Arabic Documents from Medieval Nubia - cover image

Book Series

Copyright

Geoffrey Khan

Published On

2024-05-06

ISBN

Paperback978-1-80511-230-3
Hardback978-1-80511-231-0
PDF978-1-80511-232-7

Language

  • English

Print Length

854 pages (xiv+840)

Dimensions

Paperback156 x 44 x 234 mm(6.14" x 1.73" x 9.21")
Hardback156 x 45 x 234 mm(6.14" x 1.77" x 9.21")

Weight

Paperback1178g (41.55oz)
Hardback1362g (48.04oz)

Media

Illustrations174
Tables5

OCLC Number

1433109042

LCCN

2021388869

THEMA

  • CJ
  • CFF
  • CFB
  • NHH

BIC

  • 2CSR
  • CFF
  • CF
  • 1HFG

BISAC

  • FOR011000
  • LAN009010
  • LAN009050
  • HIS001020
  • FOR002000

LCC

  • DT82.5.N83

Keywords

  • Arabic documents
  • 11th-12th centuries Nubia
  • Arabic sources
  • English translation
  • Middle Ages
  • Egypt-Nubia relations

Arabic Documents from Medieval Nubia

This volume presents an edition of a corpus of Arabic documents datable to the 11th and 12th centuries AD that were discovered by the Egypt Exploration Society at the site of the Nubian fortress Qaṣr Ibrīm (situated in the south of modern Egypt). The edition of the documents is accompanied by English translations and a detailed analysis of their contents and historical background.

The documents throw new light on relations between Egypt and Nubia in the High Middle Ages, especially in the Fatimid period. They are of particular importance since previous historical studies from the perspective of Arabic sources have been almost entirely based on historiographical sources, often written a long time after the events described and distorted by tendentious points of view.

Reviews

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.

Contents

1. Introduction

(pp. 1–14)
  • Geoffrey Khan

2. The Arabic Documents from Qaṣr Ibrīm

(pp. 15–48)
  • Geoffrey Khan

3. The Correspondence with Eparchs

(pp. 49–128)
  • Geoffrey Khan

4. Other Correspondence and Accounts

(pp. 129–144)
  • Geoffrey Khan

5. Legal Documents

(pp. 145–184)
  • Geoffrey Khan

6. Coinage

(pp. 185–192)
  • Geoffrey Khan

7. Taxes

(pp. 193–194)
  • Geoffrey Khan

8. Lists of Commodities

(pp. 195–204)
  • Geoffrey Khan

9. Titles of Officials

(pp. 205–234)
  • Geoffrey Khan

10. Slaves and Servants

(pp. 235–252)
  • Geoffrey Khan

11. The Socio-Economic Situation Reflected by the Documents

(pp. 253–262)
  • Geoffrey Khan

12. Script and Layout

(pp. 263–276)
  • Geoffrey Khan

13. Language

(pp. 277–284)
  • Geoffrey Khan

14. Maps

(pp. 285–286)
  • Geoffrey Khan

Contributors

Geoffrey Khan

(author)
Regius Professor of Hebrew at University of Cambridge
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2550-9896

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.