Folio of a Koran in Kufic Script in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, August 2019

Folio from a Qur'an Manuscript


Object Details

Title: Folio from a Qur'an Manuscript

Date: 9th–early 10th century

Geography: Made in Central Islamic Lands

Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on parchment

Dimensions: H. 3 5/16 in. (8.4 cm)
W. 5 1/16 in. (12.9 cm)

Classification: Codices

Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1962

Accession Number: 62.152.1


Like many early Qur’an folios, this folio is written in parchment in black ink using a broad-nibbed reed pen. The horizontal, rounded letters seen here are characteristic of early kufic Qur’ans on parchment, and are thought to be a response to the rectangular page format. The angular script is moderated by the roundness of several letters that look like large black dots, their inner blank spaces reduced to tiny circles. Red and green dots indicate the vowel marks.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/451676