the medieval Arabs were engaged in with block printing was the reproduction of texts

38 Karabacek, Papyrus Erzherzog Rainer. Führer durch die Ausstellung, pp. xii–xxiii.39 Albert Geiss, “Histoire de l’imprimerie en Égypte,” Bulletin de l’Institut Égyptien 5th ser.: 1 (1907), pp. 133–157;

“Histoire de l’imprimerie en Égypte,” Bulletin de l’Institut Égyptien 5th ser.: 2 (1908), pp. 195–220. I have already re-ferred to Geiss’s articles in the introduction (see pp. 4–5).

40 Geiss, “Histoire de l’imprimerie en Égypte,” (1907), p. 134: “Deux Français . . . se partagent l’honneur d’avoir été les premiers pionniers de l’Imprimerie au pays des Pharaons.” Translation mine.



through a mechanical process, a technology in which typography—the reproduction of text using moveable type—was only a later step in printing’s evolution. In any case, the impression one is left with after reading Geiss’s treatise is that no other method of printing existed in Egypt prior to the arrival of the French army at the end of the eighteenth century. As the block prints discovered in the Fayyum and elsewhere in Egypt make obvious, this was not the case.

In 1909, Federico Bonola Bey,41 writing in the same journal as Geiss on the origins of Ara-bic printing in Europe,42 mentions in passing that his friend Bernhard Moritz, Director of the Bibliothèque Khédiviale,43 has told him that within the collections of that institution are six amuletic “planchettes” dating to the Fatimid period. These objects, he says, are not only rare, but also constitute evidence of an activity conducted by Arabs that, for a very long time, was thought to have been a European art.44 Again, however, the main focus of the article is directed elsewhere, namely on the early history of printing Arabic characters with moveable type in Europe. The existence of some sort of printing activity in the pre-modern lands of the Middle East is accorded a perfunctory glance and the matter is then, once again, dropped. Why this should be is unclear, but one has the impression that the matter is closely tied to the perception of Arab civilization at that time as technologically primitive. Although such a sentiment may not have been widely held, it certainly seems to have had an impact on research in the �eld.

In a brief notice45 appearing directly after the article by Bonola Bey, Messr. Geiss picks up on the mention of the six “planchettes.” He recalls the 1852 Journal Asiatique article by Hammer-Purgstall that discussed certain textual and artefactual evidence of block printing in Islamic Spain. However, rather than adducing Hammer-Purgstall’s �ndings to support Bonola Bey’s account of additional proof of printing activity among the Arabs, Geiss seeks to discount it by taking issue with Bonola Bey’s translation of the Arabic word “�aba�a” as meaning “to print.” Arguing that the word also can mean “to impress,” he asserts that this latter de�nition offers a much more appropriate understanding of the word, given that the printing block in question was used to mark textiles.

There is no indication in the original article, nor in the Arabic text discussed there, that such a conclusion is warranted. In fact, the word ‘book’ (Ar. kit�b) is speci�cally used in conjunction with the word for printing. But for Messr. Geiss, who further suggests that the Arabic text in which the reference to printing is found (al-I��ah) was “probably” speculative rather than descriptive, this point is moot. In any case, he says, it is impossible for the Arabs, even those in Spain, to have known of Gutenberg’s invention.46 But this is really beside the point. The

41 Federico Bonola (b. 1839) was an Italian geographer and author. He served as secretary general of the Khe-dival Geographical Society in Egypt in the 1890s and was instrumental in founding the Ethnographic Museum in Cairo (1894). See “Bonola (Federico),” Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada Europeo-Americana, tome IX, (Madrid, [1935]), p. 42.

42 F. Bonola Bey, “Note sur l’Origine de l’Imprimerie Arabe en Europe,” Bulletin de l’Institut Égyptien 5:3 (1909), pp. 74–80.

43 Today known as the D�r al-Kutub. See www.darelkotob.org/ENGLISH/HTM/LIBRARY/PAPYRES. HTM. On Bernhard Moritz, see “Moritz (Bernardo),” Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada Europeo-Americana, tome XXXVI, (Madrid, [1935]), p. 1112.

44 F. Bonola Bey, “Histoire de l’imprimerie,” p. 77. “Ce sont de priers, des talismanes trouvés dans des objets ap-partenant à cette période de l’histoire arabe. Deux d’entre’eux sont parfaitement conserves, les autres plus ou moins abîmes. Je vous invite à aller les voir, car on regarde toujours avec emotion les reliques très rares d’un art que nous croyions, à une époque si lointaine, réservé à la civilization européene.”

45 A. Geiss, “Observations de M. Geiss a la suite de la note de M. Bonola Bey,” Bulletin de l’Institut égyptien 5:3 (1909), pp. 81–84.

46 “De tout ceci il appert, à mon humble avis, que le passage de l’Ihathet ‘et c’est un livre par son contenu’



question is not whether the Arabs knew of moveable type printing during Gutenberg’s lifetime, but rather whether they were block printing texts before Gutenberg. Geiss’s incredulity notwith-standing, the evidence for that activity was mounting, however slowly.

Another �fteen years would pass before the subject of Arabic block printing would again be addressed in the scholarly literature. The gauntlet was taken up in the 1920s by two schol-ars—one European, one American—who signi�cantly advanced scholarship on Arabic block printing. Thomas Francis Carter was the �rst modern scholar to undertake an extensive inves-tigation into the historical and cultural connections between printing in Asia and Europe. A graduate of Princeton University and Union Theological Seminary, Carter was, at the time of his death in 1925, head of the Chinese Department of Columbia University.47 He had spent a dozen years in China as a missionary and educator and it was during this sojourn that he learned �uent Chinese, at the same time developing a keen interest in Chinese history and culture.48 But it was a leisurely tour through Europe on his way home that provided him with a more precise intellectual focus. Stopping in Munich, he met with Friedrich Hirth (1845–1927), who also had taught Chinese at Columbia and had recently retired. Hirth apparently sensed in Carter the qualities required of someone who could pursue the study of the history of print-ing fruitfully. According to Dagny Carter, Thomas’s wife, Hirth felt that Carter possessed “the languages needed for the research and the patience and ability to put the scattered pieces of evidence together in a coherent account.”49

At the retired professor’s suggestion, Carter delayed his planned return to the United States and spent several months in Berlin so that he might confer with scholars in related �elds. He also was given permission to study pertinent archaeological materials recently discovered in Turkestan and brought to Germany. He then visited with several renowned Asian and Mid-dle Eastern scholars of the day, including Paul Pelliot (1878–1945), Bernhard Moritz (1859–1939),50 and—most important for the present study—Adolf Grohmann (1886–1977). Carter’s meetings with these and other scholars, and the access to scholarly and historical materials that they were able to provide to him, set him on the course of research that resulted in the publica-tion of his landmark book on printing history.

In an article which sought to trace the progress of printing technology across Asia from its birthplace in China, Carter51 sketched a broader history of printing technology in which he makes a major contribution to our understanding of the evolution of that technology by expanding the de�nition of printing to include methods other than moveable type and by

devait probablement se rapporter à un de ces livres traitant, par les formulas plus ou moins cabalistiques, de l’art d’imprimer, tel que nous l’avons souvent vu pour les livres d’alchemie avec leurs recettes fantaisistes pour la recher-ché de la pierre philosophale.” A. Geiss, “Observations,” pp. 83–84. Geiss’s tone throughout this article strikes me as supercilious and patronizing and, to my mind, belies a certain cultural insecurity about the history of Europe’s (or at least France’s) role in printing technology. See the introduction to the present work, p. 5.

47 “Prof. T.F. Carter Dies,” New York Times (August 7, 1925), 15:7.48 The engaging account of Prof. Carter’s scholarly awakening is recounted by his widow, Dagny Carter, in her

introduction to the second edition of the late professor’s classic work, The Invention of Printing in China and Its Spread Westward, (New York: Ronald Press, 1955), pp. xix–xxiv. The synopsis presented in the following paragraphs is based on her recollections.

49 Invention of Printing, p. xxi.50 On Moritz, see note 43 above.51 Thomas F. Carter, “The Westward Movement of the Art of Printing: Turkestan, Persia, and Egypt as Mile-

stones in the Long Migration from China to Europe,” Yearbook of Oriental Art and Culture, 1924–1925, (London, 1925), pp. 19–28 (and 10 images on 5 plates).



positing links between that method and others. Written in the year prior to the publication of his book, The Invention of Printing in China and Its Spread Westward,52 Carter’s article places Arabic block printing in the context of what was then known about block printing in China and west-ern Asia. He assembles archaeological evidence of Chinese and Central Asian block printing gathered by such notables as Paul Pelliot and Aurel Stein, and considers this in conjunction with the literary-historical reports of paper money being printed in thirteenth century Persia53 and the relevant evidence contained in collections of Egyptian Arabic block prints in Berlin, Heidelberg and Vienna. Carter is the �rst to assert that there is a direct connection between Chinese and Arabic block printing, based on his examination of those artifacts:54

. . . [T]here can be no doubt that these Egyptian block prints show distinct Chinese in�uence. They are made like the Chinese block prints, not by pressure, but by the use of the brush; the ink too is the same as that of China and Turkestan. Furthermore, like the earliest prints of China, they consist altogether of charms and of excerpts from religious literature.

The technical and textual similarities Carter saw in both the Chinese and Arabic block prints make a strong case for the argument that the Arabs acquired their knowledge of block printing from China. While no conclusive proof has yet been found to support this contention, Carter’s familiarity with the history of Chinese printing, his �rst-hand examination of many of the Arabic block prints found in European libraries and museums and his consultations with a number of the leading authorities of his day lend weight to his conclusion.

By expanding his investigation to �ll the broader canvas of printing evolution across a thou-sand years and several thousand miles, Carter’s landmark study presents a more thorough study of the history of printing. Beginning with a review of what was then known about the invention of paper, he discusses the use of seals to make impressions of texts and images in soft surfaces, a process known to have existed in third century BCE China,55 as well as the evolu-tion of that technology into block printing and, eventually, typography. He follows this with an account of how block printing might have been transferred to the Islamic realms, drawing on an impressive array of historical and archaeological sources to make his case. Again, as with his earlier article, Carter’s narrative is augmented by the inclusion of an example of Arabic block printing, this time from the Rainer Collection in Vienna.56 Juxtaposed with a letter writ-ten in 1289 from the ruler of Persia to Philip of France and bearing the block printed mark of the Great Seal of Kublai Khan, the image is clearly intended to connect the two objects in viewers’ minds.

The second scholar to focus a sharper lens on Arabic block printing was Adolf Grohmann, in 1929.57 That era’s pre-eminent authority on Arabic paleography, Grohmann’s interest in

52 Thomas Francis Carter, The Invention of Printing in China and Its Spread Westward, (New York, 1925); 2nd edition, revised by L. Carrington Goodrich, (New York, 1955). Unless otherwise noted, all references herein are to the sec-ond edition. Carter died at age forty-three, shortly after the �rst copies of the book rolled off the press.

53 See above, pp. 23–24.54 Carter, “Westward Movement,” p. 25. Appended to Carter’s article is a plate (18B) showing a block printed

Arabic amulet from the collections of the Ägyptologisches Museum zu Berlin (Berlin Egyptological Museum) in Charlottenburg. No. P11970. The amulet is reproduced below in the plates.

55 Invention of Printing, p. 11 ff. Of course, the technology was in use much earlier as attested by the well-known Egyptian cylinder seals which date to Pharaonic times.

56 Verso of plate following page 168. Carter gives the old accession number-946—used in Karabacek’s Guide to the Exhibition (Führer durch die Ausstellung). The item currently bears the number A.Ch. 12.150.

57 Grohmann’s Allgemeine Einführung in die arabischen Papyri nebst Grundzügen der arabischen Diplomatik, (Vienna, 1924),



the history and development of Arabic scripts led him to a study of the small number of block printed amulets then known to exist in Europe and Egypt. Although that study is only a small segment of a much broader treatment of the history of the book in Islamic culture,58 it is note-worthy for being the �rst scholarly effort to understand the role that block printing played in the history of Arabic printed texts. Grohmann’s observations are primarily concerned with the �oral and geometric designs that are frequently found on block printed amulets. These designs usually serve to frame—or to separate sections of—the text printed on them. In at least one in-stance (A.Ch. 7265 in the Austrian National Library), only the designs on the amulet are block printed; the text is handwritten. Grohmann sees similarities between the block printed designs on the amulets and the decorative carvings on Muslim grave markers, suggesting that they derive from a common artistic grammar.59 At the same time, he notes that the use of designs to embellish texts having a religious or quasi-religious purpose is a phenomenon encountered in Christian manuscript texts of the same era. The possibility of cross-cultural in�uences in the fabrication of the block printed amulets must therefore, he believes, also be considered.

With regard to amulets as a cultural phenomenon, it is important to note, if only brie�y, that such objects, popularly believed to provide to their owners with a prophylactic effect against a variety of real and imaginary dangers, had long been a feature of life in the Middle East (as they have long been elsewhere). The ancient Egyptians left an assortment of objects thought to impart such protection. Ceramic scarabs and the ankh, the cruci�x with the distinctive loop at the top, are just two of the most recognizable examples. The Jews created, used and appar-ently dealt in protective amulets. Many of these are comprised of passages from sacred texts engraved on metal.60 Coptic Christian Egyptians are known to have composed textual amulets as early as the second century CE and their work incorporates many of the elements of neigh-boring cultures.61 That the Muslim Arabs were aware of amulets and that many of them came to believe in their ef�cacy can be taken as a given. That they adopted the practice of creating their own amulets, incorporating elements of their own system of beliefs, is borne out by the material evidence of that culture.

Most important for the study of medieval Arabic block printing is Grohmann’s observation that the style of script used in the printing blocks can be used to date the texts generated by them. The development of Arabic scripts over the centuries and across geographical space has been traced with considerable precision by Grohmann and other scholars. The use of a speci�c style of handwriting in a dated manuscript or on a building whose time of construc-tion is known provides a reliable benchmark for determining when that particular script was in use. For example, since the Ku� script is known to have been used widely in monumental

pp. 4–14, gives the clearest and most detailed account of the acquisition and disposition of the materials acquired by the Austrians in Egypt.

58 Thomas W. Arnold and Adolf Grohmann, The Islamic Book: a contribution to its art and history from the VII–XVII century, (Paris, 1929). Hereinafter referred to as “Arnold & Grohmann.” The discussion of the role of block printing is found on pages 27–29; examples of Arabic block printing appear on plates 13–15.

59 Arnold & Grohmann, p. 29.60 On this, see Joseph Naveh and Shaul Shaked, Amulets and Magic Bowls: Aramaic Incantations of Late Antiquity,

( Jerusalem, 1985), p. 13 ff., as well as their subsequent work, Magic Spells and Formulae: Aramaic Incantations of Late Antiquity, ( Jerusalem, 1993). A study of the texts of Hebrew amulets is found in Theodore Schrire, Hebrew Magic Amulets: Their Decipherment and Interpretation, (New York, 1966).

61 Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power, Marvin W. Meyer and Richard Smith, eds., (Princeton, 1999).



architecture in the ninth and tenth centuries CE,62 it is reasonable to conclude that block prints bearing this script were also produced at about that time. Knowledge of the script styles represented on the block prints is crucial since there is, at present, no other reliable method of dating them.

As should be clear from the foregoing discussion, evidence for the existence of block printing in the medieval Arabic-speaking world was clearly established by the end of the third decade of the twentieth century. Moreover, dissemination of this knowledge had progressed consider-ably since Karabacek’s discovery and subsequent publication of the �rst block printed amulet. Further proof of medieval Muslim involvement in block printing was proffered in 1938 when Karl Jahn published his article on Iranian paper currency, to which reference has already been made.63 Jahn’s article, which recounts the attempted introduction of paper currency into the late thirteenth century economy of Tabriz in present-day Iran, also makes the point that the paper money was block printed.64 Thus, even for those historians who may have been ignorant of the existence of the block printed amulets, there was ample proof of the use of rudimentary printing technology in the Middle East long before it appeared in Europe.

Yet despite the number of publications either speci�cally devoted to medieval Arabic block printing or alluding to its existence as a part of related studies, the topic still had not been ad-dressed in depth. Following Grohmann’s and Jahn’s studies, interest in the block prints seems to have receded to earlier levels. It remained there with only occasional upward ticks in the succeeding decades. While articles on block printing have continued to appear (and indeed one could comfortably argue that the pace of publication about individual pieces has even acceler-ated recently), they have not, perhaps in spite of their authors’ intentions, generated the critical mass of curiosity necessary to produce a major study.

Such a fragmented approach denies us the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. When considered collectively, these studies unquestionably contribute to a better appreciation of Arabic medieval block printing. Reports by such scholars as Giorgio Levi della Vida, who published a fragmentary block printed amulet from the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology65 in 1944, and Bishr Fares’ brief 1957 notice of an interesting fragmentary block print bearing, in addition to a qur��nic pas-sage, the printed image of a fantastic winged �gure,66 are very bene�cial for the attention they have brought to further examples of the art. However, they do little to advance our apprecia-tion for their role in the culture that produced them.

62 Arnold & Grohmann, p. 29.63 See note 12, above.64 In his notes to the article, Jahn provides a very detailed account of the scholarship (up to the time of publica-

tion of his contribution) on this episode in Islamic history. These sources show that knowledge of the technology used to produce the currency had been known to specialists in the �eld for some time.

65 Giorgio Della Vida, “An Arabic block print,” (‘Science on the March’ column), Scienti�c Monthly 59 (vi), (1944), p. 351. Della Vida’s narrative is based on the works of Karabacek and Carter (who he calls “Carver”). Much of the information he provides, particularly regarding the number of examples held in Vienna, is faulty. He says that Karabacek listed only seventeen block prints in Vienna (he fails to indicate which of Karabacek’s publications he is referring to) when the Führer gives twenty. The two examples supposedly held by the British Museum, if they ever existed, cannot be located at present.

66 Bishr Fares, “Figures magiques, amulette: I” in Aus der Welt der islamischen Kunst: Festschrift für Ernst Kühnel zum 75. Geburtstag am 26.10.1957, ed. Richard Ettinghausen, (Berlin, 1959), pp. 154–155 & �g. 1. The inclusion of a �gure, to my knowledge, is unique to this amulet, at least thus far.



Small steps toward a broader understanding have been taken, but however insightful these may be, they have been sporadic at best. André Demeerseman, for example, published, in 1954, a monograph on printing in Asia and West Africa in which he attempts to achieve a clearer understanding of the cultural processes at work with regard to the progress of printing technology across the Asia and the Middle East.67 In this effort, he locates Arabic block printing among other cultural and technological developments in medieval and early modern Islam, particularly those —like paper—that came from China. Demeerseman’s work is illustrated with a �ne Arabic block printed amulet owned at that time by a prominent Tunisian scholar,68 and not previously published. As with many other studies of this sort, the block print seems to have been adduced less as evidence of a willingness to borrow from other cultures and more as an example of something gone awry in the transmission processes that characterized many other cultural borrowings from the Chinese by Muslims and Europeans.

Other cultural transmissions came to Europe via the Muslim world having achieved a sort of precocious ‘adolescence’ that the Europeans could then mold into a remarkably dynamic, useful ‘adulthood.’ This was not the case with block printing. Since no direct connection be-tween Arabic and European block printing has been established, Arabic printed amulets are seen as having had their development short-circuited, as it were, in the Islamic realms. Much of Demeerseman’s monograph is devoted to explaining why it was printing, i.e. typography, that seems to have suffered this fate and why its adoption by Muslims lagged far behind other—es-pecially European -cultures.

In the last quarter-century, no fewer than a dozen articles and book chapters dealing to one degree or another with Arabic block printing have been published.69 Another three block printed amulets have appeared in the catalogues of major auction houses and art dealers during

67 André Demeerseman, “L’Imprimerie en Orient et au Maghreb,” Revue IBLA 17 (1954), pp. 1–48, 113–140. Reprinted as a monograph under the same title in the series, Publications de l’Institut des Belles Lettres Arabes 20, (Tunis, 1954). References here are to the latter publication.

68 asan usn� �Abd al-Wahh�b (1884–1968), a scholar and government of�cial in French colonial Tunisia. On him, see Ch. Bouyahia, “ �Abd al-Wahh�b, asan usn�,” EI2, Supplement: fascicules 1–2, pp. 11–12. I have been un-able to determine with any certainty the present whereabouts of the block print, whose image appears after page 22 in Demeerseman’s “L’Imprimerie en Orient et au Maghreb.”

69 Among these are (in chronological order): Paul Lunde, “A missing link,” ARAMCO World 32:2 (1981), pp. 26–27; Miroslav Krek, “Arabic block printing as the precursor of printing in Europe,” ARCE Newsletter 129 (1985), pp. 12–16; Richard W. Bulliet, “Printing in the medieval Islamic underworld,” Columbia Library Columns 36 (1987), pp. 13–20; Richard W. Bulliet, “Medieval Arabic �arsh: a Forgotten Chapter in the History of Printing,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 107 (1987), pp. 427–438; I�s�n Ja�far, “al-�Arab �araf� al-�ib��ah qabla ��tinburg,” al-Fay�al 128 (1987), p. 109 [This is the �rst substantive recognition of the existence of block printing in the medieval Islamic world that I have been able to �nd in any Arabic language publications]; Wladyslaw Kubiak and George T. Scanlon, Fu�� Expedition Final Report, Vol. 2: Fu��-C, (Winona Lake: American Research Center in Egypt/Eisenbrauns, 1989); Karl R. Schaefer, “The Scheide Tarsh,” Princeton University Library Chronicle 56:3 (Spring 1995), pp. 400–430; Paul B. Fenton, “La communauté juive dans l’Egypte fatimide,” Dossiers d’Archéologie 233 (Mai 1998), pp. 28–33 [This article contains a plate showing the unique medieval Hebrew block print held by Cambridge University Library (p. 30)]; Thierry Depaulis, “Documents imprimés de l’Egypte fatimide: un chapitre méconnu de l’histoire de l’imprimerie,” Bulletin de la Société Archéologique, Historique et Artistique Le Vieux Papier pour l’étude de la vie mœurs d’autrefois 349 ( juillet 1998), 133–136; Institut du Monde Arabe, Trésors Fatimides du Caire: exposition présentée à l’Institut du Monde Arabe du 28 avril au 30 août 1998, (Paris, 1998), p. 155; Karl R. Schaefer, “Eleven medieval Arabic block prints in the Cam-bridge University Library,” Arabica 48 (2001), pp. 210–239; Paul B. Fenton, “Une xylographie arabe médiévale à la Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire de Strasbourg,” Arabica 50:1 (2003), pp. 114–117; Karl Schaefer, “Arabic printing before Gutenberg—Block-printed Arabic amulets,” in Sprachen des Nahen Ostens und die Druckrevolution; eine interkulturelle Begegnung; Katalog und Begleitband zur Austellung, Eva Hanebutt-Benz, Dagmar Glass, Geoffrey Roper & Theo Smets, eds., (WVA-Verlag Skulima, 2002), pp. 122–128.



that same time.70 In addition, several other notices, published in several different languages and in a variety of formats, from print to the internet, have made mention of their existence in the context of investigations into other aspects of Arabic printing history.71 On the one hand, it is clear from the quantity and variety of writing on medieval Arabic block printing that aware-ness of it and its importance has, to some degree, broadened of late. On the other, despite this spate of publications, knowledge of the phenomenon still seems not to have entered the public consciousness.

Evidence of this can be seen in the titles of even relatively recent publications. Lunde72 entitled his 1981 piece on Arabic block printing, “A Missing Link;” Bulliet, writing in 1987, calls Arabic block printing “a forgotten chapter in the history of printing;” Depaulis, as late as 1998,73 refers to Arab block prints as “un chapitre méconnu” (an unrecognized chapter). Most revealing, perhaps, are newer works on printing in the Middle East that fail to give even passing mention to the existence of this precursor of typography. To give just one example, the edited monograph entitled The Beginnings of Printing in the Near and Middle East: Jews, Christians and Muslims,74 published in 2001, deals exclusively with typography and the point of departure for its narrative is the late �fteenth-century Ottoman Empire, a century after the latest known block printed amulet. Moreover, innumerable volumes written on the history of printing con-tinue to focus predominantly, if not exclusively, on the achievement of Gutenberg while ignor-ing or passing over the contributions of his predecessors.

That Arabic block printing can still be characterized in these terms, more than one hundred years after it was rediscovered, is a situation that calls for redress. Much about the techniques and practice of the craft has been brought to light since Josef Karabacek �rst con�rmed the

70 Sotheby’s, Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, (Sale held on 22 October 1993, Bond Street, London). Catalogue item no. 25, “Selected verses from the Qur��n, xylograph . . .”. (Purchased by Mr. William Scheide and now in the Scheide Collection, Rare Books and Special Collections Department, Firestone Library, Princeton University); Sotheby’s, Arts of the Islamic World, (Sale held on 25 April 2002, Bond Street, London). Catalogue item no. 8. Another example is found in the Schøyen Collection: “The Schøyen Collection: 21. Pre-Gutenberg printing.” http://www.nb.no/baser/schoyen/5/5.18/ Accessed May 29, 2004. Still another block print appeared in a catalog of Sam Fogg, the London-based rare book dealer. Islamic Calligraphy (Catalogue 27), Ramsey Fendall, ed., (London, 2003), pp. 48–49, no. 22.

71 Among other works in which mention of Arabic block printing is made: Arab Islamic Bibliography: the Middle East Library Committee Guide based on Giuseppe Gabrieli’s Manuale di bibliogra�a musulmana, Diana Grimwood-Jones, Derek Hopwood & J.D. Pearson, eds., (Brighton, 1977), p. 222; H.A. Avakian, “Islam and the Art of Printing” in Uit Bibliotheektuin en Informatieveld: Opstellen aangeboden an dr. D. Grosheide bij zijn afscheid als biblothecaris van de Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht, H.F. Hofman et al., eds., (Reeks Bibliotheek en documentatie, deel 3), (Utrecht, 1978), pp. 256–269; Yasin H. Safadi, “Early Arabic Printing,” New Books Quarterly on Islam & the Muslim World, 1: ii & iii (Spring 1981), pp. 26–29; Gerhard Endress, “Die Anfänge der arabischen Typographie und die Ablösung der Handschrift durch den Buchdruck,” Section 9.5 in Grundriss der arabischen Philologie, Bd. 1: Sprachwissenschaft, W. Fischer, ed., (Wiesbaden, 1982), pp. 291–296; Camille Aboussouan, “Los primeros pasos de la imprenta arabe,” Folia Humanistica 20:232 (1982), pp. 355–360; G. Oman, “Ma�ba�a: I. In the Arab World,” EI2, Vol. 6, pp. 794–799; Richard Bulliet, “The Fall and Rise of Islamic Printing,” The Book in History —February 13, 1996 Meeting. http://www.english.upenn.edu/~traister/bullietsem.html. Accessed January 7, 1998; Jonathan M. Bloom, Paper Before Print: the History and Impact of Paper in the Islamic World, (New Haven, 2001); Q�sim al-Samarr��, �Ilm al-Iktin�h al-�Arab� al-Isl�m�, (Riyadh, 2001); Sprachen des Nahen Ostens und die Druckrevolution; eine interkulturelle Begegnung; Katalog und Begleitband zur Austellung, Eva Hanebutt-Benz, Dagmar Glass, Geoffrey Roper & Theo Smets, eds., (Westhofen, 2002).

72 On this and the next two authors mentioned here, see note 69 above.73 Thierry Depaulis, “Documents imprimés de l’Egypte fatimide: un chapitre méconnu de l’histoire de

l’imprimerie,” Bulletin de la Société Archéologique, Historique et Artistique Le Vieux Papier pour l’étude de la vie mœurs d’autrefois 349 ( juillet 1998), 133–136.

74 Edited by the Lehrstuhl für Türkische Sprache, Geschichte und Kultur, Universität Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek Bamberg, (Wiesbaden, 2001).



existence of Arabic block prints in the 1890s. We know that the vast majority of surviving block prints is in the form of amulets, presumably meant to be carried on one’s person as protection against a wide range of dangers. Virtually all of the amulets contain passages from the Qur��n, and are thus the earliest printed Qur��n passages known, pre-dating the earliest typeset Qur��n by several hundred years.75

There is strong circumstantial evidence that petty criminals, particularly those whose metiér was the larcenous exploitation of the gullible and credulous, were very active in the production and distribution of block printed amulets. What role, if any, the members of this group played in the actual development and perpetuation of the craft is unclear. It may well be that the Ban� S�s�n, already operating outside (or at the fringes) of the law, did not feel themselves bound by the religious or civil strictures that discouraged the use of printing among law-abiding Mus-lims. This lack of constraint may have given them a certain freedom to experiment with the form and content of the amulets they created. However this may be, such a supposition must be set aside until more work has been done.

In any case, it appears that amulets were not the only type of block printing done by me-dieval Arabic speakers. We have the evidence of the printing block described by Hammer Purgstall, which would seem to indicate that, at least in one of the Islamic realms, stamps or printing blocks were also put to more legitimate purposes. More recently, Rachel Milstein has conducted research76 on several pilgrimage documents, originally from the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, that are block printed or stamped. Such evidence suggests that block printing technology was employed by various groups of people for a variety of reasons. Although the actual extent of medieval Arabic block printing activity is a matter of conjecture at present, there are suf�cient indications that point to a higher level of production for more diverse pur-poses than has been acknowledged heretofore.

Also requiring serious study is the technology used to create the printing blocks. If the Arabs did indeed emulate the Chinese and used wooden matrices to print their texts, have any sur-vived? And, if so, where are they? Were special tools used to carve the wood? Are any examples of such implements extant? The question of what material—wood or metal—was used for the printing matrices, is further complicated by the textual evidence adduced by Bosworth. The poet af� al-D�n al- ill� (1278–1348?), cited in his study,77 rhapsodizes about carving �arshes from a metal, not wood. Assuming that the word “�arsh” does in fact refer to a block-print-ing matrix, one must now consider the origins of the knowledge of cutting metal templates for block printing. Is it possible that af� al-D�n, writing sometime in the late thirteenth or

75 This is to say that we must qualify statements which maintain that the Qur��n did not appear in print as a book until 1537, when it was published in Venice. An authoritative edition of the Qur��n in Arabic published by Muslims did not appear until 1924 with the printing of the “Azhar Koran.” See Hartmut Bobzin, “Von Venedig nach Kairo: zur Geschichte arabischer Korandrucke (16. bis frühes 20. Jahrhundert)/From Venice to Cairo: on the History of Arabic Editions of the Koran (16th-early 20th century)” in Sprachen des Nahen Ostens und die Druckrevolution; eine inter-kulturelle Begegnung; Katalog und Begleitband zur Austellung, Eva Hanebutt-Benz, Dagmar Glass, Geoffrey Roper & Theo Smets, eds., (Westhofen, 2002), pp. 151–176. Selected passages from the Qur��n are used in block printed amulets quite frequently.

76 Rachel Milstein, “Thirteenth-century Stamped Documents from Damascus.” A paper presented at the sym-posium, “History of Printing and Publishing in the Languages and Countries of the Middle East” held at the Gutenberg Museum, Mainz, Germany (9–12 September, 2002) as part of the First World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES), University of Mainz, 8–13 September, 2002. These documents are currently held in The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art (Türk ve Islam Eserli Müzesi), Istanbul, Turkey.

77 Bosworth, Mediaeval Islamic Underworld, pt. 2 p. 298, line 39. Arabic text at p. 49.



early fourteenth century CE, is describing a newer method of creating matrices, one that had replaced an earlier practice of carving in wood? Was the use of metal for the matrices a later development in block printing, an evolutionary step up from wood, or was metal derived from an entirely different block printing tradition? Alternatively, could the use of metal have been limited for some unknown reason to Iraq, af� al-D�n’s milieu, while wood continued to be employed elsewhere in the Islamic realms?

Medieval Arabic block printing has yet to receive the kind of attention that would enable us to answer even some of the most basic questions about its history, much less the role it played in those segments of medieval Islamic culture in which it was found, or its in�uence—if indeed there was any—on those who were aware of it. Just how widely known was the technology? How did the Arabs come to know of it? Was knowledge of block printing clandestine in nature, limited to members of a secretive society of practitioners? Why are contemporary historical or literary references to block printing so rare? Why does the craft apparently disappear after the early 1400s? Perhaps the present volume will serve as a starting point for addressing these and other questions relating to this nascent �eld of inquiry.



CALLIGRAPHY AND THE ISSUE OF DATING THE ARABIC BLOCK PRINTS

Without exception, the examples of medieval Arabic block printing currently found in Ameri-can and European libraries and museums entered their collections lacking the pedigrees usu-ally attached to such acquisitions. In other words, the provenance of the block prints presented in this volume is often unclear, if not completely unknown; with few exceptions, their origins cannot be traced with certainty to a speci�c geographic location, nor can we provide them with precise archaeological dating.1 This has signi�cant implications for developing basic in-formation about the block prints. Essential questions relating to where they were made or who might have made them, for example, are dif�cult to answer de�nitively. The fact that they were removed from their archaeological contexts by people who were unaware of—or had no con-cern for—the importance of such information has severely hampered our ability to establish with certainty the historical circumstances of their creation. This unfortunate situation is made worse by virtue of the fact that the small number of putative references to block printing in the historical record are frequently so corrupted or garbled that their meanings are unclear or indecipherable.

Attentive readers will notice that dates or ranges of dates indicating the age of the block prints have not been provided for many of the block prints cataloged here.2 While general dates for some individual block prints have been given in articles treating them, uncertainty remains regarding the accuracy of some of those dates. Unlike most manuscripts, none of the amulets presented in this study bear dates. For the body of known examples, the range of tenth to fourteenth centuries CE is frequently given.3 However, even this broad range is subject to alteration, as the determination of the Gutenberg Museum piece as a �fteenth-century ex-ample has shown.

Fortunately, the amulets possess certain characteristics that provide clues to their ages and origins; some of these clues have been interpreted while others have not, and no study has yet undertaken a thorough examination of all the available evidence. Comparative chemical or radiological analysis of the paper on which the amulets were printed, for example, could pro-vide valuable information about their origins and dates of manufacture.4 Similar tests could be

1 Regarding the origins of the Arabic block prints, Kubiak and Scanlon (Fu�� Expedition Final Report, p. 69) say: “All seem to have come from Egypt, either from earlier excavations in Fustat, or from the old rubbish heaps of Fayyum or Ashmunain.” (Italics mine) As more block prints come to light, the likelihood increases that their geographic origins become more varied. See, for example, the amulet described in Sam Fogg, Islamic Inscriptions (Catalogue 27), (London, 2003), pp. 48–49, which is said to have originated in eastern Iran.

2 When dates for individual block prints are available, I have indicated them in the handlist at the end of this vol-ume. In all cases where dates are provided, I have taken them either from earlier publications in which the speci�c block prints have been treated, or from descriptions provided by the institutions owning the items.

3 See the chapter on the historical context of Arabic block printing, above. See also Yasin Safadi, “Early Arabic Printing,” New Books Quarterly 1: 2 & 3 (Spring 1981), p. 26, Richard W. Bulliet, “Medieval Arabic �arsh,” JAOS 107 (1987), p. 427, and Thierry Depaulis, “Documents imprimés de l’Egypte fatimide: un chapitre méconnu de l’histoire de l’imprimerie,” Bulletin de la Société Archéologique, Historique et Artistique, ‘Le Vieux Papier,’ pour l’étude de la vie mœurs d’autrefois 349 ( juillet 1998), p. 134, among other works.

4 Such tests have been conducted on two block prints, so far. See the discussion below. For an example of the sort of work that might be undertaken in this area, see Geneviève Humbert, “Papiers non �ligranés utilisés au Proche-Orient jusqu’en 1450,” Journal Asiatique 286:1 (1998), pp. 1–54.


42 CALLIGRAPHY AND THE ISSUE OF DATING THE ARABIC BLOCK PRINTS

conducted on the printing ink used to achieve the same objective. However, until it is possible to carry out such technically sophisticated tests on a large number of the block prints, and to compare the results with reliably dated materials, we must look for other clues to establish their age and nativity.

One feature of the amulets, the scripts in which they have been composed, would seem to lend itself readily to this purpose. Arabic script, not unlike the scripts of other written (and printed) languages, has undergone a series of transformations over the course of its existence.5 One can trace the development of Arabic characters from the �rst proto-alphabetic scratches incised on cliffs in the Arabian Peninsula to the elegant sweep of sophisticated monumental inscriptions �owing across the façades of Islam’s grandest buildings and the stately lines of handwritten text in generations of the Qur��n.6 Over time, the Arabic script came to be subject to sets of rules or conventions governing how it should be written. In addition, artisans of the written language, calligraphers, developed various styles of script. These styles are the products of speci�c eras and geographic locations: beginning with a basic ductus, or script form, various re�nements, elaborations, and embellishments come to be added over time. This information, used in combination with other evidence, may be used in many cases to help determine the origin and antiquity of written texts as well as structures. Conversely, the style of handwriting in a dated manuscript or in an inscription on a building whose date of construction is known provides a reliable benchmark for determining when that particular script was in use.

On the basis of extensive scholarship on Arabic epigraphy and palaeography,7 it has been proposed that the script styles used on the block prints may be helpful in dating them, particu-larly given that no other reliable scienti�c dating method has yet been applied to them as a corpus. Both Josef Karabacek8 and Adolf Grohmann9 contended that the styles of script used on the printing blocks might be used to date them. Indeed, the palaeographic measure has become accepted, at least tacitly, as a reliable marker of antiquity by a number of researchers involved in the study of Arabic block printing. Many cite the script style as the primary and incontrovertible indicator for the age of a given example.

One of the block prints held by the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, published by Bishr Farès,10 relies on the presence of what he calls “maghrebine” Ku� to date it to the tenth or

5 And continues to do so. For a thorough treatment of Arabic typographical fonts, and their continuing evolu-tion, see Smitshuijzen AbiFarès, Arabic Typography, (London, 2001).

6 For a general introduction to this topic, see J. Sourdel-Thomine, “Kha��: i. In the Arab World,” EI2, Vol. 4, pp. 1113–1122, and Ali Alparslan, “Kha��: ii. In Persia” and “Kha��: iii. In Turkey,” EI2, Vol. 4, pp. 1122–1126 and the sources cited there.

7 Among the more important works in this �eld are those of Bernhard Moritz, Arabic Palaeography: a Collection of Arabic Texts from the First Century of the Hidjra to the Year 1000, (Cairo, 1905); Adolf Grohmann, Arabische Paläographie, 2 vols. (Österreichsiche Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna. Phoilosophisch-Historische Klasse. Denkschriften, Bd. 94, 1 & 2 Abhandlungen), (Graz, 1967, 1971); Max van Berchem, Matériaux pour un Corpus inscriptionem Arabi-carum, (Paris, 1894–): Ernst Kühnel, Islamische Schriftkunst, (Berlin, 1942); 2nd ed., (Graz, 1972) and the bibliographies listed in these works. For a study on the evolution of Arabic script from its Nabatean antecedents, see Beatrice Gruendler, The Development of Arabic Scripts: From the Nabatean Era to the First Islamic Century According to Dated Texts, (Atlanta, 1993). Most recently, there is Gabriel Mandel Khan, Arabic Script: Styles, Variants, and Calligraphic Adaptations, (New York, 2001).

8 According to Carter (History of Printing in China, p. 180, note 2), who does not indicate to which of Karabacek’s four works listed in the bibliography he is referring. In the same note, he says that (B.?) Moritz also held this view, but the source for this bit of information is not given in Carter’s critical apparatus.

9 Arnold & Grohmann, p. 29.10 Bishr Farès, “Figures magiques,” in Aus der Welt der islamischen Kunst: Festschrift für Ernst Kühnel zum 75. Geburtstag

am 26.10.1957. Richard Ettinghausen, ed., (Berlin, 1957), pp. 154–155.


CALLIGRAPHY AND THE ISSUE OF DATING THE ARABIC BLOCK PRINTS 43

eleventh century CE. Yet Levi della Vida dates another example bearing Ku� text, and printed on parchment, to the fourteenth century CE.11 Even taking into consideration regional and other variations, it should be clear that, when the same script style appears on two block prints dated two or three hundred years apart, reliance on script style alone produces imprecise re-sults, at best. This is to say that, in the absence of other corroborating evidence, paleography is neither a de�nitive nor incontrovertible marker of historical period, and the acceptance of this method, alone, for dating the block prints may not be acceptable. T.F. Carter, in particular, took issue with Grohmann’s stand and urged caution when considering paleographic evidence, arguing that the style of script carved into the printing blocks may have been in imitation of earlier calligraphic forms.12

To illustrate this contention, let us consider several examples. The use of archaic scripts is by no means limited to Arabic. In medieval Europe, manuscript texts—and, later, printed ones—often began with an illuminated initial letter or �rst line. In some cases the �rst letter in each chapter of a book was illuminated. That was a common feature of written texts of the time, yet the convention still appears in works of much more recent vintage. Children’s books of the present time often begin with ornamented letters,13 and let us not forget that many of�cial documents—high school diplomas, college and university degrees, and certain legal documents—still employ Gothic script. In of�cial documents, at least, the employment of an old script style announces to the reader that the text carries great import, that it addresses a subject of gravity or has a serious purpose. We recognize this script style as an anachronism, but we are conditioned to react to it on a symbolic level as signaling that we are reading some-thing important. We continue to use it for that purpose, even though we have ceased using it as a common script. Thus, it should be clear that script style alone is not an infallible marker for determining the antiquity of a document or, in this case, a block printed text.

Kubiak and Scanlon, who unearthed two block prints in their excavation at Fu��, echo this caveat when they advise caution in applying the conclusions they draw about their artifacts to other block prints bearing the same script styles.14 Their discovery potentially provides con�r-mation for the argument that, insofar as the Arabic block prints are concerned, script style and historical period are closely linked. The advantage of their �nd over other block prints rests in the fact that the two examples they uncovered were found together with other “dated, or date-able, inscribed material.”15 The ability to situate the block prints they found in such a context �xes them reliably within a speci�c time period.

The style of the scripts used in the block prints is important; of that there is no question. The development of Arabic scripts over the centuries and across geographical space, as noted above, has been traced with considerable precision by Adolf Grohmann and other scholars, and their studies, supported by datable examples, provide valuable tools for identifying and

11 I am referring, here, to the example (E 16311) once owned by the University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, but now apparently lost. It was published by G. Levi della Vida as “An Arabic Block Print” in the “Science on the March” column of Scienti�c Monthly 59 (vi)/351 (1944), pp. 473–474.

12 Invention of Printing, p. 181, note 2. 13 I am indebted to my friend and colleague Dan Ramaley for this particular insight.14 Kubiak and Scanlon provide a succinct summary of the debate over the use of script styles and dating in their

Fu�� Expedition Final Report, Vol. 2: Fu�� -C, pp. 69–70.15 Kubiak and Scanlon, p. 70.



con�rming the antiquity and origins of many text-bearing objects. The Ku� script, for ex-ample, is known to have been used widely in the ninth and tenth centuries CE in writing, textile design, metalwork inlays, on coins, in ceramic decorations and for inscriptions on monumen-tal Islamic architecture.16 It is tempting to conclude, in light of this, that block prints bearing this script were also produced at about that time. However, there are dated examples of the Ku� script style being used in inscriptions as late as the fourteenth century.17 Moreover, the Ku� script itself evolves over time, becoming more elaborate, more heavily embellished in its execution, and spawning regional variations as well. Ku� script was widely used as an orna-mental style and is found frequently on medieval Muslim buildings, as well as in Qur��ns of high artistic quality.

Having said this, it is important to remember that the two block prints that have been tested using scienti�c measures seem to support the validity of using script style for dating. The amu-let now owned by the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz was submitted by its previous owner to the University of London’s Institute of Archaeology for a series of tests. The two researchers who conducted the tests, which included an examination of the partial watermark in the top sheet of paper, concluded that the paper was consistent with that produced in early �fteenth-century Europe.18 Given that the decorative vertical line of script at the top of the amulet is composed in thuluth, a script in use at that time, it would appear that the script con�rms the dating. More recently, scienti�c tests were administered upon a block print discovered in 1982 in the university library in Strasbourg, France, and published by Paul Fenton.19 Fenton’s inves-tigation included carbon-14 dating of the paper and radiographic tests, which con�rmed that the paper was of eastern manufacture, dating to the thirteenth century CE.20 At the same time, the Ku� text printed in reserve at the top of the amulet is very simple and unembellished and could conceivably belong to an earlier time. Such an example underscores the importance of considering multiple pieces of evidence when assigning dates to the block prints.

While it is tempting to extrapolate from this evidence—the two amulets on which tests were conducted and the Fu�� nds—and argue that all block printed amulets composed in the same script style must therefore date to the same time period, it would be well, perhaps, to con-sider other features of the block prints in conjunction with the script styles to make a determi-nation as to their vintages.21 This is to say that it may be useful—indeed necessary—to examine other pieces of internal evidence exhibited by the block prints themselves to see if they provide any con�rmation for the theory that script style and date of manufacture are closely linked.

We might, for instance, consider the possibility that the scripts may indeed re�ect accurately the dates of creation. When other tests have been done on the block prints, they have tended to corroborate the calligraphic evidence. Still other clues may await discovery and these might help to better our knowledge of the history and development of medieval Arabic block print-ing. For example, with the discovery of what appears to be an early �fteenth-century water-

16 See Ernst Kühnel, Islamische Schriftkunst, 2nd ed., (Graz, 1972), pp. 9–21.17 See, for example, Grohmann, Arabische Paläographie, II, Tafel 54, no. 3, which shows a Ku� inscription on a

mosque in Cairo dating to 1303 CE.18 Report #89092 conducted by Drs. N.J. Seeley and A.T.N. Bennett and dated 10 October, 1989.19 Fenton, “Une xylographie arabe médiévale,” pp. 114–117.20 Fenton, “Une xylographie arabe médiévale,” p. 117.21 In the absence of any other evidence, the hypothesis that the script styles used in the block prints allow us to

propose dates for their creation seems to be supported by Kubiak and Scanlon’s work, even though their �ndings are unique to this point in time.



mark on the example now held by the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, the terminus ad quem, the latest date for an Arabic block print, has been pushed forward by a century.

As important as the calligraphy may be for dating the block prints, if we are to gain a more thorough understanding of them, it would seem useful to develop a typology that would assist us in that endeavor. Only by discovering a developmental trajectory or by identifying conven-tions and patterns of style, content, and structure for the block prints will it be possible to make authoritative judgments about their age, their cultural role and historical signi�cance. Given that we have, at least so far, almost no archaeological data for the block prints, we must look for clues about their antiquity and origins in the amulets themselves and compare what we �nd there with other objects exhibiting similar characteristics, having analogous purposes, and to which reliable dates can be assigned. Then our conclusions about the block prints should rest on �rmer foundations.

To achieve this, I would suggest that there are three bases for such a typology: the physical attributes of the object, the characteristics of the scripts in which the texts are composed, and the textual content of the amulets. The material employed is useful for establishing the age and geographical origin of individual examples. The outward form of the medium and the visual elements of the graphics and script, in addition to providing further clues to an example’s antiquity, may help to identify particular styles or traditions of production. Finally, the textual elements—the qur��nic passages, the prayers of supplication, the mystical symbols, and so forth—may reveal information about popular religious practices and beliefs known to have been used at historically particular times and locations.

Medieval Muslims are known to have produced written amulets on three materials: paper, papyrus and vellum. With rare exceptions, the known printed amulets are all on paper and the examples presented here fall into that category. That the other two materials were used is at-tested by Grohmann,22 who saw at least one example on papyrus, and by Levi della Vida,23 who reports that the block print in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, now lost, was on vellum.

The outward forms of the amulets may also provide clues to their origin and to the devel-opment of the genre. A variety of shapes and dimensions has been observed; square, round, and rectangular amulets have been found to exist in the examined collections. Rectangular examples appear in two forms: the �rst is wider than it is long; the second has a length greater than its width. All of these forms are produced using a single sheet of paper. One also �nds square and rectangular amulets composed of two or more sheets of paper connected in over-lapping, pasted joints. Rectangular examples consisting of more than one sheet of paper are always longer than they are wide. Few examples are truly rectilinear or circular. The paper sheets were seldom cut with precision and this has resulted in squares and rectangles that are more trapezoidal and circles that are more elliptical than the geometric ideal. No other forms have thus far been identi�ed.

22 Arnold & Grohmann, p. 28 ff. Grohmann apparently saw only handwritten amulets on papyrus, but the pos-sibility that block prints on papyrus exist must be entertained. (It is unclear whether PSR 773, formerly in the collec-tion of the University Library of Heidelberg, but now lost, was actually papyrus, as Arnold and Grohmann indicate (p. 29), or whether by the term “papyrus” they intend paper as well). The example reportedly printed on vellum (PSR 1126 in the University Library of Heidelberg) is now also lost.

23 Levi della Vida, “An Arabic block print,” (‘Science on the March’ column), Scienti�c Monthly, 59 (vi), (1944), p. 351. E 16311 (University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania) has been missing since 1951.



If we consider the calligraphy of the block prints illustrated in this volume, we �nd that they fall into three general categories: �rst, there are those on which lettering is exclusively in the Ku� script. Within this general category, there are three sub-categories: Ku� script ren-dered like normal printing, with the letters appearing in ink; Ku� rendered in intaglio, that is, printed in reserve so that the ink surrounds the letters and the letters themselves are created by the “negative space” within the inked areas; and third, Ku� letters rendered in outline. In addition, the Ku� script used in the amulets is represented in several degrees of artistic elabo-ration, from the simplest, as we see in T-S AS 181.228, the stamp bearing the name and title “al-Im�m Al-��kim,” to the much more embellished variant known as foliated Ku�, in which the vertical strokes and termini of the letters sprout leaves or are transformed into vines and tendrils. These latter expressions can be seem, for example, in the John Rylands Library’s block print (Gaster Geniza MS 38), in the Austrian National Library’s fragment (A.Ch. 12.146) or, more spectacularly, in the �rst line of the piece held by New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (1975.192.21), where the characters, like the Austrian Library example, are also done in outline.

The second category of extant block prints is comprised of those containing text in a script style other than Ku�. The most commonly used script in this category is called naskh. Naskh is a style characterized by letters more cursively rendered than the blockish, thick, angular Ku�. Although roughly contemporary with Ku�, unlike the latter, its use did not tend to be restricted to ornamentation or formal use but was commonly employed for writing documents. In only one block print (Austrian National Library A.Ch. 12.147) do we �nd naskh script in outline form. In all the other examples, this script style is printed as a positive image on the paper. There are also two examples of thuluth script represented in the block prints collected here (GM 03.1 Schr., from the Gutenberg Museum and M.2002.1.370 from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Thuluth is a very graceful cursive style in which the letters seem to bend slightly to the left. Its characters are often marked, at the tops of the vertical elements, by barbs or hooks on the right. The example from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is printed in red ink, a rare use of that color in medieval Arabic block printing.24

The third category is comprised of those amulets that display two or more script styles. This category comprises the largest number of amulets found to date. Of the �fty-�ve examples contained in the present study, twenty-�ve, or nearly half of the total, include some lines of text in Ku�.25 In some instances, the Ku� text comprises one or more short mottos or formulaic expressions; in others, lengthier texts are found. The use of two script styles may be an emula-tion of early elaborate Qur��ns, particularly those of the eighth and ninth centuries CE (1st and 2nd centuries AH) which employ two script styles. Chapter headings in such examples are in Ku� and the body of the text in another style, usually naskh.26

24 The example from the Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire de Strasbourg also has a section of Ku� printed in red ink at the bottom. See Fenton, “Une xylographie arabe médiévale,” p. 117. A.Ch. 12.133, in the Austrian National Library, is a third example of printing with red ink. I make a distinction here between red used as print-ing ink and the dots and underlining which occasionally appear in the printed texts but which were added by hand after the printing.

25 Interestingly, only a small number exhibit Ku� script exclusively (six of the 55 amulets included herein). When one considers that many of those amulets on which no Ku� appears are fragmentary or incomplete, there would seem to be a strong possibility that many of the amulets which, in their preserved states show only naskh or thuluth characters, also originally contained Ku� script.

26 See, for example, Moritz, Arabic Palaeography, plates 34 and 35.



Closely related to the types of scripts that appear on the amulets are the various ways in which the text and the decorations are presented physically on the printing surface. Most com-mon is printing of black letters on white paper, but both letters and decorations occasionally appear as white against a black background. This effect is achieved by hollowing out the forms of the characters or decorations in the printing block, leaving the surrounding surface raised. The raised surface is then inked and pressed against the paper (or, as seems to be the case with the Arabic block prints, the paper pressed against the block), leaving the letters as “negative space” surrounded by black. The process is similar to that of “bas relief ” in stone carving, in which letters or other forms are carved into the surface of the stone as opposed to chipping away the stone to leave the desired form raised above the surrounding surface.

In the amulets, it is the Ku� lettering which is most commonly rendered in negativo (i.e. in reserve, or intaglio). Naskh script rarely, if ever, appears in this manner. This may be an emu-lation of incised monumental architectural decoration or it may be related to some technical dif�culty in carving such elaborate characters in relief. As with the amulets bearing two script styles, one often sees two types of printing—black ink on white paper and white letters against a black inked background—used in the same amulet. A third type of printing shows the outline of the letter or decoration, much in the fashion of a �gure in a present-day coloring book. This last is the least common of the three ways of printing, but at least seven examples are known,27 suggesting that there was some experimentation in the creation of printing blocks to achieve various effects.

It is likely that amulets bearing two or more script styles were printed using individual print-ing blocks for each of the script styles, although there are examples where two script styles have been incised in a single printing block. Michaelides E31 at the Cambridge University Library is one such, albeit rare, example. However, it appears that in the majority of those amulets where a decorative Ku� script forms the “heading” of the amulet and the remainder of the text is in a plain angular style, separate blocks were used for the Ku� and plain texts. Moreover, it is not uncommon for the text in the Ku� block to run parallel to the length of the paper while the remainder of the text runs across its width.

When the �rst example of this type of amulet was encountered by Grohmann, he assumed that the Ku� block had been designed for a wider sheet of paper and that the printer had merely improvised, turning the block ninety degrees, in order to make the stamp �t on a narrower strip of paper.28 Now that several more amulets with longitudinal Ku� impressions have surfaced, such appears not to have been the case. On the contrary, this longitudinal arrangement of Ku� text seems to have been a fairly common practice among the printers of the amulets. Does this indicate that a particular “school” of block printing was active at one point in time? Were such amulets recognizable as having been produced by a speci�c group of craftspeople?

Perhaps more to the point, were there certain generally accepted conventions relating to the design and production of block-printed texts? When one considers the possible symbolic value of Ku� script, the likelihood increases that the use of Ku� on a block printed amulet was meant to convey a sense of the importance and perhaps ef�cacy of the amulet. People

27 Michaelides E31 (Cambridge University Library); 1975.192.21 and 1978.546.34 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York); Is. PP 21 (Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, Ireland); A.Ch. 12.138, A.Ch. 12.146 and A.Ch. 12.147 (Austrian National Library, Vienna, Austria).

28 Arnold & Grohmann, p. 28.



may have drawn a connection, for example, between the magni�cent dual-script Qur��n they saw in the mosque and the amulet they carried, or perhaps they saw similarities between the monumental Ku� inscriptions on the building itself and the marks on the paper they held in their hands. Such a relationship would certainly go far in explaining the frequent use of Ku� characters printed in reserve on the amulets—clearly an emulation of bas relief carving in stone and plaster.29

In terms of the orthography used in the amulets, it is apparent even from a cursory ex-amination that relatively few of the texts featured in this study bear diacritical marks. There is a more nuanced distinction within each of the script groupings outlined above in that the amulets exhibit greater or lesser degrees of vowelization, diacritical markings, punctuation and decorative elements. In Arabic, a language which is consonantal and has no characters to represent short vowels, a system of symbols has been developed which indicates how a word is to be read —that is, which vowel is to be inserted between two consonantal characters—or which case ending is to be used for a particular noun or adjective. This system is generally not employed in the amulets but when it is, it seems to be used almost exclusively for those parts of the text that are derived from the Qur��n. However, even for such passages, use of diacritical marks is not consistent. Similarly, the use of dots to distinguish one letter from another is found only infrequently in the amulets.30 Again, as with the diacritical marks, they tend to appear primarily in the scriptural parts of the texts, although they are used more commonly in the non-qur��nic sections than are the diacritics. The use of the two systems together invariably indicates verses from the Qur��n.

This is not to say that qur��nic texts in the amulets always bear vowel marks; in more than thirty of the examples shown here, such marks are completely absent, even when qur��nic text is found. On the other hand, there are examples in which non-qur��nic text is vowelized—Michaelides E33, T-S NS 306.27, and A.Ch. 12.151 are just three such amulets. Given this wide variation in application, one must entertain the possibility that the inclusion of diacriti-cal marks and vowelization may be an indicator of a particular historical period or a speci�c tradition of production.

For the most part, the texts are justi�ed in both left and right margins. This has been achieved not, as it is in most manuscript texts, through the use of ligatures of varying lengths between letters,31 but rather by breaking words, where necessary, so that the termination of the word appears on the following line. The words are, in essence, ‘hyphenated’ and, to carry the anal-ogy one step further, just as we hyphenate words in English according to syllables, the Arab print block carvers divided words only between letters that would not normally be joined by a ligature.32 This convention appears in early Qur��n manuscripts33 and may be seen as further

29 This style of printing is frequently found on signet rings and stamps of ownership, too.30 Many Arabic letters share the same basic form, particularly when they appear in the middle of a word. In

practice, these letters are distinguished from one another by a system of dots (or, in handwritten Arabic, dashes) above or below the character. Those �uent in Arabic are generally able to read a text without the dots and the dots are lacking in many monumental inscriptions from the early periods of Arab-Islamic history. Their use today is quite common, and printed texts of the last two centuries or so invariably employ them.

31 The one notable exception is Michaelides E28, which does, indeed, use elongated ligatures to achieved justi�ed margins. Note also that the text is in Ku� script.

32 One of the ideosyncrasies of the Arabic language is that some letters are joined by a ligature—a connecting line —while others are not. Some are joined to letters on either side, others ONLY to following letters and still others only to preceding letters. In the block prints, words are therefore divided only where no such connecting line would normally occur between letters.

33 See Arabic Palaeography, plates 17, 19, and 23, for example.



evidence of emulating sacred texts in amulets. Such orthographic conventions may eventually be helpful in determining the age or place of origin of particular amulets.

One further observation should be made with regard to a printing convention used in some of the texts. This has to do with punctuation. Markers for the ends of sentences are rarely found in the block printed amulets. However, there are a couple of examples in which the ends of sentences are marked with a distinctive sign: a circle with a dot at the center. The Scheide amulet exhibits this characteristic as do Columbia University Library’s 705B, T.S. Ar 41.102 from the Taylor-Schechter collection at Cambridge, and A.Ch. 12.134 from the Aus-trian National Library. A variation on this practice has the circle without the center dot, but this appears even less frequently than the �rst style.34 Equally intriguing is a second method to mark a textual division. Michaelides 29 and 30, for example, show rows of triangles and inverted triangles at four points in the text. These are clearly meant to separate sections of the document. A similar device is found in several other amulets, including the Wren Library example (line 21), wherein the triangles are replaced by a series of diagonal lines interspersed with dots (/\./\./\./\.).

In their work on Aramaic amulets, Joseph and Shaked note the use of punctuation marks in a Syriac amulet they examined35 that bear a remarkable resemblance to the dot and circle devices used in the block prints. Although the two marks in the Syriac amulet are separate, given the amount of cultural borrowing and lending that characterized this period, one must consider that such marks are the fruit of a speci�c (perhaps Jewish?) tradition of block print-ing that was taken up by Arab practitioners. This possibility becomes even more likely when one considers that other Aramaic elements such as magic letters, magic �gures and references to “all possible directions: right, left, front, behind, and above (with the deliberate exclusion of underneath . . .)”36 also appear in some of the Arabic block printed amulets (although not necessarily those with the punctuation marks). In a similar context, Arnold and Grohmann say that an Arabic block printed amulet on vellum37 from the University of Heidelberg that they studied also bore these dot-within-circle marks. According to them, texts of “old literary manu-scripts and codices of the Qur��n”38 also exhibit this type of punctuation. If the punctuation convention indeed was borrowed from these sources, then it would suggest that the amulets were meant to emulate sacred texts in their appearance.

One other feature which appears on some amulets underscores the syncretistic nature of the block printed amulets. A sizeable number of the block prints bear text which is framed by a variety of devices. In some instances, the frame consists of a simple set of parallel lines; in other cases, the main text is surrounded by one or more lines of text in another style, or by text printed in reserve. Examples of the �rst style are Michaelides E 31 and E 33, with the text bounded by sets of two parallel lines. GM 03.1 Schr. is a slightly more elaborate example in which both rectilinear and oval frames are found; the Metropolitan Museum’s circular amulet (1978.546.37) is an even more impressive example of framing in that it includes a complex loz-enge and teardrop motif around the perimeter of the piece with successive frames of single and

34 Metropolitan Museum of Art 1978.546.37 in line 16.35 Joseph Naveh and Shaul Shaked, Amulets and Magic Bowls: Aramaic Incantations of Late Antiquity, ( Jerusalem,

1985), p. 64.36 Naveh and Shaked, Amulets and Magic Bowls, p. 35.37 Arnold & Grohmann, p. 29. PSR 1126, now lost, was dated to the tenth century CE by the authors.38 Ibid.



double lines with smaller diameters encompassing more lines of text. Arnold and Grohmann note that such ornamental framing is “frequently”39 found in Christian texts of the period.

That the creators of the Arabic block prints may have adopted this feature from Christian texts seems to be supported by one striking example. The fragmentary amulet A.Ch. 12.145 belonging to the Austrian National Library is the only bi-lingual Arabic block print that has come to light thus far. Along the right-hand margin, separated from the Arabic text by a frame composed of two sets of parallel lines, is a line of Coptic Greek characters. The Copts, of course, are a Christian sect. An Arabic block printed amulet bearing Coptic text and a frame would seem to indicate �rst, that block printed amulets in Arabic were produced for non-Muslims as well as for Muslims and second, that at least Egyptian Christian amulet customers perhaps expected a text with a religious purpose to be framed.

The nature of the amuletic texts themselves may provide clues both to their origins and development. The structure of the texts, their linguistic elements, religious formulae, qur��nic passages, and the prayers or supplications employed may be connected to religious practices associated with speci�c places or times. Such lines of investigation I leave to those who special-ize in such things. I would only note that, in terms of the structure of the texts, there seem to be certain patterns of composition. For example, most of the amulets contain one or more passages from the Qur��n.40 However, some have no qur��nic elements while still others exhibit brief phrases which essentially constitute slogans or mottos of a protective or invocatory na-ture. Where qur��nic verses do occur, at least one is the �rst element in the main text, although other selections may appear later in the amulet, after the supererogatory prayers or supplica-tions. Some amulets are composed of the “ninety-nine names of Allah,” known in Arabic as “al-Asm�� al-�usná.” These amulets may begin with a qur��nic passage as an invocation but their designs fall along a spectrum of elaboration. Some simply list the names in columns while others place them in grids: columns and rows of boxes with the names printed on the diagonal and alternating in direction.

Finally, it also may be important to note that with perhaps one exception, the Arabic block printed amulets were printed using black or dark brown ink.41 Other colors, most commonly red, do appear in the amulets, but these splashes, dots or stripes were apparently added by hand subsequent to the actual printing process. Only one example (not included here) employs more than one additional color. In that piece, green is also used.42 The addition of different colors also suggests that while the technology for producing block printed amulets may have

39 Ibid.40 There is, in fact, one example (Michaelides E28 at the Cambridge University Library) which is comprised

exclusively of qur��nic text, although it may be that this is merely the surviving qur��nic section of a longer amulet the rest of which has been lost.

41 However, the Hebrew block print held in Cambridge University Library, roughly contemporary with some of the amulets presented here, is printed using both black and red ink. The text is in black ink, but some of the decorative �orets surrounding the text have been printed or stamped in red ink. Another example, Los Angeles County Museum of Art 2002.1.370, also has a line printed in red across the top of the sheet. The example held by the Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire de Strasbourg (Papyrus héb. 7) has a decorative block in Ku� script in red ink at the bottom of the piece.

42 After this volume had been substantially completed, another multi-colored example was brought to my atten-tion. A very large amulet owned by Sam Fogg, London, England appeared in one of his catalogs, Islamic Calligraphy (Catalogue 27), Ramsey Fendall, ed., (London, 2003), pp. 48–49, no. 22. That piece, like those presented here, is printed in black, but lines or stripes in three additional colors, red, green and yellow, have been applied with a brush after the printing process.



been fairly widely known in the medieval Islamic Middle East, variations were introduced to appeal to the aesthetic senses of particular local populations or perhaps in response to compe-tition from rival block printers.

To conclude, then, it should be clear that many factors in addition to the calligraphic styles employed in the creation of the block prints need to be considered in order to determine the age and provenance of individual examples. Overall design, the presence or absence of dia-critical marks and marks of punctuation, and the nature of the texts all offer valuable clues to answers for these questions. When such evidence can be considered in light of scienti�c tests on individual amulets, then our determinations as to antiquity and place of origin will have much greater reliability, not to mention precision.

Much work lies ahead of those who would pursue a deeper study of medieval Arabic block printing. No doubt many more examples of the craft will come to light in the years to come. It may well be that, one day, a historical text describing (or at least providing a more detailed accounting of ) the craft, who practiced it, or where it originated may come to light. Every new discovery will provide further clues to these and other questions surrounding these artifacts. In addition, advances in science may enable us to gain a better understanding of the materials and processes used in their creation.



BLOCK PRINTED AMULETSIN EUROPEAN LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS



KEY TO TRANSCRIPTIONS OF ARABIC TEXTS

In transcribing the Arabic texts of the block-printed amulets contained in the album that follows, I have employed a system of symbols which is essentially a variation on one used by Ludvik Kalus in the Ashmolean Museum’s Catalogue of Islamic Seals and Talismans.

[. . .] No reading proposed[ ] Reliable restoration[? ] Unreliable restoration(? ) Uncertain reading

When �ve or more consecutive lines of an amulet’s text have proven impossible to decipher, I have indicated that range of line numbers in both the transcriptions and the translations.

All Qur��n citations are taken from The Holy Qur��n. Text translation and commentary by A. Yusuf Ali. Brentwood, Maryland: Amana Corp., 1983.



ÄGYPTOLOGISCHES MUSEUM UND PAPYRUSSAMMLUNG BERLIN

ARAB. 11970(Plate 1)

Paper. Irregular rectangle. Unglazed. The paper is translucent and fairly regular in composi-tion. It is light beige in color with slightly darker brown discolorations, one longitudinal in form in the center of the top text block, two more longitudinal stripes behind the center of the naskh text.

Overall dimensions: 5.4 (top); 6.05 (middle); 5.2 (bottom) � 25 (l.h.); 24.4 (r.h.) cm.

Dimensions of printed area: 4.9 � 23 cm.

Height of letters: Ku�: .5–2 cm; naskh: .1–.2 cm.

46 lines of text: two vertical lines in Ku�; 44 horizontal lines in naskh.

The text is unpointed and unvocalized.

Decorative elements: One �llet. The vertical Ku� script is in reserve (intaglio).

This piece represents a complete amulet. The text has two parts. At its top is a block 4.9 � 9.1 cm containing two vertical lines of foliated Ku� in reserve. (The text is Sura 112.) The block is bounded by a single �llet 1 mm wide and separated from the block by a space about 1 mm wide. At the top left corner, the �llet is double for about 3 cm. Outside the �llet near the bottom left-hand corner in the left-hand margin is a small (ca. 2 mm dia.) circle. The Ku� letters are from .1–.5 cm thick. A space about .5 cm wide separates this block from the beginning of the naskh text. The naskh text is headed by a �at irregular oval which may be a letter. The letters are miniscule; the right-hand edge, �rst and last lines are smudged or distorted.

There are several small holes (e.g. at the top left-hand corner in the margin; in lines 20; 22; between lines 27 and 28; 37; between 38 and 39; between 40 and 41; 41; 43; 44 and at the bot-tom). Little text is affected. The paper shows some transverse wrinkles especially between lines three and four of the naskh text, but in several others as well. The bottom three lines have a web of wrinkle lines radiating from near the center of the paper. The verso shows more clearly a pattern of lines or wrinkles, three running the length of the piece and as many as twelve run-ning laterally to create a sort of grid effect.


Transcription

Top two lines in Ku� in reserve and printed vertically.

�� .1

� � �� .2

(�) �� (�) �� .3

��!�� !�� "# .4

$�%�� &� �� & �'� � �() .5

&� �� & *"+�, -.-� ��/�� .6

�) 0 [��] �� 1�� 2�3�4�4/�� .7

��5 0 ��5 0 (� �2� .8

0 (�) & �� [. . .] 62� 0 (�) ��3� .9

0 (��) ��5 0 (� ��7) �2� 0 [. . .] 0 �2�8 .10

[. . .] 5��9 0 !:; 0 !:; 0 [. . .] .11

0 [�<�� =�>] 5�' 0 =�> 0 [. . .] .12

[. . .] 0 [. . .] 0 (�) �2?@ 0 [. . .] .13

[. . .] 0 =ABC 0 �� 0 [. . .] .14

5 0 !D�EC 0 (�) F�+C 0 [. . .] (�) G@, 0 [. . .] .15

�� 0 �2() 0 !:H7 0 (�) !�� 0 �2I) .16

(�) ��!J 0 ��5 0 ��5 0 [. . .] .17

4@ 0 (�) 5�E+C 0 (�) 4�4@ 0 !D�EC 0 *�, 0 .18

62� 0 (�) !D�EC 0 [. . .] 4� .19

0 [. . .] 0 [. . .] .20

0 [. . .] 0 [. . .] .21

�� ÄGYPTOLOGISCHES MUSEUM BERLIN


[. . .] 0 [. . .] 0 (�) $�%�C 0� [. . .] .22

[. . .] 0 [. . .] 0 [. . .] (��) �2�� 0 (�) � (�)�CKC 0 .23

0 (��) �� 0 [. . .] 0 [. . .] .24

0 (��2(C) 0 (�) �� 0 �2LC 0 �8-C 0 (�) =M .25

0 (�) �� 0 <�� 0 (�) �CKC 0 NOC 0 (�) 4/C .26

=�> 0 [. . .] =�> 0 [. . .] & [. . .] .27

(�) �� 0� [. . .] .28

0 [. . .] .29

& [. . .] (�� 4��) �8!�� [. . .] .30

[. . .] (�) ��P� .31

(�) �� (�) �� & [. . .] .32

[. . .]� [. . .] � [. . .] � [. . .] -C� [. . .] .33

[. . .]� [. . .]� .34

F�� [. . .] � .35

[. . .] � (�O2@��) Q�R@� [. . .] .36

(�) FS9� � (�) F/'�� .37

(�) F�� [. . .] �� [. . .] .38

�� 2�> � T�� U V [. . .] .39

[. . .](�) � �� [. . .] .40

[. . .] � [. . .] .41

[. . .] �� [. . .] .42

[. . .] .43

W�XY (�5)W)�� R@�� [. . .] .44

ARAB. 11970 ��


WZ/' � [. . .] .45

�:��!�� \!)� T�> �� .46

[��:C�] [. . .] .47

Qur��n suras and ayahs by line numbers:ll. 1–2: 112: 1–4 (al-Ikhl��)ll. 4–6: 3:18 (�l-�Imr�n)

Translation

1. Say: He is God, the One and Only; God the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, 2. nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him 3. Peace (?) and Pray(er?) 4. In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, 5. There is no God but He: That is the witness of God, His angels 6. and those who are endued with knowledge, standing �rm on justice. There is no God

but He, 7. the Exalted in Power, the Wise. Praise be to Him (and?) Oh, (G 8. uardian?) Oh, Most Gracious, Oh, Most Patient(?), Oh, Lord(?) 9. Most Wise(?), Oh, All-hearing[. . .] If not(?) Oh,10. Most Exalted, Oh [. . .] Oh, Most Praiseworthy (?), Oh Most Gracious (and?) Oh,11. [. . .] Oh, Most Perceptive, Oh, Most Perceptive, Oh, All Forgiving [. . .]12. [. . .] Oh, Most Sublime, Oh, Light (Most High? Most Strong?) Oh,13. [. . .] Magni�cent(?) Oh, [. . .], Oh, [. . .]14. [. . .] Self-Subsisting, Oh, Enricher, Oh, [. . .]15. [. . .] Resurrector (?)[. . .] Oh, Nourisher (?), Oh, Tremendous (One), Oh, G16. uide, Oh, Most Powerful (?), Oh, Most Aware, Oh, Witness, Oh, M(?)17. [. . .] Oh, Most Gracious, Oh, Most Merciful, Oh, Bountiful One (?)18. Oh, Extender, Oh, Tremendous (One), Oh, Most-Strong (?), Oh, Dominant (One),

Oh, St19. rong, Oh [. . .], Oh, . . . remendous One (?), Oh [. . .]20. [. . .] Oh, [. . .], Oh, [. . .]21. [. . .] Oh, [. . .], Oh, [. . .]22. [. . .] Oh, Angels (?), Oh, [. . .], Oh, [. . .]23. Oh, Giver of Faith (?), and (?) Oh, Steadfast (Source?), [. . .] Oh, [. . .], Oh, [. . .]24. [. . .] Oh, [. . .] Oh, He (Praise?), Oh25. Guarantor (?), Oh, Glori�er, Oh, Glorious (One), Oh, He (?), Oh, (Guardian?), Oh,26. Empowerer (?),[. . .], Oh, Giver of Faith (?), Oh, Most Strong, Oh, Independent (One) (?),

Oh,27. [. . .] not [. . .] Oh, Most Sublime [. . .] Oh, Most Sublime28. [. . .] and Oh, He (?)[. . .]29. [. . .] Oh,30. [. . .] and the man (Saturn?) [. . .] not



31. believe (?)[. . .]32. [. . .] not deceive (?) the two children (?)33. [. . .] and not [. . .] and [. . .] and [. . .] and [. . .]34. and [. . .] and [. . .]35. and [. . .] you (I?) judged36. [. . .] I worshipped (and I seek refuge?) and [. . .]37. you bestowed grace (?) and I became wretched (?)38. [. . .] they? [. . .] you (I?) carried (?)39. [. . .] you. Muhammad, may God bless him and give him peace40. [. . .] one (?)[. . .]41. [. . .] and [. . .]42. [. . .] they and (?)43. [. . .]44. [. . .] and I worship and I than[k?] Your grace45. [. . .] and Your blessing46. Blessing upon the Most Noble of Messengers47. [. . .] [Amen?

ARAB. 24016(Plate 2)

Paper. Irregular rectangle. Unglazed. Black ink.

Overall dimensions: 4.7 (top); 4.5 (middle); 5 (bottom) � 23.7 (left-hand side); 26 (right-hand side) cm.

Dimensions of printed area: 4–4.5 � 20.4–20.7 cm.

48 lines of text divided into blocks of 17, 10, 10, 10, and 1 lines. There is one line of Ku� in reserve at the bottom. The text is unpointed and unvocalized.

Height of letters: naskh: .1–.3 cm; Ku�: .3–.5 cm.

Decorative elements: “Lozenges” in outline.

The piece represents a complete amulet. A unique “lozenge” design in outline is found be-tween lines 17 and 18; 27 and 28; 37 and 38 as decoration. Sentences in the �rst naskh section end in circles. Diagonal wrinkles are visible in the paper, especially in the center section. The right-hand margin near the middle of the amulet is skewed and some text there is damaged and some lost. Many holes, tears, and lacunae, are present, especially in the lower two-thirds of the piece and in the top margin.

ARAB. 24016 �


Transcription

��!�� !�� [�"#] .1

(�) =3� W�C 0 [. . .] .2

�� 0 (�) ^�� & _-� 0 [. . .] .3

[. . .] .4

[. . .] �� T�> [. . .] .5

[. . .] Q��"�� [. . .] .6

�; 5-;&� [. . .] .7

!+�� à�� [. . .] .8

(�) ��8 .9

�2�8 0 �2?@ 0 ��5 0 [. . .] .10

�2�8 0 �2?@ 0 ��5 0 .11

b�-c 0 N-/EC 0 !:RJ 0 5-Hd 0 .12

(�) !(e 0 5�C 0 F.-C 0 .13

[. . .] 0 �e, 0 !�-f 0 .14

[. . .] 0 (�) 5-Hd 0 .15

��!�� "# (�) � .16

Vg�@�� Vg�@�� (�) �� !�[�] .17

[. . .] .18

[. . .] .19

[. . .] .20

(�) h�� [. . .] .21

[. . .](�) _��23� 62d�[. . .] .22



[. . .] .23

[. . .] _-i2Ia�� [. . .] .24

[. . .] .25

[. . .] �C O2@� [. . .] .26

[. . .] .27

[. . .] O2@� [. . .] .28

�C� [. . .] .29

[. . .] .30

[. . .] .31

[. . .] h�� [. . .]0 [. . .] .32

[. . .] O2@� [. . .] .33

[. . .] .34

[. . .] �C jO2@� [. . .] .35

[. . .](�) N-�e&� [. . .] .36

jO2@�� [. . .] .37

[. . .](�) -C h�� [. . .] .38

[. . .] .39

[. . .](�) ^(�k� [. . .] .40

[. . .] .41

[. . .] �h�l� [. . .] .42

�-?/�� [. . .] .43

[. . .] .44

(�) �Jm� [. . .] .45

ARAB. 24016 ��


[. . .] O2@� [. . .] .46

[. . .] .47

Ku� in reserve: �h��-; n� [o�]p & .48

Translation

1. [In the Name of ] God, Most Graci[ous], Most Merciful 2. [. . .] Oh, Sovereign of life (?) 3. [. . .] Oh, Most Perfect, do not overburden [. . .] 4. [. . .] 5. [. . .] upon each [. . .] 6. [. . .] the heavens [. . .] 7. [. . .] 8. [. . .] 9. His splendor (?)10. [. . .] in him (?) God, Oh, Most Gracious,11. Oh, Most Merciful, Oh, Mighty One, Oh, Majestic One,12. Oh, Powerful One, Oh, Great One, Oh, Self-Exalted One, Oh, Creator,13. Oh, One Who gives death, Oh, Fashioner, Oh, Most Pure (?)14. Oh, Manifest One, Oh, Hidden One, Oh, [. . .]15. Oh, Almighty (?), Oh, [. . .]16. God (?) In the Name of God, Most Gracious,17. [M]ost Merciful, He (?) is God, and I seek refuge with You, I seek refuge with You18. [. . .]19. [. . .]20. [. . .]21. [. . .] and each (?)[. . .]22. [. . .] and all the animals (?)[. . .]23. [. . .]24. [. . .] and the Devil [. . .]25. [. . .]26. [. . .] I seek refuge from [. . .]27. [. . .]28. [. . .] I seek refuge [. . .]29. [. . .] and from30. [. . .]31. and every [. . .]32. [. . .] Oh, [. . .] every [. . .]33. [. . .] I seek refuge [. . .]34. [. . .]35. [. . .] I seek refuge in Him from [. . .]36. [. . .] the infants (?)[. . .]37. [. . .] and I seek refuge in Him



38. [. . .] all that (?)[. . .]39. [. . .]40. [. . .] the cave (?)[. . .]41. [. . .]42. [. . .] God [. . .]43. [. . .] the bones44. [. . .]45. [. . .] dweller (thankful?)46. [. . .] I seek refuge [. . .]47. [. . .]48. There is no strength but in God.

ARAB. 24016 ��



CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARYMICHAELIDES COLLECTION

MICHAELIDES (CHARTA) E 28(Plate 3)

Laid paper. Rectangular. Paper is light brown, rather �ne grain; very opaque. Black ink tending to brown.

Overall dimensions: 7.8 � 11.6 cm.Dimensions of printed area: 4.4 � 11.3 cm.

Height of letters: .2–.5 cm.

Ten lines of Ku� text, unpointed and unvowelled. The script is characterized by long ligatures. The letters in lines two through ten begin with upward sloping strokes.

There are several small holes in lines two, three, four, �ve and nine. The text is only minimally affected. A transverse fold line ca. 1 cm. from the bottom is marked by a brown stain and small holes. Several longitudinal and diagonal (upper left to lower right) wrinkles appear in the piece. A piece of thread ca. 1.6 cm long is attached to the bottom of the sheet by a clump of dirt (wax?).

Transcription

�� .1

�� [. . .] � (�) �� (�) �� .2

��!�� "�#$�� [. . .] %�&� .3

�� (�) '()�*� +��, �� -��.�� . . ./� (�) ��0&� �� -�� .4

1�� 23�4 �� 5�($�� 6 �� 5�78�� (�) ��9 �� [. . .] .5

��-� :�; %�&� <=� �9 �� [��] .6

[. . .] .7

�� .8

��>� �� [. . .] .9

[. . .] (�) ?(�� .10


Translation

1. In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful 2. Oh, God! Indeed, I ask You, Oh, Lord (?), Oh, He (?), and [. . .] Oh, Lord 3. of the Earth [. . .] Oh, Lord of the ascendant stars, 4. the meteors; Oh, Lord of the oceans (?), the . . . limitations; Oh Creator of the caliphate(?),

Oh, God 5. [. . .] Oh, King (?) of the Most Holy, Oh Quickener of Souls, Oh, Revealer of the dif�- 6. [culties] Oh, He Who erected the Earth upon its face 7. [. . .] 8. [. . .] Oh, God 9. [. . .] Lord of the Living10. the cheerful ? [. . .]


Laid paper. Irregular rectangle. The paper is thin and translucent; its thickness appears to be relatively uniform (i.e. few thick or thin spots). The ink is black tending to brown.

Overall dimensions: top: 7.55 � 31.2 cm (left-hand); bottom: 8.2 � 32.9 cm (right-hand). Dimensions of printed area: top: 4.75, middle: 5.1, bottom 5.35 � 28.6 cm.


Number of lines: 92 (94?): eighteen lines; (decoration); eighteen lines; (decoration with six red dots); ten lines; eighteen lines (including basmallah at the beginning); (decoration with two red dots); eighteen lines; (decoration); ten (*11?) lines. The text is in an angular naskh script with the tails of terminal letters reversing to the right but above the text line. The basmallahs in sec-tions one and two begin with a curved line.

Decorative elements: two sets of zig-zag decoration.

Several longitudinal and transverse wrinkles are visible. The upper right-hand, the center and the lower left-hand parts of the text are most affected. One vertical tear runs almost the entire length of the piece ca. 2 cm from the right edge of the text area. One smaller, less obtrusive tear toward the bottom ca. .2–.3 cm from the beginning of the text. Little text here is affected.

* May be a line of text with a curved line through it(?)

N.B. No transcription of this amulet is given. Since its text appears to be identical to that of Michaelides E 30, I have transcribed and translated E 30 only.

68 CAMBRIDGE UL, MICHAELIDES



Paper. Laid paper (chain lines visible). Paper is fairly thin and fairly �ne grained. There is a thicker area near the bottom. Black ink.

Overall dimensions: top: 7.55 � 31.2 cm (left-hand); bottom: 8 � 31.2 cm (right-hand)Dimensions of printed area: top: 5.1; middle: 5.2; bottom: 5.2 � 28.9 cm.


94 lines: eighteen lines; (decoration) with two faded red dots; eighteen lines; (decoration) with remnants of three red dots; eleven lines; eighteen lines (beginning with basmallah with “eyebrow curve” above it); (decoration); eighteen lines; (decoration); twelve lines. The bottom has a red brush stroke across it.

A tear approximately 1.3 cm from the left-hand edge of the text block runs from near line nineteen through line 94. Two vertical wrinkles appear in the �rst eighteen lines of text (one near each margin of the text). Another runs from near line 30 to line 86. This becomes a tear at line 65. Several lateral wrinkles distort the text, increasing in severity toward the bottom of the text.

The text appears to be identical to E 29 but the number of lines seems to differ. (See description of E 29 above).

N.B. “X” marks indicate decoration in this piece.

Transcription

�� .1

[. . .] .2

��@ (�) C7$D [. . .] .3

(��E*�) (�) �F*� (�) . . .] ��4 �;G� .4

Lines 5–19 indecipherable. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lines 19–66 indecipherable.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


MICHAELIDES (CHARTA) E 30 69


Translation

1. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful2. [. . .]3. [. . .] with him (?)[. . .] he blesses4. I invoke you, for it is he (?)[. . .] the bene�t (?) (the matter?)5. Lines 5–18 indecipherable.XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXLines 19–66 indecipherable.XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXLines 67–94 indecipherable.


Paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. The sheet is rather thin but quite opaque and of �ne grain. The upper right-hand corner is torn from the center of line one to the beginning of line eight.

Overall dimensions: 7 � 14.1 cm.Dimensions of printed area: 4.7 � 14.1 cm.

Height of letters: naskh: .2–.5 cm; Ku�: 1.1–3 cm.

40 lines: one longitudinal line in foliated Ku�; 39 lines in unvocalized naskh. The end of the text is missing. The Ku� text is in outline and highlighted with red ink. It runs vertically through the center of the naskh text. The outline of the Ku� characters is composed of the horizontal naskh letters.

Decorative elements: The text margins have a double �llet. The lines forming the �llets are spaced at .25 cm (right-hand) and .3 cm (left-hand). These �llet lines are of unequal thickness.

The lower left-hand corner from the end of line 26 to the beginning of line 41 is also torn away. There is a small hole at the end of line six and another at the beginning of line 34. Some dark brown stains are in the margins. Some purple stains are in the upper center and on the right-hand margin. Red ink marks appear in the upper left-hand margin.

Transcription

One vertical line in foliated Ku� script: �. . . �9 �?H �9�

�� [I�� ] .1

�� FJ�� [� �� 7K�] .2



L�� 7M�� L�� N[O7�� "�P ��9] .3

Q��R�� S7� [� �F�TU�V] .4

Q��W [��8TU�J��] .5

XJ�� [� �@Y��] .6

� ��)�; ��Z\J�� F] [��)�;] .7

�� F��Z�� & .8

^J�� &� �� & � � �� 7�3 .9

_ �J`�a �� '?b .10

�� &� �� & c�8� .11

[. . .] ��?>� .@.�� .12

(�) )�; +�; �9 .13

�9 ��d?H� �Y� .14

�� [. . .] (�e) �FMf � (�)� �F\W .15

[. . .] .16

�� &� ��_� +�*� <)J- �9 .17

g�8�� (��?�) ��?> � �� .18

8�, (�) N�!��_ .19

:�F; .20

�P�f .21

[. . .] .22

[. . .] .23

[. . .] .24

�FMf �9 .D� .25



�9 �F\W �� .26

�h4� (��?H) �fi .27

[. . .] � ��D �h4 �9 .28

[. . .]�; �h4 .29

[. . .] .30

�h4 .31

�� .32

�h4 �9 .33

& .34

[. . .] .35

j��9 .36

(�) � .37

[. . .] �9 [. . .] .38

[. . .] .39Qur��n suras and ayahs by line numbers:ll. 1–8: 1:1–7 (F�ti�ah)ll. 8–12: 3:18 (�l �Imr�n)

Translation

Ku�: And what do you have of . . .? 1. In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful 2. [Praise be to Allah, The Cherisher] and Sustainer of the worlds: Most Gracious, Most

Merciful 3. Master of the Day of Judg]ment. Thee do we worship, and Thine 4. [aid we seek. S] how us the straight 5. [way,] The way 6. [of those on] whom Thou hast bestowed Thy grace, 7. [Those whose (portion)] is not wrath and who go 8. not astray. In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, 9. There is no god but He: That is the witness of Allah, His An-10. gels and those endued with knowledge, standing �rm



11. on justice. There is no god but He12. Exalted in Power, The Wise (. . .?) (. . .?)13. Whoever hangs upon himself (?)14. this writing be he15. small (?) or large [. . .] or16. [. . .]17. from all the bad. In the name of the God of Mercy, 18. of Compassion The Wise (wisdom?) Strength19. in dominion(?) upon him (peace be upon Him?)20. Jesus21. gracious22. [. . .]23. [. . .] prepare a very important secret (?)24. [. . .]25. more honest of great26. or small of27. male (because?) and each28. from every dif�culty oh, [. . .]29. each30. [. . .]31. each32. hotter33. from each34. [. . .] no(t)35. [. . .]36. often37. to him (his?)38. [. . .] of [. . .]39. [. . .]


Laid paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. The paper is rather thin and slightly translucent with some variation in density.



27 lines. Naskh characters with some voweling and pointing. Several holes and lacunae are found in the text, especially in the lower half. The script is a straightforward, pleasing combination of angular and cursive elements (quite elegant, actually). The ultimate line is in bolder face.



The margins are irregular. Several darker discolorations and stains, especially in the top and bottom margins and in the center of the text can be seen. There is some bleeding of ink through to the verso, especially in the left-hand margin. Several wrinkles, most of them longi-tudinal, are found in the margins and the text area, especially one along a center line.

Transcription

�FJ�� 7K� �� .1

7�� F�TU�V L�� 7M�� L�� @7�� "�P ��9 �� .2

�F] ��)�; XJ�� @Y�� Q��W ��8TU�J�� Q��R�� S .3

�� F��Z�� &� ��)�; ��Z\J�� .4

� �?@ �� 7��P �� 7�P �� 7JR�� 7k� � � �� ha .5

�l i�D� ha �� .7k� j��(4 .6

�9� na� �i� +��] ��3 �9� +�, �9 ��3 �9 +�(�� .7

. 7�� i� 7��k ��3 �9� 78�� o ��p($�� 3 .8

�$�� 9 5�$�� l i�D� ha �� .9

5��P OY�� 5��$*� 5�� 3 �9 5�$�� 5 .10

�� . 5�$�� q[�r� �9] 5�$�� 7W �o .11

N�t9uJ�� v� �9 )�� /.w� [�Jv] /�� 9� �� .12

�(P & �� MT4� d?b^J�� _ �9� �h4 .13

��(x �$�y�� $�J� ��a� �� 9 7k� �Fv z .14

�� &� j��(� � � 2�?@ & .�FRJ�� )�� $�v� �� .15

Y,�u{ & ��v� X�ET4| [�9] ��)� [}] � XE�f �9 �� .16

T� �J4 j��W~ �$)�; hJ� [&�] �$�v� S�!�� tF�V N~ S .17

2D�� v �$� 'a�y & �9 �$� �J� &� �$�v� �$��a �9 �@Y�� :�; .18

�?H� "�8�� :�; � [N]�R��o S& [�9] X�� t9 [I�]�� $� �(x�� $D .19



�o %�&�� J�� +�, OY�� ["]��v� �N� �@�o .20

M�!P �� [�� hP]h � :�\P �� :�; g� [X��] �� "�� '�TU� .21

� &� ��9 [_ ��] ��9 "�#$�� J8�� [� 5] �� j��)p� .22

7�o [� &�] �FJ�� L��M{ �9&�� +�*� .23

7�o [� &�] �@7T�J�� n� & �~ j'�(� [� j�; ��]�{ .24

� j�o�� DG�� ^W� 7�v %�&� �o �� .25

N��8�� 9 / �.�� .�$U�� 9 nP�a � � '� �N~ j��Jy .26

.�Ft9uJ� '�� (3 �� 9 .27Qur��n suras and ayahs by line numbers: ll. 1–4: 1: 1–7 (F�ti�ah)ll. 4–6: 112:1–4 (al-Ikhl��)ll. 6–8: 113: 1–5 (al-Falaq)ll. 9–11: 114: 1–5 (al-N�s)ll. 11–15: 2:285 (al-Baqarah)ll. 15–20: 2:286 (al-Baqarah)ll. 20–26: 7:54–56 (al-A�r�f )ll. 26–27: 17:82 (Ban� Isra��l or Isr��)

Translation

1. In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Praise be to God, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds

2. Most Gracious, Most Merciful; Master of the Day of Judgment. Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek. Show

3. us the straight way, the way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace. Those whose (portion) is not

4. wrath, and who go not astray. In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 5. Say: He is God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is

He begotten; and there is none 6. like unto Him. In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Say: I seek refuge with

the 7. Lord of the Dawn, from the mischief of created things; from the mischief of darkness as

it overspreads; from 8. the mischief of those who practice the Secret Arts; and from the mischief of the envious

one as he practices envy. 9. In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Say; I seek refuge with the Lord and

Cherisher of Mankind, the King (or Ruler) of Man-10. kind, the God (or Judge) of Mankind, from the mischief of the Whisperer (of Evil), who

withdraws (after his whisper), (The same) who whispers



11. into the hearts of Mankind, [among jinn]s and among Men. In the name of God, Most Gracious,

12. Most Merciful. The Apostle believeth [in what] hath been revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of faith.

13. Each one (of them) believeth in God, His angels, His books and His apostles. “We make no distinc-

14. tion (they say) between one and another of [His] apostles.” And they say: “We hear and we obey; we seek Thy forgive-

15. ness, Our Lord, and to Thee is the end of all journeys. On no soul doth God place a bur-den greater

16. than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns. (Pray:) Our Lord! Condemn17. us not if we forget or fall into error; Our Lord! Lay [not] on us a burden like that which

Thou didst lay 18. upon those before us; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to

bear. Blot out19. our sins, and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our [Pro]tector; help [us]

against those who stand20. against faith. Your Guardian-Lord is God, who created the heavens and the earth in 21. six Days, and is �rmly [est]ablished on the Throne (of authority); He draweth the ni[ght]

as a veil o’er [the d]ay, each seeking the other22. in rapid succession. He created the sun, the moon, and the stars, (all) gover[ned] by laws

under [His] command. Is it not His23. to create and to govern? Blessed be God, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds.

[C]all on your Lord24. with humility and in private; for God loveth not those who trespass beyond bounds.

[Do no]25. mischief on the earth, after it hath been set in order, but call on Him with fear and26. longing in your hearts: for the Mercy of God is (always) near to those who do good. We

sent down (stage by stage) in the Qur��n27. that which is a healing and a mercy to those who believe.


Paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. The paper is light brown in color, thin, but quite opaque. It is �ne grained and appears to be uniform in thickness. The ink is generally more brown than black, but some text (especially words in the corners of the upper square) is darker and bolder.

Overall dimensions: (top) 10.2; (bottom) 11.5 � 18.4 cm.Dimensions of printed area: (top) 8.75; (bottom) 9.7 � 16.4 cm.




Twelve lines of text: two handwritten in the square at the top (the �rst in the corners of the square, the second in the interstices of the interlocking trefoil design. The remaining eight lines are in naskh, pointed and vocalized.

Decorative elements include text borders of double parallel lines, a circle composed of two concentric lines containing an interlocking trefoil design around a smaller circle with a nine-compartment square at the center. All these design elements are constituted by double lines.

The amulet is in the form of an irregular rectangle consisting of two more or less complete squares (top: 8.3 � 8 cm; bottom: 8 � 8.9 cm (measured from the inside top line)) and part of the right margin of a third square to the left of the bottom one given above.

The so-called “magic square” (the sum of the integers added vertically, horizontally or diagon-ally equals �fteen) measures 1.7 � 1.7 cm with nine cells, each approximately 4.4 mm sq. (number arrangement uncertain)

This is surrounded by a double interlocking trefoil; each trefoil is composed of two roughly parallel lines .2 cm apart. The corner angles contain words of a qur’anic passage; these are handwritten. The interstitial spaces of the trefoils also contain words of a qur��nic passage; they are block printed.

The lower square contains ten lines of naskh script pointed and vocalized. There are three vertical parallel lines in the right-hand margin of the lower box.

There is an irregular tear in the upper edge of the piece; part of the upper border is missing there. Several holes of varying size appear in the �rst three lines of text. The end of the last line and the lower left-hand corner of the bottom square is missing. The upper margin of a third square is visible at lower right.

The left-hand margin of the square to the left of the lower one contains some words and parts of another geometric (trefoil?) design. This square and geometric design is outlined with double �llets. At upper left is one line of vocalized, pointed text running vertically.

Several longitudinal, diagonal and lateral wrinkles are extant. The text in some places is affected. There are several small, rust brown stains in the upper margins, at the sides and at the top of the lower box. There are also two smudges in the center. The right-hand margin is irregular.

Transcription

At top: Nine-compartment square surrounded by a circle with two lines de�ning its circum-ference; two interlaced trefoils containing a qur��nic phrase; a second, larger circle and a rectangular �eld both framed with double lines. The corners of the square contain another invocatory formula, handwritten.



��d?9 ��T4 �o �P�f N��8� (�) �~� �� (� �F�� o .1

��(6 I�� o 7)� N��a �� hv c)6 ��`�� 9 � �� .2

3 9 2

4 5 7

8 1 6

["]�� .3

�@7�� q�� :8�� N�9�� C�f �� {�J�?l �+>� � � �+�� .4

��`�� 9 � �� N�� :��9 �� FJ�� l ��t9� ��a .5

��v�T4 h9�k �J� (�) n�!�� (6 I�� o 7)� N��a �� hv c)6 .6

��T�� _ (�)/�� 7�>�� Y� .7

��{ X�� Jo [. . .] �$��a �� [. . .] :�; .8

�hJ�� RM�� [�) �@79�k 7) ��$��- :d� [. . .] .9

[. . .] �Y� ��v�T4 )�; +�; [�9] .10

[. . .] .11

7P73 � � N~ .12

Qur��n chapters and ayahs by line numbers:Handwritten in corners of decorative square at top: 85:20–22 (al-Burj)l. 2: 12:64 (Ysuf ) (pars)l. 4: 10:82 (Ynus)ll. 4–5: 7:120–122 (A�r�f )ll. 5–6: 85:21–22 (al-Burj)

Translation

1. But God doth encompass them from behind! Nay, this is a Glorious Qur��n, inscribed in a tablet preserved!

2. God is the best to take care (of him), and He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy! Indeed it is a Noble Qur��n in a book inscribed.



3 9 2

4 5 7

8 1 6

3. In the name of God, Most gracious, Most Merci[ful.] 4. “And God by His Words doth prove and establish His Truth, however much the sinners

may hate it!” But the sorcerers fell down prostrate in adoration. 5. Saying: “We believe in the Lord of the Worlds, Lord of Moses and Aaron. And God doth

encompass them 6. from behind. Nay, this is a Glorious Qur��n, inscribed in a tablet preserved! And the demand

(for protection?) for whoever carries this my 7. writing, sorcery, envy, loss (paucity?) of [. . .] 8. on the [. . .] of the throne. He said to us, [. . .] and it did not cease 9. [. . .] until we made them the most praiseworthy of those who give praise (?) [. . .] and

work10. [. . .] hangs upon himself this my writing [. . .]11. [. . .]12. [. . .] Indeed, God is strong [. . .]




CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARYTAYLOR-SCHECHTER GENIZA COLLECTION

T-S AR 20.1(Plate 9)

Paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. The paper is of medium weight and uneven thickness. It is particularly thin under the printed area. The paper is poorly made and very thin in places. The ink is brownish-black.

Overall dimensions: 16.1 � 28.2 cm.Width of printed area: ca. 6.6 cm.

35 lines: one line of cursive letters .2–.4 cm high; �ve lines of cursive (Notes in the mss. volume at Cambridge University Library describe the script as “Maghrebine”), letters ca. .5–1.6 cm high; twenty-nine lines of naskh, unpointed and unvocalized. The letters are .2–.4 cm high.

Decorative elements: Circular design at top containing one line of script. Letters ca. 1.2–1.3 cm high.

The upper left-hand corner is missing, including approximately the top one-third of the circu-lar inscription. The upper right-hand corner is also missing, but no text appears to have been affected. The lower part of the sheet is torn irregularly; parts of lines 33–36, as well as the end of the text are missing. There are several weak points and transverse tears. Holes are to be found between lines one and two; four and �ve; seven and eight; thirteen and fourteen; 21 and 22; in the text in 25; between 26 and 27; 27 and 28, and in the margins. Some transferred ink from another printed text is visible in the right-hand margin at the top and bottom. Six tape repairs are apparent at various places.

Transcription

Line one of the text (in the circular device at the top) is not deciphered.

(��) � � � �� [�]�� .2

� �� .3

�� .4

�� [. . .] .5

!� �� [. . .] .6


�"# � [. . .] .7

�� "#�$%�� &� � '� �� .8

()� �"%*��+ ,-�� .%/ ,-� �0�� 1�2 34$5 ��[�] .9

&�67#�� "8 �9: � ;#%/� �0<�� =�� >*��#�� =��[��] .10

��2 �� 2 �� #?�� !� �� ) �@ .�"�$6�� 9: � .11

�5� B C $5 �D �5 B E�� &�F G�H� �@ .!� I��EJ �� K0 �� .12

$! �D �5� >%�� LM NO$E�� D �5� P@� �G� [B�$8 �D] .13

Q$�� Q$�� 3 5 Q$�� &�F G�H� �@ .�� [G� �] .14

�5 Q$�� LM Q��2 R<�� Q$�S� Q�� [�� D] �5 .15

��2 �� 5 - [. . .] �:#T� [. . .] Q$��[�� U�T�] .16

(�) �� -� �E7�� VH - [. . .] .17

�J W5$� - (�) ��X �0:�� Y�X - [. . .] .18

-� (�) Z�� 2�[ -� [. . .] .19

(�\$].��) :�� - ^��5 - [. . .] .20

� \� 34_�� L�:H [. . .] .21

�� [. . .] .22

B C $5 �D �5 [. . .] �� N$# KF G�H� [. . .] .23

�̀@ �� aJb �� '�� [. . .] .24

�� [. . .] .H� �:V%�� L %�� [. . .] .25

[. . .] .26

[. . .] .27

�� 1[c�] .28

82 CAMBRIDGE UL, TAYLOR-SCHECHTER


d�� [. . .] .29

[. . .] .30

(�) �5eJ �5 [. . .] W�$*�� [. . .] .31

,$f> C [. . .] �� $@ [. . .] .32

[. . .] .33

�� $Eg?#�� [. . .] ��"� [. . .] .34

L %�� X �� ` �@ �� .35

Qur��n suras and ayahs by line numbers:ll. 8–11: 1:1–7 (F�ti�ah)ll. 11–12: 112:1–4 (al-Ikhl��)ll. 12–14: 113:1–5 (al-Falaq)ll. 14–16: 114:1–6 (al-N�s)

Translation

1. Circle at top: [. . .] 2. In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, the blessings of Allah upon Muham-

mad (the Prophet?) 3. There is no god but Allah, Muhammad 4. is the Prophet of Allah 5. [. . .] perfection of Allah 6. [. . .] Allah is One 7. [. . .] worlds 8. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher

and Sustainer of the Worlds: Most Gracious, 9. Most Merciful; Master of the Day of Judgment. Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we

seek. Show us10. [the] straight way, The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, Those

whose (portion) is not wrath.11. And who go not astray. Say: He is Allah, the One; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He bege t-

teth not, nor is He begotten;12. And there is none like unto Him. Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the Dawn, from the

mischief of created things; from13. [the mischief darkness] as it overspreads; from the mischief of those who blow on knots;

and from the mischief of the en-14. [vious one as] he practices envy. Say: I seek refuge with the Lord and Cherisher of Man-

kind, the King (or Ruler) of Mankind, the God (or Judge) of Mankind,

T-S AR 20.1 83


15. from the [evil of the whis]perer (of evil), Who withdraws (after his whisper), who whispers into the hearts of Mankind, among

16. [ jinns and ] among men. [. . .] the beautiful [. . .] Oh, You who is not begotten17. [. . .] Oh, Greatest of Forgivers, oh, Most Excellent (?)18. [. . .] Oh, Extender of the (two) hands in mercy (?), Oh, Hearer of all 19. [. . .] Oh, Generous of the (?), Oh,20. [. . .] Oh, Protector! Oh, Master (Praise?) 21. [. . .] my eye. I ask that you not22. [. . .] In the name of Allah23. [. . .] I seek refuge in the Words of Allah [. . .] from the evil of created things24. [. . .] Praise be to Allah. There is no god but Allah. Allah is Most Great . There is no

power and no strength [save in Allah]25. [. . .] The Most High, the Magni�cent,. I submit [. . .] Allah26. [. . .] 27. [. . .]28. [. . .] [In the nam]e of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful29. [. . .] the Earth30. [. . .] 31. [. . .] the ninth [. . .] from His (words?)32. [. . . Allah said [. . .] We created you33. [. . .]34. [. . .] Jesus [. . .] the Chosen, Muhammad, does not35. [. . .] There is no power and no strength save in Allah, Most High

T-S AR 38.135(Plate 10)

Paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. The paper is heavy, relatively coarse stock with an almost uni-form light brown hue. It is slightly irregular in width.

Overall dimensions: 7.9 � 44.2 cm. The amulet is composed of two shorter pieces of paper (top piece: 7.9 � 21.1. cm; bottom: 8.1 � 23.6 cm) overlapped 6.55 cm.Dimensions of printed area: 7 � 20.8 cm (top); 7 � 22.8 cm (bottom).

62 lines of text: Twelve lines unpointed, unvocalized in naskh script (letters ca. .3–.5 cm high); one line of naskh between two sets of double �llets (letters .5–1 cm high); seventeen lines of naskh; one line of naskh between two double sets of �llets—like the single line above ( just below the overlap of the two sheets of paper); 31 lines of naskh.

Decorative element: A double �llet border with red ink in the interstice is at the top. Red ink brush strokes are found between lines eleven and twelve and between lines 21–22 and after last line.



There are holes in lines nine, ten, thirteen, seventeen, twenty, 34, 36, and 37. Two vertical lines of smaller holes, each ca. 2 cm from the margins, run the length of the piece (probably mark-ing folds in the paper). Some minor transverse wrinkles are visible.

Transcription

�� .1

� h$ED �) $5 \i�>�� 5 �jk/� .2

�$.T� ��l� �"f5m# 4 (�) U��F .3

�5 �#n L)� `5$o $9.��[N] .4

�J �>n� R<�� W�� &$]�� .5

\� %En $#p �"qr �/� hLD .6

[. . .] .7

[. . .] .8

�� <) [. . .] .9

[. . .] &$*J .10

�� h$D \s I�j0jH [. . .] .11

� U�$g�� [. . .] .12

(�d) t��H�� Wp��* 4 [. . .] .13

�� .14

;�� \� c+�� T� �u%5 - .15

�#�� $@� �5 ��<E�n \� �*%v .16

<�� w�� [. . .] .��<E�n � [. . .] d�� N� .17

[ x�]�"C ��$�2 �� 9V:7p ��EJ �0 .18

\$J� �$y>�� "f5mK?�� EJ� .19

�9@$�H� LM $� %z ([�] .x�j0jH x-�@ �� .20

T-S AR 38.135 85


.\�{#>5 �9M \$@G�� L|9M x�e8� .21

�5� x� � �922[�] �"p $� %z� .22

�?.2 � �9M �)$f"u}$M x� � �9E C .23

LM &$yK~� �<) �: � B � (�) �5 - .\� .24

�� 5� LM� �� z LM� �� .25

3�:#2 �H �2��ao� �� 3�� .26

��M�� 34$#D �H �2$K�5� .27

3.}�0 �5 �J 3�H � �{2 35$5� .28

3VE{2 �� 3E C \��gg�5� .29

[. . .] 3.%� .30

��Hw$M �� _#�� .31

�� .32

3 5 - �� - �� - &� - �� - .33

��K� - �: � - �0@ - P:� - .34

W2p - W�� - �"?p - &��n - .35

- �[�D - ��h� - LM$J - W:#� - .36

�p$@ - �: ! - (�) ��E} - (�)�H�� - (�) �� .37

[. . .] - L � - 1��@ - (�) B� - Y�X - .38

��$p - &$)� - (�) � - jH - L�� - .39

:9D - P"�r - P�@� - (�) W2�� - .40

- �vX - �:[� - ;�>5 - �EH - .41

- L{5 - �"qr - �:g� - �w$@ - (�) !�� .42

- �?.�� %/ -� ��#�� - �%/ - ;:#5 .43



R�@ - [. . .] - 2�M - ��E� .44

[. . .] - �$%y5 - �".[ - �$ %M - :� � [R] .45

[. . .] - (�) \$%*��5 - �� - �eo - .46

[. . .] - ��/ - (�) �"y5 - (�) �B� - �2�[ - .47

[. . .] - �M$8 - �w$� - �$yM - .48

[. . .] - ` �>�� G - �� - ��g�� G - .49

�� eT� �G - L@X - �y>5 - [. . .] - .50

- �vX - �)$� - �ri - � �� - 1��[ .51

�#:95 - �5m5 - 1e� - Q� @ - .52

- B�$C - �aKy5 - �$qz - j0jH - .53

!� - :%5 - [. . .] - � �?5 - Rw$) .54

�5 - ;/� �� L� - #� - .55

�M[,] �� K0 �� 2 �� 2 �� .56

3: � _#�� <) B� 34_�� !� x� .57

[. . .] \� [. . .] � .58

[. . .]�� 5 &$yK~� �<) B � �5 �J .59

[. . .] � .60

[. . .] � .61

�J �5� [. . .] .62

Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number:ll. 1–3: 17:82 (Ban� Isr��l or Isr��)ll. 3–6: 27:88 (al-Naml)ll. 15–17: 55:33 (pars) (al-Ra�m�n)ll. 17–20: 33:25 (al-A�z�b)ll. 20–24: 36:8–9 (Y� S�n)Re: ll. 26–30, see A�mad ibn �Al� al-B�n�, Shams al-Ma��rif wa-La��if al-�Aw�rif: fa�l f� dhikr �ij�b al-qu�, p. 77.

T-S AR 38.135 87


Translation

1. In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful 2. We send down (stage by stage) of the Qur’an that which is a healing and 3. in His mercy(?) to those who believe . . . Thou seest the mountains 4. [and th]inkest them �rmly �xed: but they shall pass away as 5. the clouds pass away: (Such is) the artistry of God, Who disposes of all 6. things in perfect order: for He is well acquainted with all that ye do. 7. [. . .] 8. [. . .] 9. [. . .] This is the10. book [. . .]11. [. . .] powerfully, if God wills12. [. . .] obedience belongs to Allah13. [. . .] the symptoms of disease and the female jinn(?)14. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful15. O ye assembly of jinns and men! If it be ye 16. can pass beyond the zones of the hea-17. vens and the Earth [pass ye! Not without authority] shall ye be able to pass . . . And God

turned back the18. unbelievers for all their fury: no advantage did they gain:19. and enough is God for the believers in their �ght. And20. God is full of Strength . . . We have put yokes round their necks21. right up to their chins, so that their heads are forced up (and they cannot see).22. And We have put a bar in front of them and a bar23. behind them, and further, We have covered them up; so that they cannot 24. see. Oh, you who hangs upon himself this writing in the (?) 25. of Allah, in the authority of Allah, in the command of Allah,26. Allah has adorned you: Gabriel is on your right;27. Michael is on your left; Isra�l28. is in front of you to turn away all who dislike you.29. Maytatrun is behind you and Allah protects you 30. from your dif�culties (?) [. . .]31. To Allah belong the Beautiful Names, and I call upon Him32. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful33. Oh Allah, Oh Lord, Oh Most Gracious, Oh Most Merciful, Oh King,34. Oh Hearkener, Oh Powerful One, Oh All-Knowing, Oh Wise One.35. Oh Relenting One, Oh All-Seeing One, Oh In�nite One, Oh Originator,36. Oh All-Hearing One, Oh All Suf�cient One, Oh Compassionate One, Oh Most Thankful

(?), Oh37. Allah (?), Oh Preacher (?), Oh Forgiver, Oh Forbearing One, Oh Restrainer,38. Oh Extender, Oh True One (?), Oh Self-Subsisting, Oh Sublimely Exalted, Oh [. . .]39. Governor, Oh Most Strong (?), Oh Praise (?), Oh Bestower, Oh Resurrector,40. Oh Most Swift (?), Oh Watcher, Oh, Reckoner, Oh Witness, 41. Oh Forgiver, Oh Nourisher, Oh Advocate, Oh Hidden One, Oh



42. One (?), Oh Powerful One, Oh Kindly One, Oh Aware One, Oh Giver of Life, Oh43. Bringer of Death, Oh Most Excellent Lord, Oh Most Excellent of Perception, Oh44. Abaser, Oh Peerless One, Oh [. . .], Oh Most Strong,45. [O]h All Glorious, Oh Most Ef�cacious, Oh Most Great, Oh Self-Exalted, Oh [. . .]46. Oh Majesty, Oh Heir, Oh Refuge(?), Oh [. . .]47. Oh Most Bountiful, Oh Truth(?), Oh Most Steadfast, Oh Light, Oh [. . .]48. Oh Giver of Victory, Oh Most Sincere, Oh Forgiver, Oh [. . .]49. Oh Possessor of Forbearance, Oh Provider, Oh Possessor of Strength, Oh [. . .]50. Oh [. . .], Oh Dominant One, Oh Everlasting One, Oh Possessor of Majesty and 51. Bounty, Oh First, Oh Last, Oh Manifest, Oh Hidden, Oh52. Oh Holy, Oh Source of Peace, Oh Giver of Faith, Oh Overall Protector,53. Oh Strong, Oh Almighty, Oh Majestic, Oh Creator, Oh 54. Guide, Oh Fashioner, [. . .], Oh Restorer, Oh One,55. Oh Eternal, Oh Living One. There is no god but You. Oh He Who 56. begetteth not, nor is begotten, and of Whom there is none like57. Him. I beseech You by virtue of these Your names58. and [. . .] that [. . .]59. Whoever hangs upon himself this writing from the [. . .]60. and [. . .]61. and [. . .]62. [. . .] and from every

T-S AR 41.102(Plate 11)

Laid paper. Chain lines visible. Irregular rectangle; longer triangular corner at bottom on the left-hand side. Unglazed. The paper is light brown in color, of medium thickness, with a fairly �ne texture.


52 lines of text. Letters in the �rst and last lines are slightly bolder and larger (.3–.5 cm). Some letters are darker and blurred, especially toward the center. Line 40 has a “bullseye” terminus after the fourth (�fth?) word.

Letter height: .1–.3 cm.

There is a series of holes along the longitudinal center line (i.e. the amulet was folded in half ). The upper right-hand corner is torn on the diagonal and is missing. The centers of lines four through seven are missing (lacuna) as are the beginnings of lines �ve and six. There is a stain or smudged ink in the lower left-hand corner. Three stains can be seen across the center. Sev-eral holes appear in the margins (outside the text). Approximately .5–.8 cm inside the text area on the right-hand side, there is a longitudinal wrinkle running from the top to about line 30. Another wrinkle is in the lower right-hand corner above the hole outside the text area.

T-S AR 41.102 89


Transcription

�� .1

�) �� ) � �� [. . .] .2

�G �5 d�� N��#�� LM $5 �� 1�/ �� U�� <C_n � 1��>�� L�� .3

�# � �5 hLu� \�g:{2 � �9E C � [1� �922 �"p $5 � %2 �/G]_p �� ^�H WEu� R<�� .4

� �:V%�� L %�� )� $5 [�VE� ^w] �2 �� d�� N��#�� :��[ W�� [� $#p ��] .5

3�#*�� >M �X �5m2� [N�7g�X �EK0] �#M L7�� 5 D�� an @ �0�� LM [��[b] .6

�5 �9z�� f5� �0<�� R [�� : �] W:#� �� $9� 1$?E/� � �>�� ̀�%�X .7

(�)$?�� 5 �9z�� N�7v [��] �)�$:�� EJ �0<�� N$# V�� .8

�) 1��E�� L�� ) �� .\� C $9�M �) �$�� &$]�� 3�� N$# V�� .9

�/� � ��K�� j0j%�� ) �� .h$u� �:[ 1$!�� LM �J� �?2 R<�� .10

j0j%�� ) �� [. . .]� �) �� .11

[. . .] �!� �) �� :V%�� .12

�) �� [. . .] .13

[. . .] .14

[. . .] � � �� [. . .] �) �� d�� N��#�� .15

�) �� [. . .] �� [. . .] .16

[. . .] .17

�) �� [. . .] .18

[. . .] �) �� [. . .] .19

[. . .] �) �� [. . .] .20

�) �� [. . .] .21

[. . .] 22.



[. . .] ;/� �� [. . .] .23

�K~� ��%�� &� �) �� [. . .] .24

�̀r�� LM '� �� ) �� R<�� )� �:V%�� %�� &� �) �� 2 .25

�) �� [. . .] �� \�%z�� :�� K�� .26

� d�� $#�� [. . .] \�%z �:�� K�� [. . .] .27

�) �� [. . .] �) �� .28

�"?.�� ) �� V%�� RG� [. . .] �) �� 3 #�� [. . .] � .29

�) �� [. . .] .30

[. . .] &� � '� [. . .] �� [. . .] .31

m# 4� [. . .] �) [�]� �� /� [. . .] .32

[. . .] �"f5 .33

[. . .] .34

[. . .] �) �� R<�� ) [. . .] .35

[. . .] �) �� [. . .] �� [. . .] .36

[. . .] j0j%�� .37

��K�� j0j%�� [. . .] �� _#�� [. . .] .38

�� &�7#�� u#�� &� � [. . .] � �) �� .39

[. . .] e:[� ^<�_M �) �� .40

�� [. . .] .41

� �� (�) �/� [. . .] � �� [. . .] .42

� �� [. . .] � �) �� .43

[. . .] � �� [. . .] .44

[. . .] .45

T-S AR 41.102 91


[. . .] .46

[. . .] (�) ��%�� [. . .] .47

�) �� [. . .] .48

[. . .] .49

[. . .] =�� [. . .] .50

[. . .] .51

j%�� W:#�� )� � [. . .] .52

Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number:ll. 1–9: 2:255–257 (al-Baqarah)ll. 9–11: 3:2, 6 (l �Imr�n)ll. 25–26: 28:70 (al-Qa�a�)l. 40: 73:9 (al-Muzammil)

Translation

1. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful 2. [. . .] There is no god but Allah; He is the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Allah;

there is no god but He, 3. the Living, the Self-subsisting, Supporter of all. No slumber can seize Him, nor sleep. His

are all things in the heavens and on Earth. Who is there 4. can intercede in His Presence ex[cept as He permitteth? He knoweth what (appeareth to

His creatures as) before or after or be]hind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge

5. [except as He will]eth. His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the Earth, and He feel[eth no fatigue] in guarding and preserving them. For He is the Most High, the Su-preme (in glory). Let there be no

6. [compulsion] in religion: Truth stands out clear from error: whoever [rejects �gh�t] and believes in Allah hath grasped

7. the most trustworthy hand-hold that never breaks. And Allah heareth and [knoweth all things. Allah is the Pro]tector of those who have faith: from the depths

8. of darkness He leads them forth into light. Of those who reject faith the patrons are [the] �gh�t [false deities or leaders] from the light they will lead them forth into [?]

9. the depths of darkness. They will be the companions of �re, to dwell therein (for ever). Allah! There is no god but He,—the Living, the Self-subsisting, the Supporter of all. It is He

10. who shapes you in the womb as He pleases. There is no god but He, the Exalted in Might, the Wise. Allah. There

11. is no god but He and [. . .] There is no god but He, the Strong,12. the Almighty. Allah. There is no god but He, alone [. . .]



13. [. . .] There is no god but He14. [. . .]15. the heavens and the Earth. There is no god but He. [. . .] There is no god but He and

[. . .]16. [. . .] There is no god but He [. . .] except He17. [. . .]18. [. . .] There is no god but He19. [. . .] There is no god but He [. . .]20. [. . .] Allah. There is no god but He21. [. . .] There is no god but He22. [. . .]23. [. . .] There is no god but You [. . .]24. [. . .] There is no god but He, Lord of the Throne, the Bounti-25. ful. There is no god but He, Lord of the mighty Throne. He is Allah, of Whom there is no

god but He. To Him belongs praise, at the �rst and at the last.26. To Him belongs wisdom and to Him is the return. And no [. . .] There is no god but He27. [. . .]To Him belongs wisdom and to Him is the return [. . .] heaven and the Earth. There

is no28. god but He [. . .] There is no god but He29. Allah [. . .] His is the Kingdom. There is no god but He [. . .] and Possessor of Greatness.

There is no god but He. Allah, the All-Seeing.30. [. . .] There is no god but He31. [. . .] his [. . .] Praise be to Allah, Lord [. . .]32. [. . .] Indeed there is no god b[ut] He [. . .] and for the be-33. lievers [. . .]34. [. . .] 35. [. . .] He is Allah, of Whom there is no god other than He [. . .]36. [. . .] and Allah [. . .] There is no god but He [. . .]37. The Strong [. . .]38. [. . .] To Him are the Beautiful Names [. . .] The Strong, the Wise39. Allah. There is no god but He and [. . .] Allah, Lord of the East and the West. There

is no40. god but He. I take Him as (my) Counsel [. . .]41. [. . .] There is no god but Allah [. . .]42. [. . .] And there is no god but Allah [. . .] For (?) there is no god but Allah43. There is no god but Allah [. . .]44. [. . .] There is no god but Allah [. . .]45. [. . .]46. [. . .]47. [. . .] the Throne (?) [. . .]48. [. . .] There is no god but He49. [. . .]50. [. . .] Straight Path [. . .]51. [. . .]52. [. . .] Allah. He is the Listener, the Str[ong]

T-S AR 41.102 93


T-S AS 181.228(Plate 12)

Laid paper (chain lines visible). Rectangular. Unglazed. The paper is of medium thickness, �ne grained, and relatively opaque. It is somewhat thinner near the bottom.

Overall dimensions: 4.3 � 8.9 cm.Dimensions of printed area: 2.7 � 2.75 cm (corners); 2.4 � 2.4 cm (lines)

Height of letters: .5–2 cm.

Two lines of text. The text area is demarcated by a hexagonal pattern created by a single line or �llet.

There are two transverse wrinkles—one through each line of text. Five more wrinkles are found below the text. An oblong hole is located along the left-hand edge. Small stains are vis-ible in the upper left-hand, right-hand and lower right-hand margins.

The recto contains nine lines of handwritten Arabic (not transcribed or translated by me).

Transcription

1$5�� .1 �J�� .2

Translation

1. al-Im�m2. al-��kim

T-S NS 306.27(Plate 13)

Paper. Irregular rectangle. Unglazed. The paper is of heavy, brownish stock somewhat darker (or waterstained) in the upper left printed area, at the margins and at bottom center. The text is printed in black ink, tending to brown.

Overall dimensions: 11.1 � 16.8 (rh); 13.6 (lh) cm.Dimensions of printed area: Rectangular section ca. 10.7 � 3.7 cm at the top is surrounded by a double �llet border containing �ve lines of pointed, vocalized naskh.

Beneath this is a grid of 80(?) square cells approximately 10.6 � 12.5 cm. Each cell is approxi-mately .7 � .7 cm with chamfered corners inside a single line border. Each cell contains, as a word or phrase, one of the ninety-nine names of Allah in pointed and vocalized naskh. Words in the cells (reading from right to left) run on the diagonal from the upper right to lower left of



alternate boxes, and in the intervening boxes, from the lower right to the upper left, with each succeeding row (top to bottom) alternating on the right-hand of the page. Red ink dots have been added by hand at the corners of the boxes.

Letter height: .2–1 cm.

The top of the piece is eroded and appears to have contained at least one line of text in black ink. There are six irregular holes in lines three-�ve. The spaces between the decorative �llets in the border are �lled with red ink. The bottom of the sheet is eroded at the left-hand corner so that the last box at the left-hand end of the ninth row and all but the �rst box on the right-hand end of the tenth row are partially or completely missing. Many holes, especially in the center of the grid, result in some lost text. The verso shows several (recent?) paper reinforcements.

Transcription

�9 4� � � � � � �� .1

(�) L�$@ - N��H�� P:� - N�� W5$� - 34_�� L/� .2

(��)Y@� �w� (�) �E�� K� -� (w� (��w) (w� e� �5 - (�N$o$��) .3

$EH�� $KF�� 3]�� (�) Z/ [��] � (�) �� .4

�)� $9�� h$? S� [�] �� J �� [. . .] (�) d�5�� (�) ep� .5

� -&� -[\�]�� - ��[-](�G) ,:� [-](�) �0@ -(�)� -

��X -(�) -[. . .][w]�� -� [. . .]W:#� -W�M� -LM$J -

� -�v$D -¡� -� -��[�}] - (�) e! -(�) �: !� -� -

L� -1��@ -L � -�:VH -L�� -�$E} -(�):� [-] &$) [� -]

�� -�Wp� �[R]�y>5 -[�&]L�� -� - �EH -;�>5 -�:[� -

[-](�)$)� �[R]�v[X -]��2 -[-][-]��#:95 [-]��#�� %/ -

[-]=� [-][. . .][. . .]�1 [-]w�w� -�$%M �[R]�".[ -

�1 [-]��X [-]B�$C -�HX [-][�]�� -� [-]�y>5 -;:¢ -

[-]�� [-][. . .]��/ [-][R]w$) -[-]�$! -[. . .]

[. . .]�� -G [-]�[R]�� [-][. . .][. . .][. . .]

T-S NS 306.27 95


Translation

1. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, and may Allah bless Muhammad. Oh, Allah!

2. I beseech You, Oh Hearer of [supplicant] voices, Oh, Responder to prayers, Oh, Judge 3. (of needs?), Oh He Who is remote and (Who has knowledge?) and Who is near. Oh Wise

One(?), receive kindly(?) and let �ow(?) and cut(?)4. of the edge(?) and [. . .] and laugh and cry and forgive(?)5. decline(?) and become ill(?) [. . .] To Him are the pure names and the most beautiful of them

are:

Oh Most (?)

Oh Almighty

[Oh] Most Glorious

(?) Oh Most Gracious

Oh Most Merciful Oh Lord Oh Allah

Oh Most Suf�cient Oh Exalter Oh All-

Hearing [. . .] Oh On[e] [. . .] Oh (?) Oh Resurrector

Oh Allah Oh (?)Oh Majes(ty?)(Clement?)

Oh For-giving One

Oh [. . .] Oh God(?) Oh Most Clever Oh (?)

[Oh Be]stower

Oh Praise-worthy

Oh Ever-Forgiving

Oh Patron

Oh Magni�cent

Oh Most High

Oh Self- Subsisting

Oh Living One

Oh Advocate

Oh Protector

Oh Forgiver Oh (?) Oh

(Reckoner?)

Oh Dominant One

Oh (?) Oh (?)

Oh Excellent Lord

[Oh] Overall Protector [Oh] (?) [Oh] (?) [Oh] (?)

[Oh Hid]den One

[O]h (?) [Oh]

Oh Great One

Oh Most Ef�cacious

Oh Loving One

[Oh] (?) [Oh] (?) [Oh]

Oh Bringer of death

Oh Domi-nant One [Oh] (?) Oh

Hei[r][Oh] Resurrector

Oh Creator

Oh (Righteous One?)

[Oh] (?)

Oh (Reckoner?) [Oh] Oh

Guid[e] Oh Light Oh (?) [Oh]

[Oh] (?) [O]h (?) [Oh] (?) Oh On[e]



CHESTER BEATTY LIBRARYDUBLIN, IRELAND

IS. PP 21(Plates 14a, 14b, 14c)

Paper backed with papyrus. Rectangular. Unglazed(?) Mounted between two glass plates sealed with tape. The papyrus is heavy and opaque. Black ink.

Overall dimensions: 7.15 (top) 8.05 (middle) 7.3 (bottom) � 43.3 (right-hand), 44.2 (left-hand) cm.Dimensions of printed area: (visible text area) 5.0 � 42.2 cm.

88 lines of text. The last line is effaced. The text is arranged as follows:Two lines (part of a word or two of a preceding line partially visible but unidenti�able) in naskh.

A small square (ca. 1 � 1.3 cm) in Ku� reading vertically (letters .7–.9 cm) in outline. Below this is a decorative band or chain of repeated words (�amd? Mu�ammad?)

Following this are four lines in naskh, unpointed and unvocalized. Then appears a decorative square (ca. 5.3 � 6.5 cm) containing a word or phrase in reserve Ku� in each corner and two interlocking squares ca. 3 cm square forming a six-pointed star with knotted semi-circles at the corners. These interlock with triangles. This entire design is composed of two parallel �llets approximately .15 cm apart. In the center of the star are �ve lines in naskh script. Following this are three lines in naskh below which is a decorative band similar to that found between lines two and three above.A blank space ca. .9 cm wide, follows, then thirteen lines of angular naskh and then one band of (semi-) foliated Ku� script in reserve. Forty-six lines of naskh; one line of Ku� as above; and twelve(?) lines of naskh complete the text.

Letter height: .2–.4 cm—top two lines .3–.6 cm—next four lines .6–1.6 cm—Ku� to right and left of star .2–.5 cm—�ve lines inside star .4–.5 cm—three lines below star .1–.3 cm—remaining lines of naskh .5–1.5 cm—two lines in Ku�

The piece is bordered on the top, on the right and left, and at the bottom by blank papyrus strips about 1.5 cm wide. A total of nine strips are used for this border (Added later as rein-forcement?). These strips cover the beginnings and ends of most lines of the printed text.


There are some thin areas in the paper/papyrus, e.g. behind the star design, in the �rst line of Ku� script, and in the main text, especially toward the center. Some small pinholes and one lacuna ca. .9 � 1.8 (irregular) cm are to be seen in lines 81–84.

The paper exhibits two wrinkles extending most of the length of the piece: on the right ca. 3 cm from the right-hand margin; on the left ca. 2 cm from the left-hand margin. Several heavier and additional wrinkles are seen near the bottom. There are traces of red ink, espe-cially in the star and in the blank space, also in lines three through �ve.

On the verso: several lines (ca. 11?) in Greek(?) script.

Transcription

In right-hand margin in Ku�: (�) �� (�) �� (�) �� (�) ��

�� [. . .] .1

�� .2

Decoration

[�]�� [��] .3

[. . .] .4

[. . .] .5

Four words, one in each corner in Ku� in reserve. Read from upper right-hand, lower left, lower right (l. 6). Elaborate decoration with six-pointed star. Five lines of text inside. (i.e. ll. 7–11)

[. . .]�� (�) ��!�� (�) � .6

(�) �"#� .7

[. . .] .8

(�) $%$�� [. . .] .9

[. . .] .10

[. . .] .11

[. . .] (�) � .12

[. . .] .13

98 CHESTER BEATTY LIBRARY, DUBLIN


In red ink. Line totaly effaced .14

[. . .] .15

�"�� [&] .16

�� '#()�� *+ �� ,� � -.� .17

$%$�� *+ �� /0�1 2��3�4 �� [�*�] .18

[. . .] �"#5� .19

[. . .] .20

[. . .] .21

[. . .] .22

[. . .] (�) �+�6 [. . .] .23

[. . .] .24

[. . .] .25

[. . .] .26

[. . .] .27

[. . .] .28

Ku�:7�8� 9 :*4 9 7�8� 9 .29

(Obscured by Ku� text in l. 29) .30


�� (�) �,�� [. . .] .39

�"�� .40

(�) ;�<=>� [. . .] .41


[. . .] (�) � �� [. . .] .69

IS. PP 21 99



[. . .] (�) ?"@� 9 [. . .] .77


Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number: ll. 16–19: 3:18 (�l �Imr�n)

Translation

1. [. . .] and I seek refuge 2. Except to Him and the King 3. [In the nam]e of Allah, Most Gracious Most Merci[ful] 4. [. . .] 5. [. . .] 6. Allah (?) the Mighty (?), the M(?) 7. Wise (?) 8. [. . .] 9. [. . .] the Strong (?)10. [. . .]11. [. . .]12. Allah (?)[. . .]13. [. . .]14. [. . .]15. [. . .]16. [In] the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful17. There is no god but He: That is the witness of God, his angels, and those18. endued with knowledge, standing �rm on justice. There is no god but He, the Exalted in

Power,19. the Wise [. . .]20. [. . .]21. [. . .]22. [. . .]23. [. . .] pure (?)[. . .]24. [. . .]25. [. . .]26. [. . .]27. [. . .]28. [. . .]29. Oh Kindly One, Oh Most Strong, Oh Kindly One30. Obscured by Ku� text in l. 29Lines 31–38 indecipherable.39. [. . .] for indeed He is Most

100 CHESTER BEATTY LIBRARY, DUBLIN


40. Gracious, Most Merciful41. [. . .] Most Mighty (?)Lines 42–68 indecipherable. 69. [. . .] except Allah (?)[. . .]Lines 70–76 indecipherable. 77. [. . .] Oh Attentive One (?)[. . .]Lines 78–88 indecipherable.

IS. PP 21 101



THE GUTENBERG MUSEUMMAINZ, GERMANY*

GM 03.1 SCHR.(Plates 15a, 15b, 15c, 15d)

Laid paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. The paper is �ne laid paper, all apparently from the same lot. The top piece bears part of a watermark on the left-hand margin about halfway down. It appears to be the top half of a bell design showing a crenellated ‘three �nger’ outline.

Overall dimensions: 7.3 (top); 7.4 (bottom) � 124.6 cm.Dimensions of printed area: 5.1 � 92 cm.

Letters .2–1 cm in height.

83 lines of text: one handwritten line written vertically at the top; nine lines, thirteen lines; one line framing the last text section in an oval pattern; 26, thirteen, �fteen, �ve lines.Text is in naskh, pointed and vocalized.

Decorated with �llets, lozenges and a rectangular border around the text.This piece represents a complete amulet. At top is a handwritten invocation (letters .4–2.3 cm high) of ten words. The piece is composed of three paper strips, each 41.5 cm in length with overlaps of ±1.4 cm.

The �rst text section is co-terminus with the bottom of the �rst strip of paper. The second sec-tion is framed by double �llet lines 1 mm. apart. The �rst text line is in a double �llet frame; the second line is curved above an arch of a single line. There is no frame at the bottom. A 2.3 cm space follows. The remainder of the text is bordered by a tall arch of two lines 1 cm apart containing a line of text. The horizontal text is divided into four sub-sections (of 26, thirteen, �fteen and �ve lines) by double �llets ca. .15 cm apart. Subsections two and three are surrounded by two oval designs as a result. The last section is beneath an arch within the larger arch. One line of ‘magic numbers’ appears at the end.

Some minor holes and tears are found; little text is affected. Some ink has bled through to the verso; some discoloration, especially on joints (due to paste or glue) is also evident.

The previous owner, Mr. J.W. Th. Van Meeuwen, had the paper examined by the Archaeologi-cal Institute in London and that report is available. If the text dates, as the paper appears to, to the �fteenth century, it pushes the terminus ad quem for known Arabic block prints forward one hundred years and makes piece roughly contemporary with Gutenberg.

* Previously owned by the Antiquariat van Meeuwen, The Hague, Netherlands.


The lab report from the University of London Institute of Archaeology, dated 10 October, 1989, and written by Dr. N.J. (Nigel J.?) Seeley and Dr. A.T.N. Bennett (signed 20 Oct. 1989) suggests a possible match with the watermark numbered 3984 in C.M. Briquet, Les �ligranes: dictionnaire historique des marques du papier, vol. 2 (Leipzig: Hierseman, 1923). This would place the creation of the amulet sometime in the �rst half of the 15th century, perhaps 1436–37 (Venice), 1437–38 (Palermo), or 1444 (Fabriano), assuming the paper is of Italian manufacture, as is indicated by the watermark.

Transcription

�� .1

�� ! � �" �#$�%� .2

��&'�( �" �)*+,� �" .3

’�)� � �-./� �'012" .4

3� $��4 35.�6 �&7� 3$"8 �� #$�%� .5

3� ��/� 3�98 3 3� :8; <� = .6

32.$>� 3/��2�� %? @ <?��A 32�A .7

3/?10�� 3 32B$C" DE�� 3 .8

�$�F G�H I$J KI�LF M�� M$�/ .9

NK O��*�� PQ�#�� .10

(In reverse along arch*) [. . .] R?0�� G� [. . .] $ST� G��

�� .11

$3T� �U V� G�� V <W$�� .12

V X$2LF YW,Z� V [��\�� .13

3 ? ]��0�� 3� ? G� [�� .14

(sic) N&*4 <W$�� W! 8̂V� .15

�)" ? ��1� G�6_" V� YI2` .16

�a�b V �#&�, ? �#�I�= .17

104 GUTENBERG MUSEUM, MAINZ


[c]?d ?0" V� G�0` � c3*� e .18

8̂V� ]��0�� G�LF�f NF .19

3�1�� U ?0#g&� YAh� V .20

i � i Y8 Ij k ��g1�� .21

(frame outline) .22

�#�%� [sic]��F� c?� E" �p�A @ <�\�� I�Id @ ?2q�� P�r @ ?&t ?0" ��?� @ ?�I�� N ?F @ �#�%� �� k?�Qu� �WU G�� S$�� [. . .] R�9 E" (x) ��A @ [. . .] V z{z` @ [. . .] PUZ" c?.|2�� p?�}�; M2L�T� �p?0FZ"

��F�� ?0" [. . .] ?0" �#�%� ��F= e�2�� ~?Qu� �)" Y� = � @ 8�F R�>� 8�� G� (x) Y��( E" $�C�� $�#�� ]�Q�0�� D�\�� R�T� <W" G'0�`� ��8 e?a�Ld $P� � G� ?� 3&Q� e= �)1r� �'`?j PU= �)�F�0�� c?�}�V� G" ��8I� c3d $PQu � P1� I� Y� = ��; G� e� [. . .] � M��(x) P1 � ]�0� V <W$�� 3T� M�� G� ?� K= ��$�� D��K � �)� ?2�� (x) R�.L� ��1�� +F ?!+�?� S�1� ?!+�?&� �1�#� (x) ?!\�4 ?2�?g�� :8?.� [. . .] � ��

.��&� i�� 3 I�� eH�� U P" �� (sic) �#��8 � � ?2��

��g1�� k?�T� �WU .23

e6_" N&2� N�20�� 9�T� .24

D�g2�� )1�% M�?1� � .25

X\�\*�% Y�� M $0-�% .26

�?&�V� S�B� e;�B�� .27

DAV�� 1� R?�a�% .28

N"��'�% R?&j�� c?Q.� .29

R�>\�� X�?a�% X$.-0�% .30

:��0�� M�� R�tI�% .31

X2L�� I\1� ��?�� .32

A�\10�� $P�T �- $�� R?a"� .33

�� e�|�0�� E� .34

GM 03.1 SCHR. 105


�#�� k�B� �9�� .35

�?.L�� ]?.L*�� 3 �� .36

8?#2�� 3 �&��% P�� .37

�̂ ̀ �̂ $PQu P��%� .38

� �� 3?Qu� � �� .39

3?10�� 3?*�� .40

z{z1�� D $z1" �0��= .41

P��a" (x) Y $z` z` 3 $z10�� .42

[. . .] .43

�}�� S�?�� $P� .44

[. . .] �)0��0�� [. . .] .45

[. . .] (x) ]�}�� D $z1�� .46

[. . .] .47

]�0�; [. . .] .48

(arch)

�� .49

[. . .] Y�0�� 1Bt .50

35"?'� P ?� [c]�I�= �� 8 .51

? �I0Q�? � c?0FZ" 52.

(x) ��'.f� � [. . .] .53

IF?� $P� $R6 (x) A8?0�� ~?, .54

YW�`� [x?C ] $P� PCd .55

I�f �8?0�� ]��aF � .56



�)� �8?a�� $�d SF?&�� .57

8?#2" (x��?�) � ?� P�� 3 S �� .58

(x) � h0�� 3 �� ?02�� U?� .59

[. . .] �)�� 0j �/K .60

(x) �$�6 �� .61

(x) X0g1�� ?2`�� .62

X$�#.�� X2�I0�; �$E�� .63

(x) � ?� 3 [. . .] M�� .64

35"?'� P ?� e�Q{ G�L*0�� .65

XH $P� � X EF 3 .66

YW�`= X$��" XU?� .67

�{I�Q0�� I�f � .68

�{�f�0�� Q .69

� �{A $�0'0�� D?Ca�� .70

X*#2�� X*UI�� $�d .71

[I�� O�z� X1�$�%� .72

(x~?�z��) ~?�� $�#�� ~�� .73

(x) ]?�� N z�� I �� .74

��'� � N.L�� .75

(x) �� $�d � e?a�L*�� .76

(double arch)

�� 86 S�, .77

$e= ?#'�/?2" W,H .78

GM 03.1 SCHR. 107


3&� �1�#� .79

�WU 35"?'� P ?� .80

¡¢¡£¡£ (x) ¤£¡¡¤¥ .81

* Not included in total number of lines transliterated.Qur��n chapters and ayahs by line numbers:ll. 11–21: 2:255 (al-Baqarah)

Translation

1. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Aid is from Allah and victory is near.

2. Oh Allah, in You I believe and in You I place my trust; 3. I reverently fear You and I am content with You; 4. by Your grace I rise in the morning and go to rest in the evening. 5. Oh Allah, You are my Lord. Forgive my sins, gladden for me 6. my situation. Bless me in my livelihood; bring together for me 7. my religion and my worldly existence. Oh Sovereign of the forelocks, make me dear 8. in prayer and make me odious in my disobedience 9. May Allah bless our master Muhammad and his people and give him peace.10. The noble sanctuary is bene�cial * In mirror script along arch: His speech is truth [. . .] To Him belongs fortune (?) 11. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful12. Allah, of Whom there is no god but He,—the Living,13. the Self-Subsisting, Supporter of all. No slumber can seize Him nor14. sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on15. earth. Who is there can intercede16. in His presence except as He permitteth? He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as)

before17. or after or behind them. Nor shall they encompass18. aught of His knowledge except as He willeth. His throne doth ex-19. tend over the heavens and the earth,20. and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for He is the Most High,21. the Supreme (in glory). B TD H � W A �22. (frame outline) In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Oh Allah! Oh Hearer

of prayers! Oh Knower of what is hidden! Oh Beautiful of praise! Oh Strong of power! Oh Everlasting without cease! I ask You, oh Allah, by Your beautiful names, by Your noble prophets, by Your [. . .] people. Oh Strong One, not [. . .]. Oh Everlasting (?) without end [. . .] whoever hangs upon himself this writing from anxiety, worry, or distress. Increase for him (?) light, acceptance, and joy, oh He Who commanded it between the K�f and the N�n. I ask You, oh Allah, by that which [. . .] the prophets and emissaries and obedient people all together entreated (You?) that You protect its carrier from every cursed devil, that You safeguard him with the Possessor of power and strength and sovereignty. I and



its carrier place our trust in the Living One Who does not die. Whoever acts (?) accord-ing to Allah [. . .] indeed to him He has exerted His utmost authority; Allah has created for everything a destiny. In the name of Allah [. . .] be blessed our walls (?) Y� S�n. We are provided with a roof (?) K�f H� Y� �Ayn �ad. Our Suf�ciency. �� M�m �Ayn S�n Qaf. Our Protection. The veil of the throne is lowered upon us; the Eye of Allah is watching over us; Allah is behind us, surrounding. Nay, it is a glorious Qur��n in a tablet preserved.

23. This is a magni�cent amulet24. and the impervious fortress that suf�ces, by the grace 25. of Allah, the Sublime, for the eye and the vision,26. for fever, for rash, migraine, 27. beatings, for asthma, 28. splenitis, dif�culty in childbirth,29. crying children, female jinn;30. for love, for obedience, for acceptance;31. for admission to (the presence of) kings32. and notables; for dif�culty in speaking,33. for thwarting of witchcraft and for the resolution of dif�culties;34. and for the liberation of prisoners and for procuring 35. livelihood; for the drawing of lots36. and for the casting of arrows; for the racing37. of horses; for travel in daytime38. and by night; for every illness and symptom.39. In the name of Allah, the Suf�cient; in the name of Allah40. the Intercessor; in the name of Allah the Pardoner:41. I entreat You by the strength of Allah, the Almighty,42. the Giver of Honor, in the strength of his strength, by the length (?)43. [. . .]44. May Allah, the Creator, the Great, be exalted45. [. . .] the Muslims [. . .]46. the strength and the omnipotence (?) [. . .]47. [. . .]48. [. . .] in death49. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful50. I humble myself before the virtues (?) and [. . .]51. and I cast at the enemies of the bearer of my writing52. the names of Allah and they became heartsick and [. . .]53. [. . .] Allah. Write (?)54. the evil spirit was afraid (?) and humble every envious one 55. and occupy every (?). I seek refuge for him56. from the assaults of the apostate and the cunning57. of the godless and the evil of the nocturnal visitor and the eye58. of the envious one in the all-encompassing (?) night and in day-59. light clear wherever they take possession of the believer (?)60. Victor, You eradicated the notables and [. . .]61. the tongues and the great

GM 03.1 SCHR. 109


62. necks were brought low (?)63. the share of the radiant city (?)64. to [. . .] in mysterious (?)65. the gait. The bearer of my writing will be66. in safety from every epidemic and 67. blight and af�iction. I seek refuge for him68. from the cunning of the tricksters,69. the slyness of the deceivers,70. from tyrants and rebels and from 71. the evil of baf�ement and snappishness,72. from biting words and hemorrhage,73. and fear and anxiety and nosebleed (poison?);74. from eye disease and fever and the seven 75. stings (?) and from the succession76. of devils, from evil (?)77. Creation, protection, creation78. Hold it fast (lit. seize it by the forelock) that 79. K�f H� Y� �Ayn �ad to protect80. the carrier of this my writing81. 631164 (?) 121313 (numbers read from right to left in the Arabic)



UNIVERSITÄTSBIBLIOTHEK HEIDELBERGINSTITUT FÜR PAPYROLOGIE

P. HEID. INV. ARAB. 3000(Plate 16)

Paper. Irregular rectangle. Unglazed. The paper is light brown in color and fairly even in tex-ture, although somewhat thicker toward the bottom. The ink has not bled through except in the �rst line of text.

Overall dimensions: 6.5 (top), 6.4 (bottom) � 6.3 (lh); 9 (mid); 8.1 (rh) cm. Dimensions of printed area: 4.8 � 6.9 cm.

25 lines of text (one letter in line 25 at the extreme bottom). The text is in naskh, unpointed and unvocalized; a very angular script. No decoration.

This piece represents the top part of a longer amulet. Top line is smudged; otherwise very even printing pressure appears to have been used. Several holes, tears and lacunae are in the top and left-hand margins, lines three, �ve, six, seven, nine through eleven, and fourteen through twenty-three. The beginnings of lines nine through twelve are torn away.

Transcription

[. . .] .1

[. . .] .2

�� .3

� �� .4

� �� !"!�� #�$�% &'�(') .5

[. . .] * +,-�� .('�/% . /� 0� .6

[. . .] (1) �(�2 * 3��) * (1) �0� * (1) 4�56 * (1) �7�� * [. . .] .7

[. . .] * 3�/ * 8� ��) * . 9 * [. . .] * (10 :) 0,; * [. . .] .8

<�'= * (1) �>? * (1) 4'@ * (1) !"!A * [. . .] .9


[. . .] * �> : * �>BA * 0 : * (1)4 ��C9 [. . .] .10

[. . .] * D ��E * [. . .] .11

[. . .] (1) �0F * [. . .] .12


Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number: ll. 3–5: 3:18 (�l �Imr�n)

Translation

1. [. . .] 2. [. . .] 3. In the name of God Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 4. There is no God but He: That is the witness of God, His angels, and those endued with

knowledge, 5. standing �rm on justice. There is no god but He, the Exalted in Power, the Wise. Allah, I 6. ask You by your blessed names, oh [. . .] 7. [. . .] Oh One (?), Oh Patient One (?), Oh Living One, Oh Self-Subsisting One, Oh Eternal

One (?)[. . .] 8. [. . .] Oh Self-Suf�cient (Most High?), Oh [. . .], Oh King, Oh Holy One, Oh Source of

Peace, Oh [. . .] 9. [. . .] Oh Strong One (?), Oh Distresser (?), Oh Glorious One, Oh Creator10. [. . .] Oh Fashioner (?), Oh Most High, Oh Mighty One, Oh All-Knowing, Oh [. . .]11. [. . .] Oh One, Oh [. . .]12. [. . .] Oh Giver of Life (?)[. . .]Lines 13–25 indecipherable.

112 UNIVERSITÄTSBIBLIOTHEK HEIDELBERG


JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARYUNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

GASTER GENIZA AR. 38(Plate 17)

Paper. Irregular rectangle. Unglazed. The paper is fairly thick but translucent. The thickness varies slightly; the grain is �ne.

Overall dimensions: 4.6 � 10.5 (right-hand); 8.8 (center); 8 (left-hand) cm.Dimensions of printed area: 3.9 � 10.5 cm.

This piece is a small fragment of a much larger block print. Fourteen lines of text. Three lines of naskh (letters: .2–1 cm), the text pointed but unvocalized. The printed area here is: 3.9 � 2.5 cm. There follows one line of foliated Ku� in reserve on a black background with a single ruled line in white around the border forming a rectangular ‘box.’ The box area measures 4 � 1.9 cm. The white lines measure from .1–.2 cm in width. The beginning of the text is missing (letters: .2–1.4 cm). Nine lines in pointed, partially vocalized naskh follow. Lines �ve through seven are interrupted by a rectangle containing a single word in Ku� in reserve.Text area: 4.1 � 4.7 cm total. Smaller rectangle: 1.35 � 1.8 cm.

Ku� letter height: .2–ca. 3 cm.

Dark brown discolorations cover most of the paper’s surface. There are several small holes, especially at the lower left of line three and at the beginning and upper left of line �ve. Several lateral and diagonal wrinkles can be seen in the paper, especially running through both Ku� texts and in line eight. At the very bottom of the piece, part of another Ku� text is visible. Part of one letter or foliation can be seen. This fragment is very fragile.

Transcription

G9'��[. . .] .1

'��H4 IJKH �0�� (1) �9� .2

[. . .] .3

Ku�: [1 L�� ] (1 �� ][. . .] .4

[. . .] .5

(1) M '9 [. . .] .6


�� [�� ] .7

[. . .] GN � [. . .] (1) 4�,�� [. . .] .8

[. . .] (1) �O��'B P� [. . .] .9

[. . .] .10

[. . .] .11

[. . .] .12

[. . .] .13

Fragmentary line in Ku� in reserve. .14

Translation

1. The carrier 2. Commanded (?) the Living One with the permission of her Lord 3. [. . .] 4. [. . .] god (?) of solace (?) 5. [. . .] 6. [. . .] what Allah has (?) 7. [In the name of Allah Most Gr]acious, Most Merciful 8. [. . .] the light (?)[. . .] for food [. . .] 9. [. . .] and for the sinners (?)[. . .]10. [. . .]11. [. . .]12. [. . .]13. [. . .]14. [. . .]

114 JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER


ÖSTERREICHISCHE NATIONALBIBLIOTHEKPAPYRUSSAMMLUNG

A. CH. 12.133 (VØ)*(Plate 18)

Paper. Irregular rectangle. Unglazed. The paper is brown, being somewhat darker at the edges. The sheet is of uneven thickness.

Overall dimensions: 4.6 � 3.65 cm.Dimensions of printed area: 4.6 � 2 cm.

Letter height: .2–.6 cm high.

Three lines of text in naskh, pointed and vocalized. Red ink. No decorative elements.

This piece represents part of a longer amulet. The beginning and end are missing. A stripe created by a lighter density in the paper runs diagonally across the upper right-hand corner. There is a small hole near the top center. The text, generally, is not affected by damage in the main part of the amulet. The �rst word in the third line is missing. The three text lines are identical in content (Sura 112). The text lines are not straight, but rather curve upward toward the center of the line.

Transcription

� �� .1

[� ]�� .2

� �� [ ��] .3

Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number: ll. 1–3: Sura 112, end of ayah 4 followed by beginning of ayah 1(?) repeated in each line. (al-Ikhl��)

Translation

1. . . . None like unto Him. Say: He is God2. . . . None like unto Him. Say: He is G[od]3. . . . [None like unto] Him. Say: He is God

* (vø) indicates that the verso contains no text.


A. CH. 12.134 (VØ)(Plate 19)

Paper. Irregular rectangle. Unglazed. The paper has a light brown color and is of uneven thickness.

Overall dimensions: 3.7 � 12.7 cm.

9 (10? 11?) lines of text: one handwritten line in the left-hand margin; one line around the inside circumference of the circle at the top of the piece. Five (six?) lines inside the six-pointed star device. Two lines are in Ku�; one line is in naskh.

Letter height: naskh: star: .1–.2 cm; circle: .2–.4 cm; bottom line: .1–.2 cm; Ku�: .4–1.6 cm. Both the naskh and the Ku� texts are unpointed and unvocalized.

Decorative elements: circle, six-pointed star, red ink highlights.

The piece represents the left-hand margin of a longer amulet. It may be top the left-hand cor-ner containing decorative elements at the top of the piece. At the top is a slightly irregular cir-cle with part of a word printed in reserve. The circle is bordered by a double �llet whose lines are ca. .15 cm apart. The spaces between the lines are �lled with red ink. Letters in the word fragment are .1–.3 cm in thickness. The six-pointed star is outlined by two lines approximately .1 cm apart. The star is formed by lines .2 cm thick. The angles inside the star points are �lled with red ink. The interior of the star is bounded by a single line .1 cm from the inside border.

The interstices of the Ku� letters are �lled with red ink. The line across the bottom has a red line above it. The line of text in naskh at the bottom ends in a circle with a dot at its center. There are three or four small holes in the paper; no text is affected. One line of handwritten text appears in the upper left-hand margin.

Transcription

Circular design (partial at top). ll. 2–6 in a hexagonal or cartouche device; only the last word (or a part) in each line is preserved.


� �[� �� ] [. . .] .7

� ��[� ��] [. . .] .8

�� [ �� !] .9

One line handwritten in right-hand margin: ["#]$%& �'� $()*+� �,*� �,

116 ÖSTERREICHISCHE NATIONALBIBLIOTHEK PAPYRUSSAMLUNG


Translation

Lines 1–6 indecipherable. 7. [. . .] [no god b]ut Allah8. [. . .] [and Mu�ammad is the P]rophet of Allah9. [ In the Name of God, Most Gracious], Most MercifulHandwritten line in right-hand margin: Whoever carries this my writing upon [him?]

A. CH. 12.135 (VØ)(Plate 20)

Paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. Black ink.

Overall dimensions: 2.7 � 6.7 cm.Text area: 2.7 � 6.7 cm.

Letters .1–.25 cm in height.

Nineteen lines of text; a small part of a twentieth at the bottom. Characters in naskh.

No decorative elements.

This piece represents the left-hand margin of a longer amulet. The text is in a very rec tangular, upright script. The �rst six lines, lines eleven through sixteen, eighteen and nineteen are darker than lines seven through ten and seventeen. Four transverse folds are visible: between lines six and seven; twelve and thirteen; thirteen and fourteen; and sixteen and seventeen. The text in lines thirteen and seventeen is affected by creases. The verso of paper shows evidence of sev-eral regular transverse folds.

Transcription


(") �� [. . .] .10

(") -�*. / [. . .] .11

(") 0*� [. . .] .12

[. . .] .13

(") �� (") 123� .14

[. . .] .15

A. CH. 12.135 (VØ) 117


[. . .] .16

[. . .] .17

[. . .] (") ��45 [. . .] .18

[. . .] .19

Traces of text only. [. . .] .20

Translation

Lines 1–9 indecipherable.10. [. . .] except (?)[. . .]11. [. . .] Oh Creator (?)12. [. . .] was [. . .]13. [. . .]14. You commanded (?) the Merciful (One?) (?)15. [. . .]16. [. . .]17. [. . .]18. [. . .] His majesty (?)[. . .]19. [. . .]20. [. . .]

A. CH. 12.136 (VØ)(Plate 21)

Laid paper. Irregular rectangle. Unglazed. The paper is translucent, varying in thickness. It is of medium brown hue, with some darker discoloration along the chain lines.

Overall dimensions: 3.4 � 19 cm.Dimensions of printed area: ±2.8 � 19 cm.


69 lines of text (�rst and last lines very fragmentary). Naskh script.


The piece preserves the left-hand margin of a longer and wider amulet. Some ink has bled through at the ends of the text lines. The paper threatens to separate into two fragments at line 53. The section containing the last sixteen lines is attached to the larger piece by a Japan-ese paper repair. Several lacunae (especially in the margin, near line seven) and in the text—lines three, eight, twelve, 23, 31, 33, 37, 38, between 42 and 43. Lines 67 through 69 are fragmentary.



Transcription

[. . .] .1

[. . .] �[. . .] .2

[. . .] .3

[. . .] .4

[6*738�] �'� �9%& -%& 0[:] .5

[. . .] � �� [. . .] .6


;)��< [. . .] .15


�� [. . .] .23

�9=>�� ?�>�� [. . .] .24

�2@ / [. . .] .25

(") �29A, / �,�, / :4� / [. . .] .26

(") � < / (") / (") -�*. / (") �B[C7, /] .27

/ ��3� / �9D[E /] .28

(") / (�) �-� / �F�G / (") $%& [. . .] .29

(") *, /� (") �*H / �� / [. . .] .30

[. . .] / �IJ) / [. . .] .31

(") -�*. / ��K / �9>, / [. . .] .32

[. . .] / [. . .] / (") �$K .33

/ ��*D / [. . .] .34

(") L9K / M� � / [. . .] .35

A. CH. 12.136 (VØ) 119


[. . .](") �9AN / [. . .] .36

(") / (") �O*� / �P�� / [. . .] .37

[. . .] / ��3N / [. . .] .38

(") Q�� / R<S / [. . .] .39

(") / [. . .] .40

(")*A� / �6� / �TS / [. . .] .41

(") U��@�[�. . .] .42

[. . .] V�� / ��3W� [. . .] .43


[. . .] (") �� [. . .] .61

(") X�>Y *A�%� [. . .] .62

[. . .] .63

[. . .] .64

(") �P��*T .65

[. . .] .66

[. . .] .67

[. . .] .68

[. . .] .69Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number:ll. 23–24: Sura 9:129 (pars) (al-Tawbah)

Translation

1. [. . .]2. [. . .] not [. . .]3. [. . .]4. [. . .]5. [Who]ever hangs upon himself this [writing]



6. [. . .] There is no god but Allah [. . .]Lines 7–14 indecipherable.15. [. . .] punishment (?)[. . .]Lines 16–22 indecipherable.23. [. . .] [Say: suf�cient to me is] Allah. There is no god but He24. [. . .] [On Him is my trust. He is the Lord of] the Mighty Throne Supreme!25. [. . .] Oh Independent One26. [. . .] Oh Source of Peace, Oh Giver of Faith, Oh Overall Protector (?)27. [Oh Majestic] One (?), Oh Creator, Oh (?), Oh Forgiver (?)28. [Oh Mi]ghty One, Oh Wise One, Oh29. [. . .] [Oh] Sublimely Exalted (?), Oh Great One, Oh True One (?), Oh (?)30. [. . .] Oh One, Oh Distresser, and Oh Ma (?)31. [. . .] Oh All-Seeing, Oh [. . .]32. [. . .] Oh Restorer, Oh Accounter, Oh Creator (?)33. Giver of Life (?), Oh [. . .], Oh [. . .]34. [. . .] Oh Manifest One, Oh [. . .]35. [. . .] Oh Preserver, Oh Encompassing One (?)36. [. . .] Oh Witness (?)[. . .]37. [. . .] Oh All-Able, Oh Powerful One (?), Oh (?)38. [. . .] Oh Thankful One, Oh [. . .]39. [. . .] Oh Resurrector, Oh Heir (?)40. [. . .] Oh (?)41. [. . .] Oh Hidden One, Oh Lord, Oh All-Compelling Subdu[er?]42. [. . . t]he voices (?)43. [. . .] Wise One, Oh In�nite One (?)[. . .]Lines 44–60 indecipherable. 61. [. . .] the red (?) (fever?) [. . .]62. [. . .] all of it. It becomes clear (?)63. [. . .]64. [. . .]65. pure ones (?)66. [. . .]67. [. . .]68. [. . .]69. [. . .]

A. CH. 12.137 (VØ)(Plate 22)

Paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. The paper is light brown in color, thin, and translucent. Its den-sity is fairly consistent, but with some lighter areas, especially in the upper left quadrant. The ink is black, tending to brown.


A. CH. 12.137 (VØ) 121



55 lines of text (the last fragmentary): three ‘blocks’ of text: 19, 23, 13 lines, all in naskh script. The naskh script is miniscule and angular.


The piece represents the left-hand edge of a longer and wider text. Paper strip has a slightly convex curve on the left-hand edge. Letters at the ends of lines are darker and somewhat smudged or distorted (by uneven printing pressure?).

Transcription


(") VZ[� �,� [. . .] .10

(") *, �� [. . .] .11


[. . .] (")�� 3K [. . .] .20

[. . .] .21

[. . .] .22

[. . .] .23

(") �I2�*>�� 6� ("\S] � (") #'9<[�] .24

[. . .] (") \ [. . .] .25

�%D �, #'9<� [. . .] .26

[. . .] .27

[. . .] .28

[. . .] .29

[. . .] �,� [. . .] .30

[. . .] �� [. . .] .31

[. . .] .32



[. . .] .33

\S '9<� [. . .] .34

[. . .] (") 0*�� [. . .] .35

[. . .] .36

[. . .] .37

[. . .] .38

[. . .] .39

[. . .] .40

(")�� 6� \S '9<� (") 64]�� .41

[. . .] .42

�� , [. . .] .43


[. . .] � [. . .] .52

[. . .] .53

[. . .] .54

[. . .] .55

Translation

Lines 1–9 indecipherable. 10. [. . .] from the humble (?)11. [. . .] and everything that (?)Lines 12–19 indecipherable. 20. [. . .] arbitrator of the (?)21. [. . .]22. [. . .] 23. [. . .] 24. [. . . I] formulate a charm over him . . . Allah [by Allah?], Lord of all the worlds (?)25. [. . .] for Allah (?)[. . .]26. [. . .] I formulate a charm over him against injustice

A. CH. 12.137 (VØ) 123


27. [. . .] 28. [. . .] 29. [. . .] 30. [. . .] and from (?)[. . .]31. [. . .] and every [. . .]32. [. . .] I seek protection in Allah33. [. . .] hypocrisy (?)[. . .]34. [. . .] And I seek refuge in Allah35. [. . .] and the anointing oil (?)36. [. . .] 37. [. . .] 38. [. . .] 39. [. . .] 40. [. . .] 41. [. . .] the struggle (?) I seek protection in Allah Lord of the (?)42. [. . .]43. [. . .] from all [every]Lines 44–51 indecipherable. 52. [. . .] Allah [. . .]53. [. . .]54. [. . .]55. [. . .]

A. CH. 12.138 (VØ)(Plate 23)

Paper. Irregular rectangle. Unglazed. The paper is light brown in color with some darker brown discolorations. It is very translucent and thin, but there is no bleeding of ink to the verso. Its composition is very even. Black ink.


Letter height: naskh text above �rst ku� line: .1–.3 cm; Ku�: .5–1.1 cm; naskh below �rst Ku� line: .2–.4 cm.

33 lines of text (the �rst and last lines are very fragmentary): eighteen naskh; one Ku�; �ve naskh; one Ku�; eight naskh. The text is unvocalized and unpointed. The naskh script in the top part of the amulet is very angular and smaller than that in the bottom piece. The �rst Ku� line is in reserve in a black band .9 cm wide. The letters are approximately .1 cm thick. The top line of Ku� shows some foliation. The bottom line of Ku� is less angular than top line and is in outline.




This piece represents the right-hand edge of a longer and wider amulet. It is composed of two strips of paper (top: 6.6 cm long; bottom: 8.9 cm long with an overlap of approximately 1 cm. The top piece is laid over the bottom one). The paper has a tear through line 22, which has been repaired with Japanese paper. The lines of text are incomplete at the left-hand end. Sev-eral lacunae, in lines �fteen-seventeen, 22, and 25–27 are visible. The right-hand edges of the lower naskh lines are darker than the rest of the lines. Many sections of the piece are reinforced with Japanese paper.

Transcription

[. . .] .1

[. . .] .2

[. . .] .3

[� ��] �� .4


[^*_�]� C%, ^*_�� 6�B �̀<� �[a] .11

[b'��] ^*�_c� ^�� N �, ^*_�[� ��] .12

[^*_�� ;�d]e�� , ^*_�� @ $f [ �̂��g] .13

[. . .] .14

[. . .] .15

[. . .] �9%& [. . .] .16

[. . .] .17

["\] �=>�� .18

�� :[h!] .19

[. . .] S C%�� $di [. . .] .20

[. . .] .21

[. . .] .22

[. . .] �, (") ;>�� [. . .] �, [. . .] .23

A. CH. 12.138 (VØ) 125


[jg]L� / j9k� / .24

[. . .] �� $_l �G � / [. . .] .25

[. . .] (") m ��f� ��,�� V9n [. . .] .26

[. . .] jZoG� (") �� ]) [. . .] .27

[. . .] '9<�� [. . .] .28

[. . .] $_< p�@�� (") 6�%], [. . .] .29

[. . .]�� 6*+� .30

[. . .] .31

[. . .] .32

[. . .] .33

Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number:ll. 11–13: 114: 1–5 (al-N�s)

Translation

1. [. . .] 2. [. . .] 3. [. . .] 4. [. . .] There is no god except Allah and Muhammad [is His messenger]Lines 5–10 indecipherable. 11. [Sa]y I seek refuge with the Lord and Cherisher of mankind, the King of [mankind,—]12. [the God] of mankind,—from the mischief of the Whisperer of evil who withdraws,—

[who]13. [whispers] into the hearts of mankind,—among jin[ns and among men.] 14. [. . .]15. [. . .]16. [. . .] All-Knowing [. . .]17. [. . .] 18. [. . .] power [belongs to Allah]?19. [In the na]me of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merci[ful] 20. [. . .]for I ask You by [. . .]21. [. . .]22. [. . .] 23. [. . .] from [. . .] of abundance (?), From [. . .]24. Oh Kindly One, Oh Kindly [One]



25. [. . .] Oh Allah, reward me (?) with every26. [. . .] all the matters and drive away (?)[. . .]27. [. . .] with forgiveness (?) and lay bare [. . .]28. [. . .] and I seek refuge [. . .]29. [. . .] defeated (?) and divert from me [. . .]30. book of the [. . .]31. [. . .] 32. [. . .] 33. [. . .]

A. CH. 12.139 (VØ)(Plate 24)

Laid paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. The paper is thin but relatively opaque. Fine texture. Black ink.


Letter height: naskh: .2–.7 cm; Ku�: .7–.8 cm.

Five (?) lines of text. Naskh. Ku� in reserve. The naskh text in the left-hand area is pointed and vocalized.


This example represents the top or left-hand edge of a larger text. There is a rectangular piece with a margin 1 cm wide on the top. The left part is a grid showing four squares (overall dimensions: 3.1 � 3.3 cm). The individual boxes of the grid are approximately 1.3 (left-hand column) 1.5 (right-hand column) � 1.5 cm. A space .4 cm wide separates this square from the corner of another square (or rectangle) 3.1 � 1.6 cm. This top(?) square has what appears to be a line of stylized Ku� in reserve across the bottom and partial letters of other lines running either horizontally or vertically (it is unclear which; perhaps both). One small hole is in the up-per right-hand box of the grid. The text is not affected. The right-hand square is bordered by a double �llet (2 parallel lines) ca. 1.5 cm apart. The letters have a fairly even thickness.

Transcription

Two compartmented boxes, the left-hand set constituting the remnants of a much larger grid of such boxes, containing four words/phrases; the right-hand containing Ku� script.

Ku�: (") �9>, / .1

\� .2

A. CH. 12.139 (VØ) 127


q_r�W� s*2�t� .3

�� / .4

C%, / .5

Lines 2–5 are in the four boxes.

Translation

1. Oh Restorer (?)2. and to Allah belong3. the Beautiful Names4. Oh Most Merciful5. Oh King

A. CH. 12.140 (VØ)(Plate 25)

Paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. Light brown paper, very thin and fragile. The piece is backed with Japanese paper as a preservation measure. The paper is fairly translucent with some thicker areas but generally even in composition. Black ink.

Overall dimensions: 5.5 (top); 5.1 (bottom) � 23.2 cm.Dimensions of printed area: 5 � 22.9 cm.

Letter height: Ku� letters: .2–1 cm; naskh: .1–.2 cm.

70 lines of text: four in Ku�; 66 in naskh.

Decorative elements: Faint triangular design consisting of double lines within a frame of single lines.

This is a complete amulet. It exhibits several lateral tears and small lacunae (e.g. between the Ku� and the naskh blocks and in the naskh section: lines 35, 36, 40, 43, 48, 52, 56, 58). The Ku� block is 5 � 3.3 cm and has one line of script in reserve around the inside perimeter of the rectangle. The letters are about .1 cm thick. In the center is an area 3.2 � 1.4 cm with two lines of Ku� in relief. Above and below this block is a single line. Between the Ku� block and the start of the naskh text is an area with a zigzag design in brown (or faded red?) ink which may have been added later. An area on the right-hand side of the naskh text from near line 43 to line 62 shows thicker letters (due to uneven printing pressure?). The last line may not be alphabetic characters.



Transcription

Ku� in reserve in outer band: [. . .] \ u�� (") ;2=>�� .1

Naskh in center of box: [. . .] / [. . .]/ .2

�� ! .3

42�� d � �AN .4

L��S v*2w*� �%>�� ;3x .5

(") �A�%y� ��3W� zPz>�� .6

[. . .] �� N �, (") C) '9<� $_di .7

[. . .] .8

* � { / [. . .] .9

[. . .]�� (") � .10


� � [. . .] .20

[. . .] � \./\./\./\./\./ 1d� �� .21

(")�� [. . .] Cw*2�S Cy|�� .22

[. . .](?) �2�� h2Z�� [. . .] .23

?�>�� [. . .] q%& 6�73, �� .24

Cy|�� .25

� q%& [. . .] �) [. . .] b'�� }) .26

[. . .] �9=>�� [. . .] .27

[. . .] .28

[. . .] .29

[. . .] .30

A. CH. 12.140 (VØ) 129


[. . .] .31

[. . .] .32

[. . .] ;%w*>�� q%& [. . .] .33

C%�� \./.\./.\ 1d[�] �� [. . .] .34

�� [. . .] ��S .35

[. . .] U��_r� V~r� q�� [. . .] .36

[. . .] .37

[. . .] .38

[. . .] .39

[. . .] (") � U��2�� [. . .] .40

1d� �� [. . .] .41

[. . .] .42

[. . .] .43

[. . .] .44

(") �A�%y�� [. . .] .45

� [. . .] (") �� .46

[. . .] � �� .47

[. . .] .48

[. . .] .49

[. . .] .50

1d� �� (") Cd*�~r� [. . .] .51

[. . .] .52

[. . .] .53



[. . .] .54

[. . .] (") CA�� [. . .] .55

[. . .] .56

[. . .] .57

[. . .] .58

�� [. . .] .59

�'�� .60

[. . .] .61

[. . .] .62

[. . .] '9<�� [. . .] .63

[. . .] .64

[. . .] .65

� (") 1f�N� 1�� [. . .] .66

[. . .] .67

��%�� 9%& � q�%@ �� [. . .] .68

[. . .] .69

[. . .] � �� [. . .] .70

Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number:ll. 3–6: 3:18 (�l �Imr�n)

Translation

1. Might and power belong to Allah2. Oh [. . .], Oh [. . .]3. In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful4. There is no god but He: That is the witness of Allah, His An-5. gels, and those endued with knowledge, standing �rm on justice.6. There is no god but He, the Exalted in Power, the Wise. Oh, Allah(?)

A. CH. 12.140 (VØ) 131


7. Indeed I seek refuge with You (?) from the evil of every [. . .] 8. [. . .] 9. [. . .] Oh Great Forgiv-10. er (?). The [. . .]Lines 11–19 indecipherable. 20. [. . .] no 21. god but You. /.\/.\/.\/.\/.\ Allah [. . .]22. I ask you by your [Beautiful] Names [. . .] the (?)23. [. . .] the sun accompanied by (?) the moon (?) [. . .]24. It is written on [. . .] and the throne25. There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger. I ask you26. by Your name which [. . .] by it [. . .] upon27. [. . .] the Mighty [. . .]28. [. . .]29. [. . .] 30. [. . .] 31. [. . .] 32. [. . .] 33. upon the family34. [. . .] and there is no god but [Y]ou /.\/.\/.\ and I ask you35. in Your name [. . .] a question36. [. . .] protection seven years37. [. . .] 38. [. . .] 39. [. . .] 40. [. . .] the heavens and (?) [. . .]41. [. . .] and there is no god but You42. [. . .]43. [. . .] 44. [. . .]45. [. . .] and Oh Allah (?)46. He (?) [. . .] There is no47. god but He and [. . .]48. [. . .]49. [. . .]50. [. . .]51. [. . .] Praise be to You (?) and there is no god but You52. [. . .]53. [. . .]54. [. . .]55. [. . .] your face (?) [. . .]56. [. . .]57. [. . .]58. [. . .]59. [. . .] and there is no god



60. but He and to Him belongs the name that 61. [. . .] 62. [. . .] 63. [. . .] and I seek refuge [. . .]64. [. . .]65. [. . .]66. [. . .] and you showed mercy and you made noble (?) and67. [. . .]68. [. . .] Muhammad (May God bless him and give him peace)69. [. . .]70. [. . .] and He is Allah [. . .]

A. CH. 12.141 (VØ) (Plate 26)

Laid(?) paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. The paper is very thin and its composition uneven; the sheet is translucent in many places. Some ink has bled through to the verso. Black ink.

Overall dimensions: 4.6 � 10 cm.Dimensions of printed area: 4.6 � 9.4 cm.

Letters .4–2.6 cm in height.

Four lines of text: two vertical, two horizontal, all in Ku�.

Decorative elements: Lines, red ink highlighting, chain pattern.

The piece constitutes the upper right-hand corner of a larger text. It contains two horizontal lines of Ku� script; the �rst line is in relief, the letters are approximately .2 cm thick. Two par-allel �llets (.3 cm apart) separate this text from the second line of text. The two parallel lines are highlighted with red ink. The second line of text is in reserve. The black area is 1.5 cm in height. One �llet separates the second line of text from the �rst vertical line of text, which is also in reserve. The black area is 1.2 cm wide. On top of the vertical text line is a red highlight over a decorative design (?). The second vertical text line has two elements: the �rst is in relief running in the same direction as the �rst vertical. The letters are about .2–.5 cm thick. The sec-ond element is a single word inverted in relation to the other two vertical elements. This word is on a smaller scale than the other words in the line. The paper has several tears and small holes. Little text is affected. The extreme upper right-hand corner is torn away.

Transcription

[� ��] �� .1

["�P]V+r�� .2

A. CH. 12.141 (VØ) 133


Lines three and four are written vertically, top to bottom. One word appears in the top left-hand margin, written bottom to top.

(" �I�� / = �I��) ("�I��) (") �I�� .3

[\S �� ]�� .4

(") L� (") ;%@ (") 4@ (")4D

Translation

1. There is no god [but Allah]2. I seek [aid]3. �usayn (?) (Reckoner?; Oh �usayn?)4. There is no po[wer and no strength except in God]

A. CH. 12.142 (VØ)(Plate 27)

Laid paper. Irregular rectangle. Unglazed. The paper is opaque, �ne textured and fairly even in composition. Black ink.

Overall dimensions: 6.5 (top); 4.7 (bottom) � 9.1 (lh); 11 (rh) cm.Dimensions of printed area: 5.3 � 7.5 cm.


Seventeen lines of text in naskh characters. The characters are very rectilinear (no slant to the script).


This piece represents the upper right-hand corner of a longer and wider text. It consists of a list of the ‘beautiful names’ in four (or more?) columns. Darker water stains in the right-hand margin and at the bottom; two small vertical tears or holes are found at the lower center. Some text is affected by this damage, but not seriously. Under very high magni�cation, just to the lower right of the triangular hole in the center, a crystal of some sort is visible, embedded in the paper �ber. Nearly invisible wrinkles in a cross (X) pattern, can be discerned at the lower middle of the piece.

Transcription

�� ! .1

[. . .] ["�]��W� s*2�S �. . . [. . .] .2



[�g]�� / �� / �� / � / .3

(") / :�� / �$� / (")�*H / .4

[��]� / �� / �� / (")��37, / .5

(") [�O]E / ��*� / (")�O*� / �TS / .6

(") / �I�� / �9%5 / (") �@� / .7

[. . .] / �9=< / �9�� / .8

[. . .] 6� ��Y / �g�� / .9

V�f� / (") V92� / Vg�) / .10

�9� / (") �P�� / �*�� / .11

bO*� / (") $_], / (")�2@ / .12

(") ��& / �-� / �H*f / .13

[. . .] [. . .] (") �9� / .14

[. . .] .15

[. . .] .16

[. . .] .17

Translation

1. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merci[ful] 2. [. . .] . . . you by your Beautiful (?) Names [. . .] 3. Oh Praiseworthy Oh Merciful Oh Compassionate Oh Allah 4. Oh (?) Oh Self-Subsisting Oh Powerful 5. [. . .] Oh Last (One) Oh First (One) Oh Majestic 6. [. . .] Oh Victorious Oh Powerful Oh Hidden 7. Oh (?) Oh Gracious Oh Majestic Oh Protector 8. [. . .] Oh [. . .] Oh Mighty Oh Advocate 9. [. . .] [. . .] Oh Relenting One Oh Bountiful10. [. . .] Oh Exalter Oh All-Hearing (?) Oh Marvelous11. [. . .] Oh Glorious Oh Powerful (?) Oh Almighty12. [. . .] Oh Guide Oh Enricher (?) Oh Independent (?)13. [. . .] Oh Just One Oh Truth Oh Excellent One

A. CH. 12.142 (VØ) 135


14. [. . .] Oh Responsive(?) 15. [. . .]16. [. . .]17. [. . .]

N.B. The list of the ‘Beautiful Names’ given in the English translation above follows the order of the names as they appear in the Arabic. In other words, the names should be read from right to left in each line from line three to line fourteen.

A. CH. 12.143 (VØ)(Plate 28)

Laid(?) paper. Square. Unglazed. The paper thickness varies and is thinner at the center. It is medium brown in hue; the color is fairly even. Black ink.

Overall dimensions: 4 � 4.5 cm.Dimensions of print area: 3.3 � 4.5 cm.


Seven lines of text; the top of an eighth is partially preserved at bottom. The text is in naskh, pointed and vocalized.


This is a nice example of the art. The piece represents the right-hand edge of a longer and wider text. The text is clear and angles slightly to the left. It has a very pleasing style. The text lines are straight and regular. Ink from some letters has bled through to the verso.

Transcription

["��]�� [6] .1

[. . .] u*9W� : �� (") �Y��F� .2

[q_r�W]� �s*2�� ^ ��Y� [. . .] .3

["uO]��S O� g �, /[. . .] .4

E�� , / ;9�� .5

U*��%�2%y� V92� *2%& .6

[. . .] �< #z�g �, / U*f�� [��] .7

[. . .] .8



Translation

1. [In] the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. [Praise?]2. in His omnipotence (?) and timelessness of life [. . .]3. [. . .] and glorify Your [Beautiful?] Names4. [. . .] Oh He who is unique in His one[ness?]5. and divine power. Oh He who creates6. knowledge of all created beings7. [then?] the plagues. Oh He who refrains from [. . .]8. [. . .]

A. CH. 12.144 (VØ)(Plate 29)

Paper. Irregular triangle. Unglazed. The paper is light brown and very thin. Its thickness var-ies. Black ink.

Overall dimensions: 4.7 (top); 4.4 (middle); 1 (bottom) � 27 cm.Dimensions of printed area: 3 (top); 4 (middle); .5 (bottom) � 27 cm.

Letter height: Ku�: .3–1 cm; naskh: .1–.2 cm.

77 lines of text: �ve Ku�; 72 naskh. The naskh text is divided into four blocks of ten, 44, twelve, and six lines. The naskh script is miniscule and very angular.

Decorative elements: geometric devices in the Ku� text block.

This piece represents the left-hand edge of a wider amulet. It may perhaps also have had more text at top or bottom, but it appears that the original length has been preserved. At the top is a rectangular (square?) section (3 � 7.8 cm) containing two lines of Ku�: one at the top, one at the bottom (letters ca. .1–.3 cm thick). In between these two lines are six smaller squares also in reserve(each ca. 1.4 cm2) containing one, two or three triangular designs. The other section(s) of the square contain(s) a word or words. The entire square is bounded by a single �llet sepa-rated from the square itself by a .1 cm space. The �llet is discontinuous at the corners of the interior squares.

Some lines (e.g. 26, 27, 29, 33) contain sentences ending in circular punctuation marks. Several small holes and lacunae (e.g. in the third row, left-hand block of Ku� script; the top left-hand of lines one; 17–21; 23–24; 40, 48, between lines 59 and 60; between lines 70 and 71) but very little text is affected.

A. CH. 12.144 (VØ) 137


Transcription

Lines 1–5 in Ku� at top of sheet in reserve.

� �� #[�� ] .1

[. . .] .2

[. . .] .3

[. . .] .4

� ��[� � �2K�] .5


[6�]C)�>�� '� �9%& -%& �,[. . .] .26

[. . .] � �� di � [. . .] .27

[. . .] .28

[. . .] .29

� [. . .] .30


(") �Z< .40

[. . .] .41

[. . .] .42

[. . .] .43

�� [. . .] .44

�9=>�� ?�>�� [. . .] .45

(") �2@ �[b] (") ��d / �� / �� / [. . .] .46

(") �9>, / �,�, / :4� / �̂ �� [. . .] .47

[. . .] / (") �6� / -�*. / ��3�[: /] .48



/ ��3� / �9=< / [. . .] .49

/ �g�� / �F�G / (") �*�� [. . .] .50

["�T]S / ��*D / �� / [. . .] .51

[. . .] .52

(") �� / (") $�K / (") �9� / [. . .] .53

[. . .] .54

/ ��*D / [. . .] .55

[. . .]/ M� � / [. . .] .56

$�S / �g�N / [. . .] .57

/ (")0*, / (") �P�� /[. . .] .58

[. . .] .59

[. . .]/ (") R<S / [. . .] .60

[. . .] .61

[. . .] �6� / [. . .] .62


Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number:ll. 44–45: 9:129 (al-Tawbah)

Translation

1. [There is no g]od but Allah 2. [. . .] 3. [. . .] 4. [. . .] 5. [and Muhammad is the M]essenger of Allah.Lines 6–25 indecipherable. 26. [. . .] Whoever hangs upon himself this wr[iting]27. [. . .] Allah. Indeed, He is One. There is no god but Allah [. . .]28. [. . .]29. [. . .]

A. CH. 12.144 (VØ) 139


30. [. . .] AllahLines 31–39 indecipherable. 40. ten(th) (?) 41. [. . .] 42. [. . .]43. [. . .] 44. [. . .] But if they turn away, say: God suf�ceth me. There is no god but He45. [On Him is my trust,-] He is the Lord of the Throne (of glory) supreme!46. [. . .] Oh One, Oh Only, Oh Light (?), Oh Indepen-47. [dent One] [. . .], Oh Holy One, Oh Source of Peace, Oh Giver of Faith, Oh Restorer48. [Oh Ma]jestic One, Oh Creator, Oh Lord (?), Oh [. . .]49. [. . .] Oh Mighty One, Oh Wise One, Oh50. [. . .] Almighty (?), Oh Most Great, Oh Bountiful, Oh51. [. . .] Oh Last One, Oh Manifest, Oh Ba (?)52. [. . .] 53. [. . .] Oh Glorious (?), Oh Numberer (?), Oh Muhammad (?)54. [. . .]55. [. . .] Oh Manifest, Oh56. [. . .] Oh Preserver, Oh [. . .]57. [. . .] Oh Severe One (?), Oh Everlasting58. [. . .] Oh Powerful (?), Oh Withholder (?), Oh59. [. . .] 60. [. . .] Oh Resurrector (?), Oh [. . .]61. [. . .] 62. [. . .] Oh Lord (?)[. . .]Lines 63–77 indecipherable.

A. CH. 12.145 (VØ)(Plate 30)

Paper. Irregular trapezoid. Unglazed. Light brown paper, fairly opaque, is uneven in com-position. Some darker discoloration may be seen in the right margin and the lower left-hand corner. Black ink.

Overall dimensions: 3.1 (top); 6.95 (bottom) � 5.1 cm.Dimensions of printed area: 2.4 (top); 6.25 (bottom) � 5.1 cm.

Letter height: horizontal: .1–.2 cm; vertical: .35 cm.

Eighteen lines of text: seventeen horizontal lines; one vertical. The horizontal lines are Arabic in naskh script; the vertical line is in Coptic (Greek letters).

Decorative elements: two sets of parallel lines bordering the Coptic text.



This piece preserves the right-hand edge of a wider and longer text. The Arabic text is dam-aged by several lacunae, especially in lines one through nine and again in line �fteen. The ver-tical line of Coptic also has two small holes, but only one affects the text. The right margin is eroded. The Coptic text is bordered by and separated from the Arabic by two pairs of parallel lines .1–.15 cm apart. The outermost of these �llets is heavier than the others. The Arabic text in lines �fteen through seventeen is distorted, especially near the middle of the lines. This is the only bi-lingual example of Arabic block printing known to me to date.

Transcription

[. . .] (") �� [. . .] .1

� [. . .] .2

[. . .] (") �� [. . .] .3

[. . .] (")C� ["��] �,[. . .] .4

[. . .] (") ��, [. . .] .5

. . .](") / .6

[. . .] � .7

[. . .] (") �� [. . .] �� .8

[. . .] ��[. . .] .9

[6*738�] �'� (") �9%& -%& �, [. . .] .10

[. . .] �� (") �*Ad $� �� *9� $f :�d [. . .] .11

[. . .] $f �� %2< $f �� [. . .] .12

[. . .] .13

[. . .] ��d� [. . .] .14

[. . .] (") �� .15

[. . .] �[. . .] .16

[. . .] .17

On right hand margin (transliteration): . . . eis _ra_l eie f . . .

A. CH. 12.145 (VØ) 141


Translation

1. [. . .] god (?)[. . .] 2. [. . .] 3. [. . .] and the �rst of it (?)[. . .] 4. [. . .] and he (?) is [. . .] 5. [. . .] and not (?)[. . .] 6. Oh (?) [. . .] 7. and [. . .] 8. and Allah [. . .] the One, the [. . .] 9. [. . .] and not (?) [. . .]10. [. . .]whoever hangs upon himself (?) this [writing]11. [. . .] sleep at night and not during the day (?) and not (?) [. . .]12. [. . .] and not 13. [. . .]14. [. . .] and light [. . .]15. and the (?) [. . .] 16. [. . .] Allah [. . .]17 [. . .]In right-hand margin: Behold! Uriel (?) Surely he. . . (?)

A. CH. 12.146 (VØ)(Plate 31)

Paper. Irregular rectangle. Unglazed. Light brown paper; thin but opaque and fairly uniform in consistency. The ink is black, tending to brown.

Overall dimensions: 6 � 7.1 (left-hand side); 9.7 (right-hand side) cm.Dimensions of printed area: 4.2 � 7.1 (left-hand side); 9.7 (right-hand side) cm.

Height of letters: naskh: .1–.3 cm; Ku�: .4–1.6 cm.

29 lines of text: twenty in naskh; one in Ku�; eight in naskh (the last line is only partially pre-served). The naskh is very angular; the Ku� is foliated and very cursive. The Ku� is done in outline; the letters are .1–.2 cm thick.


This piece constitutes the interior section of a longer text. The �rst ten lines are lacking at the left-hand end. Numerous transverse wrinkles may be observed. The right edge of the text is darker, in general (especially the �rst 1–3 characters), than the rest of the text. The �rst three lines also are lighter. The lower left-hand side of the amulet has a long vertical tear (along an old fold line) and a repair has been effected here with Japanese paper so as to maintain the integrity of the piece. Some text is lost, especially in lines 23–29. There are also tears in the left-hand margin. The Ku� line has a dark brown discoloration in it.



Transcription

[. . .] .1

[�� ;3x42�� di] � �AN .2

[ �� L�]-�S *2w*� �%>�� [sic] �� .3

[�[� �Z>2g] ��3W� zPz>�� .4

[ 0�' _Y 0�] �+>k+r�� 0� h�� .5

[' d|f X�]�� U��2�� *k�� , .6

[. . .] (") �� / 0�' _Y � �� .7

[. . .] :*3� �I~� / [. . .] .8

[. . .] �, (" ��*=��) ��*k�� $�� .9

[. . .] * 3� � $+�� .10

[. . .] �� .11

[. . .] (")�� 2�� [. . .] .12

� [. . .](") �IN��k�� [. . .] .13

*738�� [. . .] (")�� [. . .] .14

*,� [. . .] ("0��k��) ��k�2�� 6 .15

[. . .] *3�� :*�� [. . .] .16

�� :��_�� V��2)� : .17

�� (") �$W� (") �� 9=< 0�2%>Y .18

;3x42�� [. . .] (") �=<�� .19

b'�� [. . .] (") �-�� I2�*>�� 6� .20

Ku�: j9k� / �b�� / j9k� / .21

[. . .] (") V9n [. . .] (") �I~�*k�� .22

A. CH. 12.146 (VØ) 143


[. . .](") �IT*9rZ�� .23

[. . .] .24

� �4�� (") 6*�@� [. . .] .25

[. . .]� [. . .] (") :4��(") �45 .26

[. . .] �� / [. . .] .27

[. . .] � (") U*~_[�� (") U��%>�� [. . .] .28

[. . .] .29

Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number: ll. 2–4: 3:18 (�l �Imr�n) ll. 4–7: 55:33 (pars) (al-Ra�m�n)

Translation

1. [. . .] 2. [There is no god but He]: that is the witness of God, His angels and those 3. endued with knowledge, standing �[rm on justice. There is no god but] 4. He, the Exalted in Power, the Wise. [O ye assembly of jinns] 5. and men! If it be that ye can [pass beyond] 6. the zones of the heavens and the [earth, pass ye!] 7. Ye shall not be able to pass! 8. [. . .] Oh Great of rulers (?) [. . .] 9. [. . .] Inspirer (?) of the pure (?) (manifest?) from [. . .]10. which does not suf�ce (?) [. . .] 11. scourges (?) [. . .]12. [. . .] torment of the (?) [. . .]13. [. . .] eunuchs (?) [. . .]14. [. . .] fate of the (?) [. . .] and the book (writing?)15. recorded [. . .] and what16. they record (?) and the parts (oaths?) and the judgments17. and by the orbits of the stars and [. . .] if only18. [. . .] they knew.(?) Strong. Allah, the Living (?). There is no god but19. He, the Most Great (?) [. . .] the angels20. Lord of the worlds and the True (?) [. . .] who21. Oh Kindly One, Oh Most Strong, Oh Kindly One22. petitioners (?) [. . .] all (?) [. . .]23. devils (?) [. . .]24. [. . .]25. [. . .] warriors (?) (masters of the sword?) and



26. [. . .] splendor of dreams (?) (majesty of indulgences?) [. . .] the heaps (?) and [. . .]27. [. . .] Oh Most Merciful28. [. . .] and the heights (?) and the regions (?) and [. . .]29. [. . .]

A. CH. 12.147 (VØ)(Plate 32)

Paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. Very light brown paper; even composition, �ne grain. The sheet is translucent, but there is no bleeding of ink through to the verso.

Overall dimensions: 4 � 2.6 (left); 2.9 (right) cm.Dimensions of printed area: 4 � 3 cm.

Height of letters: .6–1.7 cm.

One line of text in thuluth style. The letters are in outline, the lines forming them being ap-proximately .2 cm thick.

Decorative elements: double lines at top of piece spaced .25 cm apart. A single �llet is partially preserved at the bottom.

This is a fragment of a larger text, possibly from the top, or from along one edge (i.e. a vertical line of text). Water stains (or charring?) are visible along the upper and lower edges. A Japanese paper repair has been done at the top edge. There is one vertical tear from the lower edge near the center. On the verso are three or four lines of handwritten text.

Transcription

[. . .] (")�� q%& ��[. . .] .1

Translation

1. [. . .] and every [each?] thing upon the (?) [. . .]

A. CH. 12.148(Plate 33)

Paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. The paper is rather coarse grained; it is dark brown in color with four more or less parallel horizontal lines of darker discoloration. Black ink.

Overall dimensions: 5.8 (top); 6.3 (bottom) � 6.8 (l.h.); 6.1 (r.h.) cm.Dimensions of printed area: 4.5 � 4.8 cm.

A. CH. 12.148 (VØ) 145


Three lines of text: two lines around the border, one line down the center of the black area. A fourth line is partially obscured by the second line on the left-hand (top?) of the piece. The Ku� is in reserve.

Height of letters: .5–1.5 cm.Decorative elements: Line bordering text area.

This piece preserves the left end or (more probably) the top of a wider (i.e. longer) text. It appears to be a unique “double strike” of two different print blocks of different sizes bearing different texts. The smaller (narrower) is 3.7 cm wide; the larger (wider) block measures 4.5 cm wide. Both contain text in foliated Ku�, the line of text running around the inside edge of the border, another (or maybe 2–3 lines) one inside the �rst. Both exhibit a single �llet border of a white area ca. .2 cm wide. The overstrike makes deciphering the text very dif�cult. There is one small hole near the lower edge. Very little text is affected by this damage.

Transcription

(Line numbering begins on left-hand side and proceeds around outer perimeter of the block.)

\ 0*k%� [. . .] .1

\ ;2=>�� .2

[\] (") � �� .3

(In center of block) [. . .] .4

Translation

1. [. . .] dominion (?) belongs to Allah2. Greatness belongs to Allah3. Strength (?) [belongs to Allah]4. [. . .]

A. CH. 12.149 (VØ)(Plate 34)

Laid paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. Heavily discolored paper showing a lighter brown color where it has not been stained. Black ink.


Height of letters: .2–1.3 cm.



Five lines of text: three horizontal lines; two vertical lines along the left-hand margin.

The text is in naskh, vocalized but unpointed. The �rst and third horizontal lines are in naskh; the second line is in heavier characters with letters about .1–.2 cm thick.

Decorative elements: borders comprised of parallel lines.

This is the left-hand margin (or possibly the top edge) of a longer and wider text. There are remnants of more text above and below the extant lines. The two lines of text at the left-hand margin are the same. All horizontal text lines are separated by sets of two parallel �llets ap-proximately .1 cm apart. The two vertical lines are not separated from each other but are set off from the horizontal lines and the left-hand margin by the same device.

The piece is very fragile and has been preserved with a backing of Japanese paper. Several lacunae are evident, especially on the right-hand side. There is also one hole in the center of line two. Little text has been affected.

Transcription

Lines one and two are across the width of the paper; lines three to �ve read from right to left along its length.

[. . .] �2J�� [. . .] .1

[. . .] �2J�� [. . .] .2

[. . .] �9%>�� V92�� *�[��] [. . .] .3

[. . .] .4

[. . .] (") -�*c� [. . .] .5

Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number:ll. 1–2: 112:1–2 (al-Ikhl��)l. 3: 6:13 (pars) (al-An��m)

Translation

1. [Say:] He is God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute [. . .] 2. Say:] He is God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute [. . .]3. [To Him belongeth all that dwelleth (or lurketh) in the night and the d]ay. For He is the One

Who heareth and knoweth all things.4. [. . .]5. [. . .] Creator (?) [. . .]

A. CH. 12.149 (VØ) 147


A. CH. 12.150 (VØ)(Plate 35)

Paper. Roughly square. Unglazed. The paper is light brown in color with some darker discol-orations. The paper is of medium weight with a fairly even density. Black ink.

Overall dimensions: 10 (top); 11.2 (bottom) � 11 cm.Dimensions of printed area: 10 (top); 11.2 (bottom) � 11 cm.


Twelve lines of text in naskh, pointed and vocalized.


This piece represents the right-hand edge of a longer and wider text. The naskh letters are thicker (.1–.2 cm) than those found in many other block prints. They are also cruder in form and more cursive than usual. Several distinctive wrinkles run diagonally across the piece (e.g. from the right end of line �ve to the middle of line eight and from the second word of line ten to the middle of line twelve). A darker discoloration appears in the last word of line �ve.

Transcription

[*, �� b'�� \ ��]

[u�� $f �� ] X�� $f *,� U��2�� $f .1

[*,� X�t� $f m]�g *, �%>g �I~c� ��3W� �� .2

[*A�f m�>g *,� s*,]h�� , �z�g *,� *A�, m�� .3

[*�IY� � ��f]� �P'�� *�� [�]j]�� :[b]�� .4

[z>g � �9]��] ��*& �3�IY|+� $�)�� q%) �� ;&*�� .5

[� X�t� $f ��] U��2�� $f u ��` �*��, �_< 6 .6

[�I�, 6*+� $f �]i �F� �� Cy` �, �]@ � .7

[�� U*W�] �� %2<� ��,� �P'�� bz�9� .8

[�>� �P'��] �g�� ¡a¢�� u� ], �A� [�] .9

[ £z�� , 6�'& :]�� C¤�� Pz�*>, *_Y/� $f � .10



[ C9�i �z¥v b]'�� %>�� Y� �P'�� P� �9� .11

[�9�� zPz>�� @ �]�� b�Ag� �-W� �� C�)� [�,] .12

Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number: ll. 1–12: 34:1–6 (al-Sab��)Transcribed by Waj� Hal�wá.

Translation

[Praise be to God, to Whom belong all things] 1. In the heavens and on earth; [to Him be praise in the Hereafter;] 2. And He is full of wisdom, acquainted with all things. He knows all that [goes into the

earth, and all that] 3. comes out thereof; all that comes down from the s[ky and all that ascends thereto] 4. and He is the Most Merciful, the Oft-Forgiving. [The unbelievers] say, [“Never to us will

come] 5. the Hour”: say, “Nay! But most surely, by my Lord, it will come upon you;—by Him who

knows [the unseen,—from Whom is not hid] 6. den the least little atom in the heavens [or on earth: Nor] 7. is there anything less than that or greater, [but it is in the Record Perspicacious.] 8. That He may reward those who believe and work deeds of right[eousness: for such] 9. is forgiveness and a sustenance most generous. [But those who strive against]10. Our signs, to frustrate them,—[for such will be a penalty,—a punishment most humili-]11. ating. And those to whom knowledge has come see that [the (revelation) sent down to

thee]12. [from] thy Lord—That is the truth, and that it guides to [the path of the Exalted (in

Might), Worthy of all praise.]

A. CH. 12.151 (VØ)(Plate 36)

Paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. Light brown paper with progressively darker brown discolor-ations toward the bottom.

Overall dimensions: 9.9 � 6 cm.Dimensions of printed area: 8.6 � 6 cm.


Nine lines of text in naskh, vocalized and pointed. The text is produced using fairly thick letters in a pleasing, slightly cursive style.


A. CH. 12.151 (VØ) 149


This piece represents the interior of a longer text. Several transverse wrinkles are to be seen, especially between lines three and four and lines eight and nine. The margin edges are slightly eroded. A vertical tear (along an old fold line?) at the center of the piece runs from line three through line nine.

Transcription

[. . .] .1

[. . .] (") *, m��>2�� ;%9�� 0*��F�� _�� .2

[. . .] � �� p�T �, q�� 2K � �i� �� *_�� (") �, .3

[. . .]*f �*T�� O*2>�� (") ¢*c� �, .4

v*>��, ��*T �3�, �3� 0�� (") �>2� �-W� $f [. . .] .5

0�� ;%n [. . .] .6

[. . .] �� V, 0� �<¢ �, q��[. . .]�� (") #�_< q�� %kd�� .7

�9�� 3W� �� 5� � [. . .] s$N �� i �� ("��) �� .8

[. . .] �9=>�� \S �i u ��[a �]� �� 0�>�� .9

Translation

1. [. . .]2. and the light and the proof and the night of (Muhammad’s ascension what (?) [. . .]3. from (?) the �re. There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger to he who (?)

[. . .]4. from (of ?) the (?) and the (?) support and 5. [. . .] in truth he heard him (it) (?) and if there is among you those who hurry off madly (?)6. [. . .] all of the Qur��n7. and they departed to be with him (?) to one who declared that with Allah is the (?)8. (last?). There is no god but Allah. There is no way of accounting (?) To Him belongs justice

and to Him 9. is the return. There is no power and no strength save in Allah, the Mighty [. . .]

A. CH. 12.152 (R & V)(Plate 37)

Laid paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. Medium brown paper with darker discolorations at the top and along the right-hand margin. It is thin and translucent, but somewhat thicker at the top. Black ink.



Overall dimensions: 6.3 (top); 8.6 (middle); 8.2 (bottom) � 41.7 cm.

Dimensions of printed area: 5.9 (top); 6.1 (bottom) � 34.8 cm.

Letter height: naskh: .15–.5 cm; Maghribi: .2–.8 cm.

40 lines of text: In the top block: two lines around the inside of a teardrop motif; one line at the bottom, then 37 lines: ten above the �rst decorative scroll band, 27 below. The text is in naskh and ‘maghribi,’ unpointed and unvocalized.

Decorative elements: geometric forms, magic signs, scroll designs.

This is a complete amulet. At the top is a rectangle 5.9 � 9.9 cm with reserve and relief ele-ments. At the top on either side of a teardrop design are magic symbols and two four-digit numbers: “6111” and “0111.” Beneath the left-hand symbol is a six-pointed star containing the word “al-�Al” and beneath the symbol on the right, a �ower of �ve petals. Beneath the star are two “words” on two lines; beneath the �ower are two different “words(?)” in a similar ar-rangement. The teardrop contains two lines of text. Around the inside perimeter of the outer band in relief is one line (line 1). Inside this, in reserve, is a second line (line 2). The bottom interior corners of the rectangle are chamfered with a scroll design in reserve. The rectangle is bordered on the left and right sides by a band .4–.5 cm wide which also contains a scroll design in reserve. The right-hand band has dots visible the in design. The scroll band is separated from the interior by a single �llet .1 cm wide. At the bottom of the rectangle is a band .8 cm wide containing one line of text in reserve (line 3). The letters here are approximately .1 cm thick. This text line is separated from the next line of text by a single �llet. Ten lines of text in a mixture of naskh and a more cursive, thicker style (maghribi?) follow. Lines four, seven, ten and thirteen are in this in latter style. This second section terminates with a rectangle (6 � .8 cm) containing a scroll design in relief with a single �llet border.Line fourteen begins a third block of text and is in “maghribi”; lines �fteen through twenty are in naskh characters.

Line 21 is set off from the preceding and following lines by a single �llet above and below. This line is in “maghribi” script. Lines 22–35 are in naskh.Line 36 is set off from preceding and following lines by double �llets.Lines 37–40 are in naskh.

The amulet is constructed from two pieces of paper. The top piece is 25.5 cm in length; the bottom piece is 17.5 cm. The overlap is about .9 cm. Ghost marks of a second copy (a printing plate of a second copy dropped on this one?) are clearly visible in the left-hand margin. Several small holes (especially near the top) may be seen. There are tears and lacunae in lines nine, ten, and twelve (the piece is torn laterally here; it has been repaired with Japanese paper and line twelve is illegible); also in lines seventeen, eighteen, 20–22; 25, 26, 29, 31, 33, and 35–37. The text is most severely damaged at lines nine and ten, twelve, 26, and 33–35.

A. CH. 12.152 (R & V) 151


Transcription

In six-pointed star: $%>��

To left of teardrop device at top: ^�� ("�Pz�� )h¦��

Lines one and two in a teardrop design. line one in the outer border; line two in the inside band in reserve. Line three in the band below the teardrop in reserve.

v��+r�, vS*§� u��S 0��,�g � �P'�� I)� C�I) *_%>� 0�� Us�� `�� .1

[. . .] .2

�z>�� [. . .] .3

� $f*38� � [. . .] �� .4

� �J_�� >d� ��2�� >d �%%y� [. . .] .5

[. . .]*, � �� ,*� / [. . .] .6

$_% ��Y�[. . .] .7

� b'�� (")�w�� (") Vf*_�� -W� C%2��[. . .] .8

�� [. . .] (") �O�� , [. . .] .9

� �z>�� \S �i u �� .10

� 0� � �i [. . .] � �9=>�� .11

[. . .] .12

(") :�g �� [. . .] .13

�� ! .14

[C%, �� I2�*>�� 6� \ ��] .15

�I>+r�� /�� ~>d �/� �P�� :�g .16

��@ ��+r�2�� J�� i .17

�A9%& 6�©]2�� Iª �A9%& 12>d� �P'�� .18



�2J�� .�I�¬©�� .19

�� v�� 3P �� g �� %g �� .20

[. . .] .21

X�t�� U��2�� -%. b'�� \ �� .22

(") 0��9W� (") �� .23

[. . .] zPz>�� [. . .] (") 6*+� .24

(") ;&* Z� [. . .] (") \ .25

[. . .] � .26

i �� *_�� ,[. . .] .27

[. . .] � �� .28

[. . .] �, .29

[. . .] .30

[. . .] .31

[. . .] .32

[. . .] .33

[. . .] .34

zPz>�� i �� [. . .] �i �[. . .] 35.

[. . .] .36

[. . .] .37

[. . .] .38

[. . .] .39

[. . .] .40

A. CH. 12.152 (R & V) 153


Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number: l. 1: 17:45 (Ban Isr��l or Isr��) ll. 14–19: 1:1–7 ( al-F�ti�ah) ll. 19–20: 112:1–4 (al-Ikhl��)

Translation

In six-pointed star: The SublimeTo left of tear drop device at top: Bless the head (?) (beauty?) 1. When thou dost recite the Qur��n, We put between thee and those who believe not in the

Hereafter a veil invisible. 2. [. . .] 3. [. . .] Allah. To Him belongs power 4. to Him [. . .] Allah, the Suf�cient, Allah 5. [. . .] Allah, Best of Protectors and Best of Aid, Allah 6. [. . .] Oh Carrier of the name of Allah, not [. . .] 7. [. . .] and be responsible for me 8. [. . .] Lord of Bene�cial (?) eternal (?) Truth which is not 9. [. . .] who(ever) desired You (?) [. . .] There is no pow-10. er and no strength except in Allah, the Strong11. the Mighty and [. . .] except Allah. Indeed Allah12. [. . .]13. [. . .] every day (?)14. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful,15. [Praise be to Allah the cherisher and sustainer of the worlds: Most Gracious, Most Merci-

ful; Master]16. of the Day of Judgment. Thee do we worship and Thine aid we seek.17. Show us the straight way, the way18. of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy grace, those whose portion is not wrath,19. and who go not astray. Say: He is Allah, the One; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;20. He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him.21. [. . .]22. Praise be to Allah, Creator of the heavens and earth23. then (?) the animals (?)24. Book (?) [. . .] the Strong [. . .]25. of Allah (?) [. . .] for mediation (?)26. and [. . .] 27. [. . .] from the �re. There is no god28. but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah [. . .]29. from (?) (who?)[. . .] 30. [. . .]31. [. . .] 32. [. . .] 33. [. . .]34. [. . .]



35. [. . .] Allah except [. . .] There is no god but He the Strong36. [. . .]37. [. . .]38. [. . .]39. [. . .]40. [. . .]

A. CH. 12.152 (R & V) 155


SCHAEFER_F13_156-162.indd 156 7/1/2006 6:20:52 AM

BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE ET UNIVERSITAIRE DE STRASBOURG

PAPYRUS HÉB. 7(Plate 38)

N.B. This is the only example of the amulets contained in this volume that I did not examine at �rst hand. Hence, I have been unable to include such details as letter height and the dimensions of the printed area. The following description incorporates observations made by Paul Fenton, and published in his article entitled, “Une xylographie arabe médiévale à la Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire de Strasbourg,” Arabica 50:1 (2003), pp. 114–117.

“Oriental paper.” Rectangular. The paper has darkened to varying shades of brown. Numerous small holes and tears, “particularly along old folds in the paper,” are to be found. The right-hand margin is eroded. Some text is affected by these lacunae.

Overall dimensions: 31.5 � 6.4 cm.

65 lines of text. [Fenton has 62; top line is partial only.]: three lines of naskh; four lines of Ku�; 55 lines of naskh; three lines (one partial) in foliated Ku� printed in red ink. One or more letters at the beginning of each horizontal line of text are missing. The text is divided into three sections: �rst three lines in unpointed naskh script; lines four through seven are in Ku� characters printed white on black (in reserve). The text is unpointed and unvocalized.

The Ku� text block is separated from the upper three lines by a single black line and is separated from the text below by a zigzag line. The last three lines are foliated Ku� printed in red ink in reserve. This Ku� block is also bordered by a single line, here in red ink.

Dated radiographically to the 13th century CE.

Transcription

�� (�) [. . .] .1

[. . .] �� [��] .2

(�) .3

Ku�:

��! " �# [$%] .4

�� &'� " .5


158 BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE ET UNIVERSITAIRE DE STRASBOURG

�� .6

��! ()*+ �� ,-. .7

�� /0 [. . .] .8

(�) �� 1�� [�] .9

234 56 [. . .] .10

�� [. . .] .11

7�8 �� 9[:�] .12

� (�) $;<= [. . .] .13

� [. . .] .14

�� /[>] .15

�;�� [. . .] .16

�� [. . .] .17

� � �&?8 �� [@] .18

�� (�) 3=A@ B�� [. . .] .19

�@ �� [. . .] .20

[. . .] �[��] .21

�# �C �$+ �� [. . .] .22

[. . .] .23

[. . .] .24

(�)D �� 56 [. . .] .25

(�)�E� (�) ,-. F� � �&?8 7�� 5��'� [. . .] .26

[�. .] ,8 �# 5G��H+ [�$8] .27

$;�/ 56 I��* [. . .] .28


(�) F (�)J 3�KL[D�] .29

(�)�;� [. . .] .30

�� 8 [. . .] .31

(�)=MNO �PQ� (�,MN) (�) =MNO �PQ 7�� [. . .] .32

[. . .] (�) �A (�) =MNO �PQ =MNO� [. . .] .33

(�) �?�/ $+! (�) �B! 7� ��/ ,8[. . .] .34

[. . .] .35

RH+ [. . .] .36

,&� ,S�+T @� �UQ@ " D�[3] .37

@� �&?� ��V-W �# �;�� [X] .38

(�) ,8 [. . .] .39

56 ��LC �K�/ [. . .] ��H+ .40

��Y Z� 234 56� [. . .] .41

(�) ,8 [. . .] .42

,&A=� (�=[) \L �[=� (�5�LC) 7� ,&A=� ,8 ��H+ [. . .] .43

[. . .] .44

[. . .] .45

(�) 234 [. . .] .46

" [. . .] .47

I�8�E� [. . .] .48

]�@� [. . .] .49

�� " �-��3 �FC [. . .] .50

Z I�H� 56 234� ^�&_� 9[$Y] .51

PAPYRUS HÉB. 7 159



$;�/ 7à� b=�� 7�� c�H� �B[d B] .52

[sic] =&�� e&`�� (�f;gA �P�h� 3�#[,�] .53

��i�" =80� ^=j_8 B�kl�[�] .54

$%� ,S&�� 3 " �3�Pm =84[�] .55

�) �8� ,n�P� [. . .] � ��?�[�] .56

$n�P� �FC $n�P� �#o [sic: no ‘wa’] ��?� p�q .57

�# �8 Fr=�� ,8 DstL� (�%�#o F�+ .58

(�) ��[. . .] ,Su8)&�/ I&A3� p�6[b] .59

[. . .] �� ?� B[>v�] .60

[. . .] $;�w� ] �s�� =-O! [. . .] .61

[. . .] =-O! [. . .] .62

Three lines of Ku� in red ink:

(�)@ [. . .] Z .63

(�) @ [. . .] Z .64

[�Z] .65Qur��n suras and ayahs by line numbers:ll. 1–4: 112:1–4 (al-Ikhl��)ll. 51–55: 7:54 (al-A�r�f )ll. 56–59: 17:81–82 (pars) (Ban� Isr��l or Isr��)

Translation

1. [. . .] of (?) Allah (?). I ask of You by the truth of2. [Your na]mes by which Jacob prayed to you [. . .]3. of Allah (?)4. [Say:] He is Allah, the One;5. Allah, the Eternal, the Absolute; He begetteth not,6. nor is He begotten; and there is none7. like unto Him.8. [. . .] and I ask of You by the the truth of the name by which9. Jacob and Joseph (?) prayed to you


PAPYRUS HÉB. 7 161

10. [. . .] in the earth11. [. . .] and I ask You12. [by the tr]uth of the name by which Moses prayed to you13. [. . .] Israel (?) and14. [. . .] and I15. [as]k You by the truth of the name by which you were prayed to by (?)16. [. . .] upon him17. [. . .] and I ask you by the truth of18. [the] name by which Muhammad prayed to You and19. [. . .] day of the noble (?) and one20. [. . .] and I ask You by the truth of the name by21. [which] [. . .]22. [. . .] and I ask You by the truth of each name that is23. [. . .]24. [. . .]25. [. . .] in the knowledge of the (?)26. [. . .] He blesses Muhammad and may the bear27. [er] of this writing be from (?)28. [. . .] deepest part of the night29. [. . .] day when (?)30. [. . .] to him (?)31. [. . .] I do not ask You32. [. . .] of Allah upon Abd Shakir (?) and Abd Shakir (?)33. and Shakir Abd Shakir (?) truth (?) [. . .]34. [. . .] from Allah to Umm (?) eating of the �esh (?)35. [. . .]36. [. . .] books37. [M]essenger of Almighty Allah. They do not feed to one38. who hangs upon himself this writing meat, nor39. [. . .] from (who?)40. writing [. . .] Oh, Allah, indeed You are in41. [. . .] and in the earth. Oh Creator!42. [. . . ] who(?) (from?)43. [. . .] book from the Most Gracious to (indeed I am?) [. . .] You are the Most Gracious44. [. . .]45. [. . .]46. [. . .] the earth (?)47. [. . .] Allah48. [. . .] the bearer 49. [. . .] childbirth50. [. . .] Your Guardian Lord is Allah who51. [cre]ated the heavens and the earth in six days52. [th]en He settled Himself on the throne: He draweth the night as a veil53. [over the] day, each seeking the other in rapid succession; and the sun and the moon54. [and the] stars (all) are subservient by His command. Verily His are the creation



55. [and the] command. Blessed be Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds! Say56. [. . .] The truth and [. . .] falsehood and what (?)57. Truth has (now) arrived, [sic] falsehood perished; for falsehood58. is (by its nature) bound to perish. We send down (stage by stage) of the Qur��n that which is59. [a he]aling and a mercy to those who believe [. . .] prayer (?)60. [In the na]me of the truth which [. . .]61. [. . .] I give thanks in His Majestic Strength [. . .]62. [. . .] I give thanks [. . .]63. Oh [. . .] Not (?)64. Oh [. . .] Not (?)65. [Oh]


WREN LIBRARY TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

AR 2(Plate 39)

Paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. The paper is �occular, uneven in thickness, and very thin toward the center of the piece. It is almost felt-like in consistency. No laid or chain lines are visible. The paper appears very fragile but this is dif�cult to ascertain since the piece is preserved between two glass plates. The paper has oxidized to a light brown with two darker water or soil spots in the Ku� section. Black ink.

Overall dimensions: 5 (top), 4.2 (bottom) � 25.4 cm.

Dimensions of printed area:

Height of letters: naskh: .1–.2 cm; Ku�: .4–1 cm.

Seventy lines: two lines of Ku� text (at top): one printed in outline at the center of a rectangle; a second around the perimeter in reserve; 68 lines in naskh. The last line (?) is only a smudge. The naskh text is darker in the top twenty lines, along both margins, and at the extreme bottom.

Decorative elements: Ku� text at the top is in a rectangle 6.5 � 4.8 cm; ‘hatching’ in the center of line nineteen of the naskh section.

The impression of the printing block is still discernable, especially in the Ku� area, but also in other places. The �rst seven to nine lines of naskh text are faded at the center. The verso is blank. The margin of the paper is distorted at the lower right-hand corner of the Ku� section. Lines six and seven of the naskh section are distorted at the right-hand end. There is a small insect preserved at the edge of a hole about halfway along the length of the piece on the left. The top right-hand and bottom left-hand corners are missing. Numerous holes, tears and lacunae are present, especially on the left-hand side of the object. Characteristic folds and wrinkles in the paper as a result of the printing process can be observed, especially at the bottom of the Ku� section, in the �rst seven to nine lines of the naskh section and in the last thirteen to �fteen lines of the latter.

Line 20 starts with: As’aluk . . .

Line 23: L� il�ha ill� All�h wa-Mu�ammad Ras�l All�h . . .

The verso is discolored under the lower half of the Ku� block and along the edges under the naskh text. Small white crystals or mineral (?) deposits can be seen in some places. Many lateral tears are visible on the verso, especially toward the bottom (i.e. ca. bottom 1/3 of the piece).


164 WREN LIBRARY, TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

* “Recto: 67 lines printed on dark brown paper with block print; 6.5 cm long block with large decorative writing at the top of the page; lines in the main text are interrupted by bands of decorations; complete on all sides; some holes in text; the ink is smudged in many places; there are no diacritical dots. The amulet contains the phrase: “l� il�ha ill� huwa” = “There is no god but He.”

Verso: blank.

* This preliminary description of the piece was provided to me by Petra Sijpesteijn, who discovered the item in Summer 2000. The more elaborated description above is the result of a �rst-hand examination I made in 2002.

Transcription

Two lines of Ku� at top.

Line one in center:

� �� .1

Line two around perimeter of rectangle, in reserve (read counter-clockwise from to right corner):

[. . .] [��] [. . .]�� [�� ] .2

�� !�� "# .3

� $� %�[�] .4


[. . .] \./\./\./\./\./ � $�[. . .] .21

[. . .] &�'() [. . .] .22

[. . .] .23

(�) *(+ [. . .] (�) , .24

� $� %�� $ .25


*(+ [. . .] .33



[. . .] - 0�!"�� [. . .] .40


, $� %�� $ [. . .] .50


Qur’an chapters and ayahs by line numbers:l. 2: 48:1 (pars) (al-Fat�)

Translation

1. Whatever God intends 2. [Verily We have granted] thee a manifest victory [. . .] that he (Allah) may forgi[ve] [. . .]

Pow[er?] 3. In the name of Allah Most Gracious, Most Merciful 4. [g]od except AllahLines 5–20 indecipherable.21. [. . .] except Allah /.\/.\/.\/.\/ [. . .]22. [. . .] dominion (?) [. . .]23. [. . .]24. He (?) [. . .] upon (?)25. No god except AllahLines 26–32 indecipherable.33. [. . .] uponLines 34–39 indecipherable.40. [. . .] the heavens and [. . .]Lines 41–49 indecipherable.50. [. . .] No god but HeLines 51–70 indecipherable.

AR 2 165



BLOCK PRINTED AMULETSIN LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS

IN THE UNITED STATES



COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARY PAPYRUS COLLECTION

705B

(Plates 40a, 40b, 40c)

Paper, unglazed. Rectangular. The paper has oxidized to a light brown hue.

Overall dimensions: 5.1 cm (top), 5.5 cm (bottom) � 13.4 cm (left), 13.5 cm (right).

116 lines of text: one line in Ku� in reserve around the interior perimeter of the teardrop design; �ve lines of naskh at the center of this design. Three lines of text in Ku� in reserve arranged about the interior of a square design in an angular spiral; the center line of characters is larger than the outer lines. There follows a total of 108 lines in naskh in relief: one block of 37 lines, one of 71 lines. The qur��nic passages end with dots inside circles.

Decorative elements: Teardrop shape at top bordered by a double �llet with one line of text in incised Ku� and �ve lines of characters inside this in relief. Beneath this is a rectangle with a single �llet border and Ku� characters printed in reserve.

The piece represents a complete amulet in a fairly good state of preservation. The amulet is formed from two smaller pieces of paper glued or pasted together end-to-end with a .7 cm overlap. The top piece is lapped on top of the longer bottom piece. The top exhibits the characteristic folds or wrinkles found in many Arabic block printed amulets, particularly in the lower left hand quadrant of the Ku� (top) print block. These folds run diagonally from the lower left to the upper right. The top piece of paper is of a somewhat heavier stock than the bottom piece. Both pieces taper; the top piece is wider at its lower end than at the top; the lower piece wider (however slightly) at its top than at the bottom. The top piece of paper is slightly delaminated in the upper right-hand corner, but no text has been affected there. The top layer of the paper in the second line of text in the lower left-hand corner of the top text block is slightly separated. The bottom piece has a slight convex bow on the left-hand side.

The �rst �fteen lines of text in the bottom piece show �ve small holes where the paper is very thin. There is one small tear in the left-hand margin at lines nine and ten. The text is marred in places by ink smudges.

Transcription

Teardrop design outer line in Ku�: �� .1

Next �ve lines in naskh in interior of teardrop design: �� .2


170 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, PAPYRUS COLLECTION

[��] .3

�� .4

��!� .5

"#$%� .6

Rectangle:

Ku�. Line ends at bottom left: [&]�' �� ()*�� +,-. � &�#/� )�%� �� 0 .7 Next line ends at top right:

1�2�3 �� "��[4] �5� "��6� 789 �5 "�!� �':;9 � �6*< ��=> ?+)� : 75 �� @ �5� �� [�A �5 ��] .8 B�C ��9 �D ��E 75 B�=F

Line in center of rectangle: [G��] [. . .] (H) 0 .9

"#�� 7�� 0 " F .10

IJ 7K6� &�� G�5 78��!� )L� M 6�%� .11

N�O� P6Q 78!R� S TIJ� 6U!' T .12

�8V "��E W�!' 7K+)� N�X "#/R� �� .13

)L�Y [:�]Z [@ * 78��\� �� "��E L�\^�� .14

[?]+)� _�)*`� _�� )�C 75 _�*� ��D _�*� G�5 _�*� .15

�< [@ *_�*�� ()*b� 75 _�*� ��6X �A _�� .16

[ )�C] 75� c@� :D d��V )�C 75� d�, [�5] )�C 75 d�� )L�Y : .17

[6QJ] 0 �� [@ * 6 � :D 6��Q )�C 75� 6/!� �A e��*� .18

6QJ f��g �� 7$K "�� 6�� "�� 6�� "� 6�O� 0 .19

�� &�' �� ()*�� +,-. � &�#/� )�%� �� D �� 0 .20

��=> [sic] ?+�)� 75 �� A �5� �� @ �5 .21

�� "��, �5� "��6�J 789 �5 "�!� �':;9 �D �6*< .22


�� B�C ��9 �D ��E 75 B�=F 1�2�3 .23

�� .24

"��!� )��!� �� .25

75 [2U� ��.-. � hKh< L�i$j �'D� .26

6�� "#$� 75 [�hk. ��, 75 �� 6� 789 .27

� 1�6�=> ($lm�� [H� ��!9] [. . .] .28

�� D �� )'D 0 6�C * f6��C Mn o�g .29

�� p /�n q��r�@ "�!� ��J [�] ($lm�� .30

"#$%� hKh!� �� D .31

[. . .] .32

� 0 [. . .] .33

[. . .] .34

[. . .] .35

+� ��E d�E 75 [. . .] .36

�8U� �J �8^X 75 L�i$j .37


6��Q )�C 75 [. . .] �A .44

75 +�<� 6 � :D .45

L�i$j +� ��E d�E .46


Gs 0(H) " F .56


0 [. . .] .64

705B 171



[. . .] .65

�D Mn [. . .] .66

�i$j +� ��E d�E 75 [. . .] .67

0 �D ��D � 6QJ �� 0 [. . .] L .68

[. . .] .69

[. . .] .70

* 0 [. . .] .71


"��!� t�!� [. . .] .85

6�X I )?�@ I 6QJ I 6Q� I (H) "#�� I 7�� I (H) G�5 I .86

7��5 I 75�5 I &m� I _� )6@ I G�5 I I [. . .] I .87

)�O5 I [. . .] I d��, I �)w$i5 I (H) ��)�x I hKh< I .88

I "#$� I "��< I "��E I )��E I � .89

I "�� I �ygJ I �8U� �8wz I {�2� .90

n I ��| I 6}�5 I [. . .] .91

[. . .] I �8O9 I [H�6i/5] [. . .] I )d� I 7~ .92

(H) [)�%5 I 7 %5 I 6�b5 I 6�� I [. . .] I c�b5 I .93

[. . .] I ��5 I (H) )�� I )h!5 I [. . .]I .94

I (H) ��~ I (H) ��| I � )�� I p�n I [. . .] .95

p�%5 I �#�� A�Q I (H) 6!O5 .96

I [. . .] I 6�6C I )?�@ I 6��C I 6��C I .97

[. . .]I �K6@ I ��E I 6�!5 I ?6w5 I (H) �*^5 .98

��B� I ��$C I [. . .]I (H) &mg I "��E I [. . .] .99


705B 173

�� I �<n I [. . .]I ?�� I �� I .100

[. . .] I [. . .] I �8w� I .101

�)w� I )L� I 7~n I )��< I c8 � I c#@� I .102

&�� m�� ?: I [. . .]I � .103

[. . .] n�i$�� B�� +� )d� G��J .104

��9�Rg [5�Q (H) "�!� [. . .] .105

[. . .] .106

[. . .] .107

[. . .](H) ��$j� .108

[. . .] 75� .109

G�� [. . .] .110


Qur��n chapters and ayahs by line number:ll. 1–6: 2:255 (end) (al-Baqarah)ll. 7–8: 2:255 (pars) (al-Baqarah)ll. 10–14: 1:1–7 (al-F�ti�ah)ll. 14–16: 114:1–6 (al-N�s)ll. 16–18: 113:1–5 (al-Falaq)ll. 18–19: 112:1–4 (al-Ikhl��)ll. 20–26: 2:255 (al-Baqarah)ll. 26–27: 41:41 (pars)-42 (Fu��ilat)

Translation

1. His throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and he feel-2. eth no fatigue3. in guarding and preserving them4. for He5. is the Most High,6. the Supreme (in glory).7. Allah! There is no god but He,—the Living, the Self-Subsisting, Supporter of all. No

slumber can seize Him nor sleep.



8. [His are] all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permitteth? He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as) before or after or behind them. Nor shall they encompass aught of His knowledge except as He willeth.

9. Allah (?)[. . .] [Master?]10. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.11. Praise be to Allah the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds: Most Gracious, Most

Merciful; Master of the Day of Judgment. Thee12. do we worship, and Thine aid we seek. Show us the straight13. way, the way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy grace, those whose (portion)14. is not wrath and who go not astray. Say: I seek [refuge] with the Lord and Cherisher15. of mankind, the King (or Ruler) of mankind, the God (or Judge) of mankind,—from the

mischief of the Whisperer (of evil), who16. whispers into the hearts of mankind,—among jinns and among men. Say: I seek17. refuge with the Lord of the dawn, [from] the mischief of created things; from the mischief

of darkness as it overspreads; from the [mischief ]18. of those who blow on knots; and from the mischief of the envious one as he practices envy.

Say: He is Allah, [the One;]19. Allah, the Eternal, the Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; and there is none

like unto Him.20. Allah! There is no god but He,—the Living, the Self-Subsisting, Supporter of all. No

slumber can seize Him nor sleep. His21. are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede22. in his presence except as He permitteth? He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as)

before or after or behind them. Nor23. shall they compass aught of his knowledge except as He willeth. His throne doth extend24. over the heavens and the earth, and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving

them25. for He is the Most High, the Supreme in glory.26. And indeed it is a Book of exalted power. No falsehood can approach it from27. before or behind it: it is sent down by One Full of Wisdom, Worthy of all praise.28. [But Allah beareth witness that what He hath sent unto thee He hath sent] with His own

knowledge, and the angels bear witness:29. But enough is Allah for a witness. There is no god but He; That is the witness of Allah,30. His angels [and] those endued with knowledge standing �rm on justice. There is no god31. but He, the Exalted, the Wise.32. [. . .]33. [. . .] Allah not34. [. . .]35. [. . .]36. [. . .] Whosoever hangs upon himself this37. writing, be he young or old


705B 175

Lines 38–43 indecipherable. 44. in [. . .] and from the mischief of the envious one 45. as he practices envy 46. hangs upon himself this writingLines 47–55 indecipherable. 56. In the name of Allah, to you(?)Lines 57–63 indecipherable. 64. [. . .] Allah 65. [. . .] 66. [. . .] with Allah except (?) 67. [. . .] whosoever hangs upon himself this writ- 68. ing [. . .] Allah. One God. There is no god but Allah. 69. [. . .] 70. [. . .] 71. [. . .] AllahLines 72–84 indecipherable. 85. [. . .] the mighty throne 86. Oh King (?), Oh Compassionate One, Oh Merciful One (?), Oh One, Oh Unity, Oh

Most Strong, Oh Independent One 87. Oh [. . .], Oh Oh King, Oh Holy One, Oh Source of Peace, Oh Giver of Faith, Oh

Overall Protector 88. Oh Strong One, Oh Forgiving One (?), Oh Majestic One, Oh Creator, Oh [. . .], Oh

Fashion- 89. er, Oh Most High, Oh All-Knowing, Oh Mighty One, Oh Wise One, Oh 90. Kindly One, Oh Gracious One, Great One, Oh Most Great, Oh Bene�cent One, Oh 91. [. . .] Oh Illustrious One, Oh Manifest One, Oh Hid- 92. den One, Oh Truth, Oh [. . .], Oh [All-Determiner?], Oh All-Seeing, Oh [. . .] 93. Oh Responsive One, Oh [. . .], Oh All-Praiseworthy, Oh All-Glorious, Oh Charitable

One, Oh One Who Burdens (?), 94. Oh [. . .], Oh Giver of Honor, Oh Ever-Living, Oh Master, Oh [. . .] 95. [. . .] Oh Extender, Oh Provider, Oh Victorious (?), Oh Pure One (?), Oh 96. Ascender (?), Oh Preserver, Oh Mindful One, Oh All-Encompassing One, 97. Oh Witness, Oh Witness, Oh Most Strong, Oh Powerful One, Oh [. . .], Oh 98. Enricher (?), Oh Commencer, Oh Restorer, Oh Just, Oh Powerful One, Oh [. . .] 99. [. . .] Oh Knowing One, Oh Speech (?), Oh [. . .], Oh Grateful One, Oh Compassionate

One100. Oh Loving One, Oh Guide, Oh [. . .], Oh Resurrector, Oh Heir101. Oh Omnipotent, Oh [. . .], Oh [. . .]102. Oh Watcher, Oh Reckoner, Oh Forgiver, Oh Hidden One, Oh Lord, Oh Al-103. mighty, Oh [. . .], Oh Lord of Majesty and Bounty104. I ask you by the truth of these names written down [. . .]105. that he may know (?) the bearer of my writing106. [. . .]107. [. . .]



108. and unbelief (?) [. . .]109. and whoever (from?)110. [. . .] and I ask youLines 111–116 indecipherable.

N.B. Asterisks in the Arabic text indicate marks of punctuation.


LILLY LIBRARY INDIANA UNIVERSITY, BLOOMINGTON

ATIYAH GIFT—MS. 9(Plate 41)

Paper. Rectangular; no chain or laid lines visible. The paper is light beige in color. It is very even in texture and thickness. It is also very thin, although somewhat thicker near the top. Many dark threads are visible in the material. Black ink.

Overall dimensions are: 7.3 (top), 7.5 (bottom) cm � 18.6 (left), 16.3 (right) cm.Dimensions of printed area are: 18.3 � 5 cm.

46 lines of text in naskh. Letters are between .1 and .3 cm in height.


Description: The clearly printed text is incomplete at the top. Some words at the top are obscured by dirt or ink smudges as are lines eleven through thirteen on the right-hand edge. There are several lacunae, especially in the top half of the piece (e.g. the end of line three; in lines nine through eleven; line twelve (in the right-hand margin); nineteen through twenty; 27–29; and 36–37 (little text affected in the last). Some holes are found in the margins. Some �nal letters at the ends of lines are blurred (from uneven pressure).

The verso shows one letter (number?) in the right-hand margin near the top and an ink smudge in the left-hand margin, near the center.

Transcription

[. . .] .1

[. . .] .2

[. . .] .3

[. . .] �� [. . .] .4

[. . .] �� .5

�� [. . .] (�) �� .6

[. . .] .7


178 LILLY LIBRARY, INDIANA UNIVERSITY, BLOOMINGTON

�� [. . .] .8

[. . .] � .9

[. . .] .10

[. . .] .11

��! [. . .] .12

[. . .] .13

� �� "#� �� $�� [. . .] .14

[. . .] %� &' () [. . .] �� .15

[. . .] (�) %� �� *�� [. . .] .16

[. . .] .17

[. . .] .18

[. . .] �+�� .19

[. . .] ,�- [. . .] %� �.� .20

� ' /� �� 01) �� 234� [. . .] .21

�4�� 5�67� [�83+9.��] (�) 8:+9.�� 86;<�� .22

[. . .] ��![. . .] =� ��> .23

� �� "#� � $�� (�) �0? .24

@ A6��[. . .] (�) @2:�� .25

��B� �� [. . .] CD ,�- .26

�� E�F�� $G ,�- @ A6�� .27

� (�) �D� H ,�- @ A6�� B� �� .28

@ A6�� B� ��I5 �JK�� L�3� .29

�� (�) M�+N�� (�) ��5�67� O�� ,�- .30


��B� �� JK�� L�3�� = > .31

(�) P0Q�� ,�- (�) R [. . .] �1)�� $� (�) 2�> �� .32

�� B� �� JK�� D 4�� () .33

�S��T ��U� V�� WX�YG $� (�) Z[\ .34

�-' �� B� �� JK��[. . .] .35

(�) � Z]�^ _2G $W�- �.) `'a $5 _ .36

_�-' �� B� ��I5 �JK�� (�) Z]�^ .37

D I.�� b�� () $S��I) V # $5 .38

� �� JK�� Z]�^ � Z]�^ _2G .39

"�3N) �W��T� $5 _�-' �� .40

Z]�^ _2G c��<� c�'�T $W�- D�Q�� .41

�-' �� B� �� JK�� [�Z]�^ �] .42

[. . .] �W&�� $5 _ .43

�� JK�� Z]�) � Z]�^ _2G .44

(�)V�) @ d3] $5 _�-' �� B� .45

Z]�^ _2G [. . .] .46

Transcribed by Waj�� al�wá.

Translation

1. [. . .]2. [. . .]3. [. . .]4. [. . .] I ask you, oh He who [. . .]5. but He not at the time (?)[. . .] nor6. ocean (?) nor [. . .] nor mountain nor sky (?)7. nor [. . .]8. There is no [god?] but He. I ask You by the truth of the name which9. [. . .]

ATIYAH GIFT—MS. 9 179


180 LILLY LIBRARY, INDIANA UNIVERSITY, BLOOMINGTON

10. [. . .]11. [. . .]12. [. . .] by Your name13. [. . .]14. [. . .] There is no god but You. I ask You by the truth of the15. name which [. . .] in prayers [. . .]16. [. . .] skies burst (?)17. [. . .]18. [. . .]19. Your teaching [. . .]20. the heavens and [. . .] upon [. . .]21. [. . .] the heights and those on them from the armies of the22. sublime (seven?) angels (?) and the archangels and the compan-23. ions and the [. . .] in Your name [. . .]24. [. . .] There is no god but You and I ask You by the truth of Your25. (?) name [. . .] written26. on paper [. . .] I ask You by the truth of Your name27. written upon the face of the sun and I ask You28. by the truth of Your name written on the (?) of the29. throne and I ask You by the truth of Your name written30. on the brows of the archangels (?) and the (?)31. around the throne and I ask You by the truth of the name32. that Isra�l praised and [. . .] Allah (?) in the manner (?)33. in the forms and I ask You by the truth of the name34. that the loyal spirit Gabriel spoke of in Your message35. [. . .] and I ask you by the truth of the name36. by which Adam prayed to You and turned to You and found You close, Oh37. Close One (?) And I ask You by the truth of name by which Noah prayed to You38. and you embarked him upon the mystical (?) Ark and he39. found You near. Oh Near One! I ask You by the truth of the name40. by which Ibrahim prayed to You and you set41. �re upon him in coolness and in safety and he found You near.42. [Oh Near One?] I ask You by the truth of the name by which43. Ismail prayed to You [. . .] and he44. found You near. Oh Near One! I ask You by the truth45. of the name by which Jacob prayed to You and You (?)46. [. . .] and he found You near.


LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART THE MADINA COLLECTION OF ISLAMIC ART,

A GIFT OF CAMILLA CHANDLER FROST

M.2002.1.370(Plate 42)

Laid paper. Roughly square; unglazed. Chain lines visible. The paper has a fairly even texture.


Eight lines of text: one in red ink at the top; one in the perimeter of the square; one around the circumference of the circle; �ve in the center of the circle. The script is in naskh (per Dr. Madina*—“rounded” rather than “naskh” and “angular” instead of “Ku�.” The terms “naskh” and “Ku�” are now considered to be rather imprecise, according to Prof. Madina).

Letter height: Red: .2–2.2 cm; black: .3–1 cm.

Decorative elements: red ink; square, circle. The square (9.3 � 9.3 cm) is outlined with a single line of text at the top, on the right and the left; there are double lines at the bottom (these .3 cm apart), .2 cm apart on the inside leaving a 1.2 cm space for one line of text. The square contains a circle 6.4 cm in diameter outlined with double lines .15 cm apart on the inside and outside, leaving a .5 cm space for one line of text around the circumference. There is a 4.4 cm diameter interior space for �ve lines of text.

There is a red smudge in the text on the left-hand side of the perimeter. One sees four lateral fold lines, two vertical fold lines 4 cm from the right-hand edge; 3 cm from the left-hand edge. Some small holes and tears appear at fold lines; little text is affected. The vertical edges of the paper are eroded slightly. The text area is stained a slightly darker brown in some places. The outer perimeter of the line about the square has a convex “bulge” on the left-hand side. The left-hand side has a slight inward curve, most noticeable at the upper center. The square is slightly skewed to the left from the vertical. Two dark ink or dirt spots are found in the upper right-hand corner.

* Prof. Ma�an Madina, Professor Emeritus of Columbia University, is the previous owner of this amulet and the one immediately following. I studied these two pieces at the time he owned them.


182 LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART

Transcription

Square frame containing two concentric circles.

Square frame: � �� .1

�� [��] �� !� "�#�� $�%&' ()*� +�� ,-�� .-�� /0 .212�3 � ��4�� 5�6�� 7��8 � 94�� )�� :;�< �

Outer round frame: letters and numerals: [. . .] .3

Inner circle:

=�" � � �� .4

�>�� ?�� .5

@��& � � �� AB�� .6

@&� � � �� C�� .7

D��E�� .8

Translation

1. Allah is the only Victor2. In the name of Allah. Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Oh, Allah! I ask You, Oh He to Whom

belongs openhandedness and generosity, Oh He Who, in His graciousness, demarcated the nations, Oh Creator of the tablet and the pen, Oh Discoverer of injury and blessing, Oh Receiver of repentance and remorse, Oh Provider!

3. [. . .]4. There is no god but Allah. Oh Everlasting5. in existence. There is no god but Allah. Oh Forgiver6. of sins. There is no god but Allah. Oh Hearer7. of prayers. There is no god but Allah. Oh Generous8. in forgiveness.

M.2002.1.371(Plate 43)

Paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. The paper is heavy with some thinner sections at the top and bottom. It has a medium brown hue, with some darker stains at the top and on the right edge. Black ink.

Overall dimensions: 6.3 (top), 7.8 (bottom) � 34.8 (left), 34.4 (right) cm.


Dimensions of printed area: 5 � 33.7 cm.

30 (or 31? lines 3 & 4 = 3,4,5?) lines of text: 25 (26?) lines of text; �ve in a “magic square.”

The script is in naskh (= rounded. See my note re: Prof. Madina in the description of M.2002.1.370). The text is incomplete at the top: there is one line of text followed by a transverse line .1 cm wide; then one line of larger text underlined by a double (?) line. This is followed by three lines of text, two lines of larger text, six lines, and an empty rectangular box (2.1 � 5.15 cm) outlined with a single line on the sides, double lines at the top and bottom.

Next is a twenty-square grid, 4 squares across, 5 down (5.2 � 6.9 cm) composed of single �llets. Most squares are 1.4 cm high; their widths vary: 1.3–1.4 cm. The text is vocalized.

Decorative elements include a ‘magic square’ and parallel lines.

Letter height: .3–1.5 cm.

The paper shows distinctive wrinkles, at least seven horizontal, and one fold line running vertically through the center. Wrinkles are found in lines two, three, eight and ten; between eleven and twelve; between sixteen and seventeen, twenty and 21, 23 and 24, in 26, in the second row of boxes and in the margin at the bottom. Some small holes, in lines twelve (end), eighteen (right end), and between eighteen and nineteen (left end). Little text is affected. The paper sheet is �ared at the bottom. Nothing on the verso.

Transcription

[. . .] (�) $�� $.�� [. . .] .1

[. . .] F� .2

7�> G�?#�� H $*��%/I .3

[� J��/K ()�3 �+�/L=] .4

[. . .] .5

[. . .] .6

[��] [. . .] .7

(�) � MN)�� [. . .]+� .8

[. . .] .9

[. . .] OP �� Q )�8 � [. . .] .10

M.2002.1.371 183


184 LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART

[. . .] .11

[. . .] .12

R�94�� STUE= F� .13

[. . .] .14

[. . .] .15

[. . .] .16

[. . .] .17

[. . .] .18

[. . .] [�D�] F� .19

,-�� .-�� [. . .] .20


$� � ,-3 � �.-3 � � � .27

�.S+� � ��V� � �W& � R )�8 � .28

�� )X�Y� � 3�)XZ � (�) � .29

3�)+8 � 3�)�[ � 3 )�\� � M3P � .30

SC � ��)Y> � 1� )23 � (�) � .31

Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number:ll. 3–4: 20:105 (�a-Ha)l. 13: 8:13 (al-Anf�l)

Translation

1. [. . .] dominion except Your dominion (?)[. . .]2. when [. . .]3. They ask thee concerning the mountains: say,4. [“My Lord will uproot them and scatter them as dust;” ?]5. [. . .]6. [. . .]7. [. . .] Oh


8. Allah! [. . .] who does not (?) 9. [. . .]10. [. . .] There is no strength but in Allah [. . .]11. [. . .]12. [. . .]13. Remember He covered you with a sort of drowsiness,14. [. . .]15. [. . .]16. [. . .]17. [. . .]18. [. . .]19. when (?) that (?) if (?)20. [. . .] Allah, Most Gracious, Most MercifulLines 21–26 indecipherable.27. Oh King Oh Merciful Oh Compassionate Oh Allah28. Oh Overall Protector Oh Giver of Faith Oh Source of Peace Oh Holy29. Oh Creator Oh Majestic Oh Almighty Oh (?)30. Oh Dominant Oh Forgiving Oh Fashioner Oh Maker31. Oh All-Knowing Oh Opener Oh Provider Oh (?)

M.2002.1.371 185



METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART DEPARTMENT OF ISLAMIC ART

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

1971.237.1 FLETCHER FUND, 1971

(Plate 44)

Paper, Unglazed. Irregular rectangle. The paper is heavy, opaque, and �ne grained. In the left margin the paper is heavily stained.

Overall dimensions: 11.2 (top); 11.9 (lower center); 8 (bottom) � 13.9 cm.Dimensions of printed area: 8.1 � 13.5 cm.

Number of lines: one line in each of two bands with half-twists. The texts run vertically. One vertical line in each of two stylized banners in reserve. Both the naskh and Ku� scripts are pointed and vocalized. The naskh is in the bands; the Ku� is in the banners.

Decorative elements: two bands with half-twists; one “mihrab” or prayer niche with two stylized lamps at the bottom, �anked by two stylized “banners” with sawtooth outer edges.

Height of letters: naskh: .2–.5 cm; Ku�: .4–1.2 cm.

This piece represents the upper left-hand corner of a much more extensive amulet. Two bands are formed of double lines 1 mm apart with a middle space .8 cm wide containing a pointed and vocalized text (1 line in each). Each band is about 8 cm in length overall. The two bands are about 1 cm apart. The right-hand band shows much text loss, and is partially missing. Otherwise little text has been lost. Several small holes and tears are found here. The top of the left band of text has been damaged by a stain or dirt. Below the bands are three “�elds” of decoration and text. At center (2.5 cm (w) � 5 cm (h)) is the stylized niche containing a representation of a lamp suspended on a chain. A border approximately .4 cm wide is comprised of a single line on either side of a wider (.2 cm) band. The niche is in the form of a rectangle topped by an “onion dome” or arch. Traces of a further line design appear in the lower left corner. To the left is a stylized banner (battle �ag?) ca. 5 cm high � 2.3 cm wide formed of a single line. At the top of this is a round “knob;” to the left is a rectangular device probably representing a banner or �ag with four “sawteeth.” Within this area (3.2 cm high) is a text of two words carved in reserve. Below this and to the left is another partially preserved design consisting of double vertical lines ca. 3.5 cm long, and at right angles at bottom is another sawtooth design running to the right. The lines here are ca. .1 cm apart. On the right at bottom is a similar “banner,” ca. 3.2 cm high, partially preserved, also containing part of a text in reserve. Two different printing blocks likely were used to create this amulet.


188 METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

Three transverse and diagonal “wrinkles” on the left extend into the center; one on the right cuts across the twist in the band at its top.

Transcription

The �rst two lines are in the twisted or braided bands at the top of the amulet (read left to right).

�� .� � �� .1.� � ��

�� .� � �� .2.� � ��

In left-hand banner: �� .3

In right-hand banner: � [��!��] .4

Qur��n suras and ayahs by line numbers: ll. 1–2: 112:1–4 (al-Ikhl��)

Translation

1. Say: He is Allah, the One; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him. Say: He is Allah, the One; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him.

2. Say: He is Allah, the One; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him. Say: He is Allah, the One; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him.

3. The One, the All Compelling Subduer4. [Praise be to?] Allah

1975.192.20 GIFT OF RICHARD ETTINGHAUSEN, 1975

(Plate 45)

Paper. Unglazed. Rectangular. The paper is fairly heavy with a relatively coarse grain.

Overall dimensions: 3.8–3.9 � 14.9 cm.Dimensions of the printed area: 2 � 9.7 cm.

28 lines of text: one line in Ku� in reserve running around the interior of the border of the rectangular area; 27 lines in naskh in the center. Each line consists of a single word or part of a word. There is no vocalization or pointing of the text.



A darker spot appears at top center and around a tear in the left-hand margin. There is a tear beginning at the left-hand margin and extending through line sixteen. The top right-hand corner missing; small nicks are found in the right-hand margin. One small worm hole appears at top center and another small hole in the Ku� text adjacent to line �ve on the right-hand side. A third hole is in the lower right-hand corner. The lower right-hand corner is torn away on the diagonal. A dirt particle covers the beginning of line six. The left-hand edge is kinked slightly inward at line four. The edges of the inked surfaces have bled outward in some places, perhaps due to downward pressure on the printing block, particularly on the left-hand side. Border lines have bled through slightly to the verso.

Transcription

Line one begins in the upper left hand corner and reads down the left-hand side and then around the margins:

� (�) " �#$�� %&$�� '�!�� #�#$�� () �� ( *+��, ��-�� $�� %�/0�� () �� ( ��1) � ��2 .1

Line two begins at the top of the white space.

�+3 .2

4�� [sic] � .3

�5 .4

4�� .5

�'5 .6

(�) �6$7� .7

89� .8

�:!�� .9

[�;��] ;<�� .10

��( .11

� = .12

[. . .] .13

1975.192.20 189



[. . .] .14

(�) " �#$�� .15

[�>]?�� .16

[��@��] �'�� .17

[��] A .18

(�) �� .19

[. . .] .20

(� [. . .] .21

(� B�5 .22

() " �� .23

�, .24

�:�$�� .25

�C&$�� .26

[. . .] .27

[. . .] .28

Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number:l.1: 3:18 (�l �Imr�n)

Translation

1. There is no god but He: That is the witness of God, His angels, and those endued with knowledge, standing �rm on justice. There is no god but He, the Exalted in Power, the Wise. Greatness belongs to Allah; strength (?) belongs to Allah.

2. In the name of3. llah [sic], Most Gra-4. cious,5. Most Merciful6. entirely (?)7. The King8. The Living One


9. who [The Guide?]10. He Who11. does not12. die and13. [. . .]14. [. . .]15. power (?)16. and mi[ght?]17. The Self-Subsis-18. ting (The Forgiving?)19. and Allah20. [. . .]21. [. . .] and there is no22. power and no23. strength except24. in Allah,25. the Most High,26. the Mighty27. [. . .]28. [. . .]

1975.192.21 GIFT OF RICHARD ETTINGHAUSEN, 1975

(Plate 46)

A translation of the text, rendered by the late Prof. A.M. Schimmel, is on catalog cards in the �les of the Islamic collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Laid paper. Irregular square. Unglazed.


Number of lines of text: Thirteen. One at top in black; one in red ink; eight (one partial in rectangular area); one in corners of square; two in the concentric circles. One Ku� line is at the top; one line is handwritten. At the bottom is a 13.2 � 7.9 cm rectangle. To the right are seven lines in naskh script, pointed and vocalized (area = 7.2 � 7.9 cm). On the left is a smaller rectangle, contiguous (7.9 � 6.4 cm), containing three concentric circles. The outer two are highlighted in red ink. The outermost is 1 cm wide with one line of text. The next is .9 cm wide with one line of text. The innermost circle has a diameter of 1.6 cm. In the corners of the smaller rectangle are four words. Below this is one partial line of text. Traces of red ink in the right-hand margin may be printed.

1975.192.21 191



Decorative elements: foliation on Ku� letters; red ink highlights and one line of text. Red highlights have been added in the interstices of the double lines forming the rectangles.

Height of letters: naskh: .3–.6 cm; Ku�: .9–3.8 cm; handwritten text (in red) .4–1.9 cm.

This piece is the preserved upper left-hand corner of a more extensive amulet. Four vertical folds are to be seen; one is transverse. Another horizontal wrinkle appears in the line of Ku� text. One diagonal wrinkle is found in the right-hand rectangle, in lines three and four.

Transcription

�'54�� 54�� [� �+3] [. . .] .1

This line is handwritten. D�4� EFG� � �H 41 � [. . .] .2

I��$J [�] K�2 L) ?�MJ %�4�N� =O([� P<�] [. . .] .3

(�) B�Q�� L,4R�� %�'�S�� "T��U�� [. . .] .4

B�V�� %�U!�� ?W��X�� B��Y[(�] [. . .] .5

T��$�� [ �� ]� "�R�� A��!�� Z��9� [I�[ B�\��] [. . .] .6

[. . .]4�� ]C^+�� _4R�� >̀�[B�] [. . .] .7

"[. . .] �C�� M�� :G 4�+�� Ca�� [. . .] .8

[. . .] � 4!+�� B�bW( [. . .] .9

From top right-hand corner reading clockwise: :G�2 [:G]�$H :G�� :G�� .10

Line on outer band of circle at lower left: ��H� D�� [. . .] ��H %�'H��T :G �:5 ( I�F5 �:5 O .11

Inner circle from bottom center: �C�[ K:2 �� I�[ ��F�H �T�� .12

[. . .]� �54�� [. . .] .13

Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number:l. 2: 61:13 (pars) (al-�aff )

Translation

1. [. . .] [In the name of Allah] Most Gracious, Most Merciful2. Help from God and near victory3. noble [verses are] useful when God most High willeth4. [. . .] cold and migraine and blows [. .]


5. [. . .] the children and for female demons and for love and acceptance 6. [. . .] the kings and rulers and judges [. . .] 7. [. . .] the enobled (sic) [. . .] daily bread and for hilt of the sword and 8. [. . .] horses and journey, day and night, [. . .] 9. [. . .]and for annihilation of witchcraft [. . .]10. (from upper right): Suf�cient—Healing—[. . .]—Ful�lling11. O Living [until not Living in] the eternity of His kingdom and His duration [. . .] the heart

of the one who wears it.12. He knows everything and is powerful and capable (to do) everything.13. [. . .]

N.B. This translation is essentially that of the late Prof. Annemarie Schimmel (1922–2003) mentioned above. Prof. Schimmel’s translation is recorded on the �le cards that contain the physical description of this piece. It appears here through the good of�ces of Dr. Stefano Carboni, Associate Curator, Department of Islamic Art. I have made some minor additions, corrections and provided one or two hypothetical reconstructions. Such emendations are enclosed in brackets and I bear sole responsibility for their accuracy or inaccuracy. The order of the lines has also been altered from Prof. Schimmel’s arrangement: I have placed the lines contained in the smaller rectangle to the left at the end of the translation (lines 10–12) whereas Prof. Schimmel places those lines near the beginning of her reading.

1978.546.32GIFT OF NELLY, VIOLET AND ELIE ABEMAYOR,

IN MEMORY OF MICHAEL ABEMAYOR, 1978(Plates 47a, 47b, 47c)

Paper. Roughly rectangular. Fairly uniform in density and texture. The color is a rather even light brown.

Overall dimensions: 23 � 8.2 cm.Dimensions of printed area: 20.7 � 6 cm (top block); 20.7 � 6.7 cm (bottom block).

35 lines of text: One in naskh inside a six-pointed star; one in Ku�, printed in reserve in a circle around the star. The remaining lines are in unvocalized naskh.

Decorative elements: at the top, a circle is bordered by a square composed of two parallel lines. The corners of the square contain stylized leaf decorations in outline. This appears to have been printed with a separate block either before or after the rest of the text. This uppermost text is skewed slightly toward the right. Somewhat heavier pressure appears to have been applied to the lower right-hand section. There is a trace of more printing at the bottom of the piece. Remnants of another decoration or decorative text are partially visible at the bottom of the piece.

1978.546.32 193



Height of letters: Ku�: .3–1.2 cm; naskh: .1–.35 cm.

The piece is slightly narrower at the top; both the left- and right-hand margins are indented adjacent to the top text block. There is a pinhole in the third (?) word in line �fteen, also some slight abrasion and loss of text in line ten.

Transcription

Inside star: [. . .](�) %b�+�� .1

In circle: � () �� (� � �!�� L�QU^c .2

�'54�� 54�� +3 .3

[. . .] (�) L�d�� 42�$H �e!�� f� .4

[. . .] � �$1� [. . .] � � I�[ [. . .] .5

IM^+!�� K�cg�� I&$�� %[�b�� [. . .] � [. . .] .6

g� �_�� [. . .] (�) h4i�N�[. . .] .7

[. . .] � � � O j+�� k[�] .8

:X�� [. . .](�) 4��&�� [. . .]� .9

[. . .] .10

�� ( � ��l �6��X�m h�� 'G D�� ( _�F�N� nmo ��l .11

(�) ��l A�'�� :!�� () .12

[. . .] .13

[. . .] .14

[. . .] .15

[. . .] .16

[. . .]� (�) A��5g�� A�+�g� [. . .] .17

[. . .] �� () �� ( �:!�� [. . .] .18

[. . .] � �69�$�� _� %�/0H .19


[. . .] (�) ��p�� 42�$H[. . .] .20

[. . .] B�� [. . .] � [. . .] � [. . .] .21

[. . .] B� B0q� (�) =0+�� [. . .] � [. . .] .22

[. . .] .23

[. . .] B�� D�<9� (�) _�Qr�� [. . .] .24

[. . .] .25

[. . .] .26

:G[. . .]B�� A0�N� [. . .] .27

[. . .](�) e��$� �H� A0�N� .28

[. . .] .29

[. . .] � () �� ( .30

[. . .] .31

[. . .] �H� s�d$�� [. . .] .32

[. . .] (�) =�� [. . .] .33

[. . .] (�) � ?U^+�� [. . .] .34

[. . .] .35

Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number:l. 11: 2:1 (al-Baqarah)ll. 11–12: 3:1 (�l �Imr�n)

N.B. “x” in this text represents punctuation, a period at the end of a passage.

Translation

1. The authority (?)2. Allah be praised! Praise be to Allah! There is no god but Allah!3. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful,4. I am the truth, punisher of demons (?)[. . .]5. [. . .] upon Allah. To Allah is [. . .] and blessings of Allah [. . .]

1978.546.32 195



6. [. . .] Allah [. . .] the great submission and the beautiful names 7. [. . .] the great (?)[. . .] and Lord of the 8. [w]orld and heaven. Oh One! [. . .] 9. Allah [. . .] the Manifest (?)[. . .] which does not10. [. . .]11. Alif Lam Mim. This is the Book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt, to those who fear

God. Alif Lam Mim. Allah. There is no god12. but He,—the Living, the Self-Subsisting, Eternal. Alif Lam Mim (?)13. [. . .]14. [. . .]15. [. . .]16. [. . .]17. [. . .] the oaths and the judgments (?) and [. . .]18. [. . .] Allah, the Living. There is no god but He [. . .]19. angels, Lord of all the worlds and [. . .]20. [. . .] punisher of the demons (?)[. . .]21. [. . .] and [. . .] and [. . .] and the [. . .]22. [. . .] and [. . .] comforts (?) and splendor of the [. . .]23. [. . .]24. [. . .] companions (?) in belief and the [. . .]25. [. . .]26. [. . .]27. [. . .] the utterance and the [. . .] in28. utterance and who ever hangs (?)[. . .]29. [. . .]30. no god but Allah [. . .]31. [. . .]32. [. . .] the dust and from [. . .]33. [. . .] words (?)[. . .]34. [. . .] the seven and (?)[. . .]35. [. . .]


IN MEMORY OF MICHAEL ABEMAYOR, 1978(Plate 48)

Paper. Rectangular. Aged to a light brown with darker �bers visible.

Overall dimensions: 8.5 (top); 8.1 (bottom) � 27.2 cm.Dimensions of printed area: 6.9 � 23.8 cm.


±53 lines of text:* one line of Ku�; four lines of naskh; one line of Ku�; two lines of naskh (this arrangement repeated eight times); one line of Ku�, twenty lines of naskh; one line of Ku�. All the lines of Ku� text are printed in reserve.

Between the last two text sections, approximately 10%–15% of the text is lost, mostly in the lower left-hand corner. The Ku� blocks are very even.

Height of letters: Ku�: .5–1.0 cm; naskh: .1–6.9 cm.

The paper is slightly discolored and darker along the right-hand side (nearly one-half of the piece). Several dark brown spots are to be found, mostly toward the bottom of the strip of paper.

* The number of lines is uncertain due to extensive damage to the piece in the lower portion. An accurate count of lines is, for this reason, nearly impossible.

Transcription

(The number of lines in naskh between the lines of Ku� varies from 2 to 11)

One line in Ku�: �() �� ( .1

Four lines in naskh: �'54�� 54�� +3 .2

��-�� $�� %�/0�� () �� ( L� � ��2 .3

nmjc� :�1) ��m� �'�!�� #�#$�� () �� ( *+��, .4

t1� () ��&�u ( [. . .] �M�CW �� jcg� P<�W .5

One line in Ku�: [. . .] .6

Two lines in naskh: (�)��M�� M�� C�$�� B�vHg�� IM^+!�� jcg� �� H O .7

t1� () �� ( ;<�� t1� K�U�� .8

One line in Ku�: [. . .] .9

Two lines in naskh: L�+� ��N[. . .] A L��H ��N n�H �� H O .10

t1� () �� ( ;<�� t1� L�� w ��x<H .11

One line in Ku�: [. . .] .12

Two lines in naskh: �1�b�+� [. . .] n�H �H O .13

1978.546.33 197



t1� () �� ( ;<�� t1� [. . .] K:2 (� .14

One line in Ku�: [. . .] .15

Two lines in naskh: (� [. . .] �H O[. . .] ( ;<�� H O .16

t1� () �� ( ;<�� t1�[. . .] �6� ��g� �V� .17

One line of Ku�: [. . .] .18

Two lines of naskh: (�) ��[� �X5� (�) t6W �� ?c� �H O �'54�� 54�� H O .19

t1� () �� ( ;<�� t1� [. . .] � .20

One line of Ku�: [. . .] .21

Two lines of naskh: [. . .] �H O [. . .] �H O .22

t1� () �� ( ;<�� t1� [. . .] � �� .23

One line of Ku�: [. . .] .24

Two lines of naskh: (�) =�yo�U�� [. . .] =��rg� [. . .] �H� O .25

t1� () �� ( ;<�� t1� ��0q �#z �H [. . .] (�) =0�� .26

One line of Ku�: T�T� O �:�[ O� n�H O .27

Two lines of naskh: "4\{�� C1�� n�� n�H O .28

t1� () �� ( ;<�� t1� .29

One line of Ku�: [. . .] A0[ O .30

20 lines of naskh: t1� () �� ( ;<�� t1� [. . .] �H� [��g�] (�) � �:5 ��$� �H O .31

[. . .] =,�F�� jcg� �e| n�}^c[�] .32

(�) �U$1 (�) �L� �C�[ � I��r � �!H D�� I�[ �C-4iq �� B#~� [. . .] .33

%V�M�� [. . .] � _�F�N� �<� �C�[ e�[ �H� [. . .] .34

[. . .] B�� 4i�� 4id�� H� [. . .] �� .35

%�Mr� 4�� 4��N� �H� (�) %$+�� [. . .]B�� .36


�H� (�) t6U�� T T�+G� 46�� C�[� 46@�� H� (�) �� .37

L�bC^S�� (�) L�C^Sa�� [sic] �o I�[ [. . .] (�) L�C@b��(�) L�'�$�� .38

%H��c(�� [. . .] B�� (�) �O�g�� L�b�+�� .39

D5�r <Cz�� [. . .] B� �H� .40

[. . .] .41

[nm]�c�� [. . .] .42

[. . .] .43

[. . .] .44

L�bC^2 [�L�b�c] L�bC^2 [. . .] .45

� O n�c�� (�) %[�b�� (�) :��U�� L�b�+�� [. . .] .46

[. . .] .47

[. . .] (�) �Hl �H ��N [. . .] .48

[. . .] .49

[. . .] (�) P(�� [. . .] .50

One line of Ku�: n�9� .51

[. . .] .52

[. . .] .53

Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number:ll. 2–4: 3:18 (�l �Imr�n)

Translation

1. There is no god but Allah2. In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful3. There is no god but He: That is the witness of God, His angels, and those endued with

knowledge, standing �rm4. on justice. There is no god but He, the Exalted in power, the Wise. Oh Allah! Indeed,

I ask you

1978.546.33 199



5. by these names which (?) already made clear [. . .] that no one but You safeguards 6. [. . .] 7. Oh He to Whom belong the beautiful names and the lofty ideals and the light and the

days (?) 8. youth (?). You are Allah of whom there is no other god but You, 9. [. . .]10. Oh He Who is the King of every place, [. . .] of every tongue,11. remembered in every time. You are Allah of whom there is no god but You,12. [. . .]13. Oh He Who is Ruler [. . .] for His dominion14. and no thing [. . .] You are Allah of whom there is no god but You15. [. . .]16. Oh He Who is the One Who does not [. . .] Oh He Who [. . .] and not17. before the ones who are �rst [. . .]You are Allah of whom there is no god but You18. [. . .]19. Oh He who is the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Oh He Who is generous to every

house (?) with His mercy and His justice (?)20. and [. . .] You are Allah of whom there is no god but You21. [. . .]22. Oh He Who [. . .] Oh He Who [. . .]23. every [. . .] You are Allah of whom there is no god but You24. [. . .]25. Oh He Who [. . .] the voices [. . .] the haughty (?)26. the prayers (?)[. . .] Who is strong in His majesty. You are Allah of whom there is no god

but You.27. Oh King, Oh Sublimely Exalted, Oh Loving One,28. Oh Ruler of the realm of the world and the hereafter,29. You are Allah of whom there is no god but You30. Oh Thoroughly Knowing [. . .]31. Oh He Who knows life. Allah (?) where (?) and what (not) [. . .] You are Allah of whom

there is no god but You.32. [I] ask You by the truth of these names written down [. . .]33. He brought down for him Gabriel upon the heart of Muhammad—may Allah bless

him—so that (?) we might worship (?)34. [. . .] And whoever hangs upon himself this writing and [. . .] misfortune35. and prevention [. . .] and from compulsion and the tomb and the [. . .]36. and the [. . .] and the hearing (?) (beast?) and from apostasy and desolation and odor37. of the chest (?) and from the other, and rot in the structure of the house (?) and from38. tempests (?) and �oods (?) [. . .] upon the timorous ones (?) and the devil39. and the Sultan and winds (?) and the [. . .] and disease40. and from the [. . .]. I seek refuge with the Lord41. [. . .]42. [. . .] and I as[k You]43. [. . .]44. [. . .]


45. [. . .] Devil (sultan?) Devil46. [. . .] the eternal power (?) and obedience (?) and I ask You, oh Allah47. [. . .]48. [. . .] for every one who believes (?)[. . .]49. [. . .]50. [. . .] his Patron (?)[. . .]51. [. . .]52. [. . .]53. [. . .]



Paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. The paper is very thin and �ne-grained. Backed with paper as a preservation measure.

Overall dimensions: 8 � 25 cm.Dimensions of printed area: 7.2 � 22.9 cm.

Height of letters: naskh: .1–.3 cm in height; Ku�: .5–1.5 cm.

54 lines of text: Three lines of naskh; one line of Ku� in outline; 40 lines of naskh; one line of Ku� in outline; nine lines of naskh. Most of the right-hand end of line one is missing. A large triangular piece of the left-hand side from line four to line ten is lost. There are two holes in line thirteen: one on the right-hand side, one on the left. Another hole appears to the right of line �fteen. The right-hand margin of lines sixteen-twenty is eroded. A large area at the left-hand ends of lines 19–27 is lost, as are parts of lines 28–38. Letters at the beginning of lines 16–18 are curved to the left.

Transcription

I&$�� [. . .] .1

[. . .]�-�#$�� [. . .] .2

[. . .] * � � O K�+�� k�g� �_�� [K]�'5g� tCH� [. . .] .3

One line in Ku�: ��[n ] �[;] ; �� O ]Cb� O .4

[. . .] �+�� * [. . .] .5

(�) [�]�bU�� * 4��b�� .6

1978.546.34 201



[. . .]��+�� D�� _��S�� .7

[. . .] .8

[. . .] .9

[4�S� �H�] ��$�� [. . .] � ��b+9� _�F�N�� .10

��1)� A�pM�� ?��W� A��5g�� A�+�g,� L� .11

(� �� () �� ( ;<�� C&z L��$J �� +�� .12

� �� [��[]B� �_� %�/0H 46� [. . .] �H �CY [. . .]P .13

* [. . .] .14

[. . .] .15

(�) A��(�� A� (� B0 � �0+�� [_]�Qr�� [. . .] .16

[B�H]4�� B�Up�� L� ��c� [. . .] .17

(�)�� c�� _�Qr��[. . .] .18

(�)0c� (�) ��M�� [. . .]� ��M�� (�) ?G4�[. . .] .19

�4!��[. . .] � .20

[. . .] ��X^c�� .21

[. . .] :G ��X�� A0�N� .22

[. . .] :G ?+�� (�) 4̀�+�� .23

[. . .] �H� T��$�� .24

[. . .] (�)�� L�� () �� ( .25

[. . .] [��d��] ��Q�� .26

[. . .] I�[� [. . .](�) 4R\g� (�) 4!U�� .27

[. . .] .28

[. . .] .29


� (�) ?M�� ?UR�� ?U^+��(�) P��r [. . .] :G .30

[. . .]=� PH� [. . .] .31

(�) %��7(� [. . .] ?W��#�� [. . .] .32

[. . .] (�) ��H [. . .] ��N ��M�� [. . .] .33

[. . .] .34

[. . .] ��C�[ ��W A#z� .35

[. . .] =Ol ��J�� DCpFG ��W .36

[. . .] (�) �Mz .37

[. . .] �6Y�C^S�� "T4�� 42�$H .38

[. . .] ��G A�'�� n�� #$W� (�) A�+�, .39

�[. . .] ��M�� :G [. . .] �� .40

��Up�� n�9� �, () " �� (� B�5 ( [. . .] .41

[. . .] � =O(, �6Y�C^S�� (�) n�H[. . .] .42

[. . .] �(�) A��$�� [. . .] .43

[. . .] n�[ L�d�� 42�$H .44

One line in Ku�: � O :�a�� n�b�W .45

[. . .] �6Y .46

[. . .] B�� Ll4��, o�$� �H I�[ L�d�� 42�$H L�b�c (� .47

� >45 :G _�F�N� �<� �H� O t1� �54�� [. . .] .48

(�)4rf� n&G� � Z��q � �1�� .49

�� () �� ( � IM^+5 [. . .] � Z .50

�C&$�� 4$�� _� �� t��J �C�[ .51

�C�$�� ?C+�� [. . .] � .52

1978.546.34 203



� �!H I�[ � I��r� .53

[. . .] .54

* Asterisks indicate marks of punctuation in the Arabic text.

Translation

1. [. . .] the Magni�cent 2. [. . .] and the incantations [. . .] 3. [. . .] the Destroyer of the live and Lord of the earth and heaven. Oh One! [. . .] 4. Oh Kindly One, Oh Most Strong, [O]h [Wi]se One 5. [. . .] the exaltedness 6. the Pure. Send do[wn] (?) 7. the piercing meteor and the [. . .] 8. [. . .] 9. [. . .]10. the book inscribed and [. . .] and the knowledge [and for what they give]11. praise and by the oaths and judgments and by the casting down of the stars. For indeed

it is12. a great oath if they believe. Allah of whom there is no other god but He [. . .]13. [. . .] what [. . .] except for an angel (?), Lord of all the worlds, One14. [. . .]15. [. . .]16. [. . .] and men of the sword and (?)17. dwellers of the mountains and the s[ands]18. [. . .] and the associates of the oracle and the (?) Tempter19. [. . .] he raises (?) the people and [. . .] the sarcophagi (?) and (?)20. and [. . .] and the guard21. the listening [. . .]22. speech and intimidation in [. . .]23. and eavesdrop (?) in [. . .]24. (?) and the pledges and from (who?) [. . .]25. There is no god but Allah. (?) was [. . .]26. and the iron (new?) [. . .]27. the green (?) sea (?)[. . .] and upon [. . .]28. [. . .]29. [. . .]30. in [. . .] his seven forms (?) and the hyena and the making (?) and31. [. . .] mothers [. . .]32. [. . .] and the storms [. . .] fetuses (?)33. [. . .] and the souls of every [. . .] of them (?)[. . .]34. [. . .]35. be determined in it [. . .]36. in it and accede and recite verses [. . .]


37. with (?)[. . .]38. Punisher of the evil spirits and the devils [. . .]39. with poisons (?) and with the strength of the Self-Subsisting King, for He [. . .]40. [. . .] in �re King [. . .] and41. There is no power and no strength save in Allah, the King, the Almighty King42. [. . .] from you (?) the devils with the verses and [. . .]43. [. . .] the sciences (?)[. . .]44. Punisher of the demons. Your knowledge [. . .] the dev-45. By Your secret kindness, Oh Allah!46. ils [. . .]47. And there is no dominion Punisher of the demons upon one who seeks refuge in the

Qur��n and the [. . .]48. [. . .] Most Gracious. You, oh bearer of this writing, are in the custody of Allah.49. For He is Allah, your Neighbor, your Protector, your Help-50. er and [. . .] perfection of Allah. There is no god but He,51. in Him I have placed my trust; He is the Lord of the mighty throne52. and [. . .] and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing53. May Allah bless Muhammad54. [. . .]



Paper. Rectangular. Unglazed; very �ne grain. Uniform light brown hue. There are two small holes at top center; the text is unaffected.

Overall dimensions: 7.6 (top), 8 (bottom) � 13.4 cm.Dimensions of printed area: 5.5 � 12.5 cm.

Twelve lines of text: four lines in a decorative block at the top; eight running horizontally across the strip. Within the decorative element are three lines of text. The letters of these words are connected by a line at their base and each line of text is separated from the next by an intervening line. The eight horizontal lines of text are pointed and vocalized.

Decorative elements: the block at the top is composed of two parallel lines or �llets. The outer square frame contains one line of text around the inside perimeter. The letters are connected to one another at their bases by a continuous line. Inside this line of text are two interlocking squares, also formed by a set of parallel lines. The squares are arranged so that their corners form the points of a six-pointed star.

Letter height: (top, unpointed text) .3–.7 cm; (unpointed text) .2–.9 cm.

1978.546.35 205



The top margin of the paper has an outward bow at its center. The paper is slightly narrower at the top. Some ink bleeding along the �llet lines is to be seen in the decorative frame at the top. The paper exhibits distinctive wrinkles running vertically along its length with occasional diagonal folds as well. The entire piece is covered with traces of letters and decorative elements in reverse that appear to have resulted from a second copy (or multiple copies?) of the print—the ink still wet —having been placed face down on top of this print. The last line of text is slightly smudged.

Transcription

Three lines of text inside a six-pointed star formed by double ruled lines; one line running around interior of framing square formed by double ruled lines. Eight horizontal lines of text.

Inside the star: �� o�z� .1

� o�$1� o�z .2

� �� o�$1 .3

Lining outer square, top right corner: � () �� ( .4

Lower right corner: [. . .] A�'�� (�)O� n�H

Lower left corner: ( [. . .] ?Cc

Top left corner: [. . .] �� P��

�Up�� _�� t1T �H O ��m� nmjc� .5

O %Mz�4�� H �� t$R\ "4w .6

� � :G �6�H�H O :J ��2 �Mz :J ��[ .7

4x s4�H O :X�#z :G (�) :&G� O :J .8

;4H� (�) �q� t1�� y� ]Cx :XW .9

:1� 4G Dic t1�� L#5� ]Cx .10

;��H� :X�� t1�� 5�X^c� ]Cx .11

[:-]��[� ?C7 �42 :Mz �4r�� m� .12


Translation

1. I seek refuge and I 2. seek refuge and we seek refuge and 3. we seek refuge. He is Allah. 4. Lining outer square: Top right corner: There is no god but Allah. Lower right corner: King and Oh (?) Self-Subsisting [. . .] Lower left corner: All-Hearing [. . .] not Top left corner: Omnipotence He [. . .] 5. I ask You, oh Allah, oh He to Whom are brought near the necks of ty- 6. rants, to Whom the keys of the Pharaohs are surrendered. Oh 7. my Preparedness (together) with my Strength. Oh believers in My One- 8. ness. Oh my Protector (?) in my seclusion. Oh Relief of my 9. care. How fearful (?) You are the [. . .] of my affair.10. How I am saddened and You are the reason for my joy.11. How desolate I am! You are my goal and my destiny.12. Oh Allah! Divert from me the evil of all my ene[mies].

1978.546.36 GIFT OF NELLY, VIOLET AND ELIE ABEMAYOR,


Paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. The paper is �ne textured with a light brown hue.


Thirteen lines of text. Three or more lines are missing at the top. The text is pointed and vocalized.

Letter height: cursive (naskh?) .3–.9 cm.

A large, roughly triangular section has been torn away in lines one through four. Several small holes appear in lines three through six and line eight. Little text is affected by this damage. A section of the left-hand margin at the top is also missing. The bottom margin is discolored to a darker shade of brown. A small vertical fold is found on the right-hand side running from line seven to line ten. Another horizontal wrinkle is visible at the right-hand end of line six. Shadows or ghost images of another (a second copy of this?) text are visible as on 1978.546.35.

1978.546.36 207



Transcription

�6��R��[. . .] .1

��M�� n�H [��M�� _4w] o�z� �� .2

��Ma�� c�� 42 [�H] ��M�� .3

��r :G ��c[��] ;<�� .4

�z� �� M�� %�Mp�� H ��M�� .5

�H� e�y �H �42 �H e�� _4w o .6

��M�� 42 �H� D�� o) ec�� 42 .7

) �c� �42 �H� ��$�� :G =� .8

4id�� B0dW ��m� nmjc� �+5 �o .9

��MW o�z�� =4�U� ��W :X�� %CJ� .10

o�z�� t��H ��W :X�� %�CJ�� .11

=>#$J ;<�� #$�� s�XW :+�1 .12

=� �5�J ��W ;<�� %�C��(,� .13

Qur��n chapters and ayahs by line numbers:l. 1: Final word of Sura 1:7 (al-F�ti�ah)ll. 2–5: 114:1–5 (al-Falaq)ll. 5–9: 113:1–5 (al-N�s)

Translation

1. [. . .] those who go astray.2. Say: I seek refuge [with the Lord and Cherisher of mankind], the King (or Ruler) of

mankind3. the God (or Judge) of mankind,—[from] the mischief of the Whisperer (of evil), who

with-4. draws (after his whisper),—(the same) who whispers into the hearts5. of mankind,—among jinns and among men. Say: I seek6. refuge with the Lord of the dawn, from the mischief of created things; from7. the mischief of darkness as it overspreads; from the mischief of those who practice8. secret arts; and from the mischief of the envious one as he9. practices envy. I ask You, oh Allah, by the glory of the might


10. by which You demonstrate Your power. I seek refuge by the light11. of Your sovereignty by which You rule; I seek refuge12. (for?) my soul by the crown of strength by which You are made strong13. and by the divinity by which You are made One.



Paper. Circular. Unglazed. The paper is �occular and uneven in thickness, being very thin in two or three places near the circumference. The paper has aged to a fairly even medium brown color. There are some small pinholes at the top of the sheet.

Overall dimensions: vertical diameter: 7.45 cm; horizontal diameter: 7 cm.Dimensions of printed area: 6.7 cm dia.


Twenty lines of text: two lines around circumference, the outermost in naskh, the second in Ku�, printed in reserve. The remaining eighteen lines are in naskh, printed horizontally across the center of the circle. Three punctuation marks appear in the text. A circle with a dot at its center is found at the beginning of line nine, a square appears near the beginning of line thirteen, and a circle can be seen in line sixteen.

Decorative elements: There is an outer ring comprised of elliptical lozenges with the centers squeezed together alternating with diamonds. These are all done in outline. This ring is punctuated by six teardrops arranged at regular intervals which interrupt a single �llet underlining the above design. The �rst line of text is underlined by a double �llet, which also supports the six teardrops. Inside this is a black band containing a line of Ku� script in reserve. Underneath this element is a third �llet.

* Indicates location of a teardrop �gure in the design.

x Indicates a mark of punctuation in the text.

Transcription

Outer circle—six phrases beginning top left at 10 o’clock:

I�[ * � [. . .] (�) � [. . .] � *(�) f�bz� �H �� I�[ � �+3 * [. . .] I�[ � �+3 *(�) � � ��1 I�[ � �+3 .1* [. . .] �� t��J �C�[ *� � � t��J �

Inner circle in Ku� script in reserve: � � �� .2

1978.546.37 209



In center of circle: �54�� +3 .3

(, nmjc� ��m� �'54�� .4

[. . .](�) DC�� W (�) �zT[=]�) ;<�� c .5

(�) B0q� �e| ��$�� (�) :G .6

[. . .] %�/0�� [. . .] .7

�6��$�� _� O t1� () �� (� [. . .] .8

[. . .] (�) �C��N� �W (�) tC�� ;<�� [sic] �c0W nmjc�� .9

[. . .]�C&$��[. . .] .10

[. . .] (�) B�Up�� [. . .] .11

[. . .] t1� () �� (�(�) nFG��H �H[. . .] .12

�H [. . .]B� � [. . .] (�) <Cz� .13

(�) 4�� H [. . .] (�) 4�c .14

� �� O [. . .] .15

[. . .] :G �#$�� (�) #�#z L�QU^c � � �r .16

:G (�) �#$�� [. . .] .17

D�4� EFG� � �H 41 .18

� (�) L�QU^c� .19

�C�$�� ?C+�� .20

Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number:l. 2: 112:1–4 (al-Ikhl��)l. 18: 61:13 (al-�aff )

Translation

1. In the name of Allah regarding one soul (?). In the name of Allah regarding [. . .] and why should I (?). In the name of Allah regarding everything that He has given us and [. . .] Allah (?) and in Allah I placed my trust. Allah. Allah. And in Him I placed my trust and He [. . .]


2. Say: He is Allah, the One; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him.

3. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, 4. Most Merciful. Oh Allah! I ask You in the 5. name by which You were adorned (?) summoned (?) 6. in (?) the knowledge in truth and majesty (?) 7. [. . .] the angels [. . .] 8. [. . .] and there is no god but You, oh Lord of all the worlds 9. And I ask You by the name with which al-Kalim (?) adorned You [. . .]10. [. . .] the Mighty [. . .]11. [. . .] the mountains (?) [. . .]12. [. . .] out of fear of You (?) There is no god but You [. . .]13. I seek refuge (?) [. . .] Allah, the [. . .] from14. intoxication (?) [. . .] who granted forgiveness (?)15. [. . .] Oh One16. Independent Allah. Praise Strong One (?) the strength in [. . .]17. [. . .] the strength (?) in18. Help from Allah and a speedy victory19. and praise of Allah20. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing



Paper. Rectangular, narrowing to a point at the top. Paper is rather thick but has a relatively �ne grain.


Eighty-one lines of text. The �rst three lines occur in a decorative block at the top of the amulet. These are printed in reserve in foliated Ku� script. The �rst line runs along the outside edge of the arch at the top of the piece, the second around the perimeter of the rectangular space underneath the arch shape and the third at the center of the rectangle. The remaining seventy-eight lines are printed horizontally across the paper strip.


The pointed top is eroded on the left-hand side; some text has been lost there. There are two holes in the lower right-hand corner of the Ku� block; numerous small holes appear elsewhere in the text of the amulet. Lines ten through seventeen are missing some text on the right-hand side. The same is true for lines 24–27 and 32–36. There are transverse creases in the paper

1978.546.38 211



at lines 27–28 and lines 75–76. Similar wrinkles appear across lines 35–64. The paper strip is distorted so that it bows slightly to the right.

Transcription

First three lines in Ku� in reverse:

From right side of point: (�)B� � �� n�9� .1

Outside of rectangle: � � �� .2

Two lines in center of rectangle: � B�c� � �!H � () �� ( .3

�'54�� 54�� +3 .4

[O� ��]�� A�� [nm]A �'54�� 54�� 6��$�� _� � �!�� .5

�'�X^+�� 4�� f��) �6$X^+� ZO�� U$1 Z .6

_�R@�� 46� ��C�[ t$1� ��<�� 4r .7

�� () �� ( ��1) � ��2 �6��R�� (� ��C�[ .8

�� () �� ( *+��, ��-�� $�� [��]� "[n-]0�� .9

[. . .] �H <Cz�� [�'�!�� #�#$��] .10

[. . .] .11

[. . .] .12

(�) %b�+�� [. . .] .13

[. . .] .14

(�) �H <Cz��[. . .] .15

[. . .] .16

�� [. . .] .17

[. . .] (�) �� (�) �6Y�C^2 �� H <Cz� [. . .] .18

(�) L��$�� [. . .] (�) <Cz�[. . .] .19


(�) �� H [. . .] L�� :G[. . .] .20

[. . .] (�) B� �H� [. . .] .21

L�b�+�� "�bc �H P<Cz� [. . .] .22

[. . .] L�bC^S�� [. . .] (�) 45g� ��42 [. . .] .23

[. . .] L�b�c [. . .] .24

[. . .] .25

[. . .] B�� (�)4��+�� [. . .] .26

�� H P<Cz�� [. . .] .27

[. . .] .28

(�) ��$�� [. . .] .29

[. . .] .30

[. . .] .31

[. . .] .32

[. . .] .33

[. . .] (�) K:2 �� H [. . .] .34


�H� [. . .] k��[� .54

�H� [. . .] .55

[. . .] .56

[. . .] .57

[. . .] .58

[. . .] .59

[. . .] B� �x�+�� _�4S�� [. . .] (�) �x�c[A] .60

1978.546.38 213



[. . .] .61

[. . .] (�) _�X� [. . .] .62

[. . .] .63

[. . .] (�) �� [. . .] .64


[. . .] �c, P<Cz� .77. [. . .]

[. . .] .78

[. . .] .79

[. . .] �� [. . .] .80

[. . .] .81

Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number:l. 2: 112:1–4 (al-Ikhl��)ll. 4–8: 1:1–7 (al-F�ti�ah)ll. 8–10: 3:18 (�l �Imr�n)

Translation

1. Wealth belongs to Allah, the One, the (?) 2. Say: He is Allah, the One: Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He

begotten; and there is none like unto Him. 3. There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. 4. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 5. Praise be to Allah the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds: Most Gracious, Most

Merciful; L[ord] of the Day of Judg[ment. Thee] 6. do we worship, and Thine aid we seek. Show us the straight way, 7. the way of those on whom Thou has bestowed Thy grace, those whose (portion) is not

wrath. 8. And who go not astray. There is no god but He: that is the witness of Allah, 9. His angels, and those endued with knowledge, standing �rm on justice. There is no god

but He10. the Exalted in Power, the Wise. I seek refuge from [. . .]11. [. . .]12. [. . .]13. [. . .] sovereign power (?)14. [. . .]


15. [. . .] and I seek refuge from (?)16. [. . .]17. [. . .] and every (all)18. [. . .] I seek refuge from all demons (?) and all (?)[. . .]19. [. . .] and I seek refuge (?)[. . .] the enemies (?)20. [. . .] in the abode and if [. . .] from every (all)21. [. . .] and from (?) the [. . .]22. [. . .] I seek refuge from the power of the sultan23. [. . .] violent evils (?)[. . .] and the devil and [. . .]24. [. . .] the sultan [. . .]25. [. . .]26. [. . .] the watchful (?) and the [. . .]27. [. . .] and I seek refuge from every28. [. . .]29. [. . .] the world (?)30. [. . .]31. [. . .]32. [. . .]33. [. . .]34. [. . .] from every thing (?)[. . .]Lines 35–53 indecipherable.54. and �t [. . .] and from55. [. . .] and from56. [. . .]57. [. . .]58. [. . .]59. [. . .]60. [d]wellings (?) [. . .] and drink and residents (?)61. [. . .]62. [. . .] writing (?)[. . .]63. [. . .]64. [. . .] every (each) (?)[. . .]Lines 65–76 indecipherable.77. [. . .] and I seek refuge in the name [. . .]78. [. . .]79. [. . .]80. [. . .] and every (each) [. . .]81. [. . .]

1978.546.38 215





Paper. Rectangular. Unglazed. The paper is light brown in color.

Overall dimensions: 7.5 (top); 6.5 (bottom) � 28.3 cm.Dimensions of printed area: 5.8 � 26.8 cm.

Two (three?) lines of text. Two legible lines are in Ku� printed in reserve.

Height of letters: cursive (naskh?): .3–.9 cm; Ku�: .4–1.2 cm.

This piece bears images of two prints, slightly overlapping. The top image is impressed approximately .6 cm to the right of the lower one and is considerably lighter than the lower one. There are several lacunae in both the upper and lower blocks.

Decorative elements: At the top is a circular medallion consisting of a border composed of two concentric lines highlighted with red ink within which is an inscription in Ku� characters in reserve. Inside this a smaller circle composed of three concentric lines, also highlighted in red. At the center is a stylized �ower in reserve. Below this is a double rectangle joined to the medallion by the same double �llet that forms the boundary of that �gure. Inside this frame is a band of text in Ku� characters in reserve. Inside this feature is a second frame, also of double �llets highlighted with red ink. Contained in this interior rectangle is a geometric design reminiscent of an elaborate tile �oor or wall. It consists of sixteen squares arranged in pairs surrounded by a network of interlocking parallel lines suggesting stylized vines or woven ropes. The squares are inked in red.

Below this is a second block, much darker in color, also rectangular in form. At center is what appears to be a mihrab (prayer niche), or perhaps an arch with a pendant lamp. The design about this is poorly executed and unclear. It does appear to contain both textual and geometric elements in successive bands. One band, that immediately adjacent to the center, seems to be comprised of stylized tents (perhaps meant to represent the assembly of pilgrims during the Hajj?).

Transcription

In circular device at top of piece: (�n��) n�9� L��[. . .] .1

Beginning at top left: ��C�2 �, I�� L��S� %�/09�� [. . .]#�#z _�F�N ��1)� [. . .] .2

[. . .] .3


Qur��n suras and ayahs by line number:l. 2: 41:41 (pars) (� Mm or Fu��ilat); 4:166 (pars) (al-Nis��)

Translation

1. [. . .] the power (celestial sphere?) was [. . .]2. And indeed it is a Book of exalted power [. . .] and the angels bear witness. But enough is

God for a witness.3. [. . .]

1978.546.39 217



SCHEIDE LIBRARY RARE BOOKS AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

FIRESTONE LIBRARY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

SCHEIDE 4.3.3B (Plate 55)

Paper. Rectangular. Now (3/22/97) matted. The paper is light brown in color and fairly thick. There is some darker brown discoloration in the left-hand margin. Black ink.

Overall dimensions: 6 � 21 cm.

Decorative elements: Rectangular block containing one line of Ku� characters in reserve.

70 lines of text: one line in foliated Ku� script; 69 in naskh, unpointed and unvocalized.

This example is a complete amulet. The right-hand edge of the paper has been damaged to such an extent that the �rst one to �ve letters in some lines have been lost. The text is arranged in ‘blocks’ of text: the Ku� line at the top; the subsequent text is divided into sections of nineteen, twenty, eighteen and twelve lines. There is a water stain in the word “Allah” at the top. Some passages end with punctuation marks in the form of dots inside of circles. Lines 63–69 exhibit characteristic creases or wrinkles running horizontally and diagonally through the text. There are some small holes and tears in this lower section as well, but little text is affected.

Transcription

Ku�: � �� .1

�� [�] .2

�� [��]� ��![" �#$�%] .3

�� & �� '��(� �)*+ �� [�] % [��] .4

,-!% .%�/01 2&34 ��% � *5� ��6[7] .5

% 89 �� #$� � �/: .<��/: => .6

?@)�> <� A�B �*5�� 8�%7% 2&34 �� .7

�&C�� 5�� 89 [�� ] .8


DE FGH�% I�8 @�� J*+ K[L#�� ] .9

,0M� N�5�� ,*O P8�[Q�] #�R] S #T7 U[ #V�] .10

� )��% W 0��% <�X�Y ��*Z� G�/$["�% '�*[�] .11

% J*\�� . ]��> I��^�_@� S%[à��%] .12

#JC�� b�c 'B .�� 5�� #�G � dG�� G[SH�] .13

<�B89� .�! '�� #.� "[e�]f�� g[]�] .14

h *[ 2 G% b�-0�� 89 �� .i�)�� "[ #�($%] .15

�jk �k�% .<�G�@l �� m�� % [��n�] .16

o� ,*O �8�% ]�p% .i�)�� DE �&#�[G I] .17

8� �&*Y� �0q r� � $� 'B .<�G8-$ �9[G>] .18

�� .�! � E �p�% �� S[d]�� $� #D�� [D] .19

s1 �% <�t��u <4 v '�[�]D*E �#�G b�)� �[8w] .20

89 "�B% .<��p� �#�G Uo��5� d[G] .21

[. . .] � .� �$�Z*� � .�[. . .] .22

[. . .] x[ �a9(y) ��L$ [. . .] .23

.8* 5� .�! �� &z% #JC�� {� [. . .] .24

S8)�� #DC�� 89[. . .] �% �a#�G �c%[. . .] �[. . .] .25

�p%(y{|��) {��% [. . .](y)G�O[. . .] .26

�� L9 [. . .] ,*O [. . .] ��v[. . .] .27

[. . .] ,-![. . .] .28

� *m� [. . .] .�8�C�� {� w �� ]�av %� [. . .] .29

[. . .] .30

[. . .] .31

220 SCHEIDE LIBRARY, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY


[. . .] .32

[. . .] .33

[. . .] .34

(y) �� => L�v�% [. . .] .35

[. . .] .36

[. . .] .37

[. . .] .38

[. . .] .39

[. . .] �� => L�v�% [. . .] .40

[. . .] .41

[. . .] �� => L�v�% [. . .] .42


[. . .] �� => L�v�% [. . .] .50

[. . .] (y) 2 *m��%[. . .] .51

[. . .] .52

[. . .] .53

[. . .] .54

[. . .] .55

[. . .] �� => L�v�% [. . .] .56

[. . .] .57

[. . .] .58

[. . .] .59

[. . .] .60

SCHEIDE 4.3.3B� 221


[. . .] .61

(�) � b� �� L9 D}��! [. . .] .62

[. . .] .63

,��5�% .�t�_� [. . .] .64


Qur��n suras and ayahs by line numbers:ll. 2–4: 41:41 (pars)-42 (�� M�m or Fu��ilat)ll. 5–6: 4:166 (al-Nis��)ll. 6–8: 3:18 (�l �Imr�n)ll. 8–13: 7:54 (al-A�r�f )ll. 13–16: 17:81–83 (Ban� Isr��l or Isr��)ll. 16–18: 17:46 (pars) (Ban� Isr��l or Isr��)ll. 18–21: 18:110 (al-Kahf )

Translation

1. There is no god but Allah 2. [In] the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 3. [And indeed it is] a Book of exalted [power]. No falsehood can approach it from before 4. [or] behind it: It is sent down by One Full of Wisdom, Worthy of all Praise. 5. [He] hath sent from His (own) knowledge, and the angels bear witness; but enough 6. is God for a witness. There is no God but He: That is the witness of God, 7. His angels, and those endued with knowledge, standing �rm on justice. 8. [There is no god but] He, the Exalted in Power, the Wise. Your Guardian-Lord 9. is God, who created the heavens and the earth in10. [six] days, [and is �rmly estab]lished on the throne (of authority): He draweth11. [the night as a veil o’er the] day, each seeking the other in rapid succession: He created the

sun, the moon,12. and the [st]ars, (all) governed by laws under His command. Is it not His to create and13. to [gov]ern? Blessed be God, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds! Say: Truth has

now arrived,14. [false]hood [per]ished: For falsehood is (by its nature) bound to perish.15. [We send] down (stage by stage) in the Qur��n that which is a healing and a mercy to those

who be-16. [lieve]: to the unjust it causes nothing but loss after loss. When thou dost comem-17. [morate thy L]ord—and Him alone—in the Qur��n, they turn on their18. [backs], �eeing from the truth. Say: I am but a man like yourselves, (but) the inspira-19. [tion comes] to me, that your God is One God: whoever expects to20. [meet] his Lord, let him work righteousness, and in the21. worship of his Lord admit no one as partner. And he said He

222 SCHEIDE LIBRARY, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY


22. [. . .] indeed Allah His dominion (?) Indeed Allah [. . .]23. [. . .] vowed (?) here to you and [. . .]24. [. . .] with the truth but they did not know25. [. . .] not [. . .] the face of your Lord and not [. . .] He is the Living, the Self-Subsisting26. [. . .] I seek refuge (?)[. . .] broad (more enjoyable?) one27. [. . .] Strong [. . .] upon [. . .] this is from28. [. . .] suf�ced [. . .]29. [. . .] with him from all the animals [. . .] in darkness30. [. . .]31. [. . .]32. [. . .]33. [. . .]34. [. . .]35. [. . .] and I seek refuge with Allah from (?)36. [. . .]37. [. . .]38. [. . .]39. [. . .]40. [. . .] and I seek refuge with Allah from [. . .]41. [. . .]42. [. . .] and I seek refuge with Allah from [. . .]Lines 43–49 indecipherable.50. [. . .] and I seek refuge with Allah from [. . .]51. [. . .] and the darkness (?)[. . .]52. [. . .]53. [. . .]54. [. . .]55. [. . .]56. [. . .] and I seek refuge with Allah from [. . .]57. [. . .]58. [. . .]59. [. . .]60. [. . .]61. [. . .]62. [. . .] this my writing in the names of Allah (?)63. [. . .]64. [. . .] Praise, Sublime!Lines 65–70 indecipherable.

SCHEIDE 4.3.3B� 223



LIST OF LOCATIONS AND ACCESSION NUMBERS FOR KNOWN �ARSHES IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES

This hand list is meant to provide an overview of the block prints examined in this work for investigators interested in researching these artifacts further. Herein is a listing, by institution, of the block prints that have been examined in the present study. Each entry has a brief, general description of the piece together with notations indicating the accession number for that piece and, when appropriate, where speci�c items have been published previously. More detailed technical information is to be found in the album section of this volume. Some, but not all, of the block printed amulets have been assigned dates by various investigators. In the descriptions below I have indicated the date of creation given by the scholar or scholars who studied a particular example—or group of examples—and have indicated the source in which that dating appears, when it is available. I have not attempted to provide dating for the undated block prints.

In two instances, one from the Seminar für Papyrologie, Institut für Altertumswissenschaften, Ruprecht-Karls Universität, Heidelberg, and the other, from the University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, I have noted pieces known to have once resided in those institutions but which are currently unable to be located. The whereabouts of these examples is something of a mystery and their fate is unknown. I include them here in the hope that they may, one day, resurface. Unless otherwise noted, all the block prints are stamped on paper.

EUROPEAN LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS

Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France

Papyrus Rectangular. 63 lines. Published with a photograph by Paul B. Fenton, “Une héb. 7 xylographie arabe médiévale à la Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire de

Strasbourg,” Arabica 50:1 (2003), pp. 114–117. 13th cen. (Fenton, “Une xylographie arabe médiévale”)

Cambridge University Library, Cambridge, England

Michaelides Collection

†Michaelides Rectangular; ten lines naskh script in relief.E28

†Michaelides Rectangular; 97 lines in incised naskh. Text is identical to that on E30.E29


226 LIST OF LOCATIONS FOR KNOWN �ARSHES

†Michaelides Rectangular; 97 lines. Text is identical to E29.E30

†Michaelides Rectangular. 39 lines of naskh in relief, one vertical line in outline. IllustrationE31 in Paul Lunde, “A missing link,” ARAMCO World 32:2 (1981), pp. 26–27.

†Michaelides Rectangular; 27 lines of naskh in relief. Illustration in Paul Lunde, “A missingE32 link,” ARAMCO World 32:2 (1981), pp. 26–27.

†Michaelides Rectangular; framed by double �llet. The top is a box containing a circle E33 formed by a double �llet and inside this is a double interlocking trefoil around

a magic square based on the number �fteen. The corners of the square and the interstices of the trefoils contain handwritten text. The bottom has ten lines of naskh in relief.

Taylor-Schechter Geniza Collection†T-S* Rectangular; the circle at the top has one circular line of incised Ku�; one Ar 20.1 line of naskh in relief; �ve lines of Thuluth(?) in relief; 28 lines in naskh in

relief.

†T-S Rectangular; 52 lines of naskh in relief.Ar 41.102

†T-S Rectangular. 62 total lines of text: twelve lines in naskh in relief; one lineAr 38.135 bordered by �llets and shaded in red ink, in somewhat larger naskh in relief;

sixteen lines in naskh in relief; one line bordered by �llets and shaded in red ink, in somewhat larger naskh in relief; 30 lines in naskh in relief.

†T-S AS Hexagonal print on a rectangle of paper; two lines in naskh in relief.181.228

†T-S Rectangular; �ve lines in vocalized naskh in relief; a rectangular grid beneath NS 306.27 with eight cells across by ten down containing the Names of Allah written on

the diagonal.

*T-S= Taylor Schechter Geniza Collection†Published and illustrated in: Karl R. Schaefer, “Eleven medieval Arabic block prints in the Cambridge University Library,” Arabica 48 (2001), pp. 210–239.

Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Ireland

Is. PP 21 Rectangular. 88 lines. Paper backed with a piece of papyrus.


Gutenberg Museum, Mainz, Germany

(formerly owned by the Antiquariat Van Meeuwen Orient)(Den Haag, The Netherlands)

GM 03.1 Paper; three strips joined into one continuous piece. Rectangular; 83 lines.Schr. Piece bears a European watermark in the shape of a bell which seems to

indicate that the item dates to the mid-15th cent. Described by J.W.Th. van Meeuwen in a report which he prepared. Three references are given there to unpublished laboratory examinations carried out on the item to determine its age. Exhibited in the Gutenberg Museum, Mainz in conjunction with the World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (September 8–13, 2002). Illustration appears in: Gutenberg Museum Mainz. Sprachen des Nahen Ostens und die Druckrevolution: eine interkulturelle Begegnung: Katalog und Begleitband zur Ausstellung/Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution: a cross-cultural encounter: a catalogue and companion to the exhibition, (Westhofen: WVA-Skulima Verlag, 2002), plate 62. Description, pp. 477–78.

Early 15th cen.: Report #89092, N.J. Seeley and A.T.N. Bennett, University of London Institute of Archaeology, 10 October, 1989.

John Rylands University Library, Manchester, England

Gaster Rectangular; 13 lines of text. Several lines in Greek are visible on the GenizaMS 38 Arabic verso.

Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, Austria

A. Ch. 7265 Rectangular; ornaments only block printed. Red and black ink used on the blocks. Described and illustrated in W. Arnold and A. Grohmann, The Islamic Book, p. 28; plate 13. Also described and illustrated in Schätze der Kalifen: Islamische Kunst zur Fatimidenzeit. Wilfried Seipel, hrsg., (Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien/Skira, 1998), pp. 155, 158 and plate 125.

Early 10th cen.: Arnold & Grohmann

A. Ch. 12.133=No. 929? � Irregular rectangle. 3 lines. Brie�y described in J. Karabacek, Führer durch die Austellung, p. 247: “Nr. 929

zeigt Rothdruck.” Text transcribed in Griechische, koptische und arabische Texte zur Religion und religiösen Literatur in Ägyptens Spätzeit. (Veröffentlichungen aus den badischen Papyrus-Sammlungen, Heft 5). Friedrich Bilabel and Adolf Grohmann, eds., (Heidelberg: Verlag der Universitätsbibliothek, 1934), p. 427. Identi�ed as Nr. 153, the entry uses the same accession number (PERF no. 929) as that found in Karabacek’s Führer durch die Ausstellung.

10th cen.: Karabacek, Führer

LIST OF LOCATIONS FOR KNOWN �ARSHES� 227



A. Ch. 12.134 Irregular rectangle. Nine (ten?) lines of text. 10th cen.: Karabacek, Führer

A. Ch. 12.135 Rectangular. 19 lines of text. 10th cen.: Karabacek, Führer

A. Ch. 12.136 Irregular rectangle. 70 lines of text. 10th cen.: Karabacek, Führer

A. Ch. 12.137 Rectangular; 55 lines in naskh. 10th cen.: Karabacek, Führer

A. Ch. 12.138 Irregular rectangle. 33 lines of text. 10th cen.: Karabacek, Führer

A. Ch. 12.139 Rectangular. Three (four?) lines of text. 10th cen.: Karabacek, Führer

A. Ch. 12.140 Rectangular. 73 lines of text. Exhibited in the Gutenberg Museum, Mainz in conjunction with the World

Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (September 8–13, 2002). Illustration appears in: Gutenberg Museum Mainz. Sprachen des Nahen Ostens und die Druckrevolution: eine interkulturelle Begegnung: Katalog und Begleitband zur Ausstellung/Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution: a Cross-cultural Encounter: a Catalogue and Companion to the Exhibition, (Westhofen: WVA-Skulima Verlag, 2002), plate 61. Description, pp. 476–77.


A. Ch. 12.141 Rectangular. Four lines of text: two vertical, two horizontal. 10th cen.: Karabacek, Führer

A. Ch. 12.142=No. 938 � Irregular rectangle. Sixteen lines of text. Brie�y described in J. Karabacek, Führer durch die Austellung, p. 247: “Nr. 938

trägt, in senkrechten Reihen geordnet, die sogennanten hundert schönen Namen Gottes, deren Ablesung als Litanei Schutz verleiht.” Text transcribed and translated into German in Griechische, koptische und arabische Texte zur Religion und religiösen Literatur in Ägyptens Spätzeit. (Veröffentlichungen aus den badischen Papyrus-Sammlungen, Heft 5.) Friedrich Bilabel and Adolf Grohmann, eds., (Heidelberg: Verlag der Universitätsbibliothek, 1934), pp. 428–429. Identi�ed there as Nr. 154, the entry uses the same accession number (PERF no. 938) as that found in Karabacek’s Führer durch die Ausstellung.



A. Ch. 12.143 Square. Seven lines of text. 10th cen.: Karabacek, Führer

A. Ch. 12.144 Irregular triangle (a rectangle with the lower right-hand corner missing). 77 lines of text.


A. Ch. 12.145=No. 941 � Irregular trapezoid (a rectangular piece with the upper left-hand corner

missing). Eighteen lines of text: seventeen horizontal, one vertical. Brie�y described by T.F. Carter, The Invention of Printing in China and Its Spread

Westward, 2nd ed., p. 177. Exhibited in the Gutenberg Museum, Mainz in conjunction with the World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (September 8–13, 2002). Illustration appears in: Gutenberg Museum Mainz. Sprachen des Nahen Ostens und die Druckrevolution: eine interkulturelle Begegnung: Katalog und Begleitband zur Ausstellung/Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution: a Cross-cultural Encounter: a Catalogue and Companion to the Exhibition, (Westhofen: WVA-Skulima Verlag, 2002), plate 58. Description, p. 475.


A. Ch. 12.146=No. 942 � Irregular rectangle. 29 lines of text. Illustrated in W. Arnold and A. Grohmann, The Islamic Book, plate 14 b. Brie�y

described in J. Karabacek, Führer durch die Austellung, p. 247. 10th cen.: Karabacek, Führer

A. Ch. 12.147 Rectangular. One line of text. 10th cen.: Karabacek, Führer

A. Ch. 12.148 Rectangular. Three lines of text. 10th cen.: Karabacek, Führer

A. Ch. 12.149 Rectangular. Five lines of text. 10th cen.: Karabacek, Führer

A. Ch. 12.150 =No. 946 � Roughly square. Twelve lines of text. Brie�y described in J. Karabacek, Führer durch die Austellung, p. 247. This is

the only piece that is also identi�ed there by its current accession number. Described and translated by T.F. Carter in The Invention of Printing in China and Its Spread Westward, 2nd ed., p. 177. Plate of item appears between pp. 168 & 169. Also note 3, p. 181. Exhibited in the Gutenberg Museum, Mainz in conjunction with the World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (September 8–13, 2002). Illustration appears in: Gutenberg Museum Mainz. Sprachen




des Nahen Ostens und die Druckrevolution: eine interkulturelle Begegnung: Katalog und Begleitband zur Ausstellung/Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution: a Cross-cultural Encounter: a Catalogue and Companion to the Exhibition, (Westhofen: WVA-Skulima Verlag, 2002), plate 59. Description, p. 475.


A. Ch. 12.151 Rectangular. Nine lines of text. 10th cen.: Karabacek, Führer

A. Ch. 12.152=No. 948 � Rectangular. 40 lines of text. Described and translated into German by J. Karabacek, “Neue Entdeckungen

zur Geschichte des Papieres und Druckes,” Österreichische Monatsschrifte für den Orient Nov.–Dec. 1890 nr. 11/12, pp. 161–170 and in the Führer durch die Austellung, p. 250. T.F. Carter (The Invention of Printing in China and Its Spread Westward, 2nd ed., p. 178) translates the same passage into English. See also note 4, p. 181 there. No illustration.


� In the 1894 Vienna exhibition catalogue, the block prints were identi�ed by three-digit numbers, 929–948, inclusive. Where possible, I have cross-referenced these with the corresponding present-day accession numbers.

Schott-Reinhardt Papyrussammlung, Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

PSR 773 Papyrus(?). Rectangular. Frame of horseshoe arches.LOST Brie�y described in W. Arnold and A. Grohmann, The Islamic Book, p. 29.

PSR 778 Rectangular; decorative block printed elements together with handwritten LOST text. 30.7 � 8.4 cm. Brie�y described in W. Arnold and A. Grohmann, The

Islamic Book, p. 28.

PSR 1126 Vellum. Rectangular; 10 lines of naskh in relief; one line incised foliated Ku� LOST around an incised rhombus design containing an incised rosette; 32 lines

naskh in relief; one line incised foliated Ku� in incised rectangular frame; 27(?) lines naskh in relief; six lines incised foliated Ku� incised underlining and incised rectangular frame; 22 lines naskh in relief; three lines incised foliated Ku�, incised sawtooth design at top; nine lines naskh in relief. 46 � 4.5 cm. Sentences end with dots inside circles. Brie�y described and illustrated in W. Arnold and A. Grohmann, The Islamic Book, p. 29, plate 15.

N.B. T.F. Carter, The Invention of Printing in China and Its Spread Westward, 2nd ed., p. 181, note 1, says that there is a total of six block prints in Heidelberg, but I have only a slide of one and have been unable, at this point, to identify more than the three listed above, all of which are currently (2004) missing from the collection. When I visited the collection, I was told that the


three examples listed above had been missing since the period of the Second World War. While there, I was permitted to peruse the 3000 textual fragments contained in the Arabic collection piece-by-piece and found only the example described and illustrated herein.

P. Heid. Inv. Irregular rectangle. 25 lines of text.Arab. 3000 The only example currently to be found in the collection (Re-discovered by me during my January 1999 visit to the Heidelberg Arabic Papyrussammlung).

Staatliche Museum zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, Germany

P. 11970 Rectangular. 46 lines of text: two lines in incised foliated Ku� in an incised rectangular frame running longitudinally (i.e. at right angles to the rest of the text) at the top. Beneath, 44(±) lines of naskh in relief.

Brie�y described and illustrated in W. Arnold and A. Grohmann, The Islamic Book, p. 29, plate 14 c. Also mounted in an exhibition in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in 1986. Description given in the catalogue: Leben im Ägyptischen Altertum: Literatur, Urkunden, Briefe aus vier Jahrtausenden, (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Papyrussammlung, 1986), p. 116: “P11970 Amulett. Plattendruck auf Papier. 10. Jh. Oben ist die 11. Sure des Korans abgedruckt, unten ein magischer Text. Der Plattendruck wurde von den östlichen Nachbarn übergenommen.” [In 1986 this piece was exhibited in East Berlin; in 1999, when I saw it, it was in the Ägyptisches Museum in Charlottenburg, West Berlin papyrus collection. Was it loaned to the East Berlin Museum for the 1986 exhibition, or did it come to the Charlottenburg Museum after the fall of the wall?

P. 24016 Rectangular. 48 lines of text; the last line is in Ku� in reserve. Unique (to date) lozenge design between some lines of the text. Identi�ed by me during a January 1999 visit to the Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung in Charlottenburg.

Exhibited in the Gutenberg Museum, Mainz in conjunction with the World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (September 8–13, 2002). Illustration appears in: Gutenberg Museum Mainz. Sprachen des Nahen Ostens und die Druckrevolution: eine interkulturelle Begegnung: Katalog und Begleitband zur Ausstellung/Middle Eastern Languages and the Print Revolution: a Cross-cultural Encounter: a Catalogue and Companion to the Exhibition, (Westhofen: WVA-Skulima Verlag, 2002), plate 60. Description, p. 476.

Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England

A.G.W. Murray Collection of Arabic Papyri and Parchment

Ar. 2 Rectangular. 67 lines. Amulet containing the phrase: “la ilah ila huwa” = “there is no god but He.”

Verso: blank. (Based on a description provided to me by Petra Sijpesteijn, who discovered the item in Summer 2000)




LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS IN THE UNITED STATES

Columbia University Library, New York, NY

Papyrus Collection705b Rectangular; at the top is a tear drop bordered by a double �llet with one

line of text in incised Ku�. Beneath this is a rectangle with a single �llet border and spiral (three lines) of text in incised Ku�, the center line is larger than the outer lines. 115 lines of text. The qur��nic passages end with dots inside circles.

Described, illustrated, and partially translated by Richard Bulliet, “Printing in the medieval Islamic underworld,” Columbia Library Columns 36 (1987), pp. 13–20.

Published by Richard Bulliet, “Medieval Arabic tarsh: a forgotten chapter in the history of printing,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 107:3 (1987), pp. 427–438.

10th cent. (Bulliet, Columbia Library Columns)

Lilly Library, Indiana University Libraries, Bloomington, Indiana

Miscellaneous Rectangular. 46 lines of text.Mss. Atiyah Gift 9 Description from Miroslav Krek, “Union List of Arabic Script Manuscripts in American Institutions: part 12:3, The Lilly Library

Indiana University Libraries,” MELA Notes 69–70 (Fall 1999–Spring 2000), pp. 43–59. (listing no. 52 I)

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California

M.2002. Rough square. Nine lines of text: one line outside a square frame; one 1.370 continuous line inside the frame. Interior to the square, there are two (D & M)* concentric circles each formed of double lines. The outer circle contains

one line of text; the inner circle contains �ve lines. Illustrated in Bulliet, JAOS, p. 437.

M.2002. Rectangular. 30 (31?) lines of text, the last �ve in a ‘magic square.’ 1.371 Illustrated in Bulliet, JAOS, p. 434. These two pieces are part of the collection of Islamic Art assembled by

Prof. Ma�an Madina, Professor Emeritus of Columbia University. His collection was purchased by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2002.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

1971. Fletcher Fund. Irregular rectangle. Four lines: one in each of two bands 237.1 with half-twists; one line in each of two stylized banners. Published by Jonathan M. Bloom, “Revolution by the Ream,” ARAMCO

World 50:3 (May/June 1999), pp. 26–39. Fatimid Period (909–1171); 11th–12th cen.: Metropolitan Museum


1975. Gift of Richard Ettinghausen. Rectangular. 28 lines of text: one band of192.20 (D) incised Ku�; 27 lines in an interior block in relief.

1975. Gift of Richard Ettinghausen. Irregular square. 13 lines of text.192.21 Second line of text in red ink; Interstitial spaces in geometric decorations also

highlighted with red ink. Fatimid Period, 11th–1th cen.: Metropolitan Museum

1978. Rectangular. 35 lines of text. The �rst is in a square block with incised546.32 (D) Ku� in circle around a six-pointed star and motto in relief; the remaining lines

of text are in naskh in relief. Described and illustrated in Schätze der Kalifen: Islamische Kunst zur Fatimidenzeit.

Wilfried Seipel, hrsg., (Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien/Skira, 1998), p. 155 and plate 124, and in Thierry Depaulis, “Documents imprimés de l’Égypte fatimide: un chapitre méconnu de l’histoire de l’imprimerie,” Bulletin de la Société Archéologique, Historique et Artistique, Le Vieux Papier, pour l’étude de la vie et des mouers d’autrefois, fasc. 349 ( juillet 1998), p. 136, �g. 2; illustration and references in Trésors fatimides du Caire: exposition présentée à l’Institut du monde arabe du 28 avril au 30 août 1998, (Paris: Institut du monde arabe, 1998), p. 155, plate 99 (text incorrectly identi�es plate 98).

11th cent. (Trésors fatimides du Caire) Fatimid Period, 11th cen.: Metropolitan Museum

1978. Rectangular. 53(?) lines of text.546.33 (D) Fatimid Period, 11th cen.: Metropolitan Museum

1978. Rectangular. 54 lines of text.546.34

1978. Rectangular. Twelve lines of text.546.35 (D) Text below the square design is in vocalized naskh in relief. Described and illustrated in Schätze der Kalifen: Islamische Kunst zur Fatimidenzeit.

Wilfried Seipel, hrsg., (Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien/Skira, 1998), p. 155 and plate 123, and in Thierry Depaulis, “Documents imprimés de l’Égypte fatimide: un chapitre méconnu de l’histoire de l’imprimerie,” Bulletin de la Société Archéologique, Historique et Artistique, Le Vieux Papier, pour l’étude de la vie et des mouers d’autrefois, fasc. 349 ( juillet 1998), p. 134, �g. 1; illustration and references in Trésors fatimides du Caire: exposition présentée à l’Institut du monde arabe du 28 avril au 30 août 1998, (Paris: Institut du monde arabe, 1998), p. 155, plate 98 (text incorrectly identi�es plate 99).

11th cent. (Trésors fatimides du Caire) Fatimid Period (909–1171): Metropolitan Museum

1978. Rectangular; 13 lines in vocalized naskh.546.36 (D) Fatimid Period (909–1171): Metropolitan Museum




1978. Circular. Twenty lines of text. The �rst two are in concentric ring borders,546.37(D) the outermost in naskh in relief, the inner in incised Ku�. The center of the

circle has eighteen lines in naskh in relief.

1978. Rectangular, narrowing to a point at the top. 81 lines of text. Lines in38.38 decorative block at the top are in incised Ku�, the remainder in naskh.

1978. Rectangular. Two (three?) lines of text. Decorative elements include a semi-546.39 circle at top, two bordered rectangles below, the lower one darker. All text is in incised Ku�.

* “D” = transcribed by Dr. Dana Sajdi; M = transcribed by Prof. Ma�an Madina.

Scheide Library, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey

Scheide Rectangular; one line incised foliated Ku�; 69 lines naskh in relief. Sentences 4.3.3B end with dots inside circles. Described in Sotheby’s auction catalog, Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures,

(London, 1993), p. 13, item #25. Published by Karl R. Schaefer, “The Scheide Tarsh,” Princeton University Library Chronicle 56:3 (Spring 1995), pp. 400–419.

11th/12th cent.: Sotheby’s

The University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

No. E 16311 Vellum. Rectangular; one line in incised naskh at top; 12 lines of naskh in LOST relief framed with double �llet. Published by Giorgio Della Vida, “An Arabic block print,” (Science on the

March) The Scienti�c Monthly 59 (1944), pp. 473–474. Per letter from Charles S. Kline, Photographic Archives division, dated 17

October 1996, this item has been missing from the collection since 1951. A photographic image is of the item is available at the Museum.

14th cent. (Levi della Vida)


LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED

PRIMARY WORKS IN ARABIC OR TRANSLATED FROM ARABIC

Al-B�n�, A�mad ibn �Al�, H�dhá Kit�b Shams al-Ma��rif wa-La��if al-�Aw�rif. Bombay: Muhammadi, 1964.Ghaz�l�, Mu�ammad ibn Mu�ammad. Al-Ghaz�l� Invocations & Supplications Kit�b al-adhk�r wa’l-da�aw�t. Book IX of

the Revival of the Religious Sciences I�y�� ul�m al-d�n. Revised edition. Trans. by K. Nakamura. Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 1990.

Ibn al-Abb�r, Kit�b al-ulla al-Siyar��. Hussain Monés, ed. 2nd ed. Cairo: Dar al-Maaref, 1984.Ibn al-Kha��b, Lis�n al-D�n. History and Biographical Dictionary of Granada entitled Al-I��a f� Akhb�r Gharn��a. Vol. 3.

Mohamed Abdulla Enan, ed. Cairo: al-�ib��a al-Miriyya, 1976.Ibn al-Nad�m, Mu�ammad ibn Is�aq, Fihrist li-Ibn al-Nad�m: dir�sah biyüjr�f�yah, bibliy�ghr�f�yah, bibliy�mitr�yah. Wa-

ta�q�q wa-nashr Sha�b�n Khal�fah, Wal�d Mu�ammad al-�Awzah. Q�hirah: al-�Arab� lil-Nashr wal-Tawz��, 1960–.

al-Jawbar�, �Abd al-Ra�m�n [al-Djawbari, �Abd al-Rahmane]. al-Mut�r f� Kashf al-Asr�r wa-Hatk al-Ast�r. Edited by �I�m Shab�r�. Beirut: D�r al-Ta�mun, 1992.

——. Le Voile Arrache: l-autre visage de l’Islam. Traduction integrale sur les manuscrits originaux par René R. Khawam. Paris: Éditions Phebus, 1980.

N�bulus� al-�afad�, Ab� �Uthm�n. Ta�r�kh al-Fayy�m wa-Bil�dih. Bayr�t: D�r al-Maj�d, 1974.

WORKS IN EUROPEAN LANGUAGES

Abel, A. “Day�niyya,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. (Vol. 2) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, p. 199.Aboussouan, Camille, “Los Primeros Pasos de la Imprenta Arabe,” Folia Humanistica 20:232 (1982), pp. 355–360.Albin, Michael W., “An Essay on Early Printing in the Islamic Lands with Special Relation to Egypt,” Melanges de

l’Institut Dominicain d’Étude Oriental du Caire 18 (1988), pp. 335–344.——. “Recent Studies in Middle Eastern Printing History: a Review Essay,” Libraries and Culture: a Journal of Library

History 23 (1988), pp. 365–373.Alparslan, Ali, “Kha��: i. In the Arab World,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. (Vol. 4) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–,

pp. 1113–1122.Arabic Palaeography: a Collection of Arabic Texts from the First Century Hidjra till the Year 1000. B. Moritz, ed. (Publications

of the Khedival Library, Cairo, no. 16). Cairo, 1905.Arnold, Thomas W. and Adolf Grohmann. The Islamic Book: a Contribution to its Art and History from the VII–XVII

Century. Paris: Pegasus Press, 1929.Aus der Vorgeschichte der Papyrussammlung der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek: Briefe Theodor Grafs, Josef von Karabaceks,

Erzherzog Rainers und anderer. Ed. Herbert Hunger. Vienna: Georg Prachner Verlag, 1962. (= Mitteilungen aus der Papyrsussammlung der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek (Papyrus Erzherzog Rainer). Neue Serie, Folge 7. Wien, 1962).

Avakian, H.A., “Islam and the Art of Printing” in Uit Bibliotheektuin en Informatieveld: Opstellen aangeboden an dr. D. Grosheide bij zijn afscheid als biblothecaris van de Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht, H.F. Hofman et al., eds. (Reeks Bibliotheek en documentatie, deel 3). Utrecht: Universiteitsbibliotheek, 1978, pp. 256–269.

Austrian National Library. Papyrus Erzherzog Rainer. Führer durch die Ausstellung. Wien: Sammlung Erzherzog Rainer, 1894.

The Beginnings of Printing in the Near and Middle East: Jews, Christians and Muslims. Edited by the Lehrstuhl für Türkische Sprache, Geschichte und Kultur, Universität Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek Bamberg. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2001.

Ben Cheneb, M., “Ibn al-Abb�r,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. (Vol. 3) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, p. 673.Berkey, Jonathan P. The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600–1800. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 2003.Bloom, Jonathan M. Paper Before Print: the History and Impact of Paper in the Islamic World. New Haven: Yale University

Press, 2001.——. “Revolution by the Ream, a History of Paper,” ARAMCO World 50:3 (May/June 1999), pp. 26–39.Bobzin, Hartmut, “Von Venedig nach Kairo: zur Geschichte arabischer Korandrucke (16. bis frühes 20.

Jahrhundert)/From Venice to Cairo: on the History of Arabic Editions of the Koran (16th–early 20th century)” in Sprachen des Nahen Ostens und die Druckrevolution; eine interkulturelle Begegnung; Katalog und Begleitband zur Austellung, Eva Hanebutt-Benz, Dagmar Glass, Geoffrey Roper & Theo Smets, eds. WVA-Verlag Skulima, 2002, pp. 151–176.

Bonola Bey, F[ederico], “Note sur l’Origine de l’Imprimerie Arabe en Europe,” Bulletin de l’Institut Égyptien 5:3 (1909), pp. 74–80.


236 LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED

Bosworth, C.E., “M�n�,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. (Vol. 6) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, p. 421.——. The Mediaeval Arabic Underworld: the Ban� S�s�n in Arabic Literature and Society, Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1976.——. “S�s�n, Ban�,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. (Vol. 8) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, p. 70.Bouyahia, Ch., “�Abd al-Wahh�b, �asan �usn�,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. Supplement: fascicules 1–2.

Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1980, pp. 11–12.Brashear, William, “Egyptian Papyrus then, Chinese Paper today,” Archiv für Papyrusforschung, Beiheft 3 (Akten des 21.

Internationalen Papyrologen-kongresses, Berlin 1995) (1997), pp. 113–131.Briquet, C.M., Les Filigranes: Dictionnaire Historique des Marques du Papier. 2nd ed. New York: Hacker Art Books, 1966.Bulliet, Richard W., “Ab� Dolaf al-Yanb��,” Encyclopaedia Iranica. (Vol. 1) London: Routledge & Kegan Paul,

1989?–, pp. 271–272.——. “The Fall and Rise of Islamic Printing,” The Book in History—February 13, 1996 Meeting. http://www.

english.upenn.edu/~traister/bullietsem.html. Accessed January 7, 1998.——. “Medieval Arabic �arsh: a Forgotten Chapter in the History of Arabic Printing,” Journal of the American Oriental

Society 107 (1987), pp. 427–438.——. “Printing in the Medieval Islamic Underworld,” Columbia Library Columns 36 (1987), pp. 13–20.Carnoy, A.J., “Zoroastrianism,” Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. James Hastings, ed. (Vol. 12) New York:

C. Scribner’s Sons, 1908–1926, p. 867.Carter, Thomas Francis. The Invention of Printing in China and its Spread Westward. 2nd ed. Rev. by L. Carrington

Goodrich. New York: Ronald Press, 1955.——. “The Westward Movement of the Art of Printing: Turkestan, Persia, and Egypt as Milestones in the Long

Migration from China to Europe,” Yearbook of Oriental Art and Culture, 1924–1925. London: E. Benn, Ltd., 1925, pp. 19–28.

Charmes et Sortilèges Magie et Magiciens. Rika Gyselen, ed. (Res Orientales, 14). Bures-sur-Yvette: Groupe pour l’Étude de la Civilisation du Moyen-Orient, 2002.

Chelhod, J., “Hidj�b,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New edition. (Vol. 3) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, p. 361.De Blois, F.C., “��bi ,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. (Vol. 8) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, pp. 672–675.Demeerseman, André, “L’Imprimerie en Orient et au Maghreb,” Revue IBLA 17 (1954), pp. 1–48, 113–140.

(= Publications de l’Institut des Belles Lettres Arabes, 20. Tunis: Nicolas Bascone & Sauveur Muscat, 1954).Depaulis, Thierry, “Documents imprimés de l’Egypte fatimide: un chapitre méconnu de l’histoire de l’imprimerie,”

Bulletin de la Société Archéologique, Historique et Artistique, Le Vieux Papier, pour l’étude de la vie mœurs d’autrefois, 349 ( juillet 1998), pp. 133–136.

Dobras, Wolfgang. Gutenberg, Man of the Millennium: From a Secret Enterprise to the First Media Revolution. Mainz: City of Mainz, 2000.

Dozy, R. Notices sur Quelques Manuscrits Arabes. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1847–51.Encyclopaedia Iranica. Ehsan Yarshater, ed. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982–.Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. James Hastings, ed. New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1908–1926.Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada Europeo-Americana. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, [1935].Endgren, Sören, “China, §XIII, 19,(i): Prints: Tang to Yuan,” The Dictionary of Art. (Vol. 7) Jane Turner, ed. New

York: Grove, 1996, pp. 117–122.Endress, Gerhard, “Die Anfänge der arabischen Typographie und die Ablösung der Handschrift durch den

Buchdruck,” Section 9.5 in Grundriss der arabischen Philologie, Bd. 1: Sprachwissenschaft, W. Fischer, ed. Wiesbaden: Reichert, 1982, pp. 291–296.

Fahd, T., “��bi a,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. (Vol. 8) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, pp. 675–678.——. “Si�r,” Encyclopedia of Islam. New Edition. (Vol. 9) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, pp. 567–571.——. “Tam�ma,” Encyclopedia of Islam. New Edition. (Vol. 10) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, p. 500.Fares, Bishr, “Figures magiques, amulette: I” in Aus der Welt der islamischen Kunst: Festschrift für Ernst Kühnel zum 75.

Geburtstag am 26.10.1957. Richard Ettinghausen, ed. Berlin: Verlag Gebr. Mann, 1959.Febvre, Lucien Paul Victor and Henri-Jean Martin, The Coming of the Book: the Impact of Printing, 1450–1800.

Translated by David Gerard. London: Verso, 1990.Fenton, Paul B., “La communauté juive dans l’Égypte fatimide,” Dossiers d’Archéologie 233 (Mai 1998), pp. 28–33.——. “Une xylographie arabe médiévale à la Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire de Strasbourg,” Arabica 50:1

(2003), pp. 114–117.Fück, J.W., “Ibn al-Nad�m,” Encyclopedia of Islam. New Edition. (Vol. 3) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, pp. 895–896.Geiss, Albert, “Histoire de l’imprimerie en Égypte,” Bulletin de l’Institut Égyptien 5th ser.: 1 (1907), pp. 133–157.——. “Histoire de l’imprimerie en Égypte,” Bulletin de l’Institut Égyptien 5th ser.: 2 (1908), pp. 195–220.——. “Observations de M. Geiss a la suite de la note de M. Bonola Bey,” Bulletin de l’Institut égyptien 5:3 (1909), pp.

81–84.Gray, B. “Islamic Charm from Fostat,” The British Museum Quarterly 9 (1934), pp. 130–131.Grohmann, Adolf. Allgemeine Einführung in die arabischen Papyri nebst Grundzügen der arabischen Diplomatik. Wien: Burgverlag

Ferdinand Zöllner, 1924.——. “Arabische Paläographie, 1. Teil,” in Forschungen zur Islamischen Philologie und Kulturgeschichte, Band I. Wien:

Hermann Böhlaus Nachf., 1967. (= Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien. Philosophisch-Historische Klasse Denkschriften, 94. Band, I. Abhandlung).


——. “Arabische Paläographie, 2. Teil: das Scriftwesen. Die Lapidarschrift,” in Forschungen zur Islamischen Philologie und Kulturgeschichte, Band I. Wien: Hermann Böhlaus Nachf., 1971. (= Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien. Philosophisch-Historische Klasse Denkschriften, 94. Band, 2. Abhandlung).

——. From the World of Arabic Papyri. Cairo: Al Maaref Press, 1952.——. (Huart, Claude), “K�ghad,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. (Vol. 4) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, pp. 419–

420.Der Grosse Brockhaus. Revised edition. Wiesbaden: F.A. Brockhaus, 1952–1963.Hammer-Purgstall, Joseph, “Sur un Passage Curieux de l’Ihathet, sur l’Art d’Imprimer chez les Arabes en Espagne,”

Journal Asiatique 4e. serie, tome 20 (Aout-Septembre 1852), pp. 252–255.Heinrichs, W.P., “�af� al-D�n al-�ill�,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. (Vol. 8) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, pp.

801–805.Hewison, R. Neil. The Fayyoum: History and Guide. 3rd ed. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2001.Humbert, Geneviève, “Papiers non �ligranés au Proche-Orient jusqu’en 1450: Essai de Typologie,” Journal Asiatique

286:1 (1998), pp. 1–54.Institut du Monde Arabe. Trésors Fatimides du Caire: Exposition Présentée à l’Institut du Monde Arabe du 28 avril au 30 août

1998. Paris, 1998.Jackson, P., “Wass�f,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. (Vol. 11) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, p. 174.Ja�far, I�s�n, “al-�Arab �araf� al-�ib��ah qabla ��tinburg,” al-Fay�al 128 (1987), p. 109.Jahn, Karl, “Das Iranische Papiergeld: ein Beitrag zur Kultur- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte Iran’s in der Mongolzeit,”

Archiv Orientálni, X (1938), pp. 308–340.——. “Paper Currency in Iran: a Contribution to the Cultural and Economic History of Iran in the Mongol

Period,” Journal of Asian History 4 (1970), pp. 101–135. [An English translation of the above article.]Juynboll, G.H.A., “Si�r,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New edition. (Vol. 9) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, p. 569.Karabacek, Josef, “Das arabische Papier,” Mittheilungen aus der Sammlung der Papyrus Erzherzog Rainer 2/3 (1887), pp.

87–178.——. “Neue Entdeckungen zur Geschichte des Papieres und Druckes,” Österreichische Monatsschrift für den Orient

11/12 (Nov.–Dec. 1890), pp. 161–170.——. “Neue Quellen zur Papiergeschichte,” Mittheilungen aus der Sammlung der Papyrus Erzherzog Rainer 4 (1888), pp.

75–122.Keenan, James G., “Fayyum Agriculture at the End of the Ayyubid Era: Nabulsi’s Survey,” Proceedings of the British

Academy 96 (1999), pp. 287–299.Krek, Miroslav, “Arabic Block Printing as the Precursor of Printing in Europe,” ARCE Newsletter 129 (1985), pp.

12–16.——. “Union List of Arabic Script Manuscripts in American Institutions: part 12:3, The Lilly Library Indiana

University Libraries,” MELA Notes 69–70 (Fall 1999–Spring 2000), pp. 43–59.Kriss, Rudolf and Hubert Kriss-Heinrich. Volksglaube im Bereich des Islam, Band I: Wallfahrtswesen und Heiligenverehrung.

Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1960; Band II: Amulette, Zauberformeln und Beschwörungen. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1962.

Kubiak, Wladyslaw and George T. Scanlon. Fu�� Expedition Final Report, Vol. 2: Fu��-C. Winona Lake: American Research Center in Egypt/Eisenbrauns, 1989.

Kühnel, Ernst. Islamische Schriftkunst. 2nd ed. Graz: Akademische Druck -u. Verlagsanstalt, 1972.Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien. Schätze der Kalifen: Islamische Kunst zur Fatimidenzeit. Wilfried Seipel, hrsg. Vienna:

Skira, 1998.Lane, Edward William. An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians. 5th (standard) edition edited by

Edward Stanley Poole, with a new introduction by Jon Manchip White. New York: Dover, 1973.Lesses, Rebecca Macy. Ritual Practices to Gain Power: Angels, Incantations, and Revelation in Early Jewish Mysticism.

Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1998.Levi della Vida, Giorgio, “An Arabic Block Print,” (‘Science on the March’ column) Scienti�c Monthly 59 (vi), (1944),

pp. 473–474.Loveday, Helen. Islamic Paper: a Study of the Ancient Craft. London?: Don Baker Memorial Fund/Archetype Publications,

2001.Lunde, Paul, “A Missing Link,” ARAMCO World 32:2 (1981), pp. 26–27.MacDonald, D.B., “Djinn,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New edition. (Vol. 2) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, pp. 456–458.Mandel Khan, Gabriel. Arabic Script: styles, variants, and calligraphic adaptations. Translated from Italian by Rosanna M.

Gaimmanco Frongia. New York: Abbeville Press, 2001.Meri, J.W., “Ziy�ra: 1. In the central and eastern Arab lands during the pre-modern period,” Encyclopaedia of Islam.

New edition. (Vol. 11) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, pp. 524–529.Mershen, Birgit. Untersuchungen zum Schriftamulett und seinem Gebrauch in Jordanien: dargestellt am Beispiel der Stadt Jarash und

ihres ländlichen Umfeldes. Ph.D. dissertation. Johannes Gutenberg-Universität. Mainz, 1982.Messick, Brinkley, “On the Question of Lithography,” Culture & History 16 (1997), pp. 158–176.Miles, George C. Early Arabic Glass Weights and Stamps: with a Study of the Manufacture of Eighth-Century Egyptian Glass

Weights and Stamps by Frederick R. Matson. New York: American Numismatic Society, 1948.

LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED� 237



Milstein, Rachel, “Thirteenth-century Stamped Documents from Damascus.” A paper presented at the symposium “History of Printing and Publishing in the Languages and Countries of the Middle East.” Gutenberg Museum, Mainz, Germany, (9–12 September, 2002).

Minorsky, V., “Ab� Dulaf,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. (Vol. 1) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, p. 116.Morgan, D.O., “Rash�d al-D�n �ab�b,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. (Vol. 8) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, pp.

443–444.Morony, Michael G. Iraq After the Muslim Conquest. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.Nicholson, R.A., “Mazdak,” Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. James Hastings, ed. (Vol. 8) New York: C. Scribner’s

Sons, 1908–1926, pp. 508–510.Oman, G., “Ma�ba�a: I. In the Arab World,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New edition. (Vol. 6) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–,

pp. 794–799.Peters, F.E. Allah’s Commonwealth: a History of Islam in the Near East, 600–1100 A.D. New York: Simon & Schuster,

1973.——. The Harvest of Hellenism: a History of the Near East from Alexander the Great to the Triumph of Christianity. New York:

Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, 1970.Pingree, David, “Some of the Sources for the Gh�yat al-�ak�m,” Journal of the Wartburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol.

43 (1980), pp. 1–15.Pollard, Michael. Johann Gutenberg: the Story of the Invention of Moveable Type and How Printing led to a Knowledge Explosion.

Watford, Herts, UK: Exley Pub., 1994.“Prof. T.F. Carter Dies,” New York Times. 7 August 1925, p. 15.Sam Fogg, Ltd., Islamic Callligraphy (Catalogue no. 27). Ramsey Fendall, ed. London, 2003.Schätze der Kalifen: Islamische Kunst zur Fatimidenzeit. Wilfried Seipel, hrsg. Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien/

Skira, 1998.Schaefer, Karl R., “Arabic printing before Gutenberg–Block-printed Arabic amulets,” in Sprachen des Nahen Ostens

und die Druckrevolution; eine interkulturelle Begegnung; Katalog und Begleitband zur Austellung. Eva Hanebutt-Benz, Dagmar Glass, Geoffrey Roper & Theo Smets, eds. Mainz: WVA-Verlag Skulima, 2002, pp. 122–128.

——. “Eleven medieval Arabic block prints in the Cambridge University Library,” Arabica 48:2 (2001), pp. 210–239.

——. “The Scheide Tarsh,” Princeton University Library Chronicle 56:3 (Spring 1995), pp. 400–430.Schienerl, Peter W. Schmuck und Amulett in Antike und Islam. Aachen: Alano Verlag, 1988.Schiffman, Lawrence H. and Michael D. Swartz. Hebrew and Aramaic Incantation Texts from the Cairo Genizah: selected texts

from Taylor-Schechter Box K1. (Semitic Texts and Studies 1). Shef�eld: JSOT Press, 1992.Sotheby’s, Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures. London, 1993. (Sale held on 22 October 1993, Bond Street, London).——. Arts of the Islamic World. London: 2002. (Sale held on 25 April 2002, Bond Street, London).Sourdel-Thomine, Janinine, “Kha��: i. In the Arab World,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. (Vol. 4) Leiden: E.J.

Brill, 1960–, pp. 1113–1122.Sprachen des Nahen Ostens und die Druckrevolution; eine interkulturelle Begegnung; Katalog und Begleitband zur Austellung, Eva

Hanebutt-Benz, Dagmar Glass, Geoffrey Roper & Theo Smets, eds. Mainz: WVA-Verlag Skulima, 2002.Spuler, B., “Ilkh�ns,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. (Vol. 3) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, pp. 1120–1122.Taubert, Sigfred, “Zur Geschichte des afrikanischen Buchdrucks,” Librarium 19.2 (1976), pp. 98–107.Wiesner, Julius, “Mikroskopische Untersuchung der Papiere von el-Faijum,” Österreichische Monatschrift für den Orient

9 (Sept. 1886), pp. 159–161.Wild, S., “al-Djawbar�, �Abd al-Ra��m,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. (Vol. 2) Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–,

p. 250.“Woodcut,” The Dictionary of Art. Vol. 37. Jane Turner, ed. New York: Grove, 1996.

OTHER WORKS ON THE HISTORY OF PRINTING

(With Special Focus on the Middle East)AbiFarès, Huda Smitshuijzen. Arabic Typography: a comprehensive sourcebook. London: Saqi Books, 2001.Albin, Michael W., “Recent Studies in Middle Eastern Printing History: a Review Essay,” Libraries & Culture 23

(1989), pp. 365–373.——. “An Essay on Early Printing in the Islamic Lands with Special Relation to Egypt,” Mélanges de l’Institut

Dominicain d’Études Orientales du Caire 18 (1988), pp. 335–344.British Library. “The Diamond Sutra: the World’s Earliest Dated Printed Book.” http://www.bl.uk/collections/

treasures/diamond.html. Accessed 15 May, 2004.Butler, Pierce. The Origin of Printing in Europe. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1940.Dreibholz, Ursula, “Some Aspects of Early Islamic Bookbindings from the Great Mosque of Sana a, Yemen” in

Scribes et Manuscripts du Moyen-Orient. François Déroche & Francis Richard, eds. Paris: Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1997, pp. 15–34.


Douglas, Nik. Tibetan Tantric Charms and Amulets: 230 Examples Reproduced from Original Woodblocks. (Dover Orientalia). New York: Dover Publications, 1978.

Der Gegenwärtige Stand der Gutenberg-Forschung. Hans Widmann, ed. (Bibliothek des Buchwesens, Bd. 1). Stuttgart: Anton Hieresmann, 1972.

Kaldy-Nagy, Gy., “Beginnings of the Arabic-letter Printing in the Muslim World,” in The Muslim East: Studies in Honor of Julius Germanus. Gy. Kaldy-Nagy, ed. Budapest: Lorand Eotvos University, 1974. pp. 201–211.

LeFebvre, Lucien and Henri-Jean Martin. The Coming of the Book: the Impact of Printing, 1450–1800. Translated by David Gerard. London: Verso, 1990.

Magic and Divination in Early Islam. Emilie Savage-Smith, ed. (The Formation of the Islamic World, 42) Aldershot, Hants: Ashgate/Variorum, 2004.

Man, John. Gutenberg: How One Man Remade the World with Words. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2002.Palmieri, Richard P., “Tibetan Xylography and the Question of Moveable Type,” Technology and Culture: the

International Quarterly of the Society for the History of Technology 32:1 (1991), pp. 82–90.Safadi, Yasin H., “Arabic printing and book production,” in Arab Islamic Bibliography: the Middle East Library Committee

Guide. Based on Giusseppe Gabrieli’s Manuale di bibliogra�a musulmana. Diana Grimwood-Jones, Derek Hopwood and J.D. Pearson, eds. Brighton: Harvester Press/Humanities Press, 1977, pp. 221–224.

——. “Early Arabic printing,” New Books Quarterly on Islam & the Muslim World 1:2&3 (Spring 1981), pp. 26–29.al-S�marr� �, Q�sim. �Ilm al-Iktin�h al-�Arab� al-Isl�m�: Arabic Islamic Palaeography & Codicology. Al-Riy�: Markaz al-

M�lik Fayal lil-Bu�� wa-al-Dir�s�t al-Isl�m�yah, 1422/2001.Sigfred Taubert, “Zur Geschichte des afrikanischen Buchdrucks: einige Randbemerkungen,” Librarium 19:2 (1976),

pp. 98–107.Sourdel-Thomine, J., Ali Alparslan & M. Abdullah Chaghatai, “Kha��,” Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. (Vol. 4)

Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–, pp. 1113–1128.Zayn al-�Abid�n, �Al� ibn al-�usayn. The Psalms of Islam: al- a��fat al-K�milat al-Sajj�diyya. Translated by William

C. Chittick. New York: The Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Distributed by Oxford University Press, 1988.

WORKS ON ARABIC PRAYERS, AMULETIC TEXTS, TEXTUAL FORMULAE AND SYMBOLOGY

Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power. Marvin W. Meyer and Richard Smith, eds. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999.

Andrews, Carol. Amulets of Ancient Egypt. London: British Museum Press, 1994.Ashmolean Museum. Oxford. Catalogue of Islamic Seals and Talismans by Ludvik Kalus. Oxford: Clarendon Press,

1986.Ashraf, Muhammad. Salat or Islamic Prayer Book (Illustrated). Lahore: Ashraf Press, 1971.Bowman, John, “An Arabic Hijab Manuscript and Jewish and Samaritan Phylacteries,” Abr-Nahrain 32 (1994), pp.

47–58.Budge, E.A. Wallis, Amulets and Magic. London: Kegan Paul, 2001.——. Amulets and Superstitions. New York: Dover Publications, 1978.——. Amulets and Talismans. New Hyde Park, NY: University Books, 1961.Caiozzo, Anna, “Les Talismans des Planets dans les Cosmographies en Persan d’Époque Médievale,” Der Islam 77:2

(2000), pp. 221–262.Canaan, Tew�k, “The Decipherment of Arabic Talismans,” Berytus: Archeological Studies 4 (1937), pp. 69–110.——. “The Decipherment of Arabic Talismans,” Berytus: Archeological Studies 5 (1938), pp. 141–151.Fahd, Tou�c, “La Magie comme ‘Source de la Sagesse,’ d’après l’Oeuvre d’Al-Buni,” in Charmes et Sortilèges Magie

et Magiciens. Rika Gyselen, ed. Bures-sur-Yvette: Groupe pour l’Étude de la Civilisation du Moyen-Orient, 2002, pp. 61–108.

Griechische, koptische und arabische Texte zur Religion und religiösen Literatur in Ägyptens Spätzeit. Friedrich Bilabel and Adolf Grohmann, eds. (Veröffentlichungen aus den badischen Papyrus-Sammlungen, Heft 5). Heidelberg: Universitätsbibliothek, 1934.

Hinge, Helle, “Islamisk folkereligiøsitet,” Diwan 1 (1995), pp. 14–19.Marquès-Rivière, Jean, Amulettes, Talismans et Pentacles dans les Traditions Orientales et Occidentales. (Collection ‘Aux

Con�ns de la Science’). Paris: Payot, 1972.Naveh, Joseph and Shaul Shaked. Amulets and Magic Bowls: Aramaic Incantations of Late Antiquity. Leiden: E.J. Brill,

1985.——. Magic Spells and Formulae: Aramaic Incantations of Late Antiquity. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, Hebrew University,

1993.Oris, Edmond. Le Grand Livre des Amulettes et Talismans. Paris: Editions de Vecchi, c. 1994.Owusu-Ansah, David. Islamic Talismanic Tradition in Nineteenth-Century Asante. (African Studies, 21). Lewiston, NY: The

Edwin Mellen Press, 1991.

LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED� 239



Padwick, Constance E. Muslim Devotions: a Study of Prayer-manuals in Common Use. London: S.P.C.K., 1961.Pinch, Geraldine. Magic in Ancient Egypt. London: British Museum Press, 1994.Rubin, Arnold, “Layoyi: Some Hausa Calligraphic Charms,” African Arts 17:2 (1984), pp. 67–70, 91.Schienerl, Peter, “Miszellen zum Ägyptischen Amulettwesen,” Baessler-Archiv, Neue Folge, 26:1 (1978), pp. 37–56.——. “Zur Bedeutung des Ägyptischen Lochscheibenamulettes,” Baessler-Archiv, Neue Folge, 27:2 (1979), pp. 347–

365.Schimmel, Annemarie. The Mystery of Numbers. New York: Oxford, 1993.Schrire, Theodore. Hebrew Magic Amulets: Their Decipherment and Interpretation. New York: Behrman House, 1966.Spier, Jeffrey, “Medieval Byzantine Magical Amulets and Their Tradition,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld

Institutes, Vol. 56 (1993), pp. 25–62.Wetzstein, J.G., “Zwei arabische Amulette,” Zeitschrift für Ethnologie 4 (1872), pp. 42–44.


INDEX TO QUR’ANIC CHAPTERS (SURAS) AND VERSES (AYAT) APPEARING IN THE TEXTS OF THE AMULETS

20:105 LACMA M.2002.1.371 (ll. 3–4)

27:88 T-S Ar. 38.135 (ll. 3–6)

28:70 T-S Ar. 41.102 (ll. 25–26)

33:25 T-S Ar. 38.135 (ll. 17–20)

34:1–6 A. Ch. 12.150 (ll. 1–12)

36:8–9 T-S Ar. 38.135 (ll. 20–24)

41:41 Columbia 705B (pars; ll. 26–27); Met. Mus. 1978.546.39 (pars; l. 2); Scheide 4.3.3B (pars; ll. 2–4)

48:1 Wren Library Ar 2 (pars; l. 2)

55:33 T-S Ar. 38.135 (pars; ll. 15–17); A. Ch. 12.146 (pars; ll. 4–7)

61:13 Met. Mus. 1975.192.21 (pars; l. 2); Met. Mus. 1978.546.37 (pars; l. 18)

73:9 T-S Ar. 41.102 (l. 40)

85:19–22 Michaelides (charta) 33 (ll. 5–6)85:20–22 Michaelides (charta) E33 (at top)

112:1–2 A. Ch. 12.149 (l. 1–2)112: 4,1 A. Ch. 12.133 (pars; ll. 1–3)112: 1–4 Berlin Arab. 11970 (ll. 1–2);

Michaelides (charta) E32 (ll. 4–6); T-S Ar. 20.1 (ll. 11–12); A. Ch. 12.152 (ll. 19–20); Papyrus héb. 7 (ll. 1–4); Met. Mus. 1971.237.1 (ll. 1–2); Met. Mus. 1978.546.37 (l. 2); Met. Mus. 1978.546.38 (l. 2)

113: 1–5 Michaelides (charta) E32 (ll. 6–8): T-S Ar. 20.1 (12–14); A. Ch. 12.138 (ll. 1–5); Columbia 705B (ll. 16–18); Met. Mus. 1978.546.36 (ll. 5–9)

114:1–6 Michaelides (charta) E32 (ll. 9–11); T-S Ar. 20.1 (ll. 13–15); A. Ch. 12.138 (ll. 11–13); Columbia 705B (ll. 14–16); Met. Mus. 1978.546.36 (ll. 2–5)

LACMA = Los Angeles County Museum of ArtMet. Mus. = Metropolitan Museum of New York

1:1–7 Michaelides (charta) E31 (ll. 1–8); Michaelides (charta) E32 (ll. 1–4); T-S Ar. 20.1 (ll. 8–11); A. Ch. 12.152 (ll. 14–19); Columbia 705B (ll. 1–7); Met. Mus. 1978.546.38 (ll. 4–8)

1:7 Met. Mus. 1978.546.36 (pars; l. 1)

2:1 Met. Mus. 1978.546.32 (l. 11)2:255 GM 03.1 Schr. (ll. 11–21); Columbia

705B (ll. 1–8; 20–26)2:255–257 T-S Ar. 41.102 (ll. 1–9)2:285–286 Michaelides (charta) E32 (ll. 11–20)

3.1 Met. Mus. 1978.546.32 (ll. 11–12)3:2, 6 T-S Ar. 41.102 (ll. 9–11)3:18 Berlin Arab. 11970 (ll. 4–6);

Michaelides (charta) E31 (ll. 8–12); Is PP 21 (ll. 16–19); P. Heid. Inv. Arab. 3000 (ll. 3–5); A. Ch. 12.140 (ll. 3–6); A. Ch. 12.146 (ll. 2–4); Met. Mus. 1975.192.20 (l. 1); Met. Mus. 1978.546.33 (ll. 2–4); Met. Mus. 1978.546.38 (ll. 8–10); Scheide 4.3.3B (ll. 6–8)

4:166 Met. Mus. 1978.546.39 (pars; l. 2); Scheide 4.3.3B (ll. 5–6)

6:13 A. Ch. 12.149 (pars; l. 3)

7:54 Scheide 4.3.3B (ll. 8–13)7:54–56 Michaelides (charta) E32 (ll. 20–26)7:120–122 Michaelides (charta) E33 (ll. 4–5)

8:13 LACMA M.2002.1.371 (l. 13)

9:129 A. Ch. 12.136 (pars; ll. 23–24); A. Ch. 12.144 (ll. 44–45)

10:82 Michaelides (charta) E33 (l. 4)

12:64 Michaelides (charta) E33 (pars; l. 2)

17:45 A. Ch. 12.152 (l. 1)17:46 Scheide 4.3.3B (pars; ll. 16–18)17:81–82 Papyrus héb. 7 (pars; ll. 56–59)17:82 Michaelides (charta) E32 (ll. 26–27);

T-S Ar. 38.135 (ll. 1–3)17:81–83 Scheide 4.3.3B (ll. 13–16)

18:110 Scheide 4.3.3B (ll. 18–21)

SCHAEFER_INDEX_241-243.indd 241 7/1/2006 6:24:29 AM


INDEX

Jahn, Karl 35Jawbar�, �Abd al-Ra��m 25–26Judaism 12 Use of amulets in 34, 50 (fn 41)

Karabacek, Josef 27–30, 37, 42Al-Kha��, Badr ibn A�mad 25Khaw�tim see stamps and seals

Levi della Vida, Giorgio 35, 43, 45

Madina, Ma�an Z. 181Magic 15–16, 18–19Magic square 77, 78, 79Milstein, Rachel 38 (also fn 76)Monophysites 10Moritz, Bernhard 31, 32

Nestorians 10, 16

Paganism 11Paper, invention of 3Paper money 24, 35 See also Ch’aoPelliot, Paul 32, 33Printing, history of 1–3 in Asia 2–3 in Islam 21Purgstall, Josef von Hammer- 4, 26–27, 31, 38

Rainer, Erzherzog 28Rainer Collection of Arabic block prints 28, 33

�adr al-D�n (Ilkhanid vizier) 24Sasanids (Sasanian Empire) 9, 10Schimmel, Annemarie 191, 193Script styles on amulets 46–48 use of diacritical marks in 48 use of punctuation in 49 See also Ku�, Naskh, Thuluth under heading

AmuletsStamps and seals 2, 22, 33Stein, Sir Aurel 3, 33��f�s 19Syncretism 13, 17

Tam�ma 9�arsh 22, 38Theurgy 18

Van Meeuwen, J.W.Th. 103

Xylography see block printing

Zoroastrianism 11–12

Ab� Dulaf 22–23Almería, Spain 27Amulets 7–9, 18, 20 Arabic 9 creation of 22–23, 38–39 dating of 34–35, 41–45 printing methods used 47–48 Ku� script in 43–44, 46 Naskh script in 46 Thuluth script in 44, 46 use of colored ink on 50Austrian Museum for Art and Industry

(Österreichische Museum für Kunst und Industrie) 27–29

Arabic paper exhibition (1894) in 29

Ban� S�s�n 22–23, 25, 26, 38 Block printing 2, 4, 24 in the Islamic world 4–5Bonola Bey, Federico 31Bosworth, C.E. 22, 38Bullae 9Bulliet, Richard 22, 37Al-B�n�, A�mad ibn �Al� 19Butler, Pierce 2

Carter, Dagny 32Carter, Thomas Francis 32–33, 43 ff.Ch’ao 24Commission Scienti�que 30Council of Chalcedon 10

Demeerseman, André 36Diamond Sutra 3 (also fn 6)

Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire 9, 11, 12Eitelberger, Rudolf R. von 29

Fayyum, Egypt 28Fenton, Paul 44, 157Fihrist 21–22Fu��, Egypt 43

Gaykh�t� 24Geiss, Andre 4, 30–31Gnosticism 14 ff.Grohmann, Adolf 28, 32, 33–34, 42, 43, 45Gutenberg, Johann 3, 30

Al-ill�, �af� al-D�n 25, 38Hirth, Friedrich 32

Ibn al-Abb�r 24Ibn al-Nad�m, Mu�ammad ibn Is�aq 21�l Kh�ns (Ilkhanids) 23–24�Ilm al-sim�y� 18–19



PLATES



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PERMISSION WORDING AND PHOTO CAPTIONS FOR ENIGMATIC CHARMS

Plate 1 Berlin P 11970 Copyright: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin Germany.

Foto: Jürgen LiepePlate 2 Berlin Arab. 24016 Copyright: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin Germany.

Foto: Jürgen LiepePlate 3 Michaelides (charta) E 28 By permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University LibraryPlate 4 Michaelides (charta) E 29 By permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University LibraryPlate 5 Michaelides (charta) E 30 By permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University LibraryPlate 6 Michaelides (charta) E 31 By permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University LibraryPlate 7 Michaelides (charta) E 32 By permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University LibraryPlate 8 Michaelides (charta) E 33 By permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University LibraryPlate 9 T-S Ar 20.1 By permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University LibraryPlate 10 T-S Ar 38.135 By permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University LibraryPlate 11 T-S Ar 41.102 By permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University LibraryPlate 12 T-S AS 181.228 By permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University LibraryPlate 13 T-S NS 306.27 By permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University LibraryPlate 14 Is. PP 21 © The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, DublinPlate 14b Is. PP 21 (top half ) © The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, DublinPlate 14c Is. PP 21 (lower half ) © The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, DublinPlate 15 GM 03.1 Schr. By Permission of the Gutenberg-Museum MainzPlate 15b GM 03.1 Schr. (upper third) By Permission of the Gutenberg-Museum Mainz


248 PLATES

Plate 15c GM 03.1 Schr. (middle third) By Permission of the Gutenberg-Museum MainzPlate 15d GM 03.1 Schr. (lower third) By Permission of the Gutenberg-Museum MainzPlate 16 P. Heid. Inv. Arab. 3000 Published with the permission of the Seminar für Papyrologie, Institut für Alter-

tumswissenschaften, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität HeidelbergPlate 17 Gaster Geniza Ar. 38 Reproduced by courtesy of the University Librarian and Director, The John

Rylands University Library, The University of ManchesterPlate 18 A. Ch. 12.133 (vø) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, PhotoatelierPlate 19 A. Ch. 12.134 (vø) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, PhotoatelierPlate 20 A. Ch. 12.135 (vø) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, PhotoatelierPlate 21 A. Ch. 12.136 (vø) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, PhotoatelierPlate 22 A. Ch. 12.137 (vø) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, PhotoatelierPlate 23 A. Ch. 12.138 (vø) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, PhotoatelierPlate 24 A. Ch. 12.139 (vø) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, PhotoatelierPlate 25 A. Ch. 12.140 (vø) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, PhotoatelierPlate 26 A. Ch. 12.141 (vø) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, PhotoatelierPlate 27 A. Ch. 12.142 (vø) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, PhotoatelierPlate 28. A. Ch. 12.143 (vø) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, PhotoatelierPlate 29 A. Ch. 12.144 (vø) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, PhotoatelierPlate 30 A. Ch. 12.145 (vø) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, PhotoatelierPlate 31 A. Ch. 12.146 (vø) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, PhotoatelierPlate 32 A. Ch. 12.147 (vø) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, PhotoatelierPlate 33 A. Ch. 12.148 (vø) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, PhotoatelierPlate 34 A. Ch. 12.149 (vø) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Photoatelier


Plate 35 A. Ch. 12.150 (vø) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, PhotoatelierPlate 36 A. Ch. 12.151 (vø) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, PhotoatelierPlate 37 A. Ch. 12.152 (r & v) © Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, PhotoatelierPlate 38 Papyrus héb. 7 Photo et Collections de la Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire de StrasbourgPlate 39 Wren Library Ar 2 Courtesy of the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, CambridgePlate 40 Papyrus 705b Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia UniversityPlate 40b Papyrus 705b (upper half ) Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia UniversityPlate 40c Papyrus 705b (lower half ) Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia UniversityPlate 41 Atiyah Gift, MS. 9 Courtesy, The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, IndianaPlate 42 M.2002.1.370 Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift

of Camilla Chandler Frost. Photograph © Museum Associates, LACMAPlate 43 M.2002.1.371 Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift

of Camilla Chandler Frost. Photograph © Museum Associates, LACMAPlate 44 1971.237.1 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fletcher Fund, 1971 (1971.237.1) Photograph

© 2005 The Metropolitan Museum of ArtPlate 45 1975.192.20 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Richard Ettinghausen, 1975

(1975.192.20) Photograph © 2005 The Metropolitan Museum of ArtPlate 46 1975.192.21 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Richard Ettinghausen, 1975

(1975.192.21) Photograph © 2005 The Metropolitan Museum of ArtPlate 47 1978.546.32 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Nelly, Violet and Elie Abemayor, in

memory of Michael Abemayor, 1978 (1978.546.32) Photograph © 1998 The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Plate 48 1978.546.33 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Nelly, Violet and Elie Abemayor, in




PLATES� 249


250 PLATES


memory of Michael Abemayor, 1978 (1978.546.35–36) Photograph © 1998 The Metropolitan Museum of Art


memory of Michael Abemayor, 1978 (1978.546.35–.36) Photograph © 1998 The Metropolitan Museum of Art







Plate 55 Scheide Library 4.3.3B Courtesy, the Scheide Library, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections,

Firestone Library, Princeton University
