Arabic documents
Inventory of Arabic documents from Central Asia & Iran
The following tables give an overview of the Arabic documents that fall within our project’s remit: excavated texts from Central Asia and Iran, ca. 650-1250 CE. Aside from the works explicitly mentioned in the “secondary sources” column, this table draws on metadata gathered from the following sources: a bibliographic table with catalogue entries from Ofir Haim developed for the National Library of Israel; and the metadata gathered by the Arabic Papyrology Database.
Full citation information for each of the works cited can be found here. We have grouped the information according to the depository or library in which the manuscripts are currently located.
| Catalogue no. | Type | Content summary | Origin | Original date | Date C.E. | Writing surface | 2ndary literature |
| Gronke Yārkand 1 | legal | Court order over land dispute | Yārkand | Dhu l-Ḥijjat 474 (or 494) | 717-719 | paper | Gronke 1986 |
| Gronke Yārkand 2 | Legal | Court order concerning an intestacy | Yārkand | al-ʿashr al-awākhir min shaʿbān 503 | 1110 CE | paper | Gronke 1986 |
| Gronke Yārkand 3 | Legal | Contract for land sale | Yārkand | khams layālin baqīna min ṣafar 515 | 1121 | paper | Gronke 1986 |
| Gronke Yārkand 4 | Legal | Appointment to guardianship | Yārkand | al-ʿashr ăl-ʾawsaṭ min dhī l-qaʿda 518 | 1124 | paper | Gronke 1986 |
| Gronke Yārkand 5 | Legal | Contract of sale | Yārkand | 25. Ḏū ăl-Qaʿda 529 AH; Turkish Animal Cycle: Horse year | 1135 | paper | Gronke 1986 |
| Catalogue no. | Type | Content summary | Origin | Original date | Date C.E. | Writing surface | 2ndary literature |
| Ms. Heb. 8333.66=4 | State | Acknowledgement (iqrār) deed concerning a debt of 400 mann to the credit of Nā'ib al-diwān Shams al-Dawla wal-Dīn. | Ramaḍān, 569 | 1174 | paper | ||
| Ms. Heb. 8333.180=4 | Legal | A fragment of the 27th sūra of the Qur'ān (al-Naml), verses 54-55. | __ | paper | |||
| Ms. Heb. 8333.181=4 | Legal | A fragment of the 16th sūra of the Qur'ān (al-Naḥl), verses 28-33; | __ | paper | |||
| Ms. Heb. 8333.182=4 | Literary | A fragment of the 16th sūra of the Qur'ān (al-Naḥl), verses 30-33. | __ | paper | |||
| Ms. Heb. 8333.184=4 | Literary | Pp. 1a-4b: Poem (81 verses) in praise of God, the opening verse is: الحمدُ لله خَلّاقِ السمواتِ والأرضِ رَزّاق اصنافِ البرياتِ; the bottom of the p. 4b contains the beginning of another poem, the opening verse is (the reading is not certain): يا من على العرش استوى وليس عما دونه يغرب -- Pp. 5a-6b: Fragments of four poems. | ? | paper | |||
| Ms. Heb. 8333.190=4 | Literary | Fragment of a historical(?) treatise See more. | (10-11TH C CE?) | paper | |||
| Ms. Heb. 8333.191=4 | Literary | Fragment of a historical(?) treatise; See more | (10-11TH C CE?) | paper | |||
| Ms. Heb. 8333.185=4 | Literary | A tradition starting with the sentence امتي خمس طبقات. | (7th-9th C CE?) | paper | |||
| Ms. Heb. 8333.192=4 | Literary | Commentary on several verses of a qaṣīda. | (8th C CE?) | paper | |||
| Ms. Heb. 8333.179=4 | Literary | Side a: The first 7 verses of a qaṣīda by the poet Abū al-Shīṣ (Abū Ja'far Muḥammad b. 'Abd Allāh b. Razīn al-Khuzā'ī, d. 196/812). The opening verse: أَبقى الزمانُ بِهِ ندوبَ عِضاض , وَرمى سوادَ قُرونهِ ببياضِ -- Side b: Title of volume: الجزو الاول من کتاب الشعر لابی اسحق ابراهیم بن اسحق الـ[ـبـ]ـغودی(؟, المعوذی؟ القعودی؟) اعانه الله علی تعلیم الشعر والادب. | (9th C CE?) | paper | |||
| Ms. Heb. 8333.23=4 | Literary | The accounts of Abū Isḥāq the Jew. | 411 AH | 1021-2 CE | paper | ||
| Ms. Heb. 8333.161=4 | Literary | Fragment of a legal document. | 1096-1106 CE | paper |
| Catalogue no. | Type | Content summary | Origin | Original date | Date C.E. | Writing surface | 2ndary literature |
| Khan 1 (Inv. no. 9) | State | Tax quittance for Mīr ibn Bēk | Rabīʾ II 147 AH | 764 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 92-3 | |
| Khan 2 (Inv. no. 3) | State | Tax quittance for Mīr ibn Bēk | Dhu l-Qaʿda 147 AH | 764-5 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 94-5 | |
| Khan 3 (Inv. no. 18) | State | Tax quittance for Mīr ibn Bēk | Shaʿbān 148 AH | 765 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 96-7 | |
| Khan 4 (Inv. no. 30) | State | Tax quittance for Mīr ibn Bēk | Dhu l-Ḥijja 148 AH | 766 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 98-9 | |
| Khan 5 (Inv. no. 13) | State | Tax quittance for Mīr ibn Bēk | Rajab 149 AH | 766 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 100-1 | |
| Khan 6 (Inv. no. 8) | State | Tax quittance for Mīr ibn Bēk | ca. 150 AH | ca. 767 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 102-3 | |
| Khan 7 (Inv. no. 23) | State | Tax quittance for Mīr ibn Bēk | Ṣafar 150 AH | 767 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 104-5 | |
| Khan 8 (Inv. no. 16 | State | Tax quittance for Mīr ibn Bēk | Jumādā I 150 AH | 767 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 106-7 | |
| Khan 9 (Inv. no. 10) | State | Tax quittance for Mīr ibn Bēk | Rabīʾ II 152 AH | 769 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 108-9 | |
| Khan 10 (Inv. no. 28) | State | Tax quittance for Mīr ibn Bēk | Dhu l-Qaʿda 152 AH | 769 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 110-1 | |
| Khan 11 (Inv. no. 6) | State | Tax quittance for Mīr ibn Bēk | Ramaḍān 154 AH | 771 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 112-3 | |
| Khan 12 (Inv. no. 32) | State | Tax quittance for Bāb ibn Bēk | Rajab 151 AH | 768 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 114-5 | |
| Khan 13 (Inv. no. 15) | State | Tax quittance for Bāb ibn Bēk | Ṣafar 152 AH | 769 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 116-7 | |
| Khan 14 (Inv. no. 27) | State | Tax quittance for Bāb ibn Bēk | Dhu l-Qaʿda 152 AH | 769 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 118-9 | |
| Khan 15 (Inv. no. 4) | State | Tax quittance for Bāb ibn Bēk | Ṣafar 154 AH | 771 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 120-21 | |
| Khan 16 (Inv. no. 26) | State | Tax quittance for Bāb ibn Bēk | Dhu l-Ḥijja 155 AH | 772 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 122-3 |
| Catalogue no. | Type | Content summary | Origin | Original date | Date C.E. | Writing surface | 2ndary literature |
| Khan 17 (Inv. no. 17) | State | Tax quittance for Qārwāl ibn Mīr | Ṣafar 155 AH | 772 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 124-5 | |
| Khan 18 (Inv. no. 31) | State | Tax quittance for Qārwāl ibn Mīr | Dhu l-Ḥijja 155 AH | 772 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 126-7 | |
| Khan 19 (Inv. no. 19) | State | Tax quittance for Qārwāl ibn Mīr | Jumādā I 157 AH | 774 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 128-9 | |
| Khan 20 (Inv. no. 25) | State | Tax quittance for Qārwāl ibn Mīr | Shaʿbān 157 AH | 774 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 130-1 | |
| Khan 21 (Inv. no. 22) | State | Tax quittance for Qārwāl ibn Mīr | Jumādā I 158 AH | 775 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 132-3 | |
| Khan 22 (Inv. no. 1) | State | Tax quittance for Qārwāl ibn Mīr | 158 AH | 774-5 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 134-5 | |
| Khan 23 (Inv. no. 2) | State | Tax quittance for Meham al-Bāmiyānī | Jumādā I 153 AH | 770 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 136-7 | |
| Khan 24 (Inv. no. 24) | State | Land survey document | Rajab 154 AH | 771 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 138-40 | |
| Khan 25 (Inv. no. 11) | Legal | Renunciation of a claim against Mīr ibn Bēk | Muḥarram 145 AH | 762 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 141-3 | |
| Khan 26 (Inv. no. 7) | Legal | Quittance relating to dowry of Ḥamra, daughter of Mīr ibn Bēk | Dhu l-Ḥijja 147 AH | 765 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 144-6 | |
| Khan 27 (Inv. no. 20) | Legal | Quittance & renunciation relating to dowry of Ḥamra, daughter of Mīr ibn Bēk | Rajab 149 AH | 766 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 147-9 | |
| Khan 28 (Inv. no. 29) | Legal | Testimony relating to dowry of Ḥamra, daughter of Mīr ibn Bēk | ca. 150 AH | ca. 767-8 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 150-1 | |
| Khan 29 (Inv. no. 5) | Legal | Emancipation of a slave | Ṣafar 138 AH | 755 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 152-4 | |
| Khan 30 (Inv. no. 14) | Legal | Emancipation of a slave | Shaʿbān 160 AH | 777 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 155-7 | |
| Khan 31 (Inv. no. 12) | Legal | Emancipation of a slave | Shaʿbān 146 AH | 763 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 158-61 | |
| Khan 32 (Inv. no. 21) | Legal | Manumission of a slave | Jumādā I 148 AH | 765 CE | parchment | Khan 2007, 162-5 |
