Islamic

the beauty and importance of the words, by making them appear as sumptuous as possible. Sacred books were designed to create a sense of awe, rather than simply to be read. This was especially true in the Qu'ran, since for Muslims the words themselves are divine and immutable. The act of reciting from the Qu'ran became a specialized art form in its own right, and calligraphic sections of text were used as decorative panels in Islamic architecture. In some early versions of the Bible, the decoration on individual letters is so extravagant that they are sometimes almost illegible to all but those who created and used them. With Hebrew books, the scribe, or sofer, designed the layout of the entire manuscript, while the artist who embellished his work played a secondary role. For Muslims, too, calligraphers were far more important than mere artists, and their work fetched high prices.

The example illustrated here comes from the surviving pages of an early tenth-century Qu'ran, which was probably produced in Iraq. In 911, the book was presented by 'Abd al-Mun'im ibn Ahmad to the Great Mosque of Damascus. The text is written on vellum, using Kufic lettering (the oldest form of Arabic script). The elaborate calligraphy is in gold, outlined in black, with pyramids of six gold disks marking the end of each verse. This particular sheet depicts the heading of Surah 29 of the sacred text.

TASKS

1. Read the text and translate it into Ukrainian.

2. Answer the following questions:

1. What were the first books designed for?

2. How were the people who wrote the first books called?

3. Why was the art of calligraphy one of the most important of all human skills?

4. How were the first rare books considered to be?

5. What was the codex, a precursor to the book, made from?

6. Why were decorations added to the text?

7. What did decorative calligraphy also stress?

8. What was the aim of the calligrapher?

9. How did the calligraphy look like in Qu’ran?

10. How did the calligraphy look like in Hebrew books?

3. Give Ukrainian equivalents of the following words and phrases:

artistic skills

by hand

exquisite examples

to be extremely accomplished

rare

sacred objects

to be required

precious materials

to be embellished

chapter

adornment

the basis of belief

to appear

divine and immutable

illegible

entire

mere artists

to fetch high prices

elaborate calligraphy

to outline

4. Give English equivalents of the following words and phrases:

художні здібності

надзвичайно цінний

на протязі сторіч

величезний вплив

попередник

тонкий пергамент

шкіра

коштовні матеріали

прикрашати

корисний

уніфікований фактор

розкішний

відчуття благоговіння

незмінний

нерозбірливий

створювати

писар

рукопис

грати другорядну роль

вцілілі сторінки

старанно розроблений

строфа

священний