Whence Come Qurʾān Manuscripts? Determining the Regional Provenance of Early Qurʾānic Codices

Der Islam ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-393
Author(s):  
Ala Vahidnia
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
History Of ◽  
Textual Variants ◽  
Early Islamic

Abstract In studies of early Qurʾānic manuscripts, determining the provenance of these manuscripts is a thorny issue because in most cases they lack endowment notes or colophons. The reports in early Islamic sources regarding textual variants of regional codices (maṣāḥif al-amṣār) may contribute to find a solution to this problem. A list of regional variants, mostly based on al-Dānī’s al-Muqniʿ, can be found in Nöldeke et al.’s The History of the Quran. However, as the authors have stated, a comparison of some of the early Qurʾānic manuscripts in the Topkapı Sarayı Museum with this table of maṣāḥif al-amṣār variants indicates that the traditional reports are unreliable for identifying the provenance of Qurʾānic manuscripts because none of these codices can be attributed to any particular region. The present article is an attempt to demonstrate that this problem results from relying solely on the data provided by al-Dānī and ignoring earlier and more significant sources, such as al-Sijistānī’s Kitāb al-Maṣāḥif. It attempts to provide a new and more precise classification of regional variants by reading afresh the reports on the features of maṣāḥif al-amṣār, taking into account the sources which were not used by Nöldeke et al., especially al-Sijistānī’s Kitāb al-Maṣāḥif, thus making the list of maṣāḥif al-amṣār variants more accurate, thereby the variants of each of these early Qurʾānic Codices tally more with the reports preserved for the characteristics of one of the maṣāḥif al-amṣār in literary sources. As the texts of the surviving manuscripts are not of a diverse nature we are able, with some certainty, to draw conclusions that substantiate the reports as to the peculiarities of the muṣḥafs of different cities.

Qumran Calendars: A Survey of Scholarship 1980—2007

2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 124-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Ben-Dov ◽  
Stéphane Saulnier
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Early History ◽  
Lunar Phases ◽  
Hellenistic World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Themes ◽  
The Temple

The present article surveys the scholarship on the calendars represented in the Qumran texts and the Pseudepigrapha. The survey commences with the influential articles by VanderKam in the late 1970s, while relating also to Jaubert's earlier hypothesis. After a presentation and classification of the relevant texts, we proceed to elucidate the prominent calendrical and historical themes: the calendar in Jubilees and the Temple Scroll; the early history of the 364-day year in Judah; the non-Jewish origins of the 364-day calendar tradition; intercalation and the beginning of the day; and the various accounts of lunar phases in writings from Qumran. Broadly speaking, present-day research tends to emphasize the schematic aspect of the 364-day calendar tradition, renouncing the older view of this system as a `solar' calendar. In addition, Jaubert's hypothesis on the antiquity of the 364-day calendar, although still upheld in significant parts of current scholarship, is seriously challenged when viewed in a broader historical context. Finally, the Jewish astronomical and calendrical lore is increasingly explained on the background of astral sciences in the Hellenistic world—from Mesopotamia to Egypt.

The Ottoman Archives as a Source for the History of the Arab Lands

1951 ◽  
Vol 83 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 139-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Public And Private ◽  
Islamic Period ◽  
The Public ◽  
The People ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
History Of ◽  
Early Islamic Period ◽  
Early Islamic ◽  
Archive Material

One of the classical difficulties of the student of the history of the Islamic Middle East, as contrasted with his colleagues in the European field, is the lack of archive material. While the western medievalist, for example, has at his disposal a mass of records, central and local, public and private, political, administrative, judicial, and ecclesiastical, the orientalist has to rely for the most part on literary and archæological sources. In many fields of history his findings are in consequence often vague and general; they are in the main limited to the public and external life of the communities and individuals he studies. Only the events and personalities important enough to achieve literary mention are known to him, and then only through the reflecting medium of literary sources. Even the great figures, with few exceptions, remain dim and formalized outlines, while for the life of the people he has to rely mainly on occasional hints and scraps of evidence. Large numbers of individual documents survive in isolation—some in the form of inscriptions, others quoted in the texts of the chronicles; but only for one period after the rise of Islam is any important body of original documents available—and the light they have shed on the period from which they derive has deepened the surrounding darkness. The Egyptian papyri of the early Islamic period have imposed a rewriting of much of the history of the early Caliphate, as recorded by the chroniclers and jurists. Yet even the papyri are not archives in the true sense of the word.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Fanny Bessard
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Near East ◽  
Professional Associations ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Economic Success ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
History Of ◽  
Epigraphic Evidence ◽  
Early Islamic ◽  
Large Corpus

This volume offers fresh perspectives on the origins of the economic success of the early Islamic caliphate, identifying a number of previously unnoticed or underplayed yet crucial developments, such as the changing conditions of labour, attitudes towards professional associations, and the interplay between the state, Islamic religious institutions, and the economy. Caliphs and Merchants: Cities and Economies of Power in the Near East (700–950) combines detailed analysis of a large corpus of literary sources in Arabic with presentation of new physical and epigraphic evidence. The introduction provides an overview of the history of scholarship in the field and lays out the structure and argumentation of the following chapters.

scholarly journals From the History of the Classification of parts of speech

enadakultura ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nino Chrikishvili
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
Parts Of Speech ◽  
Final Version ◽  
History Of ◽  
Specific Number

Distributing the vocabulary in a language into different classes and using common grammatical signs (morphological categories, suntactic functions) as a class-fiction principle creates a list of parts of a specific number of speech in a language. Spanish is no exception, where nine parts of speech are distinguished: noun, adjective, pronoun, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction,interjection. He presented sequence of parts of speech is found in 2009, after the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) published an updated grammar of the Spanish language “„Nueva gramática de la lengua española“. The academy-proposed classification with updated grammar, which is considered the final version at this stage, differs in a number of characteristics from the classifications presented in the grammatical works of previous centuries.The present article deals with the history of the classification of parts of speech, where based on the most important grammatical works for the Spanish (Castilian) language, the evolution of the classification of parts of speech is described. Description of the classification of parts of speech we started from the first grammar of Castilian language and saw how the Nebrichasian classification gradually changed and how we got the part of the nine speeches in modern Spanish.

R.R. Vasmer and His Hand-written Catalogue of Tabarestān drachms

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 143-f
Author(s):  
Konstantin V. Kravtsov
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
The State ◽  
History Of ◽  
Early Islamic ◽  
Islamic Glass

Abstract The present article concerns the hand-written catalogue of Tabarestān drachms, composed by the famous Russian orientalist R.R. Vasmer (1888-1938), in the possession of the State Hermitage Museum. The catalogue constitutes an integral part of Vasmer’s hand-written legacy, preserved in the Numismatic Department of the State Hermitage Museum, including 8 volumes of the catalogue of pre-Mongol Islamic coins and 1 volume of the catalogue of Islamic glass weights and stamps The catalogue of Tabarestān drachms (Tabari dirhams) contains detailed descriptions of 129 coins: 23 specimens of which belong to the Dabuyid coinage, and 106 were struck by the ‘Abbasid Governors of Tabarestān. Despite the fact that the catalogue was compiled between 1910 and 1916 it is still unpublished and remains a very important reference for studying the history of Tabarestān’s numismatics, in particular, and early Islamic numismatics, in general.

scholarly journals Developments in Egypt's early Islamic postal system (with an edition of P.Khalili II 5)

2017 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-40
Author(s):  
Jelle Bruning
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
First Century ◽  
Islamic History ◽  
Documentary Sources ◽  
History Of ◽  
Early Islamic

AbstractThe importance of documentary sources for the history of the official postal system (barīd) in the first century of Islam has long been acknowledged. In addition to a small number of documents from the eastern part of the Muslim Empire, Egyptian papyri from the 90s/710s and 130s/750s form the main documentary sources for modern studies on the postal system. These papyri belong to a distinct phase in Islamic history. Papyri from other, especially earlier, phases have largely been neglected. The present article addresses the history of Egypt's official postal system from the Muslim conquest up to c. 132/750. It argues that the postal system gradually developed out of Byzantine practices and was shaped by innovations by Muslim rulers through which their involvement in the postal system's administration gradually increased. The article ends with an edition of P.Khalili II 5, a papyrus document from 135/753 on the provisioning of postal stations.

Ion-Molecular Memory Model. Basic Notions. Types of Memory (review)

10.12737/2754 ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 165-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Герасимов ◽  
I. Gerasimov ◽  
Яшин ◽  
A. Yashin
Keyword(s):  
Human Memory ◽  
Memory Model ◽  
Molecular Memory ◽  
Storage Devices ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Living Objects ◽  
Memory Modelling

The review presents the history of the known approaches, concepts and theories of memory, first of all the human, as properties perceive, save, retrieve and reproduce information important for life. The review is written with a specific aim designation: precedes the developed author´s concept of ion-molecular memory model. In the introduction, the authors note that it is reasonably consider memory as a property and the living and non-living objects. Definition of structural memory is presented. It is noted that the review is dedicated to the human memory as biological (according to I.P. Amsharin) - the supreme manifestation of the nature of bio-objects. The authors give a basic definition of the memory elements as information operand: receivers, analyzers, analytical systems, selectors, transmitters, storage devices, media, and library memory. Classification of types of memory as conceptual, oriented to the task research: creation of ion-molecular memory model is presented. As an example, the authors present the definition of the classification of memory on the parameter of time storage of the information. In the aspect of the review of the existing models of memory the authors identified three basic types which simulate associative (distributed) memory, the so-called working memory, i.e. operational situational memory, and other, different, memory models: from temporary to sensory memory. In conclusion, it is shown that in the memory modelling the authors used various mathematical and physical principles: neural networks, holography, fractals, and many sections of non-linear dynamics. The content of this review is based on the analysis of numerous literary sources.

scholarly journals Aspects of the Early History of Romani

1970 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Claus Peter Zoller
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Early History ◽  
Correct Classification ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact ◽  
North Western

We owe to Ralph Lilley Turner the correct classification of Romani as originating from a central or inner form of Indo-Aryan. Turner also clarified that the “Dardic” elements in Romani have been borrowed into early Romani after its speakers had left their original home and reached the north-west of South Asia where they stayed for several hundred years before finally leaving the subcontinent. Until now, the extent of the “Dardic” influence on early Romani was poorly understood. In the present article much data has been put together which shows that this impact indeed is considerable. But it is intelligible only if we accept Turner’s hypothesis of a long stopover in north-western South Asia. The data presented below will also show that the notion of “Dardic” is too narrow in this context: the impact on early Romani, in fact, comprises linguistic elements and features found in Nuristani, Dardic and West Pahāṛī.

To Understand the Informal (on the Book BY V. L. Tambovtsev “Economics of Informal Institutions”)

2015 ◽  
pp. 151-158
Author(s):  
A. Zaostrovtsev
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Informal Institutions ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
History Of ◽  
Original Classification

The review considers the first attempt in the history of Russian economic thought to give a detailed analysis of informal institutions (IF). It recognizes that in general it was successful: the reader gets acquainted with the original classification of institutions (including informal ones) and their genesis. According to the reviewer the best achievement of the author is his interdisciplinary approach to the study of problems and, moreover, his bias on the achievements of social psychology because the model of human behavior in the economic mainstream is rather primitive. The book makes evident that namely this model limits the ability of economists to analyze IF. The reviewer also shares the author’s position that in the analysis of the IF genesis the economists should highlight the uncertainty and reject economic determinism. Further discussion of IF is hardly possible without referring to this book.

You Say You Want a Reformation? Parsing the Ubiquitous Rhetoric of an “Islamic Reformation”

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 37-73
Author(s):  
Paul R. Powers
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Political Change ◽  
September 11 ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Protestant Reformation ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
History Of

The ideas of an “Islamic Reformation” and a “Muslim Luther” have been much discussed, especially since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This “Reformation” rhetoric, however, displays little consistency, encompassing moderate, liberalizing trends as well as their putative opposite, Islamist “fundamentalism.” The rhetoric and the diverse phenomena to which it refers have provoked both enthusiastic endorsement and vigorous rejection. After briefly surveying the history of “Islamic Reformation” rhetoric, the present article argues for a four-part typology to account for most recent instances of such rhetoric. The analysis reveals that few who employ the terminology of an “Islamic Reformation” consider the specific details of its implicit analogy to the Protestant Reformation, but rather use this language to add emotional weight to various prescriptive agendas. However, some examples demonstrate the potential power of the analogy to illuminate important aspects of religious, social, and political change in the modern Islamic world.

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