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Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi 44/32 (Altıkulaç 2007)

The Multilingual Historical Koran

Qoran.xyz: The Multilingual Historical Koran is a research project initiated by PHI in 2018. The project organises various approaches to the Koranic text as a historical document.

 

We are preparing a “multilingual edition” of the Koran, including the earliest known translations to Greek (870 AD), Persian (10th century), Turkic (11th century) and Latin (11th century) – as witnesses to the history of the text and its influence.

Our aim is to study the text both as a historical document in its Late Antique Near Eastern context, and as a religious document in its subsequent history when it became a foundational text for the religion of Islam. There are three long-term aims of the project:

 

  1. To present a complete multilingual historical edition of the Koranic text with the most ancient translations into Greek, Persian, Turkic and Latin, published at: www.qoran.xyz.

  2. To investigate the nature of the Koranic religion in a Late Antique Near Eastern context. 

  3. To gain new insights into the linguistic status of the Koranic language, the Arabiyya, and its position vis-à-vis other Semitic languages (like Hebrew, Aramaic, Ancient South Arabian and Ancient North Arabian) and other "Arabic languages" (or "Arabic dialects").

Project information

The most recent project description contains information about the project background, its current status and long-term project goals.

If you are in Oslo, you are welcome to participate at our weekly Koran readings at the Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society (MF vitenskapelig høyskole).

One of the major aims of the project is to present a complete multilingual historical edition of the Koranic text with the most ancient translations into Greek, Persian, Turkic and Latin.

The Koran is a famous book. It is also a controversial book – an object of high reverence by some, and outright hate by others. For the organisers of this seminar, the Koran is first and foremost an ancient text and a valuable document from an extremely interesting historical period.

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