Ancient Manuscript Review 39 : Antique Safavid Quran ( 975 AH)

Manuscript Cover

The Shamsah pages

The frontispiece pages

The beginning of Al Baqarah

Surahs in Juz30

The final surah pages

The finishpiece pages

This is the most expensive miniature Quran I ever acquired. Its a Safavid handwritten Quran with beautiful gold illuminations especially on the first 5 pages & last 4 pages. This Quran was written in 975 AH ( 1567 CE) during Safavid rule in Iran. This Quran is also small in size.
Design & Style :
The first 2 pages are decorated with Shamsah medallions and the subsequent 2 pages are called frontispiece pages decorated with carpet design.
Lets look at the history of this unique design. According to a book " Quran Manuscripts Calligraphy, Illuminaiton, Design" by Colin F. Baker, this design was created during the rule of Safavid in the 16th century in Persia & Iraq.
The name of this medallion in Arabic is Shamsah ( sun), because the its shape & illumination resemble the sun and its brightness. This Shamsah design is pretty consistent with some of 16th century manuscripts from the catalog " Treasures of the illustrated & illuminated Persian Manuscripts of National library of Egypt)
As for the  frontispiece pages which has the carpet design, they contains the whole chapter one ( AlFatihah).
Almost all the pages in this Quran are decorated with few floral design in the margin. This marginal design acts as a verse marker. The Safavid marginal designs were mostly filled with intricate flower motifs. ( from the book AL Quran The Sacred Art of Revelation)


Manuscript Specs

Item : Antique Safavid Quran
Content : A complete Quran
Dim : 5.5" x 3.5" x 2"
Date : 975 AH ( 1567 CE)
Copyist : indecipherable
Origin : Iran / Afghanistan
Calligraphy : Naskh
Design : 16 lines written in Naskh with gold border and colorful flowers in margin.
Purchased Price :US