Fragment of a bifolio from the Mushaf al-Hadina (the ‘Nurse's Qur'an’)

This bifolio in vellum, written with brown ink and red, blue, and green vocalisation marks, was once part of a copy of the Qur’an known as the Mushaf al-Hadina (the ‘Nurse’s Qur’an’). It is named after its patron, the nurse of al-Mu‘izz bin Badis, ruler of the Zirid dynasty of Ifriqiya who reigned over the central Maghreb region from 406 to 454 AH / 1016-1062 CE. The copy was recorded as a waqf (‘endowment’) in the Great Mosque of Qayrawan in 410 AH / 1020 CE. The use of a Western Kufic script, with bold and angular cursive letters is in line with the Eastern Kufic script (also called ‘broken cursive’), appearing the same century in Iran and Mesopotamia not only in manuscripts, but also on ceramics and textiles. Its female patron and the rarity of documents and artefacts from the Zirid period give it an even more distinctive value.