'Oldest' Koranic fragments - amazing discovery in a university library!

One of the oldest fragments of the Koran (Islam's holy book) was just waiting a hundred years to be identified as such in the library of the University of Birmingham. Further research will be conducted to verify the initial

results.

Here is what makes this find so fascinating: the parchment (sheep or goat skin) has been dated from between 568 and 645. This places the manuscript very close to the period when Mohammed claimed to receive revelations, between the years 610 and 632 A.D. The scribe may have even heard Mohammed's preaching.

I'm intrigued by what these pages might reveal of the textual history of that early (or earliest) period of the Koran. Specialists (textual critics and Islamic scholars) must be anxious to read this manuscript for themselves.

Here's more information about this discovery:

Article in English

Article in French