KEY POINTS:
Religious and artistic similarities between the Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths are drawn out in a groundbreaking exhibition of some of the world's earliest sacred texts.
The exhibition at the British Library in London features rare and exquisite examples of early Bibles, Korans and Torahs.
It is the first time a flagship exhibition has displayed texts from the major monotheistic faiths side-by-side in order to emphasise the interactive nature of the different texts, which have historically borrowed stories - and decorative styles - from each other.
Among the show's 200 manuscripts and objects is a priceless fragment of the Dead Sea Scrolls from the first century, never before seen in Britain, a Koran written only a hundred years after Prophet Muhammad's death in the 7th century, and the Lindisfarne Gospels, which illustrates the richness of Anglo-Saxon art.
The exhibition showcases the British Library's own collection, considered to be the finest in the world, and treasures borrowed from international centres, such as three priceless Korans from Morocco's Royal Library in Marrakech.
Among the manuscripts to be displayed is the Codex London. Also on display will be one of the oldest surviving texts of the Torah - the first five books of the Old Testament which are central to Jewish worship.
The Codex Sinaiticus, the oldest complete manuscript of the New Testament which is also on display, is regarded as key in the history of Christian textual scholarship. Produced about 350AD, its name derives from the Monastery of Saint Catherine, near the foot of Mt Sinai in Egypt, where it was preserved for many centuries.
Graham Shaw, lead curator of the exhibition, said the show was designed to explore and examine the interactive nature of the sacred texts.
Examples of the commonalities between the holy books include a 14th century copy of a Koran and the Gospels, displayed side by side, which borrow aesthetic styles from each other. And two Christian and Jewish manuscripts from Northern France from the 13th century bear elaborate illustrations by the same school of artists.
A beautifully illuminated Book of Psalms, written in Arabic in the 16th century for the Coptic Christian community in Egypt, appears as a traditional "carpet-page" with purely Islamic geometric designs at first glance, but on turning the page, a portrait of King David reveals this to be a Christian manuscript, but heavily influenced in its decoration by Islam.
Other texts however, draw out the enmity felt between the faiths, such as the Silos Apocalypse, a vividly illustrated copy of the Book of Revelations. The illustration of a seven-headed dragon being fought by St Michael has been understood to be a reference to the spread of Islam, which would have had special resonance in Spain.
The exhibition will run until September 23.
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