وثيقة رسميّة: ENA 3919.3

الوصف

Petition, Fatimid period. Written and signed by a stipendiary of the state in his own hand: Aḥmad b. Ḥamza b. Aḥmad al-Umrāʾī (the reading of the nisba tentative; could be al-Aʿrābī), "al-mutarjim bi-yadihi al-ruqʿa bi-smihi." The petitioner requests the release and perpetuity of his stipend to "aid him in performing service (khidma) to the state." Mentions several government bureaus: "al-dār al-saʿīda," "al-maṭbakh al-sukr," and, in the endorsements on verso, "dīwān al-juyūsh al-manṣūra." Verso contains two endorsements: a short one ordering the release of the stipend, most probably in the caliph's hand ("bi-khaṭṭ al-yadd al-sharīfa"), and a follow-up mentioning a qāḍī with the epithet Walī al-Dawla, and also mentioning the bureau of the armies, "dīwān al-juyūsh al-manṣūra." Some of the administrative procedures mentioned require further examination: "al-rātib" and "al-jārī." towards the end of verso, mentions Jazīrat Banī Naṣr, an island in the southwestern Nile delta, today in ruins, inhabited during the Fatimid period. MCD/YU Notes on the readings: Recto Line 3: cf. ALAD doc. 23, l. 9 (same idea as mā tarjamatuhū on verso). Line 9: the reading شكر is weak. Usually يضرع followed by بـ or في is followed by something like انعام, while يضرع followed by الى is followed by a person who is the object of supplication. So the reading qāḍī is better than the alternatives (e.g., الفاىض or القابض), but a better alternative must exist for الشكر. Verso Line 3: the reading راىها is tentative.