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Bazilī (Qaṣr Ibrīm)

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Gender
Male
Social role
  • Other

Description / Bio

The reading of this name is unclear, but it is likely Bazilī, which is a variant of the Nubian name Basileios. Bazilī bore a slave woman and her son from the eparch to an unnamed merchant and, upon the death of both the woman and her son, he bore a letter back to the eparch from the merchant. The merchant asks the eparch to do with Bazilī what is appropriate for conducting his affairs. It is unclear what exactly that entails, but perhaps Bazilī will stay in Ibrīm while the eparch fulfills the merchant's request — namely, to make him whole after the death of the enslaved woman and her son, and the absconding of the eparch's other messenger.

Select bibliography

  1. Geoffrey Khan, Arabic Documents from Medieval Nubia (University of Cambridge and Open Book Publishers, 2024).
Pratima Gopalakrishnan, "Bazilī (Qaṣr Ibrīm)," available online through the Princeton Geniza Project at https://geniza.princeton.edu/people/bazili/, accessed June 30, 2026.
https://geniza.princeton.edu/people/bazili/