Arabic Manuscripts

Arabic is the sixth most spoken language in the world, predominately spoken and written across twenty-five different countries. Our Arabic collection features manuscripts from Islam, Maronite Christianity, and Samaritan Judaism, demonstrating the wide diversity of religious practice in Arabic speaking territories over centuries. In addition to Arabic is one text that features both Arabic and Coptic — the language spoken and written in Egypt prior to the introduction of Arabic. Despite the fact the majority of the texts in this collection are religious, there are two secular texts in this collection: a commentary on healing and a text on the creation of new Arabic fonts. While Qu’rans will never contain figural illumination, this collection features a beautifully illuminated Qu’ran with colorful carpet pages and borders. The majority of this collection was donated by Edward Sanford Burgess, but it also features some of our newest acquisitions, not yet studied at the University of Oregon.