The book under review is a milestone in the study of medieval Arabic documents and Arabic papyrology and a most welcome addition to the current database. The Qaṣr Ibrīm medieval Arabic corpus provides rare specimen of provincial practices, which, to be compared with established Fatimid protocols, shed new light on the history of Arabic chancery writing and variations. To a certain degree, the oddities in writing reflect the language as spoken in daily situations. Equally significant is regarding methodology: By presenting textual relics from original sites and examining them in historical and linguistic context, it sets a high standard for future endeavors in the discovery and study of medieval Arabic documents.
Li Guo
Journal of Arabic Linguistics Tradition (1542-3921), vol. 22, 2024.
Geoffrey Khan (PhD, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, 1984) is Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Cambridge. His research publications focus on three main fields: Biblical Hebrew language (especially medieval traditions), Neo-Aramaic dialectology, and medieval Arabic documents. He is the general editor of The Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics (Brill, 2013) and is the senior editor of Journal of Semitic Studies. His recent publications include The Tiberian Pronunciation Tradition of Biblical Hebrew, Cambridge: University of Cambridge & Open Book Publishers, 2020, Performance of Sacred Semitic Texts (editor, with co-editor Hindy Najman), Dead Sea Discoveries 29, Brill. 2022, and Language Contact in Sanandaj (co-authored with Masoud Mohammadirad), Berlin, de Gruyter, 2024.