Copies More Authentic Than Originals: The Prophetâs Letters and Covenants as Heritage Objects

Sarah Z. Mirza

8 Copies More Authentic Than Originals: The Prophetâs Letters and Covenants as Heritage Objects

In: Documents & Histoire / Documents & History. Le faux, le simulacre et la copie. Islam viie-xxe s. / The Fake, the Replica, & the Copy. Islam 7thâ20th C.

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Sarah Z. Mirza

Sarah Z. Mirza
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 249â283

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004744011_010

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Abstract

Copies More Authentic than Originals: The Prophetâs Letters and Covenants as Heritage Objects

Today, the most widely known of the documents attributed to the Prophet Muá¸¥ammad are the âletters to kingsâ, such as the letter to al-Muqawqis of Egypt displayed in a gold casket in the Pavilion of the Sacred Relics at TopkapÄ± Palace, Istanbul. Also well-known are agreements or âcovenantsâ with non-Muslim minorities, the most famous of which may be the document granted to the monks at St. Catherineâs Monastery on Mount Sinai. This paper traces the biographies of these objects, a total of eleven documents. It discusses the function of these documents as modern relics in the context of their relationships with medieval source material, their publication history, internment in heritage institutions, and modern popular traditions. The documents participate in a culture of copies in which non-uniqueness and derivativeness are used to re-negotiate the notion of authenticity. In this sense, these documents are somewhere between âfakesâ and âreplicasâ, deliberately calling our attention to their status as copies in order to claim efficacy in their modern contexts.

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Documents & Histoire / Documents & History. Le faux, le simulacre et la copie. Islam viie-xxe s. / The Fake, the Replica, & the Copy. Islam 7thâ20th C.

Actes des journÃ©es d'Ã©tudes, Paris, 14-15 novembre 2013 / Proceedings of the Workshop, Paris, 2013, November, 14â15

Series:Â Islamic Manuscripts and Books, Volume: 24

Cover Documents & Histoire / Documents & History. Le faux, le simulacre et la copie. Islam viie-xxe s. / The Fake, the Replica, & the Copy. Islam 7thâ20th C.

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004744011

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 24 Mar 2025

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Front Matter

Part 1 La fabrique du faux / Fakes and their Makers

Part 2 Original & copie / Original & Copy

Part 4 La fabrique de lâillusion / Fabrications

Part 6 Par-delÃ le Vrai & le Faux / Beyond the Real & the Fake

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8 Copies More Authentic Than Originals: The Prophetâs Letters and Covenants as Heritage Objects

Abstract

Citation Info

Share link with colleague or librarian

Documents & Histoire / Documents & History. Le faux, le simulacre et la copie. Islam viie-xxe s. / The Fake, the Replica, & the Copy. Islam 7thâ20th C.

Actes des journÃ©es d'Ã©tudes, Paris, 14-15 novembre 2013 / Proceedings of the Workshop, Paris, 2013, November, 14â15

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8 Copies More Authentic Than Originals: The Prophetâs Letters and Covenants as Heritage Objects

Documents & Histoire / Documents & History. Le faux, le simulacre et la copie. Islam viie-xxe s. / The Fake, the Replica, & the Copy. Islam 7thâ20th C.

Actes des journÃ©es d'Ã©tudes, Paris, 14-15 novembre 2013 / Proceedings of the Workshop, Paris, 2013, November, 14â15