In the same manuscript and on the scriptio inferior side,
we see for example in The Rocky Tract Chapter [15], verse 65
Hamed: ((You all are ordered ...))
Mohd: Yes, it's originally "Toamarun تؤمرون "
Hamed: (([...] travel where you all are ordered ... ))
Mohd: But what's present here is [not] "Toamarun تؤمرون
I will undeline the word
but "Tamorun تأمرون" (You all order in Arabic)
See?
This is the letter Nun ن .
Here's the letter "Aleph ا" instead of the "Waw و"
and then it becomes "Tamorun تأمرون" instead of "Toamarun تؤمرون"
Of course, Prof. Elizabeth Puin conducted an analysis on all ...
... or huge parts of the undertext (scriptio inferior)
and she discovered hundreds of ...
- Hamed: inconsistencies - Mohd: inconsistencies ... yes
against the current Koranic text.
and maybe this is the reason that following Prof. Elizabeth Puin's publishing of these findings,
the Yemeni government decided to lock the door
and iron chests on the manuscripts, [figuratively speaking],
and prevented any researcher from coming near them.
This is a great loss as we might have been able to discover new details,
as the bulk of the collection of Sanaa manuscript has not been publicly released to the researchers yet,
and is guarded by the Yemeni Government.
This the oldest text, or rather amongt the oldest texts along with Birmingham manuscript.
Both manuscripts are considered the oldest [discovered] Islamic [Koranic] texts to date.
Although the Birmingham Manuscript consists of only two folios.
and therefore it's lacking for a scientific analysis that can show the alterations that have occurred ...
- No, there are manuscripts that are older than Birmingham manuscript,
which is catalogued as Mingana 1572a and 1572b
which garnered attention lately due to the claim that it was the 'oldest Koranic manuscript in the world',
which is bogus
because there have been already studies conducted [on the matter],
and I was one among the persons who worked on a study about the different readings (standards) of the Koran,
Ibn Amer's [in particular],
and I also shed light on many points that demonstrate that
[Ibn Amer's] dates to the end of the 7th century CE
and the beginning of the 8th century CE.
So, it does not date to the time of the Messenger nor that of the Righteous Caliphs?
Of course, there was a controversy regarding the Birmingham manuscript
because they of course determined the age of the manuscript based on the writing material or medium
which is the parchment - The parchment, yes.
and we of course know that the parchment might be older than the writing or text on the parchment
or maybe it was written on [immediately production] and then washed to be re-written on.
Mohd: Right
the parchment is older and the text is recent.
That said, and even if it belongs to the era of Othman or the Prophet,
it's just two folios which are not enough to explain the evolution of the Koranic text.
The Sanaa Manuscript is better fit to serve the study or research
and we'll get back for sure to the other manuscripts
But how did the Koranic Arabic script develop afterwards?
Meaning, we have the Hejazi script in the beginning
that was used to scribe the Koran with and we'll get back to the term "Hejazi script" later on.
However, the Kufic script followed afterwards
and then came an evolution of that script or font
till we reached to the current Koranic style,
the so-called Othmanic Standard,
or the Othmanic Script.
Mohd: Yes
So, when has the current Koran, which we have in hand today, been formulated?
Yes, I'd like first to set the record straight regarding the Birmingham Manuscript
which contains indeed two folios,
that's folio No. 1 and No. 7
which belong in turn to a collection of folios that are located in France
at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF)
and it's 16 folios in total.
It's catalogued as [BnF] Arabe 328(c)
So, this collection belongs to the same Koran copy.
There are 16 folios of this manuscript in France.
But the French determined or estimated the date of this manuscript to be of another era.
François Déroche said that it dated from the final quarter of the 7th century.
In other words, it doesn't belong to the times of the Righteous Caliphs.
Yes. Prof. François Déroche always cautions
against jumping to conclusions using rays analysis ...
- Radiocarbon
Radiocarbon
because the carbon dating method always gives a huge margin of errors in estimates
ranging from 50 - 100 years and often with Koranic manuscripts
Because if we take these tests seriously and scientifically [without question],
this means that there's room for over 95% chance
that these folios were written even before the birth of the Messenger
This of course will not be acceptable to any Muslim
and thus we should look into other criteria
such as the font criterion and the ornament criterion,
the aesthetic criteria and this too goes for the progress of the language
and only then we can give an estimate of a relative date that's close to the actual date.
Regarding the progress of the language
So, let's go with the [official] Islamic narrative that states that the divine revelation started in the year 610 CE
and the Koran writing or compilation
began in the era of the third Caliph, Othman ibn Affan
i.e. starting from the year 644 CE.
What was the Arabic language like at that juncture of time?
As a spoken language goes and as dialects and alphabets go too,
were the Arabic alphabets of the time capable to hold a complex work of literature such as the Koran?
What were the early alphabets?
Was there such a thing as the Qoraysh language?
We've heard from you sir a while ago the term "Hejazi Script".
So, does the Hejazi Script hail from the Hejaz area, Mecca and Medina or ...?
How was the Arabic language faring at the time of emergence of Islam or rather the Koran for the first time?
- Yes
According to the researchers in the field of history of linguistics
like Dr. Robert Kerr.
Back in the 7th century,
there were of course many Arabic dialects in the Arabian Peninsula
as well as Northern Arabia.
However, there's stuff that went unmentioned.
For example, the Hejazi script [by virtue of its name only]
doesn't mean that it was born or emerged in the Hejaz
but that it was the first script used to scribe or write down the Koran
in Mecca
and that's why some scholars attributed it [to the Hejaz] and that's why it's called the Hejazi script.
By the way, an Italian orientalist called Ammari
who lived in the 19th century was the one who coined the term that's the Hejazi script.
- Based on the fact that it was the earliest script discovered in the Koranic manuscripts.
Yes but ...
What's the real story of the Hejazi script?
Neverthless, according to specialists in fact ...
We find on this map a detailed picture
of the administrative divisions
for the lands of Arabs set in place by the Romans.
So, we have Arabia Petraea, [the area] north of [mordern-day] Saudi Arabia
- Patraa البتراء (Arabic for Petra)
Yes and we have the middle part ...
Hamed: This is the Levant.
Mohd: The Levant and part of Iraq and ...
Hamed: Jordan
Mohd: and Jordan and Palestine, of course.
We have in the middle, the so-called Arabia Deserta
in reference to the Arab Bedouins who were located in Saudi Arabia.
Hamed: What was the language and the alphabet used in that region, Mecca and Medina?
There were a lot of dialects and for this reason, the Koran gave a precise phrase
that's
(( [...] Arabic speech ...)) [16:103]
and not in Arabic language as the speech meant here the dialects
because there were indeed many dialects in this region
but if we switch to scripts,
the Hejazi script belongs to the northern part
that's Arabia Deserta ...
Oops Arabia ...
- Petraea
Sorry, Arabia Petraea which refers to the Levant and part of Iraq and Jordan
whereas the region from which the Koran was presumably originated and emerged
the Thamudic script existed instead
and this Thamudic script is totally different.
Let's take a look at a picture here.
This is the Thamudic script and it's similar to the Sabaean script
- and it's similar to the Ethiopic script
Mohd: and also the Ethiopic script, exactly. Hamed: Yes
This kind of script can't be cursive as the letters can't adjoin and are separate or standalone.
Of course, it's quite different from the Hejazi script that was used to scribe the Koran for the first time.
So, to recap,
we have three regions of Arabia,
the Arabs of the Levant, the Arabs of the desert
i.e. Mecca, Medina and Taif, the Hejaz region
and the Arabs of Yemen
[The region] where the Arabs of Yemen resided was called Arabia Felix
Arabia Felix means The Happy Yemen?
(Yemen is affectionately known in Arabic culture as al-Yaman as-Said اليمن السعيد meaning The Happy Yemen)
The Happy Arabs
In Mecca and Medina, the Thamudic alphabet was used
Mohd: Yes
and in the Southern region, the Sabaean alphabet was used
Mohd: Yes
and in the Northern region i.e. the Levant, there was more than one alphabet.
Yes, more than one alphabet
We must first point out that the Hejazi alphabet is a descendant from
Hamed: the Nabataean script.
Mohd: the Nabataean script, exactly.
Well, the Nabataean script then has evolved from the Aramaic script and correct me if I'm wrong
Mohd: Yes.
The Nabataean script has evolved from the Aramaic script and from which the Hejazi script in turn developed
and which has nothing to do with Hejaz
and that script was used to write down the Koran for the first time.
- Yes
What's the connection between the Syriac language then or rather ...
... the Syriac alphabet with the writing of Koran's letters for the first time?
Yes, the Syriac script and especially the Estrangela variety has influenced the Hejazi script
and which itself would later develop into another distinct script which is the Kufic script.
So, the Kufic script is very similar or very close to the Estrangela script or the Syriac script.
Therefore, the evolution of scripts is similar to that of languages
which is similar to that of the Koranic script itself.
A passage on top of another passage and so on
A script on top of another script and so on
No thing grows out of nothing
No thing comes out of nothing (Ex nihilo nihil fit)
So, the Arabic language is like any other language
and it evolved just like any other language and it sought the help of other alphabets.
Perhaps the image of the palimpest ... the palimpsest
the above and under texts [best illustrates the idea of] the Koran as it evolved in the same way.
Text overlaid on other text overlaid on other text
and this cumulative process of those texts led us to the current form of the Koran,
the beautiful Koran copy that we have in hand today in its final form.
We thank you very much Mr. Mohammad el Mesayyah for this important info
and you will be with us in other episodes to continue talking about the Koranic manuscripts.
Follow us on the channel Hamed.tv on YouTube
and on facebook.com/BoxOfIslam
See you in next episode!
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