142

THE TAESCHNER COLLECTION (Or. 12.375, cont., 12.376)

Ends (104a): tji A»JI (jJLjü «1/L jL-aJI jJtiT 4 0.3i> u4JLj jjjl ^ jJj^j oaaj C i«.< jUjJI (j-# j aa Jl >>-( jjJI 4 mn 11) 3 (Jj-uS 34JI 4 ~.,4 5 5 Colophon (ibidem): \ \ VA -1 '■ jjLiJI >■ «• jjj I - 1 !•»- A*»-l ^ 344 3 j-> <__i L5 o juft £ I jjJI 3 Ai A 34 a j ■* r 3 4* 1* a 3a v 4 j j_u) 1—*3»j ^j-o <—4J1 3 4a La 3 it m 3 44 Lu |A4 |AJ ^A4 ^ ». 1,4» I) Cod.Or. 12.376 Menasik-i hacc-i serif hJu >*1» £»■ dJLu Lu A mid 19th-century copy of an anonymous manual for pilgrims. The title is found in a heading preceding the text on f. lb (see plate). It consists, after a few introductory sentences on the right conditions under which the pilgrimage should be undertaken (lb), of a route description with the usual information on travelling time, architectural features of towns, including fountains, baths and bazaars, interesting places to visit such as tombs, mosques and tekkes, historical data and stories, often going back to the early days of Islam or earlier, and so forth. Separate sections are dedicated to Iznik (from 2a), Ak§ehir (5b), Konya (7a), Antakya (10a), Hims (Homs) (12b), Damascus (15a), Tabüt Kurusi (near Katrane, 23a), ceremonies related to the entrance of Medina (24a), a description of that town (29a), its cemetery (bakï‘-i serif, 35a); other ceremonies related to Medina and Mecca; the departure from Mecca (47a), ‘Arafat (51b), and the return to Istanbul (55a). The text may well be an abbreviated version of another text - the occurrence of the term ‘nesr’ here and there in the text is an indication that at least some verses of the original have been left out; another indication is the incompleteness of the route description. The work dates from the 17th century or later - Sultan Murad IV (ruled 1032/1623-1049/1640) is mentioned on f. 6b. The manual is followed by a time table in days, 265 in all, of the journey from Üsküdar to Mecca and back (55b-56b), and the distances in hours between Istanbul, Damascus, Mecca and ‘Arafat (56b). Bound in boards with flap covered in green paper with brown leather backing and edges; glossy light brown paper; (l)+60+(l) folios; 217x148 mm and 168x102 mm; 9 lines; catchwords; bold vowelled nesih; headings, rubrics and double borders in red; a headpiece with vegetal motifs and title in red is found on f. lb