Unique and rare pieces of the 250,000-page Damascus documents collection as well as a large selection of handwritten Qurans are the subjects of a new exhibition that opened Saturday at Istanbul's Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum. The revenue earned from a book accompanying the show will be spent to buy new Qurans for the museum and their restoration

Providing a glimpse of some rare pages of the Quran never seen in public before, a new exhibition at Istanbul’s Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts is underway to celebrate the 1,400th year of the Muslim holy book.

The Qurans in the exhibition were shared not only by the people of Istanbul but by the entire world, Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay said during Friday’s opening of the “Quran in its 1,400th Year.”

The exhibition displays unique, rare pieces of the 250,000-page Damascus documents collection. A large selection of handwritten Qurans, held in the inventory of the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts is also on display for the first time as part of the exhibition.

Antik A.Ş. and a team of experts from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art prepared the exhibition, which is being curated by Sevgi Kutluay and Ali Serkander Demirkol.

Günay said the event suited Istanbul, given its roots in both East and West and added that there were thousands of treasures in the storages of the Topkapı Museum, the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts and the Foundations General Directorate.

“In order to bring all these treasures to light, current efforts should be increased and private and public sectors should collaborate with us,” he said.

The exhibition would be a way to understand the beauty of the country, Günay said. “We are displaying the Quran. Even if it is written on an ordinary page, its content is very important.”

Anik A.Ş. Executive Board Chairman Turgay Artam said a book of 500 pages had been prepared for the exhibition, adding that the revenue of the book would be spent to buy new Qurans for the museum and their restoration.

Open until Dec. 1

The pages of the Quran among the Damascus documents are the earliest known parts of the Quran in existence, dating back to 875-876 AD. Since 1964, these documents have been studied mainly by foreigners but 50 pieces of the collection will be revealed to the public for the first time in the Istanbul exhibition.

The collection is known as the Damascus documents because it was brought from the Damascus Umayyad Mosque. When the mosque burned down at the end of the 19th century, most of the documents were damaged but the rescued documents were brought to Topkapı Palace in Istanbul in 1911. The collection was sent from the palace to the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art after its establishment.

Among the striking Quran fragments in the Damascus documents, which include 250,000 Quran pages altogether, are several written on antelope hide.

The exhibition “Quran in its 1,400th Year” consists of a contemporary display in the temporary exhibition hall of the museum with interactive kiosks, as well as chronologically organized presentations in the museum’s main building.

The exhibition, which contains 250 artifacts, will run through Dec. 1.

Call for help for Pakistan

Delivering a speech at the ceremony, lawyer Kezban Hatemi reminded participants of the disaster in Pakistan and said that she and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s wife, Emine Erdoğan, went to the country.

“Some 20 percent of the country is under water, children and more than 100,000 pregnant women have nothing to wear. Seasonal conditions are very bad, it is 60 degrees Celsius. You are always in a sauna and cannot move there. Little children have fever of 39.5 degrees. This is not caused by sickness but heat,” Hatemi said. “As a civil initiative, we have formed a chain with the slogan ‘Right now hand in hand for humanity and Pakistan.’ I ask you to follow the chain on the Internet and donate to the Red Crescent. Even five Turkish Liras is enough but please make everyone join this chain.”

Among the other attendees of the ceremony were Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Religious Affairs Department head Ali Bardakoğlu, Fener Greek Patriarchate Bartholomew I, Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş, Turkish Travel Agencies’ Union Chairman Başaran Ulusoy, Louvre Museum Islamic Arts Curator Sophie Makariou, British National Museum Islamic and Contemporary Middle East Deputy Director Venetia Porter and researcher Filiz Çakır from the Berlin Islamic Arts Museum.

Hurriyet Daily News - www.hurriyetdailynews.com