Calligraphy and writing activities in Mecca during the medieval period (twelfth-fifteenth centuries)

Abstract

Recently published materials, as well as edited sources, now allow the investigation of the calligraphic/writing culture and practice in Mecca during the medieval period. This paper reviews the practice of writing/copying in Mecca, bringing together the historical/biographical sources as well as material evidence of epigraphy in the form of numerous tombstones and building inscriptions, manuscripts, and hajj certificates. A chronology and analysis of the style of scripts are proposed, as well as a study of the signatures of the calligraphers/tombstone makers. This paper is a first attempt to shed light on a subject that has thus far received little attention.