??AN EARLY ISLAMIC FRAGMENTARY DOCUMENT, PROBABLY EGYPT, CIRCA 8TH-10TH CENTURY AD eight lines of arabic script in ink on one side of a square papyrus fragment 19 x 18cm approx.
Provenance: European Private Collection
Documents written on papyrus, usually relating to business transactions were widely used in classical antiquity and the tradition continued with the advent of Islam. One of the best known groups in the UK is the Michaelides Collection acquired by the University Library, Cambridge in 1977. Another important collection was sold in 2010; see Sotheby's London, 6 October 2010, lot 32. For further information on Arabic papyri, see Geoffrey Kahn, Selected Arabic Papyri, Nour Foundation, London 1992.
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