papyri's galerij

Manuscript fragment written in Arabic on Parchment. Egypt, 9th-13 century CE.

Egypt, New Kingdom, mid 18th - early 19th Dynasty, early 14th - mid 13th Century B.C. Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead

Islamic Religious Manuscript Fragment Egypt, probably Fustat (Old Cairo) 11th - 14th Century C.E. (5th - 7th Century A.H.)

Detain of an Indenture

Detail of an Indenture

Candy cane resting on a letter written on papyrus by a Coptic monk. Egypt, Mid 8th century, AD. One wonders what those early Christians would make of the current Christmas holiday.

Ostraca with Arabic writing (ink inscription on pottery fragments). Egypt

Ostracon with Arabic writing (ink inscription on pottery fragment). Egypt,

Ostraca with Arabic writing (ink inscription on pottery fragments). Egypt,

Two decorative leaves from a large Qur'an written on burnished laid paper. Sultintate India, c. 1425. Written in an elegant large bihari script in black ink. The word Allah is picked out in gold.…

Detail of marginal device. Large leaf from a Qur'an on burnished laid paper. Sultintate India, c. 1425. Written in an elegant large bihari script in black ink. The word Allah is picked out in gold.…

Detail of marginal device. Large leaf from a Qur'an on burnished laid paper. Sultintate India, c. 1425. Written in an elegant large bihari script in black ink. The word Allah is picked out in gold.…

The Banks Homer

Beautiful manuscript used during the televised 2017 Papal Christmas Mass at the Vatican.

Tibetan Xylographic (wood block) printed leaf containing a Buddhist text. Faint or faded printed text partially over-written. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia early 20th century.

Leaf from a decorated Tibetan Buddhist manuscript on paper. Text in black ink, border highlighted in yellow. Stupa illustrations on side borders. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, early 20th century.

Detail from a leaf from a manuscript copy of Qur'an selections and prayers for the days of the week. Manuscript on burnished paper, Turkey, mid 17th century. Text is written in a delicate but firm…

Detail of decorative opening pages from an Islamic Prayer Book. North India, late 18th/19th Century. Arabic and Persian manuscript on paper.

Decorative opening pages from an Islamic Prayer Book. North India, late 18th/19th Century. Arabic and Persian manuscript on paper. Text written in naskhi script in black ink with significant words…

Folio from a dispersed manuscript copy of the Dalâ’il al-Khayrât. Nigeria or Western Sudan early 20th Century. The text is written in a Sudani style Maghribi script (Ifriqi script). The…

Folio from a dispersed manuscript copy of the Dalâ’il al-Khayrât. Nigeria or Western Sudan early 20th Century. Decorative section divider with colorful line borders. The text is written in a…

Detached leaf from an Arabic manuscript. The circle diagram in the page border illustrates Proposition 3 of the third book of Euclid's Elements

Detail of the page border showing a gold and polychrome roundel verse marker from a leaf from an illuminated Safavid Koran, Persia (Iran), circa 1575.

A leaf from an illuminated Safavid Koran, Persia (Iran), circa 1575. Arabic manuscript on burnished paper. There are twelve lines of text to the page in black strong hand of naskhi script with full…

Consecutive leaves from an Islamic Prayer Book. North India, late 18th/19th Century. Arabic and Persian manuscript on paper. Seven lines of text written in nadkhi script in black ink with significant…

Consecutive leaves from an Islamic Prayer Book. North India, late 18th/19th Century. Arabic and Persian manuscript on paper. Seven lines of text written in nadkhi script in black ink with significant…

Leaf from a fragment of Qur'an selections and prayers for the days of the week. Manuscript on burnished paper, Turkey, mid 17th century. Text is written in a delicate but firm black naskhi script,…

Leaf from a fragment of Qur'an selections and prayers for the days of the week. Manuscript on burnished paper, Turkey, mid 17th century. Text is written in a delicate but firm black naskhi script,…

Leaf from an Islamic Prayer Book. North India, late 18th/19th Century. Arabic and Persian manuscript on paper. Seven lines of text written in nadkhi script in black ink with significant words picked…

Leaf from an Islamic Prayer Book. North India, late 18th/19th Century. Arabic and Persian manuscript on paper. Seven lines of text written in nadkhi script in black ink with significant words picked…

Looking at a page from a huge manuscript Qur'an on display as part of "the Art of the Qur'an" Exhibit at the Sackler Gallery (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.). This incredible manuscript…

Exhibit "The Art of the Qur’an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts" at the Sackler Gallery (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.). Partial view of a monumental Qur’an…

Exhibit "The Art of the Qur’an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts" at the Sackler Gallery (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.). One of the extraordinarily beautifully…

Exhibit "The Art of the Qur’an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts" at the Sackler Gallery (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.). Detail of a beautifully decorated opening…

This stunning large manuscript shows a variety of calligraphic styles. This single-volume Qur’an is attributed to Abdallah al-Sayrafi. It was made in Iran, probably Tabriz, around 1330. It is a…

Mamluke period Qur'an from Cairo, Egypt. This Single-volume Qur’an dates to around 1480-90. The highly decorated cover flap from the binding of this large manuscript book is visible in the…

Detail of an exquisitely decorated opening page from a single-volume Qur’an. Copied by Shams al-Baysunghuri; Historic Iran, present day Afghanistan, Herat, Timurid period, 1434. One of the items…

Exhibit "The Art of the Qur’an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts" at the Sackler Gallery (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.). Display case showing two Qur'ans. The…

Detail of an exquisitely decorated Qur'an. This Single-volume Qur’an was copied by Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Khalili al-Tabrizi (Iran, Safavid period) and was completed in January 1576. One of the…

Abbasid period Qur'an dating from ninth to tenth century. This Qur'an was written on parchment in a kufic script. One of the items displayed during the exhibit "The Art of the Qur’an: Treasures…

Exhibit "The Art of the Qur’an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts" at the Sackler Gallery (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.). Visitors examine one of the magnificent…

One of the highlights of "The Art of the Qur’an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts" exhibit at the Sackler Gallery (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.). Visitors pose for…

One of the highlights of "The Art of the Qur’an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts" exhibit at the Sackler Gallery (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.). Looking down from…

Ptolemaic Greek papyri fragment. Circa 250 BCE

Ostraca (Ink inscription on pottery shard). Egypt 19th-20th dynasty (1185-1200 B.C.E.)

Ostraca (ink inscription on pottery shard) in storage box. Egypt 19th-20th dynasty (1185-1200 B.C.E.)

Ostraca with Hieratic writing (ink inscription on stone flake). Egypt 19th-20th dynasty (1185-1200 B.C.E.)

Large leaf from a Koran on burnished laid paper. Sultintate India, c. 1425. Written in an elegant large bihari script in black ink. The word Allah is picked out in gold. Single verse divisions are…

Unidentified documentary text in Greek on papyrus. Written in a fine cursive hand. The flourishing nature of the script with characters having long extensions is typical of Byzantine Era Greek (mid…

Arabic Documentary Papyrus Egypt, Late 7th - Mid 8th Century C.E. (Early 2nd - Mid 2nd Century A.H.). The document lists needy poor male Muslims and is a reference to the distribution of funds from…

Ostraca. Egypt 19th-20th dynasty (1185-1200 B.C.E.)

Tibetan Auspice manuscript. Select pages showing illustrations and decorative borders. Manuscript on paper. Pothi format, Mongolia (late 19th or early 20th cent.)

Decorative leaf from a dispursed manuscript copy of the Qur'an. Mughal India (c. 1721). The manuscript was copied by Muhammad 'Arif al-Haravi who was was given the name Yaqut Raqamkhan ('the…

Sacrificium S. S. Missae Manuscript on paper. Europe, circa 1780.

Sacrificium S. S. Missae Title page. Manuscript on paper. Europe, circa 1780.

Demotic Papyrus fragment.

A few papyri from my library. The fragments are mounted between glass panes secured with archival cloth tape in wooden frames. (L -> R) Greek fragment, Demotic fragment, Arabic fragment.

Opening pages of the Codex Bernhardt 01, an Ethiopian Prayerbook. Decorative pages showing protective prayers and the start of the Anaphora of Our Lady Mary. This manuscript is written…

Fragment of a letter written in Arabic on papyrus. Egypt, AD 709 - 714.
This document is from the administrative archive of Qurra ibn Sharîk, Umayyad Governor of Egypt.

Hieroglyphic text on papyrus. Egypt, 18th Dynasty, c. 1500 BC.

Fragment of mummy cartonnage. Egypt, Ptolemaic Period, c. 300 B.C. Cartonnage constructed from gesso over a papyrus core. This image shows the back side of a fragment core. Recycled…

Letter written in Coptic on papyrus. Egypt, c. AD 750