New Exhibition of Sacred Texts Highlights Common Themes in Three Major Faiths

The elaborate hexagonal design, sparkling gold calligraphy and vibrant sea blue background appear to be the latest example of sophisticated, computer-generated images.

Only the crinkles on the Sultan Baybars Quran's timeworn cream pages betray the Muslim holy book's age. It is, after all, more than 700 years old.

Members of the public will be able to see it alongside other rare and exquisite Jewish, Christian and Muslim texts in an exhibition beginning Friday that highlights common threads throughout the three faiths.

The British Library's "Sacred: What We Share" exhibition runs until Sept. 23. On display are more than 200 data-x-items that span 2,000 years, including a Quran from the eighth century and one of the last Iberian Hebrew Bibles produced before the Jews were expelled from Portugal in the 15th century.

The texts, amulets and other data-x-items are organized by themes — such as worship and holy places — rather than by religion. The thematic arrangement accentuates how much the religions share and how they have influenced each other, said Graham Shaw, the lead curator of the exhibit.

In one instance, the library displayed 14th century Jewish and Christian depictions of Moses receiving the 10 Commandments on Mount Sinai. Amulets from all three faiths were shown in another case.

"These religions are very powerful forces in the world today," said Shaw, who spent three years planning the exhibition. "The more we understand, the better."

The world's 2 billion Christians, 1.2 billion Muslims and 14.5 million Jews make up more than half of the global population, the library said.

Among other data-x-items on display is a three-column, tan and beige sheepskin fragment of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The fragment contains an excerpt from the Book of Psalms and dates to the first century. Nearby sits the Codex Sinaiticus, the earliest complete manuscript of the New Testament, dating to the fourth century.

Also shown is the Sultan Baybars Quran. Written in gold in seven folio volumes, it took more than three years to produce in Cairo, Egypt in the early 14th Century. Scholars now describe it as one of the world's oldest, most dazzling Qurans.

Across the room, one of three remaining known copies of the first English translation of the New Testament can also be seen. The book was translated by the Protestant scholar William Tyndale and published in Germany in 1526.

The exhibition relies heavily on the library's own texts, but also borrows from other British museums and collections from Uzbekistan, France, Morocco, Sweden and the Irish Republic.




The Associated Press