<span>Caption: "The <i>Koran</i>, the book of laws and religion of over 200 million Moslems, was dictacted by the prophet Mohammed after extensive travels to Syria and Palestine with a wealthy uncle. It was on these expeditions that Mohammed gained his concepts of monotheism and star worship. The 114 chapter of the <i>Koran</i>, arranged according to their length, have strange titles such as The Ant, The Spider, The Greeks and The Sun. The followers of Mohammed believed that the text contained revelations from the angel Gabriel, given to Mohammed in dreams after the year 600. The <i>Koran</i> gave all believers equality and eliminated the priestly class. It is held in great respect by Moslems, who, according to George Sale, the first translator of the Koran into English, do not dare to touch it without first being washed, nor to hold it below their </span><span>girdles, nor knowingly suffer it to be in the possession of any person of a different persuasion. They swear by it and carry it into battle. This book was likely written in Cairo. With religious fervor rivaling that on the medieval monks, and with an alphabet surpassing the European one in artistic possibilities, the Moslem calligraphers of the <i>Koran</i> gained just honor and lasting renown. The art of writing is regarded by the Moslems as the finest of the arts, but few wrote before the time of Mohammed; in his own tribe, the Koreishites, only seventeen knew how to write. The prophet is not numbered among these. This leaf was written by the Egyptian calligrapher Mohammed ibn Kuzel Al Isawai with a reed, on egg-glazed paper that antedates any European-made paper by half a century." (Ege, Otto F.)Original Leaves from Famous BooksOtto F. Ege Collection</span>