--- description: Fragments of a Koran dating back at least 1,370 years have been found among the archives of the University of Birmingham. title: Ancient Koran Fragments Discovered in the U.K. image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2692aea61f1bf8d5/69885bdf2dce0188d59e4bb5/477877420.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [U.K.](/tag/u-k/) ## U.K. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Fragments of What Could Be World's Oldest Koran Have Been Found in the U.K. ## Video: High Art's High Price: Museums Can't Afford It [Watch (HLS stream): High Art's High Price: Museums Can't Afford It](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BR0tUoUi.m3u8) (2:31)  _Published 2013-11-15. The ultra-wealthy are snatching up prized works of art by 20th century masters. Many of these pieces, however, won't be seen again by the general public._ by [Alissa Greenberg](/author/alissa-greenberg/) ## Alissa Greenberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 22, 2015 5:23 AM CUT  GAZA CITY, GAZA - JUNE 20: A Palestinian boy reads Quran, Islam's holy book, at Al-Khalidi mosque on the third day of Ramadan in Gaza City, Gaza on June 20, 2015\. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) GAZA CITY, GAZA - JUNE 20: A Palestinian boy reads Quran, Islam's holy book, at Al-Khalidi mosque on the third day of Ramadan in Gaza City, Gaza on June 20, 2015\. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)Ashraf Amra—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images by [Alissa Greenberg](/author/alissa-greenberg/) ## Alissa Greenberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 22, 2015 5:23 AM CUT Fragments of a Koran dating back at least 1,370 years have been [found](http://www.bbc.com/news/business-33436021 "undefined") among the archives of the U.K.’s University of Birmingham. Written in an early form of Arabic, the fragments were part of a collection brought back to Britain from Iraq in the 1920s but had never been recognized for their antiquity or value, the BBC reports. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the fragments, which are written on goat or sheepskin, almost certainly come from between the years 568 and 645\. “They could well take us back to within a few years of the actual founding of Islam,” University of Birmingham professor of Christianity and Islam David Thomas told the BBC. Tradition dictates that the Prophet Muhammad received the revelations that would eventually form the Koran between 610 and 632, the year he died. Many scholars believe that portions of the Koran were written down separately on palm leaves, parchment, or the shoulder bones of camels, before being collected into a complete edition around 650. Although the imprecise nature of radiocarbon dating make it impossible to claim decisively that these fragments represent the oldest Koran, they are certainly significant. “The person who actually wrote it could well have known the Prophet Muhammad,” Thomas told the BBC. “He would have seen him probably, he would maybe have heard him preach. He may have known him personally — and that really is quite a thought to conjure with.” \[[BBC](http://www.bbc.com/news/business-33436021 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3967091/oldest-koran-quran-university-of-birmingham/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3967091/oldest-koran-quran-university-of-birmingham/"},"headline":"Fragments of What Could Be World's Oldest Koran Have Been Found in the U.K.","datePublished":"2015-07-22T05:23:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:37:24.697Z","description":"The manuscript's writer almost certainly lived in the time of Muhammad, experts believe","url":"https://time.com/3967091/oldest-koran-quran-university-of-birmingham/","keywords":["U.K.","england","Muslim","Islam","Archives"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2692aea61f1bf8d5/69885bdf2dce0188d59e4bb5/477877420.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alissa Greenberg","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alissa-greenberg/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2692aea61f1bf8d5/69885bdf2dce0188d59e4bb5/477877420.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ramadan in Gaza","caption":"Ramadan in Gaza","creditText":"Ashraf Amra—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/u-k/","name":"U.K."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3967091/oldest-koran-quran-university-of-birmingham/","name":"Fragments of What Could Be World's Oldest Koran Have Been Found in the U.K."}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"High Art's High Price: Museums Can't Afford It","description":"The ultra-wealthy are snatching up prized works of art by 20th century masters. 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