INTRODUCTION TO MALAY-

ISLAMIC MANUSCRIPT

QHW3033

A.P. DR. MOHD MUSTAQIM MOHD ZARIF

SYED NAJIHUDDIN SYED HASSAN
DR. NURULWAHIDAH FAUZI
UNIVERSITI SAINS ISLAM MALAYSIA
 Outline of Presentation

• Writing Surface of Islamic Manuscript: A Survey•:

• Most Common Manuscript Writing Materials
• Special Writing Materials Used in SEA
• PAPYRUS•
*How was papyrus made?
• •PARCHMENT
*How was parchment made?
• •PAPER
 Writing Surface of Islamic
Manuscript: A Survey
• Writing as a way of communication & record.
• Throughout history, human used a variety of materials
including: stones, grave stones, tablet, metals, woods, tree barks,
clay, cloth, parchment, papyrus, paper, olla/palm leaves,
bamboo, etc
• Selection of certain writing materials are usually based on the
suitability & availability of the natural resources in a particular
area, such as:
→wooden chips: North Africa
→Bamboo: China Palm
→ leaves: Asia & Tropical countries
Most Common Manuscript Writing Materials:

- Papyrus
- Parchment
- Paper

Special Writing Materials Used in SEA:

- Javanese Paper
- Palm Leaves
PAPYRUS

• Papyrus is a thin paper-like material made from the leaves of the

papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, or in Arabic waraq al-qasab (leaf of reed),

a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Sudd of Southern Sudan

along with the Nile Delta of Egypt.

• It was first manufactured in Egypt and Southern Sudan as far back as

the fourth millennium BCE.

• It also available in Palestine, Sicily and Mesopotamia.

• Relatively expensive material.

• Flexible. Can be stored flat or rolled.

• Durability: very fragile & brittle, especially after a long period.

• Must be kept in leather case/ glass/ terracotta.

• Can be written on both sides, esp. if used in volumina form

• Time frame of papyrus: Used for over 4000 years in Egypt.

• Papyrus was easier to make and handle than other alternatives
such as wood, skin and clay tablets.
• Also it could be made in a range of thickness and qualities
and this contributed to its widespread use.
• The use of papyrus was taken over by Arab Muslims when
they conquered Egypt in the 7th century CE, and it
continued as the main writing material of the country until
the 10th century when paper started to become more
common. By 11th century, it ceased to be produced.
• In Islam: papyrus has a limited place.
• Only used for writing letters, contracts, administrative documents,
etc .
• Earliest ms writing material in Islamic tradition: Papyrus in rotulus
form used in 1st century AH to write hadith (Heidelberg).
• Papyrus was also cut into square pieces & folded into 2 to create a
codex (much preferred by Muslims).
• It is hard to estimate the extant Arabic papyri. Adolf Grohmann
estimated that there were approximately 16,000 Arabic papyri in the
various collections in Europe, North America and Cairo.
• In 1901, a cache of papyrus letters written by Qurra bin Sharīk, the
Umayyad governer of Egypt from 90- 96 AH / 709-714 CE, was
discovered in the Upper Egyptian village of Kom Eshqaw, 7 km
south-west of Timā, formerly known as Aphrodito in the Greek
sources. Some of these letters are written in Arabic, some in Greek,
and some are bilingual (Arabic and Greek). They subsequently
found their way into various papyrus collections. These letters cast
a great deal of light on the otherwise poorly documented Umayyad
administration in Egypt.
Papyrus Plant
An examples of Manuscripts
using Papyrus as a material
 How was papyrus made?
1. A stalk of papyrus is clipped near the base.

• In ancient times, the entire plant was pulled from the root
at harvest time. It is unkown at what time of year the
ancient Egyptians harvested papyrus, or whether mature
papyrus was preferred over young papyrus.
2. Peeling the outer layer of the papyrus.
• In ancient times, the tough outer layer would have been
kept for other uses. Strips of this layer could be woven
together to form all manner of useful items, such as
baskets or sandals. However, only the inner part of the
reed is used to make the writing material.
3. Cutting the papyrus reed into strips.
• Once the outer layer is removed, the inner part of the reed is cut
into strips. No one is completely sure what method was used in
ancient times. Rather than cutting the reed, as shown above, some
have suggested that the triangular stalk was peeled into strips. The
strips should all be around the same length and thickness, in order
to create a consistent shape for the sheet.
4. Soaking the papyrus strips in water.
• Soaking the papyrus strips is important for softening the papyrus
and activating the plant's natural juices, which act as a glue to hold
the strips together. In ancient times, it was thought that the
mystical Nile waters were essential to the papyrus-making process,
but any water will do.
5. Rolling out the papyrus strips.
• After they have soaked for a few days in water, a wooden rolling
pin is used to drive out the water and flatten the papyrus strips.
6. The papyrus strips are laid out.
• The strips of flattened, soaked papyrus are laid out in two layers
perpendicular to each other. This technique is absolutely essential
to papyrus making, and is what gives papyrus its characteristic
look and feel. Here, each strip overlaps the previous strip by 1/16
inch.
7. The sheet is placed into a press.
• When the strips have all been laid out, they are covered with a
sheet of linen and felt, and then sandwiched between two boards
in a press. The sheet will remain in the press for a few days until it
is dry.
8. The sheet of papyrus is removed from the press.
• The sheet is kept in the press for a few days, and the felt is
changed daily to aid the drying process. When the sheet is dry, it is
removed from the press.
9. The finished sheet of papyrus and a burnishing stone.
• Initially, the surface of the papyrus is somewhat rough. It may
be burnished slightly with a stone, and then it is ready to receive
writing. Credit: Library University of Michigan,USA.
• http://www.lib.umich.edu/pap/exhibits/papyrus_making/

Video: How To Make Papyrus Paper – YouTube

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCR8n7qS43w
 PARCHMENT
• Parchment is a material made from processed animal
skin and used—mainly in the past—for writing on.
• Available anywhere in the world.
• Animal skins used included: sheep (most common),
goat, calf, cow, buffalo, gazelle , etc.
• Parchment: can be used on both sides to write
• i. Outer side (hair)- s/times traces of hair visible
• ii. Inner side (flesh)
• Parchment is extraordinarily durable, far
more so than leather, for instance.
• It can last for a thousand years, or more, in
perfect condition.
• Good parchment is soft and thin and
velvety, and folds easily.
• The grain side of the sheet, where the hair
once was, is usually darker in colour, creamy
or yellower (especially with sheep
parchment) or brownish grey with goat
parchment.
 Central European (Northern) type of finished
parchment made of goatskin stretched on a
wooden frame

A 1385 copy of the Sachsenspiegel, a

German legal code, written on parchment
with straps and clasps on the binding
 Vellum
Parchment made from the skin of a very young
or stillborn calf
Vellum: velvety texture, high quality, white in
colour & luminous, more receptive to ink.
Uterine parchment: perhaps similar to ms from
“perut lembu” mentioned by Wan Mohd
Shaghir used in Madura & Patani
In Islam: parchment was used in special mss of
Quran, letter, etc Expensive & difficult to
prepare. Rarely used in SEA mss
 How was parchment made?
Step One: Remove the Skin.
• The process of creating parchment often begins at the
farm where the animal died, or at the butchery.
• Using a knife, the butcher removes the skin of the
animal, cutting at the level of the hypodermis to
separate the skin from the muscle.
• Care must be taken to avoid cutting or ripping the skin,
while also leaving as little flesh on the skin as possible.
• After removal, the skin must be worked on immediately
or preserved (by covering the flesh side generously with
salt) until it is ready to be handled, or it will spoil.
Step Two: Remove the Hair.
• Hair is removed from the outside of the
skin, using a lime (calcium hydroxide) bath.
• Lime is the traditional solvent, but hair
removal can be done with other chemicals in
addition to or instead of lime.
• The bath takes place in a rotating drum that
moves the skin continually to ensure the
chemicals’ even distribution.
• When done correctly, the hair falls out or
dissolves, and the skin swells noticeably.
Step Three: Flesh the Skin.
• Next, the skin is fleshed, which involves removing the
remaining flesh and fat from the inside (or flesh side) of
the skin. This step was traditionally done by hand with
large “fleshing” knives, but now the skin is run through a
machine with a large cylindrical blade that removes the
flesh quickly and easily. Afterwards, the skin is put back in
the drum and re-limed. Repeating the process creates a
better final product.
Step Four: Neutralize the Skin.
• After fleshing, the lime is washed out and the skin is
neutralized. Enzymes are added to further remove
impurities, clean the skin, and improve its feel. At this
point the skin can be stretched immediately, or else dried
and stored for later.
Step Five: Stretch the Skin
• If it has been dried, the skin is now rehydrated, by soaking in
water.
• When it is hydrated and elastic once more, the skin is
stretched.
• Stretched skins are de-fleshed once more by scraping with a
lunarium or lunalarium (an ancient style of blade, shaped like
a crescent moon), and left to dry, after which they are
prepared to the desired thickness and finish by sanding and
buffing.
• This is the point at which the characteristics of each skin
become evident.
Step Six: Get Creative
• The result of all this work is a naturally
beautiful raw material, perfect for a wide
variety of applications, including calligraphy,
book binding, veneering, printing, letter press,
percussion, lighting design, stationery,
jewellery, fashion design — the possibilities
are endless.
• Credit: Pergamena, USA.
http://www.pergamena.net/index.php
 Video: How parchment is made -
Domesday - BBC Two
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-SpLPFaRd0
 PAPER
• Definition: “Thin sheets of fibrous material used to write
on”
• The word “paper” was derived from “papyrus”
• Origin of paper: the invention of paper was usually
attributed to China In 150 AC (late Han Dynasty), Ts’ai-
Lun from Hunan experimented with silk (which was
invented 300 yrs before) & derived the simplest & best
method of making a paper.
• He used pulps made from bamboo, hemp, linen rags,
Mulberry tree barks, ropes & fishing nets to make paper
Paper sheet was made using a timber mould & weaved
using bamboo He also used rice starch & fruit juices as
sizing.
• Pulps: The soft pith forming the contents of the stem of
a plant.
• Or a mixture of cellulose material, such as wood, paper,
and rags, ground up and moistened to make paper.
• China dominated the paper making technology for a few
centuries.
• Paper making technology as a “secret of the trade” 751
AC: an important milestone in paper making history: -
Muslims victory against China on the banks of the Talas
River (Kazakhstan/ Uzbekistan). - Many Chinese
papermakers were taken as prisoners and brought to
Samarkand to establish paper mills.
• From Samarkand (751 AC), paper was brought to Baghdad (793 AC), and spread
to Mecca, Damascus and Cairo (1035 AC).

• From Cairo, paper spread westward to Fez (in 1200 AC, there were 400 paper
mills in Fez), then to Cordoba, and Xativa (Spain) in 1065 AC.

• From Xativa, paper spread to France in 1189 AC, and then to Italy (1230 AC) and
Sicily.

• From France also, it reached Germany (Nuremberg) in 1400 AC, and from there
spread to USA, Britain, Sweden, Russia and other countries.

• In the east, paper spread from China to Korea & Japan.

• Until the end of 18th century, paper was hand-made.

• With the invention of machine, paper is made mechanically worldwide.

• Only a few countries still maintain the tradition & production of handmade
papers, such as: Nepal, India, Japan, China, Thailand, etc.
Advantages of Paper

1. Stronger (than papyrus) .

2. More flexible Cheaper (than parchment & vellum).
3. Abundance of raw materials for paper making.
4. Ease of storage, etc. Due to these reasons, paper was widely used in writing
Islamic mss.

Consider the following fact: 99% of MSS in PNM are written on paper 95% of these
are made from European papers.

Origins of paper in SEA: UNKNOWN

- Was Chinese paper used? Thin & lined paper.
- Only 1 side writing - Paper from Western India (Muslims) was known for its
quality.
- Javanese courts used to order special gold-rimmed paper for their use - India also
produced strong, thick & cream coloured paper .
- In SEA, European paper was used extensively after 16 th century- esp. papers
made in Italy, France, Britain, Holland. - 20th century: regular school exercise book
was used to write mss. Example: Hikayat Syamsul Anuar & Hikayat Syariful Akhtar
at Terengganu Museum
Chronology of Materials Used in Islamic MSS in SEA
15th - 18th centuries: Olla
16th - 19th centuries: Tree bark
17th - 20th centuries: Filigrained European Papers
19th - 20th centuries: Dutch registers, local folio papers, school notebooks

Video: 4th Grade Paper Making

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQoz1pkKmdA