Papyrus Fragment

11th–12th century

Not on view

This papyrus fragment of a non-illustrated single work is written in a cursive script with rounded letter terminals. Although the side shown here has ten lines, the other side has only seven that are smaller in scale. Papyrus was used for documents, letters, and commercial transactions in a type of script that is comparable to the modern cursive style. Diacritical points and vowel marks are visible, however, suggesting that this fragment did not belong to one of these categories. In fact, the text, which describes demons (jins) as invisible beings of fire and dark as the blackness of night, is philosophical and theological in nature. This could be a record of a treatise like the Mishkat al-Anwar (Niche of Lights), by the great Muslim theologian al-Ghazali (1058–1111).

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

Title: Papyrus Fragment
Date: 11th–12th century
Geography: Attributed to Egypt
Medium: Ink on papyrus
Dimensions: H. 5 1/4 in. (12.7 cm)
W. 5 3/4 in. (14.6 cm)
Classification: Codices
Credit Line: Museum Accession
Object Number: x.434
Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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