Memory of the World: The treasures that record our history from 1700 BC to the present day. UNESCO
king of Egypt with his entourage welcoming Zulaykha on her arrival to Egypt’: an illustration from a 1533 text in this Egyptian collection of Persian manuscripts.
The collection comprises epic poems (shâhnâmeh), love poems (quintets and rhyming couplets), mystic poems (Sufi) and religious aphorisms and wise sayings. The manuscripts are illuminated by geometric frontispieces, opening medallions, gold rulings and illuminated end pages. They are further illustrated with exquisite, colourful and vibrant miniature paintings. The miniatures range from royal gatherings in famous courts, depictions of hunting and themes of festivities, anthologies of the lover and beloved, as in Majnun and Layla (Nezami's Khamsah), astronomical images, images of wise men, plants and animals.
The collection includes anthologies inscribed by some of the most renowned calligraphers of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries in the region and dedicated to the shahs and leaders of key dynasties. It fills an important gap in history and in the relationship between calligraphers and ateliers. The miniatures are important to the development of Islamic miniature paintings; names found in this collection such as Mani and Behzad are rarely found in other collections around the world.
The collection is of great significance; the manuscripts and the muraqqa’ albums recollect the history of the region, the history of calligraphy and miniature paintings and the relationship between the artist and the royal ateliers. It is irreplaceable because these items are the joint work of ateliers, where painters, calligraphers, illuminators, paper makers and cover producers jointly worked for years to produce a single text. While the collection ranges from the 14th to the 19th centuries, much of the content of the muraqqa’ manuscripts was compiled before this. The copying of famous stories of kings in the shâhnâmeh or famous poems of Sa’adi and Nezami by famous scribes safeguarded the original manuscripts from destruction or disappearance. The collection illuminates the different styles of the royal ateliers, as guided and dictated by outstanding calligraphers and painters, and the taste of the Mosul, the Timurids, the Safavids, the Shaybanids and the Mughal empires.
Battle scene, from 1553 Persian manuscript by Shah Mahmud al Nishapury.
Collection of Nezami’s Panj Ganj
Inscribed 2011
What is it
Five separate manuscript copies of Panj Ganj, a collection of five versified stories in Persian, attributed to the medieval Persian poet Nezami Ganjavi and gathered together in one volume.
Why was it inscribed
Also known as Khamseh, the work is a renowned masterpiece of Persian literature. Its style proved hugely influential, providing a model for later versified storytellers to follow as well as inspiration for Persian artists.
Where is it
Sepahsalar Library, Sepahsalar School, Tehran, Iran; Golestan Palace, Tehran, Iran; National Museum of Iran, Tehran, Iran; Malek National Library and Museum, Tehran, Iran; Central Library and document centre of the University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Panj Ganj means ‘Five Treasures’, a reference to the five separate tales within the collection, all of which are derived from recognized narratives in Persian literature. The collection is believed to be the work of Nezami Ganjavi (1133–1222) who lived at a time when the narrative poetry form in Persia was at its height. The five stories take the form of long poems versified in rhyming couplets (mathnavi in Persian) and retell the most famous and popular romantic stories from Persia.
The first of the five stories is Makhzan al-Asrar (Treasury of Secrets). It has 2263 couplets and 20 essays, each telling a single story expressive of the poet’s inner state and the importance of the acquisition of self-knowledge. Khosrow and Shirin has 6512 couplets relating one of the best-known Persian love stories – the story of Khosrow Parviz, the Sasanid king of Iran, and Shirin, an Armenian princess. Layli and Majnoon, written in AD 1188 after Khosrow and Shirin, relates a story of unhappy love over 4718 couplets.
The section acknowledged as the finest in Panj Ganj is Haft Paykar (Seven Bodies), a poem in 5136 couplets recounting the story of a Sasanid king, Bahram Goor, together with seven stories that seven princesses narrated for the king in seven palaces. Finally, Eskandar Nameh (The Tale of Alexander) tells the story of Alexander the Great and his wars, with philosophical reflections and advice in two parts comprising 10,500 couplets.
Pages from the manuscripts
The work was written during the rule of the Saljuqid dynasty, noted for their patronage of the arts and particularly of poetry, literature and language. Although written around 850 years ago, the poems remain easily comprehensible and enduringly popular with modern-day Persian speakers. Panj Ganj remains a masterpiece of its genre and is enduringly influential. The work has also been translated into the major European and Asian languages.
Many manuscripts of the tales exist, but the five listed are exceptional for several reasons, including the quality of the artistry, the quality of the calligraphy, associations with royal libraries and a dated inscription of the year 1318 on one, making it the oldest known version.
An image of the author Nezami from an Azerbaijani banknote
Inscribed 2001
What is it
The second of two volumes of a Korean book containing the essentials of Zen Buddhist teaching and dating from the 14th century.
Why was it inscribed
Buljo jikji simche yojeol, or simply Jikji, was printed in 1377 and is an anthology of Zen Buddhist teachings. It is the oldest extant book in the world to be printed with movable metal type.
Where is it
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, France
Buljo jikji simche yojeol means ‘Anthology of Great Buddhist Priests’ Zen Teachings’ and its compilation was the work of Baegun, a Buddhist priest in Korea. Its contents represented the teachings of his master, Seogok Cheonggong, a master of Zen or Buddhist meditation which aimed at achieving enlightenment.
Buddhism was a Korean national religion under the long-lasting Goryeo dynasty which ruled the country from AD 918 to 1392. Towards the end of this period however, the religion became corrupted by secularism. Baegun worked to correct this decay and his compilation, written in 1372 when he was 75 years old, was intended as a continuation of his life’s work, disseminating the essential ideas of Zen to his hundreds of students and beyond.
Jikji contains Buddhist texts in verse, song, chant, scripture, letters and poems drawn from the works of 145 priests and monks from Korea, India and China. It originally contained thirty-nine chapters, although the first chapter is now missing. The book was the second part of a two-volume set and the first volume has not been found.
Printed in July 1377 at Heungdeok-sa temple in Cheongju, the volume is the world’s oldest known book to be printed using movable type, an advance that stands as one of the single most significant in the dissemination of knowledge and information. It predates Johannes Gutenberg’s famous Bible – which was printed in the early 1450s – by over 70 years. Old Korean books contain references to some even earlier metal-type printings, but Jikji is the only known one still extant. The place and date of its publication are printed on the book’s final leaf together with the names of two of Baegun’s student priests, Seokcan and Daldam, and a Buddhist nun Myodeok who all helped with the printing.
Although Jikji is Korean, the book is currently