186 The American Journal of lslamic Social Sciences 20:3 & 4 The Qu'ran Manuscripts in the al-Haram al-Sharif Islamic Museum, Jerusalem Khader Salameh Reading, UK: Garnet Publishing, 2001. 190 pages. Founded in 1922 and moved to al-Haram al-Sharif in 1929, the Islamic Museum in Jerusalem houses artifacts covering nearly all oflslamic his­ tory and originating in North Africa, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and the Middle East. This beautifully illustrated volume, published with the support of UNESCO in both English and Arabic, treats a small part of the Museum's collection: a selection of its Qur'an manuscripts. The work, divided into three parts, first introduces the Islamic Museum and its collection, then provides background information concerning relevant textual and art his­ tory, and finally presents 3 I Qur'an manuscripts in detail. Part One, "The Islamic Museum," gives an overview of the Museum's holdings, including wood, metalwork, ceramics, glass, tex ­ tiles, coins, stone inscriptions and architectural elements, and documents. Most of the artifacts are material salvaged from repairs to the haram area or objects from the endowments of the Aqsa mosque and madrasahs in Jerusalem, Nablus, and Hebron. The collection includes many exquisite pieces: Umayyad floral woodwork panels from the al-Aqsa Mosque, a striking glass mosque lamp of the Mamluk amir Tankiz from Hebron, and the salvaged remains of Nur al-Din's pulpit, built in Aleppo in 564/1168 and brought to the Aqsa Mosque in 583/1187 by Salah al-Din after his conquest of Jerusalem. (Unfortunately, the ornate wooden pulpit was nearly destroyed by arson in I 969.) Part Two, "Background," treats Arabic calligraphy, illumination, bindings, and the textual history of the Qur'an. Kufic, an old, square script said to derive from stone inscriptions, is used for the text of the old ­ est Qur'an manuscript in the collection and for headings and panels in later manuscripts. The bulk of the manuscripts are written in the more cursive Naskhi script, which became popular by the tenth century, and the similar but taller Thuluth and Muhaqqaq. A number of the collections manscripts from North Africa are written in Maghribi script, which derives from Kufic and differs significantly from the common eastern scripts. This vol­ ume allows the reader to view some stunning examples of illumination, 188 The American Journal of lslamic Social Sciences 20:3 & 4 box inlaid with sumptuous ornaments of silver and enamel. Also discussed are four rab 'ahs of the Ottoman ruler, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent ( 1520-66), one from his son Bayezid, and many others. These manuscripts shed considerable light on the liturgical use of the Qur'an. Many of the Qur'ans in the collection include endowment deeds recorded on the opening pages, stating who donated the manuscript, to which institution. Also assigned to many Q.ir'ans were perpetual endow­ ments - the income of a bathhouse, for example - to pay stipends for scholars to recite part of that Qur'an at a certain time of day. For example, a mushaf from the eighth/fourteenth century was endowed to the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron by a prominent judge Qadi Shams al-Din Musa ibn Qadi Taj al-Din al-Nasiri. The endowment requires a reader to recite, while facing the tomb of Abraham, one hizb (160 verses) of the Q.ir'an after the morning and afternoon prayers, then some ahadith, then the last three suwar, followed by Surat al-Fatihah and the beginning of Surat al­ Baqarah. The endowments of rab 'ahs - generally of 30 volumes, each containing onejuz' (130 verses) of the Qur'an -provided stipends for 30 readers, each responsible for one juz ', and for nazir al-rab 'ah, a supervi­ sor to oversee the readers and distribute the stipends. Combining strikingly beautiful illustrations with fascinating glimpses into Islamic art, patronage, and the liturgical, social, and political uses of the Qur'an, Salam eh's book is a rewarding read. Devin Stewart, Chair Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia