Epigraphy

The Museum of Epigraph, recently installed in a former Madrassa built in 1421 at the expense of Manjak, the Governor of Damascus, is worth visiting - as much for its setting as for its collections.

The whole interior is decorated with polychrome marble mosaic. The square central room has a dome, directly under which there is a pretty octagonal pool, reached by three steps. There are display cases all round. They contain manuscripts and printed works, marvelous examples of calligraphy and lay-out; there are also stones which show how the graver’s chisel can ally the rigor of Arabic script with artistic fancy to produce most beautiful lettering. There are objects here too -blue faïence inkwells, a reed pen cut as finely as a scalpel, and engraved metal stamps. Tiles from the pre-Islamic period show the development of Arabic script. A large table illustrates the development of the alphabet from earliest antiquity to the Arabic script of today. Richly illuminated arithmetical and astronomical tables conclude the display of this original and interesting museum.