TOPSHOTS Marie Sviergula, conservator of the University of Birmingham holds a Koran mauscript in Birmingham England on July 22, 2015. A Koran manuscript has been carbon dated to close to the time of the Prophet Mohammed, making it one of the oldest in the world, a British university said today. The two leaves of parchment, filled with "surprisingly legible" text from Islam's holy book, have been dated to around the early seventh century, the University said. AFP PHOTO / PAUL ELLIS