Harari Qurans

The manuscripts created by Harari scribes in the 18th and 19th centuries contain stylistic references to Qurans from pre-Mughal India and Mamluk Egypt, including elements of the Indian Bihari script and a distinctive zigzagging marginal glosses, while much of their ornamentation shares commonalities with that of earlier Mamluk Qurans.

[4] Though its manuscript production began to die out in the 19th century, Harar is still known for the sheer number of manuscripts—particularly Qurans—it holds in museums, mosques, and private collections.

The process of ajamisization loosely refers to the local languages of the region that have been written in Arabic script, a practice used to make Islam and the Quran more accessible to the Harari people.

[1] Though not explicitly identified as Bihari script by scholars, variations on the script's characteristic thick, wedge-shaped horizontals, thin verticals[1][2] and horizontal diacritics[1] have been identified in Harari Quranic manuscripts including ones held in the Sharif Harar Museum, the Melikian collection, and the Khalili collection.

Each page, measuring roughly 32.5 x 22.5 cm on European laid paper, contained 15 lines of Quranic text framed by a triple ruled border.

The text itself is rendered in black ink, while the marginal glosses contained throughout that provide a reader with different readings of the book, have been written in red.

[7] Other exhibits such as 2023's Africa & Byzantium included a variety of Ethiopian art and artifacts, but no Quranic manuscripts.