Papyrus Fragment
Unknown Artist
dated A.H. 288/ 901 CE
Medium
Ink on papyrus
Dimensions
H. 19 1/2 in. (49.5 cm) W. 12 3/8 in. (31.5 cm)
Classification
Codices
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Florence E. and Horace L. Mayer, 1978
Accession Number
1978.348.1a
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate Papyrus Fragment, dated to A.H. 288 (901 CE), offers a rare glimpse into the early Islamic world through its ink inscriptions on ancient Egyptian papyrus. Measuring 19½ by 12⅜ inches (49.5 by 31.5 cm), it survives as a page from a codex—a bound book format that revolutionized manuscript production in the Islamic tradition. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Department of Islamic Art, this piece was generously gifted by Florence E. and Horace L. Mayer in 1978. Crafted with precise ink calligraphy, the fragment exemplifies the artistry of anonymous scribes during the Abbas...