Feast your eyes on these priceless manuscripts

In this new exhibition the British Library shows the oldest and the most precious surviving texts of the three Abrahamic religions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity side by side for the first time.

Key texts include a Dead Sea scroll fragment from AD50, the fourth-century Codex Sinaiticus - the earliest complete New Testament and a Koran made in Arabia within a century of the Prophet Muhammad's lifetime.

But while you'll feast your eyes on the most elaborate calligraphy and the most impressive manuscript illustrations (such as the 15th-century hajj certificate), you will also get a chance to find out how much the three religions have in common.

The British Library can certainly draw on rich resources to make this both a lavish and a seriously scholarly exhibition. But as well as such priceless manuscripts, there's a variety of objects that might have a more popular appeal.

These include a 19th-century curtain that once hung over the door of the Ka'bah, the shrine at the heart of the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, and, adding a touch of Hello! glamour, the gold salwar kameez worn by Jemima Khan at her wedding in 1995.

Until Sep 23, British Library, 96 Euston Road NW1, Mon to Fri 9.30am to 6pm (Tue to 8pm), Sat 9.30am to 5pm, Sun 11am to 5pm, free. Tel: 01937 546 546. Tube: Euston

Sacred
British Library
96 Euston Road NW1