Parchment in the Islamic world

Over the past few years, I have been increasingly fascinated by the production and use of parchment in the Islamic world. 

I've worked on a wide-range of Western parchment manuscripts, but the parchment I have seen in Islamic manuscripts has often appeared to me to be quite different. For a start, it has tended to be considerably earlier, ranging in date from the 7th- 10th centuries, as opposed to the majority of Western material which I have treated which dates from the 10th- 16th centuries. 

I have frequently been surprised by the excellent physical properties of these early Islamic skins, particularly in terms of their evenness and positive reaction to humidity during treatment. Whilst there are exceptions to these positive traits and examples of Islamic manuscripts that appear to be roughly worked and of lower quality, I have been wondering if there could be differences in the production of parchment in the Islamic world which- in general terms- gives it superior mechanical properties to the parchment produced later in Europe. Of course, there are exceptions, such as the fascinating Coptic material at the Chester Beatty, much of which dates to the 7th century, but arguably that material has more in common with material produced in the Islamic world, than the medieval manuscripts of Western Europe. 

The large scale of CBL Is 1404 (left); a folio illustrating previous repair, ink corrosion, and a decorative band (right).

For the past year or so, I have been working on Chester Beatty manuscript Is. 1404—a 201 folio, vertical format, early Qur’an manuscript on parchment. This large Qur’an—possibly made in the 8^th century—has suffered extensive water damage and subsequent corrosion of the iron containing ink it was written with. It has in turn been subject to numerous layers of previous repairs, many of which are now failing, ineffective, and incurring damage to the manuscript. The pressing need to conserve this object has served as the catalyst for significant investigation of both early Islamic manuscript materials, and the most suitable contemporary conservation techniques for this manuscript.

The Museum of Islamic Art, Qatar

In November last year I was lucky enough to undertake a week-long Visiting Scholarship at the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar to further this investigation. In terms of the parchment itself, existing literature and scholarship has tended to concentrate on parchment in the western world, but I am keen to learn more about the technologies used in Islamic lands. 

During my week-long Visiting Scholarship at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha I have recorded data on the number of sewing stations, measurements of their placement along the spine, and thread descriptions from both extant fragments and thread impressions preserved in the spine fold at the centre of the quires of their manuscript collection. As the number of extant early Islamic manuscripts which retain their original bindings is very small, the study of loose manuscript folios and individual bifolia is proving to be essential in shedding light on a previously little known period of manuscript production and bookbinding history.

Physical examination of the structure of these manuscripts in the MIA collection has been complemented by examination of the parchment. Using both raking and transmitted light, it has been possible to record evidence of parchment preparation and the physicality of the animal preserved in the folios.

Evidence of parchment production in MIAQ.225.21(left); and a conjoint bifolio MIAQ.314 (right).

In addition to this, I have been able to collect rubbings for parchment analysis to be undertaken in collaboration with the University of YorkBioArCh (Biology, Archaeology and Chemistry) team in the UK. By analysing the parchment protein using mass spectrometry (Fiddyment et al, 2015), it is possible to determine the species of animal each piece of parchment was made from. It is hoped that species identification and a quantitative measurement of the parchment quality will further add to our understanding of early manuscript materiality in the Islamic world.

In spite of ink corrosion, the spectacular quality of the Nurse Quran's parchment MIAQ.780 is visible in transmitted light (left); collecting an erdu rubbing for protein analysis MIAQ.70.4 (right).

The opportunity to look at a large number of early Islamic manuscripts on parchment, in a fully equipped conservation laboratory setting, was a rare and valuable experience. My informal presentation to MIA colleagues on Thursday 17^th November provided the first opportunity for review of the findings made in this week. It was an invaluable forum in which to discuss these manuscripts, and their conservation.

The opportunity to visit the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha as part of the Visiting Scholarship programme has greatly facilitated my investigation of early Islamic manuscript materiality. As I begin to interpret the information collected in this intensive week-long visit, I am already excited about the potential for further discoveries and investigations into this material. I hope that this study will not only inform the on-going conservation of CBL Is. 1404, but contribute to a wider understanding of early Islamic manuscript codicology.

I am extremely grateful to the Director and staff of MIA who have so graciously facilitated my visit, in particular Aristoteles Sakellariou, Sarah Tose, and Amelie Couvrat-Desvergnes. I very much hope that the collaboration and discussion between our two conservation departments will continue.