Folio from the "Qur'an of 'Umar Aqta"

`Umar Aqta 

Object Name:
Section from a non-illustrated manuscript
Date:
late 14th–early 15th century (before 1405)
Geography:
present-day Uzbekistan, Samarqand
Medium:
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Dimensions:
H. 9 1/2 in. (49.5 cm) W. 43 5/8in. (110.8cm)
Classification:
Codices
Credit Line:
Gift of Samuel T. Peters, 1918
Accession Number:
18.17.1
  • Description

    This fragment of a page comes from one of the largest copies of the Qur'an ever produced. Each line of script, written in the muhaqqaq style, is over three feet long, and each page was originally over seven feet tall. This page probably comes from a gigantic Qur'an that the calligrapher 'Umar Aqta' wrote for the ruler Timur (Tamerlane, d. 1405). Apparently Timur was unimpressed after 'Umar Aqta' wrote a Qur'an so small that it could fit under a signet ring, so the calligrapher wrote another Qur'an so large it had to be brought to Timur on a cart.

  • Provenance

    Samuel T. Peters, New York (until 1918)

140011473

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