Kufic Stone Inscription Culture, Script, and Graphics: The Aesthetic Art and Global Heritage of Early Kufic Calligraphy

This reference book studies the script, art, and culture of the early Arabic Kufic calligraphy. It presents around hundred historical stone inscriptions, coins, and manuscripts from early-Islamic Persia. In their book, the primary author, S.M.V. Mousavi Jazayeri, a well-known Iranian calligrapher and early Kufic expert, and his fellow co-authors read and analyze with meticulous detail the calligraphy, script, and art work of thirty-seven Kufic gravestone inscriptions, mainly from the Yazd providence of Iran. The carefully-selected inscriptional sample in this book illustrates the remarkable power and versatility of this early script, and the extent of the global role played by it in shaping societies and cultures of a vast area extending from China to Spain.

S.M.V. Mousavi Jazayeri, a known Iranian calligrapher, researcher, graphic designer, and expert of early Arabic Kufic script, was born in 1969 and holds a Bachelor of Art in Graphics. He has published extensively, including several known books, and held numerous workshops on reviving the early Kufic calligraphy style. For his accomplishments over the past two decades, he was awarded the “Excellence in Art Certificate” by the ministry of culture of Iran, an equivalent of an honorary PhD degree. His experience includes writing and interpreting calligraphic works, particularly of the ancient and traditional styles of calligraphy, as well as modern Typography. Throughout his career, his research has made him able to analyze and provide applicable review critiques on the different styles of calligraphy, with a contemporary prospective.