In defence of Arabic palaeography

Museum Cuficum Borgianum (Rome 1782) is one of Jacob Georg Christian Adler’s works which traditionally mark the birth of Arabic palaeography. Almost a century ago the Russian Arabist Ignatij Kratchovsky considered Arabic palaeography an indispensable branch of knowledge that needed to be acquired. In 2023, however, Arabic palaeography is a discipline at risk. Rarely included in Oriental studies programs, Arabic palaeography is often confused with calligraphy and is absorbed into other fields relating to the study of artefacts, whilst being a philology-based discipline with a historical vocation. This contribution seeks to stress the value of Arabic palaeography as an essential discipline in the curriculum of students and (future) researchers and its potentials to enlarge and deepen historical and art historical research.