Letter: MIAC 23973.90

Letter MIAC 23973.90

Metadata

Shelfmark
MIAC 23973.90
Primary Language
Arabic

What's in the PGP

  • 1 Transcription
  • 1 Translation

Description

Letter from Lāmiʿ b. Ḥasan al-Kanzī to the Nubian eparch Uruwī in Ibrīm regarding unfulfilled exchanges and obligations. Reflects the complex relationships between Muslim officials and Nubian rulers, with interactions involving slaves, textiles and other goods sent in diplomatic and economic exchanges. Lāmiʿ acknowledges having received the eparch's letter and responds to claims about slave exchanges and gifts. There appears to have been a dispute about the delivery of slaves: the eparch claims to have sent female slaves with someone named Jawhar, but, Lāmiʿ reports, one slave never arrived. He complains that he sent the eparch two turbans only "with difficulty," as well as a chair. The tone is confrontational: Lāmiʿ states that he won't send more textile gifts until what the eparch has sent "is at my disposal." Lāmiʿ seems to be emphasizing his independence from the eparch: "God has not made me dependent on you or anyone else. God has provided for me." He also mentions multiple unanswered letters about his slaves, and particularly about "two slaves who are to be sent to my creditor Abū l-Ḍubāʿ," and that he has dispatched his slave boy Mārīkhura to receive these slaves. He also mentions the arrival of the Kanz al-Dawla. He concludes by granting permission for "people to go down (the river) without fear," since "we have released the people." MR Khan, Qaṣr Ibrīm doc. 4.

Related People

Recipient
Abū l-Khayr Uruwī ibn Khiyākh
Sender
Lāmiʿ ibn Ḥasan al-Kanzī

Tags

Additional metadata

Collection
Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, Qaṣr Ibrīm
Input date
In PGP since 2024
Image
Transcription
Translation

MIAC 23973.90 recto

°
recto
Geoffrey Khan, Arabic Documents from Medieval Nubia (University of Cambridge and Open Book Publishers, 2024).

Recto

  1. بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
  2. وصل كتاب الاكشيل وصاحب الخيل اطال الله بقاه وادام
  3. عزه وكبت عدوه ووقفت عليه وعلى ما ذكره من انه
  4. سير الي وصيفة ثم سير ⟦وصيفة⟧ جارية صحبة جوهر
  5. وانني لم اسير اليه الا عمامتين بجحوف ومجلس واما
  6. الوصيفة الاولة فلم تصلني بمحمله واخذها كرمى
  7. صاحب الخيل وانا ما اكاتبك واهاديك احمال
  8. قماش حتى تعدد على ما تسيره وانا ما اطلب
  9. الا صلاح البلاد والله ما احوجني اليك ولا الى
  10. احد الله رزقني وانما انا اطلب صلاح البلاد لا

Recto, right margin

  1. غير وكتبت اليك
  2. في حال عبيدي لم تجاوبنى ثم
  3. كتبت اليك في حال الراسين الرقيق
  4. الذي سيرهم الى غريمى
  5. ابوا الضباع ولم تسيرهم
  6. الي وما اعرف قسم لنا
Geoffrey Khan, Arabic Documents from Medieval Nubia (University of Cambridge and Open Book Publishers, 2024).

Recto

  1. In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate.
  2. The letter has arrived from the Ikshīl and the Master of the Horses, may God prolong his life, cause his
  3. power to endure and crush his enemy. I have taken note of it and the fact that he stated that he
  4. has sent to me a female slave, and has sent to me a slave girl with Jawhar,
  5. and that I have only been able to send to him two turbans with difficulty and a seat. As for
  6. the first (i.e., the aforementioned) female slave, she has not reached me in his consignment so that I may take possession of her, my honour,
  7. Master of the Horses, and I shall not correspond with you nor give you consignments
  8. of cloth as gifts until what you send is at my disposal. I seek
  9. only the wellbeing of the land. God has not made me needful of you nor of
  10. anybody else. God has provided for me. I only seek the wellbeing of the land and not

Recto, right margin

  1. anything else. I wrote to you
  2. concerning the condition of my slaves but you did not reply. Then
  3. I wrote to you concerning the condition of the two slaves
  4. who are to be sent to my creditor
  5. ʾAbū al-Ḍubāʿ, but you have not sent them
  6. to me and I do not know whether your servant has given us a share,

MIAC 23973.90 verso

°
verso

Verso

  1. خادمك فقد سيرت غلامي ماريخرة فتكون تسلم اليه
  2. الراسين الذي لابوا الضباع ووصل الامير كنز الدولة
  3. بعد ظفر وقتل ونصرة الله وجواب كتابك يصل
  4. ان شا الله وان كان لك حاجة والله في جالبة غلامى
  5. ماريخرة ان شا الله عز وجل
  6. الحمد لله وحده وصلواته على سيدنا محمد نبينا وسلامه
  7. وخلي الناس ينحدروا فما عليهم خوف وقد اطلقنا الناس
  8. بعد وصل الامير ما بقي الا الخير

Verso, address, right column

  1. صاحب الخيل اروي خياخ ...

Verso, address, left column

  1. شاكره لامع بن حسن
  2. الكنزى

Verso

  1. and I have sent my slave boy Mārīḵura. Deliver to him
  2. the two slaves who are for ʾAbū al-Ḍubāʿ. The commander Treasure of the Dynasty (Kanz al-Dawla) arrived
  3. after victory, slaughter and God’s victory. Your response will arrive (soon),
  4. if God wills. If you need anything, then of course (take) from the goods conveyed by my slave boy
  5. Mārīkhura, if God, the Mighty and Glorious, wills.
  6. Praise be to God alone and His blessings on our lord Muḥammad, our prophet, and His peace.
  7. Let the people go down (the river) without fear. We have released the people.
  8. After the commander arrived, all was well.

Verso, address, right column

  1. The Master of the Horses, Uruwī Khiyākh …

Verso, address, left column

  1. The one grateful to him, Lāmiʿ ibn Ḥasan
  2. al-Kanzī
Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, Qaṣr Ibrīm, MIAC 23973.90. Available online through the Princeton Geniza Project at https://geniza.princeton.edu/documents/40153/ (accessed November 7, 2025).