Baghdad University Workshop Studies History of Codex Mashhad

IQNA – A scientific workshop titled “Codex Mashhad; History and Features” was held at the University of Baghdad’s Faculty of Literature this past weekend.

According to the Media and Government Communications Department of the Faculty of Literature of the University of Baghdad, the workshop was held on Sunday, December 14, under the supervision of Ali Abdul Amir Sajet, Dean of the Faculty.

It was attended by researchers, postgraduate students and those interested in studying Quranic manuscripts.

Imad Al-Hilali and Morteza Karimi were the speakers of the workshop who provided valuable information about this copy of the Quran.

They emphasized that this Quran is the most complete collection of pages of the Holy Quran in Hijazi script, dating back to the first century AH.

This workshop was held with the aim of introducing and explaining the features of the Codex Mashhad as one of the most prominent and important early Quranic manuscripts.

The manuscript is the most complete preserved collection of pages of the Quran in the Hijazi script, dating back to the first century AH and contains more than 95 percent of the text of the Holy Quran.

The workshop speakers explained the composition of the two manuscripts of this Quran, which are kept in the library of Astan Quds Razavi in ​​Mashhad, northeast Iran, and contain 252 pages.

They elaborated on the results of textual and analytical studies and radiocarbon (C14) tests that confirm that the main part of this manuscript dates back to the first century AH.

Also, during the workshop, the textual and artistic features of Codex Mashhad, including stylistic features, special and unusual features of the calligraphy and spelling, differences in readings and the order of the Surahs, were examined and it was emphasized that these features are found only in a very limited number of early Hijazi Qurans, which gives this manuscript a high scientific value in the study of the history of the compilation of the Holy Quran.

Codex Mashhad was written on parchment measuring 35 by 50 centimeters either in Medina or Kufa and was later taken to Khorasan (northeast Iran).

Then in the late 5th Hijri century, the owner endowed the copy to the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS).

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