Editing MSS Leiden Or. 14.545 b–c

Abstract

This article provides a description and edition of MSS Leiden Or. 14.545 b–c. Radiocarbon dating (14C dating) pinpoints the manuscript to an early period in Islamic history, and this is affirmed by its palaeographical and codicological features. As a result of its dating, it has received considerable attention from scholars and the media. This study confirms the manuscript’s direct relationship with MSS Paris, BnF Arabe 331 and St. Petersburg, National Library, Marcel 3. A verse count analysis was carried out in order to establish its origin. There is evidence that the manuscript journeyed from al-Fusṭāṭ in Old-Cairo to Beirut in Lebanon before finally settling in Leiden in the Netherlands. For several reasons, it was difficult to determine the exact origin of the manuscript.