A truly remarkable discovery is coming up for auction, a new Qur'an palimpsest probably dating from the late-8th/early-9th century CE. It's remarkable because 'upper-text' is the Qur'an and the lower text is biblical (Christie's "Lot 1AN UNRECORDED QUR’AN PALIMPSEST COPIED ON AN EARLIER COPTIC BIBLEPROBABLY EGYPT, SECOND CENTURY AH/CIRCA 8TH CENTURY AD AND EARLIEREstimate USD 111,600 - USD 167,399)
Nine folios, comprising Qur'an V, sura al-ma'ida, v.40 to v.58, v.69 to v.76, v.83 to v.88, v.116 to v.120 (some in parts only), and Qur'an VI, sura al-an'am, v.1 to v.9, on vellum, the Arabic text inscribed above passages from the Deuteronomy in Coptic, each folio with up to 11ll. of sepia later hijazi or early kufic, one folio with foliate sura heading in polychrome, each folio with areas of loss, one folio in two sections Largest folio 4 3/8 x 5 1/8in. (11.1 x 12.7cm.)
The under-text of this palimpsest was a Copt translation of the biblical book of Deuteronomy (the last of the five Books of Moses from the Torah). This text was erased from the parchment, which was reused to copy part of the Qur'an. Even back then, the Moslems were intent on wiping out Christian culture and values.
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