Making the Private Public: A Delivery of Palestinian oil in third/ninth-century Egypt

Authors

• Petra Marieke Sijpesteijn Leiden University

Keywords:

Egypt, Palestine, Oil, Documents, Papyri, Order of Delivery, Alms, Islamic Law

Abstract

A short document written on papyrus records an order for the delivery of Palestinian oil in third/ninth-century CE Egypt. It reveals interesting information concerning transregional trade relations, commercial infrastructures and the logistics of product distribution, as well as document-validation practices and the legal status and authority of documents, especially those of a semi-public nature. The text will be compared to similar orders of payment and delivery, and read for evidence of local patterns of patronage and systems of care in mediaeval Egypt.