Kufic

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Banna'i on a minaret – a repetitive pattern of square Kufic inscriptions

Calligraphy

Drawing of an inscription of Basmala in Kufic script, 9th century. The original is in the Islamic Museum in Cairo (Inventar-Nr. 7853)

Kufic is the oldest calligraphic form of the various Arabic scripts and consists of a modified form of the old Nabataean script. Its name is derived from the city of Kufa, Iraq, although it was known in Mesopotamia at least 100 years before the foundation of Kufa. At the time of the emergence of Islam, this type of script was already in use in various parts of the Arabian Peninsula. It was in this script that the first copies of the Qur'an were written.

[edit] Characteristics

Kufic is a form of script consisting of straight lines and angles, often with elongated verticals and horizontals. 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.

[edit] Occurrence

Kufic was prevalent in manuscripts from the 8th-10th centuries.

Kufic is commonly seen on Seljuk coins and monuments and on early Ottoman coins. 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.

The current Flag of Iraq uses Kufic script to write اﷲ أكبر Allahu Akbar.

[edit] Square or geometric Kufic

Square or geometric Kufic is a very simplified rectangular style of Kufic widely used for tiling. In Iran sometimes entire buildings are covered with tiles spelling sacred names like those of God, Muhammad and Ali in square Kufic, a technique known as banna'i.^[1]

[edit] Western imitations

Main article: Pseudo-Kufic

"Pseudo-Kufic", also "Kufesque", refers to imitations of the Kufic script, made in a non-Arabic context, during the Middle-Ages or the Renaissance: "Imitations of Arabic in European art are often described as pseudo-Kufic, borrowing the term for an Arabic script that emphasizes straight and angular strokes, and is most commonly used in Islamic architectural decoration".^[2]

[edit] Gallery

Kufic script from an early Qur'an manuscript, 7th century.
Manuscript of the Surah al-Maryam of the Quran; Kufic script on gazelle skin, 9th c.
Folio of a Quran in kufic style, ink, color and gold, 11th century, Iran
Kufic script, 8th or 9th century Quran
11th century gold Fatimid armlet, inscribed with good wishes in the Kufic script, (Syria).
Page from a Qur'an in Kufic style
Kufic alphabet, from Fry's Pantographia (1799)
Geometric Kufic sample (Surah 112, al-Ikhlas or "The Surah of Monotheism", of the Qur'an), read clockwise, starting with red word
Geometric Kufic from the Bou Inania Madrasa (Meknes); the text reads بركة محمد or baraka muḥammad, i.e. be blessed Muhammad
Another example of geometric or square Kufic script, showing four instances of the name Muhammad; often used as a tilework pattern in Islamic architecture
The flag of Iraq
The flag of Iran