Codex, Faza, 1829-1831, Naskh with Thuluth elements · CallFront

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Codex, Faza, 1829-1831, Naskh with Thuluth elements

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Item descriptor

Copyrights Holder: CallFront
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
Entry ID: Kenya_ZH_04
Author: Zulfikar Hirji
Contributor(s): Nuria Garcia Masip
Date: 1245 – 1247 H.; 1829 – 1831
Localization Exactitude Degree: Exact
Place of Production: Kenya, Lamu Archipelago, Pate Island, Faza
Present Location: Collection of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, Muscat (Oman). Ms. 2220.
Language: Arabic
Type of text: Quran
Color of the Script: black; red; white; yellow; green
Signature: unsigned. A cartouch containing the woner's name:ʿAbd al-Karīm b.
ʿUmar. Likely copied by Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Karīm b. al-Qāḍī ʿUmar al-Nawfalī
Remarks (General Identification): Volume four of a four-volume Quran: Yā Sīn - al-Nās (Q. 36-114).
Type of Object: manuscript\codex
Size (of the object): 31 cm x 21 cm
Ruling (Manuscript): 9 lines
Technique: written
Remarks (Support): Restored.
Bibliography: Hirji, Zulfikar. “A Corpus of Illuminated Qurʾāns from Coastal East Africa.” Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 14, nos. 2–4 (2023): 356–95.; Hirji, Zulfikar A. “The Faza Qur’an: Three Nineteenth-Century Illuminated Manuscripts from Coastal East Africa.” Journal of Qur’anic Studies 24, no. 2 (2022): 21–47.

Script descriptor

See the lexicon

General Script Characteristics

Groups of Characters Baseline: partial stacking of characters
Character Spacing: regular spaces between characters
Presence of Elongation: frequent
Elongated Letters: nūn, sīn/shīn, sād/ḍād, yā’, lām and qāf bowl; bā’/fā’ bowl; tā bowl; medial ligatures
Length of Elongation: varied length of elongations
Ligature: Abusive - rā' and hā' / tāʾ marbūṭa; Abusive - wāw and hā' / tāʾ marbūṭa; Abusive - ‘alif and dāl; Conventional - curvilinear
Shading / Contrast: medium contrast

Letter Morphology

Point: short stroke at an angle

Ascenders

Alif Ascenders: alif - non serifed
Lām Ascenders: lām - vertical; lām - non serifed
Kāf Ascenders: Initial, medial and final shaft slightly inclined to left; final vertical shaft with top arm (sarkaj)
ṭā' ẓā' ascenders: rounded body; vertical shaft with serif

Descenders

wāw descenders: wāw - long curvilinear tail ending in hairline; wide rounded tail
rā' zā' descenders: rā'/zā' - long curvilinear tail ending in hairline; rā'/zā' - s-shaped
mīm descenders: mīm - vertical downstroke; mīm - long flattened, tapered tail
nūn sīn shīn sādḍād yā’ lām and qāf descenders: elongated curvilinear deep bowl; nūn, sīn/shīn, sād/ḍād, yā', lām, qāf - crescent bowl
jīm ḥāʾ khā' and ‘ain ghayn descenders: semicircular backward tail; opening horizontal
yā’ al-rāji’ah descenders: backward horizontal stroke below baseline

horizontals

bāʾ tāʾ thāʾ fāʾ kāf horizontals: bāʾ, tāʾ, thāʾ, fāʾ, kāf - curvilinear flattened bowl; bāʾ, tāʾ, thāʾ, fāʾ, kāf - elongated curvilinear flattened bowl

denticles

sīn shīn denticles: short pointed denticles
initial and medial bāʾ tāʾthāʾ nūn yāʾ denticles: initial slightly inclined to left; medial short pointed denticles

counters

hā' counters: isolated one-eyed round (mu'arrāh); initial / medial double eyed (wajh al-hirr); initial / medial double-eyed top and bottom (mulawwazah); medial v-shape with bottom closed loop towards the right; final s-shaped (muḥdawdibah); final one-eyed (mardufah) inclined to left
fā' qāf wāw counters: soft triangular head
medial 'ain ghayn counters: wide inverted triangle
mīm counters: circular head

vocalization and diacritics

ḍamma vocalization and diacritics: oblique tail (10°-35°); open eye
hamza vocalization and diacritics: small ‘ain
sukūn vocalization and diacritics: circle
shadda vocalization and diacritics: short denticles

Other

additional characteristics: Final dāl / dhāl crescent tail; Final dhāl with point inside tail; Certain letters such as the loop for jīm /khā’/hā’ and the inside of kāf are filled in red; Lām/’alif two almost parallel strokes; The word Allah is consistently written in red