Kufic is the oldest calligraphic form of the various Arabic scripts and consists of a modified form of the old Nabatean script. Islamic calligraphy, equally known as Arabic calligraphy, is the art of writing and by extension of bookmaking Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing several languages of Asia and Africa such as Arabic, Persian, and Urdu. Its name is derived from the city of Kufa (in modern-day Iraq), although it was known in Mesopotamia at least 100 years before the foundation of Kufa. Kufa ( Arabic, ar الكوفة) is a city in modern Iraq, about 170 km south of Baghdad, and 10 km northeast of Najaf. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. At the time of the emergence of Islam, this type of script was already in use in various parts of the Arabian Peninsula. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. The Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية šibh al-jazīra al-ʻarabīya or جزيرة العرب jazīrat al-ʻarab) It was in this script that the first copies of the Qur'an were written. The Qur’an ( القرآن, literally "the recitation" also sometimes transliterated as Qur’ān, Koran, Alcoran
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Characteristics
Kufic is a form of script consisting of straight lines and angles, often with elongated verticals and horizontals. Pantographia; containing accurate copies of all the known alphabets in the world together with an English explanation of the peculiar force or power of each letter is the title It originally did not have consonant pointing distinguishing, for example, b, t, and th. It is still employed in Islamic countries though it has undergone a number of alterations over the years and also displays regional differences. The difference between the Kufic script used in the Arabian Peninsula and that employed in North African states is very marked.
Occurrence
Kufic is commonly seen on Seljuk coins and monuments and on early Ottoman coins. The Seljuq (also Seljuq Turks, Seldjuks, Seldjuqs, Seljuks; in Turkish Selçuklular; in Ṣaljūqīyān; in The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish Its decorative character led to its use as a decorative element in several public and domestic buildings constructed prior to the Republican period in Turkey. Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches
The current Flag of Iraq uses Kufic script to write ﷲ أكبر Allahu Akbar. The flag of Iraq ( علم العراق) has had five different designs since the Kingdom of Iraq was established in 1921 The takbīr or takbeer (ar تَكْبِير is the act of saying the phrase, ar الله أكبر The Kufic was chosen as a neutral alternative to the old flag's version of the motto, which is widely believed to be written in the hand of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti ( Arabic: ar صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي --> April 28 1937 &ndash December 30
Gallery
 Kufic script from an early Qur'an manuscript, 7th century. |
 Manuscript of the Chapter Mary of the Quran; Kufic script on gazelle skin, 9th c. Sura Maryam ( سورة مريم, Sūratu Maryam, " Mary " is the 19th Sura (English Chapter of the Qur'an and |
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 Kufic script |
See also
External links
- Kufic alphabet http://www.fromoldbooks.org/Fry-Pantographia/pages/p004/
- On The Origins Of The Kufic Script
- Islamic Calligraphy Kufic & script types
- Kufic Script
- Square Kufic types
- Square Kufic Script
- (Turkish) Traditional Turk-Islam Arts
- Kufic Encyclopedia