Archaeological treasures never seen before exhibited in Iraq Museum
Rare manuscripts of the Quran exhibited in Iraq National Museum. Photo: Reuters
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi National Museum exhibited rare manuscripts of the Quran and books of jurisprudence and interpretations, during the month of Ramadan.
The antiquities displayed have not been exhibited to the audience before.
The 80 manuscripts include samples dating back to the first century of the Hijrah, about 13 centuries ago, according to the Director of the Iraqi Manuscripts House, Ahmed Karim Al-Alyawi.
Al-Alyawi explained that it is a rare opportunity to see this type of manuscript that has no equal in other countries, Reuters reported.
“The manuscripts are exhibited for the first time to express the history of Arabic calligraphy, the history of caring for the Holy Quran, the methods and aesthetics of writing, and the diversity in writing in different countries,” Al-Alyawi stated.
The Iraqi official elaborated that some of the manuscripts are written in Kufic script, which is one of the first forms of Arabic calligraphy that originated in Iraq.
“This exhibition is about the rare and precious versions of the Quran that start from the first century of the Hijrah, written on parchment before the paper was made, by great calligraphers in Iraq and elsewhere,” Al-Alyawi illustrated.
These manuscripts are part of the items in the library of the Iraqi Manuscripts House, which contains 47 thousand of manuscripts of multiple languages and subjects, representing a cultural heritage treasure in Baghdad for more than a thousand years.