Visual Features of Gilding of Qurans of the Collection of Sheikh Ahmad Jami (Study of Five Qurans from the Seljuk to the Qajar Periods)

The repository of the codices preserved in Sheikh Ahmad-e Jami Mausoleum Complex in Torbat-e Jam County have yet neither been introduced nor studied. The objective of the present work is to describe and conduct a visual analysis of the ornamentations of five different Qurans selected from the aforementioned compilation from the Seljuk era to the Qajar era. The region of Jam, due to the spiritual presence of Sheikh Ahmad-e Jami, has constantly been considered of an enormously elevated status by the contemporaneous rulers in comparison to other states and counties of Khurasan. Buildings were constructed to commemorate and mark the resting place of Sheikh Ahmad-e Jami, and thus Sheikh Ahmad-e Jami Mausoleum Complex expanded through time to reach its present glory and magnificence. It was deemed as a necessity to conduct this research in order to introduce the valueless Quranic manuscripts and further elaborate on the masterpieces which were kept in the collection of Sheikh Ahmad-e Jami Mausoleum Complex, as well as to understand the course of the developments of the ornamental elements and to provide a visual aesthetic analysis of these Quranic manuscripts from the Seljuk to the Qajar era. Ergo, one may come to propose the following questions. Firstly, what are book design, ornamental elements, and scripts which had been utilized in these Qurans throughout the period of the 6^th to 14^th century AH? And, secondly, what are the points of similarity and difference between the arrays?
The research method was per se descriptive and analytical. And, the methods of data collection included library research as well as documentary-based research, especially focusing upon representations of field study such as interview and photography. Statistical population of this research includes forty-one codices ranging from the Seljuk era to the Qajar era. The sampling in this case is of purposeful kind; and, from amongst the prime samples and instances of each era, one codex has been selected to be under scrutiny and study.
The findings of the present work have shown that ornamentations and arrays of the foretold Qurans have been elucidated and demonstrated in the form of tabulation, heading of Surah, ornamental loop (Shamseh[1]), cornice (Sharafeh[2]), gilding, interlinear gilding, symbol of the division of verse[3], symbol of ten verses (Ashar) and symbol of five verses (Khams). The scripts which had been used do also have an intriguing variety and diversity with regard to their position and status. Seljuk and Il-khanate Qurans have been without tabulation, and during the next eras, they had been tabulated with yellow, black and eventually azure colors. In the initial periods, the heading of Surah was tangled and its main color was gold; whilst in the next periods, the ornamentations became more organized and the main color turned into azure. In the Seljuk era, the heading of Surah was written in golden Muharrar[4] script; and, in the upcoming Qurans, it turned into Venetian ceruse, and then was based upon gilding. From Qurans that belonged to the Il-khanate era onwards, ornamental loops and cornices were more represented, getting gold-covered more coherently and consistently in the Safavid era as well as the Qajar era.
Ornamental techniques, gilding, and crenulation are more applicable compared to interlinear gilding and Girih tiles. Symbol of division of verse, symbol of the ten verses (Ashar) and symbol of five verses (Khams) have had significant simplicity in Qurans of the Seljuk, Safavid and the Qajar eras, whilst these very symbols have been depicted more delicately and intricately in Qurans of the Il-khanate and the Timurid eras. Ornamental Kufic and Thuluth scripts for heading of Surah, and Rehyan and Thuluth scripts for the body of Quran were applicable and practical until the Safavid era; and, from then on, Naskh script became more prevalent. The translation of verses was initially written in Naskh script and then turned into Nastaʿlīq script as in the Qajar era. Catalogues and/or identifications of most of the codices have been reviewed and recognized by the authors; moreover, multifarious problems with regard to the type of the script, ornamentation and the historical period of the Qurans have as well been revised, reformed and recovered.
 
[1] The Persian/Arabic version is شمسه
[2] The Persian/Arabic version is شرفه
[3] Originally known as Āyah the Persian/Arabic version of which is آیه
[4] The Persian/Arabic version is محرر