The Lead Books of the Sacromonte and the Parchment of the Torre Turpiana: Granada, 1588-1606

Book excerpt: The Archive of the Sacromonte Abbey in Granada preserves a historical treasure: Arabic texts on a sheet of parchment and on numerous small tablets of lead, which were discovered in Granada at the end of the sixteenth century in the tower of the old Friday Mosque and in caves of the "Valparaíso" hillock, from then on called "Sacromonte". They became the object of heated discussions in Europe and were condemned by the Pope in 1682. The texts are among the very last literary productions of the Moriscos, the Andalusi Muslims, many of whom continued to practice Islam in secret until their expulsion from Spain between 1609 and 1614. With the permission of the archbishop of Granada, we offer, for the first time in history, a study, edition, translation, and images of all the tablets and shed new light on the fascinating religious messages of these enigmatic texts and their authors.