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Purely by chance, PhD candidate Hüseyin Şen (Mathematics) discovered two 13th-century manuscripts that had been missing from a library in Konya, Turkey for 15 years. In 2000, the library discovered that more than 100 documents were missing. A total of five have since been recovered. Şen is working on his doctoral thesis on the history of Arabic and Islamic science under the supervision of Prof. Jan Hogendijk.

Şen was working on a private research project unrelated to his PhD research, when he came across information about the theft from the library in Konya. In 2000, the library discovered that more than 100 historical manuscripts had been stolen from the archive. The original contents of the book covers had been stolen and replaced by copies, so the ‘worthless’ covers had been sitting on the shelves unnoticed. No one is certain how long the original manuscripts had been missing before the theft was discovered.

Catalogues of collections

Şen compared the list of stolen manuscripts with several catalogues of collections he was using for his PhD research. He found that two works in the library of the ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� of Pennsylvania bore a suspiciously strong resemblance to two manuscripts on the list. Closer examination showed that they were indeed the stolen manuscripts. The books were part of the collection owned by Lawrence J. Schoenberg, who had loaned his collection of historical works to the ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� of Pennsylvania library.

Not guilty

“The curator was very helpful,” says Şen. “The university library and the collection manager were not at fault, but the art dealer who sold the works should have known better.” Last month, the curator of the Schoenberg Collection officially handed over the manuscripts to the Ethnographic Museum in Ankara. The Governor of Konya presented Şen with a trophy and a certificate as a token of gratitude for his work.

Still missing

The manuscripts that Şen discovered were a linguistic work about Arabic grammar and a commentary on the work of Ibn Sina (Avicenna), a renowned Persian philosopher. The manuscripts will remain available online on the ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� of Pennsylvania website (see links at the bottom of this press release). Three of the works stolen from the library of Konya had already been found, including a manuscript by the famous philosopher Ibn Arabi. The remaining works are still missing without a trace.

Information about the manuscripts

Lubab al-İsharat wa’t-Tanbihat, a commentary on a philosophical work by the renowned Persian philosopher Ibn Sina (better known in Europe as Avicenna). The manuscript is dated to 606 Anno Hijra (Islamic calendar), which corresponds to the year 1209-1210 AD. A digitised version of the manuscript, with detailed information, can be found .

Miftah al-Ulum (“Key to the Sciences”), a linguistic work on Arabic grammar by the scholar Abu Yakup as-Sakkaki. The manuscript is dated to 671 Anno Hijra, which corresponds to the year 1271-1273 AD. A digitised version of the manuscript, with detailed information, can be found .