Mika Natif Synopsis: This talk examines seven paintings of Moses featured in Rashid al-Din’s Arabic copy of his World History, the Jami‘ al-Tawarikh. These images portray Moses, or Musa in Arabic, as both supreme ruler and prophet-king, an ideal figure whom Rashid al-Din may have sought to emulate. Through their connections to diverse visual and…
Tag: Manuscripts
The Bryce Miniature Qur’an and Its Travels Across the Globe
Mira Xenia Schwerda Synopsis: This talk focuses on a miniature Qur’an executed in golden ink and housed in a metal locket, now held in the collection of the Centre for Research Collections at the University of Edinburgh. This Qur’an may look like a manuscript, but it is an early printed book. It reproduces a handwritten,…
Jamiʿ al-Tawarikh: Provenance
Eleanor Lucy Deacon Synopsis: In this talk, Lucy Deacon explores the provenance of the substantial fragment of Rashid al-Din’s Jamiʿ al-Tawarikh (Compendium of Chronicles), dating to the early 14th century CE and held by the University of Edinburgh’s Heritage Collections (Or Ms 20). She considers both the marks of custodial history within the manuscript and the…
Jamiʿ al-Tawarikh: Images of the Prophet Muhammad
Christiane Gruber Synopsis: Rashid al-Din’s Jamiʿ al-Tawarikh (Compendium of Chronicles) is considered the first universal history ever written. The Edinburgh University Library preserves an exceedingly rare and precious illustrated manuscript copy of this text made in 1307–14 CE and thus dating to the author’s time. Its cycle of paintings depicting the Prophet Muhammad is especially…