P. Mich. 6714 - A Bilingual Papyrus From 22-54 AH / 643-674 CE

Islamic Awareness

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First Composed: 30th September 2000

Last Modified: 18th December 2005

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Assalamu ʿalaykum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatuhu:

(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure: (a) Picture of the papyrus, (b) magnified view of Arabic matter in the papyri and (c) the content of the papyrus.

[] encloses letters supplied to fill a lacuna

Date

22-54 AH / 643-674 CE.

Size

19 cm. x 27 cm. It has Arabic and Greek text.

Rough, light brown, somewhat in parts dark coloured papyrus. The Byzantine protocol (in Greek) is written in four lines with brown ink parallel to the vertical fibres, the letter height amounts to 4.3 - 3.2 cm. In the last line of the protocol text an line in Arabic in black ink is parallel to the vertical fibres, which shows the typical writing features of the first half of the 1st century of hijra and is partly dotted. The papyrus is perforated and strongly damaged; a restoration was not made unfortunately.

Contents

The translation of the Arabic part of the document is:

  1. In the name of God, the Compassionate and Merciful. This is what [ ]md Ibn Iḍad gave out : an (idh,d/iz,r ??) of wheat...

Comments

It is a fragment of a receipt for the delivery of wheat. The text begins at the bottom of the bilingual protocol sheet. Dotting is seen for the letters ز، ق and ن.

Location

Main Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Acknowledgement

We are grateful to University of Michigan for providing us the manuscript.

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References

[1] A. Grohmann, "Zum Papyrusprotokoll In Früharabischer Zeit", Jahrbuch Der Österreichischen Byzantinischen Gesellschaft, 1960, Volume IX, pp. 2-5 and Figure 1. The Plate is also reproduced in A. Grohmann, I Arabische Chronologie. II Arabische Papyruskunde, 1966, Handbuch Der Orientalistik, E. J. Brill: Leiden/Köln, Plate III:1.

[2] A. Grohmann, "The Problem Of Dating Early Qur'ans", Der Islam, 1958, p. 221.

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