A Scholar, Calligrapher, and Illuminator in Early Fourteenth-Century Cairo: The Illuminated Manuscripts of Ahmad al-Mutatabbib

Abstract

Ahmad al-Mutatabbib is one of the few copyists from the Mamluk period to whom several preserved manuscripts can be linked, i.e., five illuminated Qurʾans and a copy of Avicenna’s al-Qānūn fī’l-ṭibb. Among these manuscripts, three are dated and localized and are among the rare illuminated manuscripts of the Mamluk period that mention the name of the city in which they were produced. However, no mention is made of this artist in Mamluk literature. Consequently, I propose to study these manuscripts through the analysis of their writing and illuminations, as well as the Qurʾanic vocalization system explained in three of his Qurʾans. The aim of this article is to shed new light on the place of Ahmad al-Mutatabbib’s works in the illuminated manuscript production of Cairo in the first half of the fourteenth century and to provide new information on the formation and the career of this prolific artist of the Mamluk arts of the book.