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Kufic Arabic Calligraphy

Type Object Region Islamic world Time c. 701–800

Kufic is an early Arabic calligraphic style formed around Kufa in Iraq in the 7th–8th centuries, characterized by angular, vertically extended stroke…

Timeline

  1. c. 701–730Kufa · IraqIn the city of Kufa in Iraq, scribes standardized early Arabic script into the angular, laterally compressed Kufic style, used for official documents and religious texts.
  2. c. 730–770Hejaz–Iraq · Islamic worldKufic became the dominant script for luxurious Quran manuscripts, where horizontally extended letter arrangements combined with geometric decoration to form an early Islamic book-art paradigm.
  3. c. 770–800Damascus–Baghdad · Islamic worldKufic spread with imperial administration and religious construction to Syria, Egypt, and North Africa, widely used in mosque inscriptions, official coinage, and architectural decorative bands.

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