Arabic Papyri: No.1 (Studies in the Khalili Collection of Islamic Art) - Hardcover

"In making available what certainly seems to me to be a judicious selection of papyri from Khalili corpus, Geoffrey Khan has rendered scholars of various disciplines within the broad field of Arabic studies a service deserving of a warm welcome....His work renders a valuable service to the study of the subject to which it is devoted and will enrich its readers with a fuller insight into the many aspects of that subject."--Journal of Semitic Studies

This is a study of a group of early Arabic papyri, dating mostly from the eighth to tenth centuries AD. Most are from Egypt but the collection also includes the only known papyrus to survive from Iraq. The texts range from tax and legal matters to business accounts and personal correspondence. Each document is transcribed and translated and there are notes on historical, linguistic and palaeographic issues.