The Qurra Papyrus - Concerning The Fining Of Some Villages - Egyptian National Library Inv. No. 328, 91 AH / 710 CE
Islamic Awareness
© Islamic Awareness, All Rights Reserved.
First Composed: 10th December 2005
Last Modified: 12th December 2005
| Tweet |
|
|
|
Assalamu ʿalaykum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatuhu:
(a)
(b)
Figure: (a) Picture of the papyrus and (b) the content of the papyrus.
[
] encloses letters supplied to fill a lacuna.
Date
Rabīʿ I, 91 AH / January, 710 CE.
Size
48.2 cm x 20.3 cm. Light brown, fine papyrus. Diacritical marks are but sparsely added, words are freely divided at the end of the line. Verso is blank. The papyrus is, owing to the folding, brittle and perforated. The heading is lost. There is a small margin upon the left side and a broader upon the right side. There is a blank space, 4 cm high, below the last line.
Accession No.
Inv. No. 328.
Contents
The translation of text is:
- [In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.]
- [From Qurra b. Sharīk to Basil]
- [administrator of Ishqauh. I praise]
- God, besides whom there is no
- God. As to the matter in hand. A-
- l-Qasim b. Sayyar, the post-
- master, has mentioned to me
- that thou hast fined some villages
- in they country on account of what is
- due from them of the gold-tax. Now when
- this my letter comes into thee,
- do not bother any
- of them on any account until I have talked
- to thee about them, if God
- wills. And peace be
- with him who follows
- the guidance. And Muslim has written (it)
- in the month of Rabīʿ I
- of the year ninety-one.
Location
Egyptian National Library, Cairo.
References
[1] B. Moritz (Ed.), Arabic Palaeography: A Collection Of Arabic Texts From The First Century Of The Hidjra Till The Year 1000, 1905, Publications of the Khedivial Library, No. 16, Cairo, Plate 104.
[2] A. Grohmann, Arabic Papyri In The Egyptian Library, Volume III (Administrative Texts), 1938, Egyptian Library Press: Cairo, No. 153, pp. 27-29.
The images above are reproduced from the stated sources under the provisions of the copyright law. This allows for the reproduction of portions of copyrighted material for non-commercial, educational purposes.
With the exception for those images which have passed into the public domain, the use of these images for commercial purposes is expressly prohibited without the consent of the copyright holder.