Almohad Qur’ans العربية
On the edge of the criteria

The Qur’ans of the Banu Ghattus in Valencia

Les Corans des Banu Ghattus à Valence · مصاحف آل غطوس في بلنسية

556–564 AH · 1160–1169 CE

In Valencia under Ibn Mardanish

The card on the Almohad Qur’ans page
A full page: the end of Fatir and the start of Ya Sin
A full page: the end of Fatir and the start of Ya Sin · Egyptian National Library, 196 Mushaf, after Moritz 1905, plate 47
SurvivesCompleteness unknownNot digitised
Copyists
The family of Ibn Ghattus, the famous copyists of Valencia; the Egyptian National Library holds a Qur’an signed by Ibn Ghattus the father and dated 557 AH / 1161–1162 CE
Owner of the 557 AH Qur’an
The vizier Abu Muhammad ʿAbd Allah b. ʿAbd al-Rahman b. ʿAbd Allah al-Madhhiji al-Lushi, whose name comes before the copyist’s in the colophon
Place
Valencia
Number
Four Qur’ans on parchment between 556 and 564 AH

Among the oldest known dated and signed Qur’ans of al-Andalus. Their colophons were in Maghribi thuluth, and Ibn Ghattus the son was said to have copied a thousand Qur’ans. His Qur’an dated 578 AH was copied after Valencia came under Almohad rule, so it is listed in the first group.

Dated and with known copyists, but Valencia was then ruled by Ibn Mardanish, independent of the Almohads, and only came under their rule in 567 AH / 1172 CE.

Moritz, Arabic Palaeography, 1905, plate 47Bongianino, “The Power of Curves” (2023)
Close-ups of the script (5)Click to enlarge →
A full page: the end of Fatir and the start of Ya Sin
A full page: the end of Fatir and the start of Ya Sin · Egyptian National Library, 196 Mushaf, after Moritz 1905, plate 47
The opening of Surat Ya Sin, close up
The opening of Surat Ya Sin, close up · Egyptian National Library, 196 Mushaf, after Moritz 1905, plate 47
Two pages of the Qur’an of Muhammad b. Ghattus, 564 AH
Two pages of the Qur’an of Muhammad b. Ghattus, 564 AH · Tunis, National Library 13727, after Bongianino, thesis 2017, vol. 2, Q11
Colophon of the Qur’an of 564 AH
Colophon of the Qur’an of 564 AH · Tunis, National Library 13727, after Bongianino, thesis 2017, vol. 2, Q11
Ibn Ghattus’s letter forms
Ibn Ghattus’s letter forms · al-Sharifi, Khutut al-masahif, p. 264, after Bongianino 2020, fig. 6 · AI-enhanced
Almohad Qur’ans

Other Qur’ans of this era

← Ibn Marzuq’s Qur’anAl-Murri’s Qur’an (Dresden) →
Ibn Ghattus’s Qur’an of 578 AH578 AHThe Ceuta Qur’anMuharram 587 AHThe Qur’an of Ibn Khaldun of Valencia596 AHAbu Yaʿqub’s Qur’an (Topkapı)Jumada II 599 AHThe rabʿa of al-Murtada20 Jumada II – 6 Rajab 654 AHIbn Marzuq’s Qur’an559 AHAl-Murri’s Qur’an (Dresden)Middle ten days of Shaʿban 580 AHDated Qur’ans without a copyist565–598 AHThe Malaga rabʿac. 620 AHThe Seville Qur’an (Munich)First ten days of Muharram 624 AHAbu Ishaq’s rabʿa (Topkapı)Before 22 Shaʿban 635 AH (date of its endowment)The Tinmal rabʿa632 AH (copied) · 649 AH (endowed)The Pink Qur’anBefore Safar 650 AH (date of its endowment)