The Age of the Galland manuscript of the Nights: Numismatic Evidence for Dating a Manuscript?

Authors

  • Heinz Grotzfeld

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5617/jais.4545

Abstract

The importance of the age of the Galland manuscript of the Nights derives from its being the oldest manuscript extant of this text. There is no date of transcription in the manuscript. In an earlier study, the present writer postulated 1426 as a date post quem because of the mention of the coin ashrafī (first issued by al-Ashraf Barsbāy in 1426). This date post quem has been rejected by Muhsin Mahdi, the editor of the manuscript, in a recent publication in which he attempted to identify the ashrafī mentioned in the text with the gold coin issued by al-Ashraf Khalil (1290–93). This article shows that his identification is untenable, and that the Galland manuscript, in all likelihood, was not copied earlier than 1450.

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How to Cite

Grotzfeld, H. (2017). The Age of the Galland manuscript of the Nights: Numismatic Evidence for Dating a Manuscript?. Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 1, 50–64. https://doi.org/10.5617/jais.4545

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