PERF 558
Encyclopedia
PERF 558 is the oldest surviving Arabic
papyrus
, and the oldest dated Arabic text from the Islam
ic era, dating from 22 AH (AD
642
) and found in Heracleopolis
in Egypt
. It is a bilingual Arabic-Greek
fragment, consisting of a tax receipt, or as it puts it "Document concerning the delivery of sheep to the Magarites and other people who arrived, as a down-payment of the taxes of the first indiction." Features of interest include:
After excavation, the papyrus was put in the Erzherzog Rainer Papyrus Collection in Vienna
.
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
papyrus
Papyrus
Papyrus is a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt....
, and the oldest dated Arabic text from the Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic era, dating from 22 AH (AD
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
642
642
Year 642 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 642 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* August 5 – In the Battle of...
) and found in Heracleopolis
Heracleopolis
Heracleopolis may refer to:* Herakleopolis Magna, Egypt* Sulusaray, Turkey...
in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. It is a bilingual Arabic-Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
fragment, consisting of a tax receipt, or as it puts it "Document concerning the delivery of sheep to the Magarites and other people who arrived, as a down-payment of the taxes of the first indiction." Features of interest include:
- The first well-attested use of the disambiguating dots that would become an essential feature of the Arabic alphabetArabic alphabetThe Arabic alphabet or Arabic abjad is the Arabic script as it is codified for writing the Arabic language. It is written from right to left, in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters. Because letters usually stand for consonants, it is classified as an abjad.-Consonants:The Arabic alphabet has...
; - It begins with the Islamic formula "Bismillah ir-rahman ir-rahimBasmalaBasmala or Bismillah is an Arabic noun used as a collective name for the whole of the recurring Islamic phrase b-ismi-llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīmi, It is sometimes translated as "In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful"...
" (In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate) - It records the date both in the Islamic calendarIslamic calendarThe Hijri calendar , also known as the Muslim calendar or Islamic calendar , is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries , and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic...
(Jumada IJumada al-awwalJumada al-awwal is the fifth month in the Islamic calendar.We can also find the alternative spelling Jumada al-Ula.The origin of the word is as follows: the word Jumda, from which the name of the month is derived, is used to denote dry parched land: land devoid of rain, and hence denote the dry...
, year 22) and in the Coptic calendarCoptic calendarThe Coptic calendar, also called the Alexandrian calendar, is used by the Coptic Orthodox Church and still used in Egypt. This calendar is based on the ancient Egyptian calendar...
(30 Pharmouthi, 1st indictionIndictionAn indiction is any of the years in a 15-year cycle used to date medieval documents throughout Europe, both East and West. Each year of a cycle was numbered: first indiction, second indiction, etc...
), allowing confirmation of the traditional date of the HijraHijra (Islam)The Hijra is the migration or journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE. Alternate spellings of this Arabic word are Hijrah, Hijrat or Hegira, the latter following the spelling rules of Latin.- Hijra of Muhammad :In September 622, warned of a plot to...
. - In Greek, it calls the ArabArabArab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
s "Magaritae", a term, believed to be related to the Arabic "muhajirMuhajirMuhajir or Mohajir is an Arabic word meaning immigrant. The Islamic calendar Hejira starts when Muhammad and his companions left Mecca for Medina in what is known as Hijra. They were called Muhajirun...
", emigrant, often used in the earliest non-Islamic sources. It also calls them "SaracenSaracenSaracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...
s".
After excavation, the papyrus was put in the Erzherzog Rainer Papyrus Collection in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
.
Arabic text
Dots and hamzas added; otherwise, spelling uncorrected.- بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم هذا ما اخذ عبد اله
- ابن جبر واصحبه من الجزر من اهنس
- من خليفة تدراق ابن ابو قير الاصغر ومن خليفة اصطفر ابن ابو قير الاكبر خمسين شاة
- من الجزر وخمس عشرة شاة اخرى اجزرها اصحاب سفنه وكتئبه وثقلاءه في
- شهر جمدى الاولى من سنة اثنين وعشرين وكتبه ابن حديدو
- In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful. This is what `Abdallah,
- Son of Jabir, and his companions-in-arms, have taken as of slaughter sheep at HeracleopolisHeracleopolisHeracleopolis may refer to:* Herakleopolis Magna, Egypt* Sulusaray, Turkey...
(Ihnas) - from a representative of Theodorakios (Tidraq), second son of Apa Kyros (Abu Qir), and from a substitute of Christophoros (Istufur), eldest son of Apa Kyros (Abu Qir), fifty sheep
- as of slaughter and fifteen other sheep. He gave them for slaughter for the crew of his vessels, as well as his cavalry and his breastplated infantry in
- the month of Jumada IJumada al-awwalJumada al-awwal is the fifth month in the Islamic calendar.We can also find the alternative spelling Jumada al-Ula.The origin of the word is as follows: the word Jumda, from which the name of the month is derived, is used to denote dry parched land: land devoid of rain, and hence denote the dry...
in the year twenty-two. Written by Ibn Hadidu.