Inscribed 2003
What is it
An Arabic inscription, dated 24 Hegira (equivalent to AD 644), engraved on a rock located near al-Ula in the northwest Saudi Arabia.
Why was it inscribed
The inscription, in Kufic script, is the first and oldest dated Arabic inscription in the world and the earliest Islamic inscription.
Where is it
Near al-Ula, Saudi Arabia
This inscription, from the 7th century AD, was carved into a block of red sandstone located south of Qa’a al Muatadil and north of Sharma in northwestern Saudi Arabia. The rock stands on an ancient trade and pilgrimage route that connected the early Islamic city of al-Mabiyat with Madain Saleh, a city known to the Romans as Hegra and which was originally part of the Nabatean kingdom in the 1st century AD, their second city after Petra. By the time the inscription was carved, Madain Saleh was on the pilgrimage route to Mecca further south.
The inscription itself reads: ‘Bismallah Ana Zuhair Kataba zaman maout Omar sanat Arba Wa eshrain’, which translates as, ‘In the name of God I Zuhair wrote the date of the death of Omar the year four and twenty (Hegira)’.
The Omar mentioned in the inscription was Omar or Umar bin al-Khattab, the second caliph to rule after the death of the Prophet Mohammed. He is also named in the Sunni Muslim tradition as one of the four rightly guided, or righteous caliphs who succeeded the Prophet. Although he ruled the caliphate for only 10 years from 634 until his death in 644, his military and political prowess brought the vast expansion of Muslim lands, ultimately including the conquest of the Persian Empire.
Omar also established the Muslim calendar. Its start date was taken to be AD 622, the year the Prophet Mohammed moved from Mecca to Medina. Omar was stabbed and mortally wounded in an assassination attempt. He died on the last night of the month of Dul-Hajj of the year 23 Hegira, and was buried next day on the first day of Muharram of the new year 24 Hegira (corresponding to AD 644).
The inscription is in Kufic script, in a style without dots and in a relatively early or crude form of the script. The term ‘Kufic’ relates to the Muslim city of Kufah which was founded in Mesopotamia (in modern-day southern Iraq) in AD 638, although the script was used in the region before the city was established and may have taken its name because the style was developed there. Kufic script, which fell into disuse around the 11th or 12th century, was generally used as a display script on metal and stone, on coins and in mural inscriptions and, in this instance, on rock.
Inscribed 1997
What is it
Known as the Mushaf of Othman, it is the earliest extant written version of the Koran. The manuscript is 250 pages long and is written on animal skins.
Why was it inscribed
One of the world’s major and most influential books of religion, the Koran has played a significant role in shaping world history. The Mushaf of Othman is the earliest written version. Compiled in Medina in AD 651, it supersedes all other versions.
Where is it
Muslim Board of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
The Koran, which Muslims believe was divinely revealed to the Prophet Mohammed, was transcribed by his followers onto various materials, such as pieces of wood and camel bones. After the Prophet’s death, the first caliph to succeed, Abu Bakr (c. AD 573-634) ordered that scribes should record in writing all such verses, or suras. His later successor Othman (c. AD 579-656) ordered that the suras should be compiled into a book with the help of the four best contemporary scholars of the Koran.
In 651 this first, definitive version of the Koran was transcribed at Medina, the Muslim capital and power base, and was known as the Mushaf of Othman. A ‘mushaf’ is a collection of written pages or book, here of the Koran, and the mushaf was named after the caliph who ordered its creation. This version was declared as a standard, substituting all other versions. The manuscript is written in large black letters in the Arabic Kufic script.
Caliph Othman was assassinated while reading it and the manuscript is believed to be stained with his blood. The succession to the caliphate after the death of the Prophet was a source of conflict among his followers, and Othman’s assassination and its repercussions precipitated the schism into the Sunni and Shia denominations of Islam which has divided the Muslim community ever since.
Mushaf of Othman
Conflicting accounts explain how the Koran arrived at Uzbekistan. According to one, the book was brought by a relative of Othman during a period of disorder in Medina; while another states that Othman’s successor, Ali Ibn Abi Taleb, brought it to Kufah, from where the Uzbekistani leader and warrior Amir Temur brought it as a trophy to Samarkand after a military campaign during the 14th century.
The Khazrati Imam complex in Tashkent, where the Holy Koran Mushaf of Othman is kept.
In the 19th century the book went to Russia, but several years after the Russian Revolution of 1917 it was returned to Uzbekistan where it stayed in a museum until the fall of Communism in 1989, when it was handed over to the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan.
The Koran, an acknowledged masterpiece of Arabic literature, contains a code of conduct and correct living. It records the creation of the world, the stages of divine revelation and the place of humanity in the universe and in relation to the Creator.
Lucca’s historical diocesan archives
Inscribed 2011
What is it
The extensive archives of the Archdiocese of Lucca, which date back more than thirteen centuries. The inscribed documents date from AD 685 to 1000.
Why was it inscribed
Lucca’s Historical Diocesan Archives are among the biggest and most ancient archives in the world. Five codices in the collection preserve 13,000 documents dating back to AD 685 and among these, 1800 documents are earlier than AD 1000.
As church and state were intertwined during the Middle Ages, the archives present a unique and valuable resource of the religious, economic, agrarian, civic, cultural, social and political history of a diocese and its community that was at the religious and geographic heart of Europe.
Where is it
Archives of the Archdiocese of Lucca, Lucca, Italy
The Lucca archdiocesan archive is one of the largest archives in the world from the Early Middle Ages. During the time the archives cover, Lucca, in Tuscany, was ruled by the Lombards and was part of the Carolingian Empire. Its geographical situation placed it at a strategic point in the heart of Europe, along the Via Francigena pilgrimage route which connected Canterbury and Rome.
Parchments from the archives
The wealth of material in the archive dating from the Dark Ages makes the collection exceptional in Western Europe. The documents show the activities of the clerics and laymen who ruled Lucca during this time and their secular as well as religious activities, including relations with the papacy and the imperial powers. Many of the most important characters in early medieval Europe are mentioned in the papers, including Charlemagne,