The Qurʾān Palimpsest from Sinai – Interpretations, Models, and Evaluation of Manuscript Cambridge

Ort: Raum 07W04, Staatsbibliothek, Unter den Linden 8, Akademieflügel Datum: , 18:00 During the last decades, many ancient manuscripts of the Qurʾān have caught the attention of scholars and the larger public. Among them are a few palimpsests, manuscripts whose original text had been deleted to reuse the writing surface and produce new artefacts. The palimpsest presented by Alba Fedeli is the Sinai palimpsest preserved at Cambridge University Library. It was acquired in Egypt in 1895 and brought to England by Agnes Smith Lewis, who in 1902 published the first presentation of this witness. In 1914, she co-authored a preliminary edition of the Qurʾānic leaves with her twin sister Margaret, and Syriac scholar Alphonse Mingana. Since 2010 Alba Fedeli has analysed all palimpsest folios of the Cambridge palimpsest and has presented a hypothetical reconstruction of the initial manuscript text. In her talk Dr Fedeli will present the importance of this unique witn