A copy of a decree from the archives of the Fāṭimid Chancery in Egypt

Bibliographic Data

ID2822651
AuthorsGeoffrey Khan (0000-0002-2550-9896, corresponding author)
Year1986
Volume49
Issue3
Pages439-453
Publication date1986-10-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0041-977X • E-ISSN: 1474-0699
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0041977x00045067
OpenAlexW2160105694
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited6

The medieval registers of the papal Chancery and of the royal Chanceries of Western Europe, which have preserved archival copies of outgoing documents, are an invaluable source for students of medieval European history and diplomatics. Analogous sources from medieval Islamic Chanceries are practically non-existent. We know from literary works, especially the handbooks for government secretaries, that the medieval Islamic Chanceries kept records of the documents they issued by meticulously copying them and filing them in an archive. Some of the surviving documents which emanated from the Egyptian chanceries also attest to this practice. These often contain annotations made by copyists certifying that the document had been copied in the Chancery and/or in other government offices. We also have a report by a clerk of the Ayyūbid Chancery concerning the search in the archives for the copy of a decree which had been issued several years previously. To this report is attached a reproduction of the archival copy. The original contents of the archives of the medieval Egyptian Chanceries, however, have perished almost without a trace

Archaeology · Copying · Decree · Government (linguistics) · Islam · Medieval history · National archives · Political science · TRACE (psycholinguistics) · Classics · Historical and Linguistic Studies · History · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Medieval History and Crusades · Philosophy

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