Knowledge Commons | Arabic script manuscripts | Activity https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/ Activity feed for the group, Arabic script manuscripts. Sat, 04 Apr 2026 02:31:00 -0400 https://buddypress.org/?v=10.6.0 en-US 30 hourly 2 34482551cb4c740463d13c1e34b21eef Jake Benson started the topic Monogram in the forum Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/monogram/ Sun, 15 Jun 2025 11:56:17 -0400 This curious seal impression of a monogram of the letter L on Rylands Persian MS 24, formerly owned by de Sacy:
https://image.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/iiif/MS-PERSIAN-00024-000-00005.jp2/1476,253,592,711/full/0/default.jpg

Should anyone know of other examples, much less have any insight as to who it belonged to, I would be grateful to…[Read more]

]]> e63f1f6fc67ae8cd2bd5dc000364711d Jake Benson replied to the topic Seal impression in the forum Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/seal-impression/?view=all#post-91713 Fri, 07 Feb 2025 20:50:07 -0500 Thank you @Muntazir786! Yes, I also wondered if it could read Muhammad, but the final consonant could read either dāl or rā. However, it also throws the title patterning off. Mahmud al-Dawlah?  I've tried searching many combinations but come up with nothing so far in the Index to Titles (1798–1885) derived from the Alqābnāmah or any other sources.

]]> 8688787a741aee1b26149142c4fe9c0e Muntazir Ali replied to the topic Seal impression in the forum Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/seal-impression/#post-91701 Fri, 07 Feb 2025 07:27:30 -0500 ۱۲۸۰
لسان السلطان وفا شعار
الملــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــک
محمود الدوله حمید منشی
مح]ـــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــمد]
اصف علیخان بهادر مجاهد جنگ

]]> 5fe81ecf60a160bdec31c4a85b226127 Jake Benson started the topic Seal impression in the forum Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/seal-impression/ Thu, 06 Feb 2025 19:11:37 -0500 Seal impression on Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Ms 091.4 AL41m, folio 1a. intaglio-carved in three nasta‘līq script lines, single-ruled, with palm trees and crescent moons at midpoints on the exterior with pairs of crouched lions on opposite sides.
It possibly reads, from bottom up:
۱۲۸۰
لسان السلطان وفا شعار
الملـــــــــــ…[Read more]

]]> d99e0277926a3faadfa65233783e0482 Nick Posegay deposited From the Battlefield of Books: Essays Celebrating 50 Years of the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit in the group Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1902153/ Sun, 20 Oct 2024 03:00:47 -0400 This collection of essays celebrates 50 years since the founding of the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit at Cambridge University Library. Three generations of scholars contributed their research and memories from their time at the GRU, stretching back to 1974. Their work comprises 18 articles on medieval Jewish History, Hebrew and Arabic…[Read more]

]]> 0 5230f4300dd973b03cf62fdc06fb20aa Nick Posegay deposited The Illustrated Cairo Genizah in the group Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/activity/p/1900710/ Fri, 04 Oct 2024 03:00:49 -0400 Almost one thousand years ago, the Jews of Old Cairo began to place their worn-out books and scrolls into a hidden storage room – a genizah – of their synagogue. Over the years, they added all sorts of writings to the pile, sacred and secular texts alike. When the chamber was emptied at the end of the 19th century, it held hundreds of tho…[Read more]

]]> 0 b3539e18debb4c8784c61bb03294d610 Jake Benson started the topic The Iranian Diaspora in Southeast Asia: Old Manuscript, New Perspectives in the discussion Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/the-iranian-diaspora-in-southeast-asia-old-manuscript-new-perspectives/ Wed, 01 May 2024 13:39:44 -0400 https://www.leidenspecialcollectionsblog.nl/articles/persians-of-java-re-examining-the-cultural-context-of-indonesia

]]> acc0353f31c8fc6f4762dbd3bd33f364 Jake Benson started the topic Tricky insignia in the discussion Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/tricky-insignia/ Wed, 01 May 2024 13:35:05 -0400 Greetings all, this insignia-like inscription dated 1187 AH appears on a number of Rylands volumes, but deciphering it all proves tricky. Any ideas?

]]> 6056d870e53524548052c019592b8d96 Polina Ivanova replied to the topic Arabic grammar in a waqfiyya in the discussion Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/arabic-grammar-in-a-waqfiyya/#post-83991 Mon, 29 Apr 2024 10:56:12 -0400 my apologies, formatting got mixed up in the last sentence!

]]> 2433df052c5f8e14266084b5591e32ea Polina Ivanova started the topic Arabic grammar in a waqfiyya in the discussion Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/arabic-grammar-in-a-waqfiyya/ Mon, 29 Apr 2024 10:55:05 -0400 dear group members,
I am working on a waqfiyya granted to an Armenian monastery near lake Van in the early fourteenth century. I am a bit puzzeled by the grammar of the text and am almost sure it is written by someone for whom Arabic is not a native language. I would appreciate to hear opinions of specialists in Arabic (I have a basic education in…[Read more]

]]> 8f7c1b115788fc0dfd3105e5212af4d1 Jake Benson replied to the topic Another enigmatic seal impression. in the discussion Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/another-enigmatic-seal-impression/?view=all#post-67901 Sat, 29 Apr 2023 08:30:33 -0400 Thank you, Muntazir!

]]> f39e87555bde2f5eeadde3587f085ad9 Muntazir Ali replied to the topic Another enigmatic seal impression. in the discussion Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/another-enigmatic-seal-impression/#post-67898 Sat, 29 Apr 2023 05:26:27 -0400 I would suggest:

شری  بنیحناتهه سهای 20

Shri Banih Nath Sahai 20.

It is an Indian seal.

]]> 7492f117d1a741549f912567c6120b3e Jake Benson started the topic Another enigmatic seal impression. in the discussion Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/another-enigmatic-seal-impression/ Fri, 28 Apr 2023 11:10:43 -0400 From Rylands Persian MS 942, fol. 1a, intaglio-carved in three stacked horizonal nasta‘līq lines , double-ruled,with the name of a former owner or associate, possibly Shihābī, bearing either a regnal or abbreviated year 20. 12 × 15 mm.

Perhaps,  Shihābī read from bottom-up? Then Bī... [something] and sarī at top? Any comments greatly appreciated.

]]> 336e8e788e64e2ddb10d7b0245556b7a Jake Benson started the topic The Archived Chester Beatty Library Islamic Seals Database in the discussion Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/the-archived-chester-beatty-library-islamic-seals-database/ Sat, 22 Apr 2023 09:21:29 -0400 The Archived Chester Beatty Library Islamic Seals Database:
Screen Shots and Tips For Access 
Jake Benson, Research Associate for Persian Manuscripts
John Rylands Research Institute and Library
University of Manchester
22 April 2023
Since the Chester Beatty Library reformatted its website in 2019, it regrettably removed the Islamic Seal Database,…[Read more]

]]> acfd75d328cb404889ffb0e0bc5806e6 Jake Benson started the topic "Taking the Past into the Future": Hybrid Symposium, 11–12 May 2023 in the discussion Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/taking-the-past-into-the-future-hybrid-symposium-11-12-may-2023/ Fri, 14 Apr 2023 15:13:35 -0400 Taking the Past into the Future: Studying, Preserving, and Understanding Islamicate Manuscripts
Thursday 11 May, 10am-5pm and Friday 12 May 10am-4.30pm BST
University of Edinburgh
This two-day symposium hosted between the Centre for Research Collections (CRC) and the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) will feature…[Read more]

]]> 050d03648c092d90a63ca71ad58651ac Jake Benson replied to the topic Tricky seal impression in the discussion Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/tricky-seal-impression/?view=all#post-67211 Fri, 14 Apr 2023 15:00:46 -0400 Thank you! Mehdi Qorbani also kindly read the same in his Twitter reply here.

]]> 4288566b5b74dabbf3cb3861f78a918c Muntazir Ali replied to the topic Tricky seal impression in the discussion Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/tricky-seal-impression/#post-67196 Fri, 14 Apr 2023 11:26:32 -0400 The seal reads as follows:
صاحبه رکن الدین بن محمد

]]> 0c1341fd75968f236b340a6696385cea Jake Benson started the topic Tricky seal impression in the discussion Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/tricky-seal-impression/ Wed, 15 Mar 2023 11:32:22 -0400 If you've a moment, please see this seal impression. Any ideas?
مهر صاحبه ؟؟؟؟؟ الدین محمد

]]> cf7d5c6c803be70e5cb61ef71fca61ca Jake Benson started the topic Unusual calligram? in the discussion Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/unusual-calligram/ Fri, 13 Jan 2023 13:43:09 -0500 Greetings everyone,

Rylands Persian MS 27, a Bahāristān of Jāmī once held in the Mughal library bears this unsual marking on folio 1b, adjacent to the header. Have any of you encountered such a marking previously? I wonder if it might possibly be some sort of stylized, undotted Yā Kabīkaj formula? What do you think?

]]> 0b34d8143c0858894739a8217feadeb9 Jake Benson started the topic Petition in the discussion Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/petition/ Sat, 31 Dec 2022 02:58:54 -0500 https://chng.it/JYytQb2mCF

]]> 10f07ed92175ad0ba1bdee9aacb249cf Jake Benson started the topic OCR in the discussion Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/ocr/ Fri, 30 Dec 2022 16:35:50 -0500 Terrific news for non-Latin script specialists: Archive.org will take advantage of new advancements in OCR to reprocess printed multi-script manuscript catalogues, which currently misinterpret non-Latin scripts as gibberish. They just reprocessed one volume of Rieu's British Museum catalogue https://archive.org/details/gri_33125008986313 and…[Read more]

]]> 056c1278b333da2ff01b9cb60c7b38dd Jake Benson started the topic Welcome! in the discussion Arabic script manuscripts https://hcommons.org/groups/arabic-script-manuscripts/forum/topic/welcome-37/ Fri, 30 Dec 2022 16:16:45 -0500 Welcome to everyone interested in deciphering challenging examples of handwritten Arabic script, inclusive of all languages, as well as associated topics spanning everything from codicology and materials, seal impressions, as well as early printing methods. I currently catalogue Persian manuscripts held in the John Rylands Research Institute and…[Read more]

]]> 86a709e13531692c60f2c7c03e75e3b7 Jake Benson edited the post Greetings! in the group Arabic script manuscripts https://arabicscriptmanuscripts.hcommons.org/2022/12/30/hello-world/ Fri, 30 Dec 2022 13:10:35 -0500 Welcome to a new space for sharing anything and everything regarding Arabic script written heritage, inclusive of all languages and variantions, and related codicological topics.

Ottoman Turkish berāt […]

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