Section from a Qur'an Manuscript

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Like many early Qur’an folios, this example is written in parchment in black ink using a broad-nibbed reed pen. The emphatically elongated letters seen here are characteristic of early kufic Qur’ans on parchment, and are thought to be a response to the shift to the horizontal format of the rectangular page. The angular script is moderated by the roundness of several letters that look like large black dots, their inner blank spaces reduced almost to a needlepoint. Red dots indicate the vowel marks, while rosette patterns mark the ends of verses.

Section from a Qur'an Manuscript, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on parchment

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