A Documentary Source for the Study of Material Life*:
A Specimen of the Haram Estate Inventories from al-Quds
m 1393 A.D.
By Huda Lutfi, Cairo
In the field of contemporary Middle Eastern historiography, the study
of material culture and its continuity has been largely neglected by
scholars in the field. ' This may be due to several reasons: the absence of
a general perspective on the subject matter, the difficulty in culling the
right kind of data from the wide spectrum of literary sources, the una¬
vailability of extant archival sources prior to the Ottoman period, and
the inadequate use of archaeological research by students of the sub¬
ject. Recently, however, Ottoman historians have begun to recognize
the documentary significance of court registers in general and estate
inventories^ in particular in the study of Ottoman social and economic
* The phrase here refers to the lower levels of material life that concerns itself with daily routines of people's life, for example, housing, diet, clothing, inherit¬
ance, family relations, religious sentiments, etc.
' Most of the studies undertaken in the field of material Islamic culture are specialized works of art historians who are interested in the aesthetic patterns and manufacturing techniques of objects of art. Those works, which attempt to study the material aspects of social life within an urban context, tend to deal with the lifestyles ofthe upper income groups and the ruling elites, for example, M. M. Ahsan: Social Life under the Abbasids. London 1979; L. A. Ma yee: A Sur¬
vey of Mandük Costume. Geneve 1952 (hereafter Mayer: Costume); A. 'Abd Ar-
Räziq: La femme au temps des Mamlouks en Egypte. al-Qähira 1973. There are
some exceptions to this, see, for example, J. Sadan: Le mobilier au Proche Orient medieval. Leiden 1976.
^ The shari'a law of successsion gives the state the right to inherit all heirless property and the residue of that property whose heirs were not wholly entitled to it. Since the state had a direct interest in the settlement of private inherit¬
ance, a special bureau was eventually established to administer such property (diwän al-mawärith cd-hashriyya) . State and court officials surveyed the drafting of estate inventories of dying/dead persons in order to settle inheritance claims.
For more details on the state and inheritance, see S. D. Goitein: A Mediterra¬
nean Society: The FamUy. III. Berkeley 1978, pp. 254-255 & 277-278 (hereafter Goitein: T^e family), also H. Rabie: The Financial System of Egypt A. H. 564-
741/a.d. 1169-1341. London 1972, pp. 127-128, and M. M. AmIn: Al-Awqäf
wa'l-hayä al-ijtimä'iyya fi mi^r. al-Qähira 1980, p. 94. On the Ottoman period.
214 Huda Lutfi
history.-' The advantage in studying estate inventories lies in the faet
that they provide an overall form that can facilitate the development of
a system retrieving the information they contain. Equally important,
these estate inventories better illustrate the normal everyday practices
of life as opposed to evidence from documents which deal with legal
disputes reflecting rather anomolous situations. Moreover, they detail
the lives of middle and lower-income-groups whose history has been
usually forgotten by chroniclers and yet must remain of special impor¬
tance to the student of history. Since estate inventories are basically
detailed lists of material possessions drafted for the purposes of inherit¬
ance claims, they should be considered as the most adequate documen¬
tary source for the study of everyday life — be it that of amirs or water-
carriers. But to trace the continuity and/or transformation of the qual¬
ity of material life pertaining to different socio-economic groups within
a specific geographical and cultural environment requires the examina¬
tion of these inventories over a long period of time — a monumental task
that requires the cooperation and collective efforts of students in the
field.
Unfortunately, hardly any estate inventories are known to have sur¬
vived from the pre-Mamlük period. Only recently an extensive collec¬
tion of Mamlük legal documents was discovered in al-Haram al-Sharif in
al-Quds,'' a large part of which constitutes over 400 estate inventories of
see G. H. el-Nahal: The Judicial Administration of Ottoman Egypt in the Seven¬
teenth Century. Minneapohs 1979, pp. 47-49 (hereafter el-Nahal: The Judical Administration) .
' For a critical assessment of different forms of estate inventories as an historical source, see A. Raymond: Artisans et commergants du Caire au XVIII'
siecle. 2 vols. Dimashq 1974, XXl-XXIV (herafter Raymond: Artisans); also T.
Walz: Trade between Egypt and Biläd As-Sudän, 1700-1820. al-Qähira 1978,
pp. 78-79. Examples of studies that made use of similar documentary forms are, Raymond: Artisans; Wai^z : Trade: A. Räfiq: Ghazza, diräsa 'umräniyya wa ijti- mä'iyya min khiläl al-wathä'iq al-shar'iyya, 1273-1277/1857-1861. A paper pre¬
sented during the Third International Conference on the History of Biläd al-
Shäm (Palestine), 'Ammän 1980 (hereafter Räfiq: Ghazza); S. Faboohi: The
Peasants of Saideli in the Late Sixteenth Century (forthcoming in: Archivum Otto¬
manicum); Ö. L. Barkan: Edime AskeriKassami'na Ait Tereke Defterleri 1545-
1659. In: Belgeler3, 5/6 (1966), 1-479; K. Liebe-Habkort: Beiträge zur sozia¬
len und wirtschaftlichen Lage Bursa's am Anfang des 16. Jahrhunderts. Ergebnisse aus der Untersuchung einiger Erbschaftshefte mit einem Uberblick über die zeitgenös¬
sischen Vorschriften und Vorgänge auf dem Markt der Stadt. Diss. Hamburg 1970.
For more details on the Haram collection, see L. S. Northrup and A. A.
Abul-Haj: A Collection of Medieval Arabic Doeuments in the Islamic Museum at
the Haram al-Sharif. In: Arabica 25 (1978) (hereafter Northrup: Collection), see also D. P. Little: The Significance of the Haram Doeuments for the Study of
A Documentary Source for the Study of Material Life 215 inhabitants who lived in the city during the latter part ofthe fourteenth
century. And despite the fact that the Haram collection does not repres¬
ent the comprehensiveness, continuity and cohesion of the Ottoman
archival records, their existence allows for valuable comparisons in the
study of the material aspects of societies within dar al-Isläm under dif¬
ferent historical periods. Over an extended period of time, these
estate inventories could be studied to document the patterns of daily life
which continued to exist in our societies before their partial integration
into the world market system during the nineteenth century.^
The purpose of this paper is to edit and translate one specimen ofthe
Haram estate inventories (1393 a.d.) in order to demonstrate the long
standing history of this documentary form which continued to be used
under Ottoman administration.* The fact that the document under stu¬
dy pertains to a woman serves to throw some light on the quality of life
of middle-income-group women, so far hidden from history. Since most
women in urban patriarchal societies enter into relationships of depend¬
ency within the family set-up, their socio-economic status is prima¬
rily determined by their kinship or marital ties. For the sake of conveni¬
ence then, one could say that our document concems a woman who (by
extension) belonged to the socio-economic group of petty-commodity
producers (the husband is a baker). However, since Muslim women in
urban cultures were entitled to their bride-price and to all items of their
trouseau, could inherit property, and perhaps engage in some kind of
domestic production or trade, their material possessions should be con¬
sidered separately from those of their men-folk. But as the great part of
women's property is derived from the male members ofthe family, the
material possessions listed in the document under study could be
regarded as representative of the wealth of that socio-economic group
to which the woman belonged.
Medieval Islamic History. In: Der Islam 57 (1980), 189-219 (hereafter Little:
Haram Documents), and H. Lutfi: A Study of Six Fourteenth Century Iqrärs from
al-Quds Relating to Muslim Women. In: JESHO 26 (1983).
' The writer of this paper has completed her doctoral dissertation on the
Haram estate inventories.
The Haram estate inventories come in various legal formats, for example, ishhäds, iqrärs, but mainly under the headings: ha^al al-umqüf 'alä .... waqafa 'alä or dttbifat hawä'ij fulän. For more details on the Haram estate inventories see Little : Haram Documents. It is not clear whether the same court adminis¬
tering the estates of merchants, artisans, minor religious scholars and common¬
ers also administered those concerning the military and religious bureaucracy in al-Quds. The extant Haram estate inventories do not seem to include those ofthe ruling local bureaucracy and it is possible that the latter were dealt with by an¬
other court.
Haram 607 (Muharram 796A.H./November 1393 a.d): Text
J-*- O'fJ-'-r-" *^ trHj O*^**^'^ «JJ juj>J\
«1^1 l^...^»i, I i,Lj«.*^j ^;„j..»^j ex«. 4i— , j)>-f-i ^>. «U' j-t-^ ^^f-lt .lJ\l ^jlif
jj^öa^ j LfjÄt C*^ Crr v^l*'»^^»^
ouyülij. jiiJWfJUJ' tr***-^' <>-r^' i^^' ^t-ül ^ßJ\ juo 1^-— .j^^^^
4.Ll^ljlj *^^\ aji^i
J Ol. l-t-^l^ _J./-l»«LSj ^^Lfi\^^-jisLg j (. »t. Lij j;,t^_/»-«5 L|«; ju i-^U^ «iLs 15 jJ' o'
i-t ^ji-*-^
4 ^ l.»«J ^ ^ ^"^^ ^^^M^^j ■ ^ J>^.M 1^ ^^-^ ^ ^-^^ l^^^ (.7^^ ^"^^
t"^ 4 **■
iij b ^/>e< ' '_js^ t5"«-'»j ..Ä^ ' ^ *j '^.J ■-^'^ ' ^J" O li^ C^^^'"*'^^ ' • J^^^r" c:« L— Lt»
0<^J<
i I. JIjiUI wUjkw. Jj ^ jijJsL«. I ( I o:* ^ aJI cJL.. ^-ä «S,L. jc
U^l j
*
1« '-f-->-jj |_jP,-ÄJI l-f-ljlj «JLLa. «-öf L-ft>^J ArfLS^b ^Ij. ^;-ÄÄ- *. J
«i. l^wÜjJ «Mtl Jjjj jjl
J,jjLä>j .1. «
— mäji i^l i^j; _» i^^-cjij jäJL ^^i^yj^^^i^ jöljl ^^^^^ujy.
«3 a-oj ^Ktj^ ^ «' y t^r*^ ' «^L^^J I U I {-V^ ^ a L ^X». «^ 1^
ajv-j «ÜUI *JI jLiJI ^UJI b a-— . äL j^^aJI lt->-jj a^ »^a
(...) *JXt. «iJI^I dJ J
Lines 15, 16 & 20: words marked with an asterisk are written in the
siyakah script.
Lines 22: The word liyuhlaf written on the margin, is a judicial inscrip¬
tion, ordering that an oath should be sworn.
ellJu Lf-Jfro^j.^ L|.^o.j.^ «'^I«J jäJI o^lt-Ü» liU Ju^^v::- .
?,^uji^a^.^ -^^b^euo, •jiilj^l'i,;!;;
Ji.^ *^ jl^-il ^ JLUJI äK.iUJo i^a^
LS^Cn-^Cr. ^\'^.^\^^ ^
]Kt!U Ju vU» a.f^ .1 ^-^j .«i I -i . 1-^ N 1^ - H ^
*i— i/ *<
*< l>< JsfJ^ «^Jfc *j .A'fc.
(****) «-f a ^ *t>j
Lines 24 & 28: The phrases marked with an asterisk are written by the
judge to prove that the witnesses' testimony took place before him.
222 Huda Lutfi
Haram 607 (Muharram 796A.H./November 1393 A.D.):
Translation
1 — Praise be to God, the best of all judges, may He bless the
niasf(T of all messengers, Muhammad.
2 — On the twenty-third of the month of God, Muharram, of the
year 796, the mature woman Nafisa bint 'Ali ibn Jämi' — while
she was in sound mind and in pos.scssion of her incniiil
3 — faculties, but sick in body, after the generous permission from
the High Jurist al-Sharafi al-Shäfi'i, the magistrate of al-Quds
al-Sharif, may God support his judgements and prolong his
days — attested
4 — that what she possesses are the clothes on her body: a linen
chemise, a white tunic bordered with <orA(?); an embroidered
white tunic; on her head a kerchief and a small cloth; a quilt
5 — with a Yamani facing; a mattress with a red and black facing;
one large and one small rümi carpet; a set of five copper
bowls; a set of
6 — four brass bowls; two copper plates for pitchers (?); a brass
lampstand; a third copper plate for pitchers; two brass burunj
(?);
7 — two small empty buqja(^) chests; two large chests inlaid with
brass; a quilt with qtidsi facing; a mattress with qvds facing;
a quilt with
8 — red facing; a mattress with a blue felt cover; a brass bowl with
a stand; a brass tray; a brass mortar and pestle; a small brass
plate; a small brass case;
9 — approximately two rafls of linen yam; two painted wooden
shelves with glassware, some of which is ba'albalcki make; two
tumed wooden chairs; a new cotton covering;
10 — four stuffed pillowslips; a wooden chair; a brass tray; a small
chest; a bundle (...) containing
11 — a tunic bordered with white; a sleeveless farli; a cloth; two
small kerchiefs; two turbans; a worn-out pair of drawers; an
old bundle (...) containing a pair of pillows made of shorn
wool;
12 — a mantle; an over-coat of farh material; a veil; a small pillow,
another small one; a cotton carpet; a cover and an embroi¬
dered veil; a lined bundle containing rags;
13 — a white cotton embroidered over-coat; a silk cloth; a worn-out
veil, and another one; a new qudsi kerchief; a white
A Documentary Source for the Study of Material Life 22'A
bordered tunic; a veil and another one like it; a new white
ba'albakki tunic;
14 — a white and blue coloured qudsi towel; a large shämi towel;
a woolen white and red prayer rug. She mentioned that 'Ali
15 — ibn Yüsuf al-Shalwäni owes her the sum of 350 silver dirhams,
in current use, and Sidqi from al-Qu^ür owes her the sum of
twenty-eight and Ämir
16 — from Urtäs owes her the sum of forty-four dirhams. On a finger
of her right hand she was wearing a gold ring with a stone;
and a cornelian necklace. She owns two units built of stone
17 — which are part of al-Malati's building in al-Quds al-Sharif; (she
also owns) the grape vines in the land of Dayr Abi Thawr; and
half the trees (?) to remain the property of her husband Ahmad
ibn 'All ibn Faraj al-khabbdz (the baker) in al-Quds
18 — al-Sharif, she still owes her above-mentioned husband the
sum of 60 dirhams of their value. She also owns grape vines
in the land of Dayr Abü Thawr, and a black female slave
19 — named Mubäraka, an adolescent of Muslim religion. She has
deposited with her sister a legal document for 500 dirhams
owed to her by Muhammad al-fawwäl (seller of beans) ; also
20 — Ibn Khidr owes her the sum of twenty-three silver dirhams in
current use. She acknowledged that her legal heirs are her
above-mentioned husband Ahmad and their two sons
21 — present in al-Quds al-Sharif, Muhammad and Khalil, the
bakers in al-Quds al-Sharif. From the sum of one third of
her property, which she could legally dispose of, she be¬
queathed
Let it be sworn*
22 — the sum of 100 dirhams to her grand-daughter Fätima — who
is nine years of age; for Qur'än recitation and charity (she
bequeathed) the sum of 100
23 — dirhams, to be disbursed by her above-mentioned husband
with the permission of oiu" master, the above-mentioned judge,
after consulting him, may God protect him.
17*
224 Huda Lutfi 24-
He testified to this in
my presence*
I was witness to her
in regard to this;
written by Khahl b. Müsä
I was witness to her
in regard to this on its date;
written by Jibril
b. Muhammad b. 'Ali
He testified to this in
my presence*
I was witness to her
in regard to this;
written by Ahmad b.
al-Nassäj (?)
25 — Then, on the third (corrected to fourth): of the document's
date, mentioned above, the above mentioned Nafisa legally
acknowledged, while she was in the condition described above,
that she has no claim on or title to the obligation of
26 — her above-mentioned husband Ahmad (regarding) any sum or
the remainder of a sum of her deferred bride-price, which
amounts to 1000 silver dirhams in current use.
27 — She acknowledged that she has no claim on him (regarding)
clothing or maintenance (expenses) in the past and up to the
document's date. This has taken place in the presence of
her above-mentioned son Muhammad.
28 — I was witness to her Ahmad, the person to
He testified in my
presence
in regard to this;
Khalil b. Müsä
whom fieknowledgement is
made above, swore by
God Almighty, the legal
oath comprising all
legal implications, that the acknowledgement is valid and not null or void.
This was witnessed on
the 4th of Safar 796. The
oath merits a legal bind¬
ing .. .
A Documentary Source for the Study of Material Life 225 I was witness
to her in regard to this on its date;
I was witness to her
in regard to this;
written by Ahmad b.
al-Nassaj (?) written by Jibril
b. Muhammad b.
'All
He testified in my
presence
He was present and was
witness to this (...)
Khalil b. Musa was present
and was witness to this
Notes to Param 607
* Lines with asterisks are written from down upwards in the Arabic original.
Line 2: More often than not Haram estate inventories mention the residence location in al-Quds and the nisba name ofthe person concemed; unfortunately l)(i(h iiic not mentioned in our document.
Line 5: Quilts with yamani facing seem to have been quite popular in al-Quds us llicy are mentioned in most Haram inventory documents.
Line 7: Quilts with q-iwisj facing seem to have been fairly popular as well, signi¬
fying that there may have been a small scale textile industry in the city. For some information on textiles made in al-Quds, see R. Dozy; Dictionnaire detaile des noms des vetements chez les Arabes. Bayrut edition, n. d., p. 356 (here¬
after Dozy: Vetements).
Line 9: A rafl is equivalent to 144 dirhams, see A. M. al-Kirmili al-Baghdä- Dl: al-Nuqüd cU-'arabiyya wa 'üm al-numiyät. al-Qähira 1939, p. 78 (hereafter al-Kirmili: cd-Nuqüd). Linen and silk yarn are common items in the invento¬
ry lists of Haram documents conceming women. Female domestic production of yarn was a common feature of female labour in medieval and pre-modern societies.
Line 11: I was not able to find reference to the term tarh as a type of dress.
Line 12: Tarh material is said to be a fine Alexandrian material, see Mayer:
Costume, 50.
Line 15: Al-Qu^ür is a village in close proximity to al-Quds. The village still existed in the late 16th century but HttTTEROTH is uncertain of its exact geo¬
graphical location, which he approximates at about 20 kilometers from al-
Quds, see W. D. Ht)TTEROTH and K. Abdulfattah: Historical Geography of
Palestine, Transjordon and Southem Syria in the Late 16th Century, Erlangen 1977, p. 121 (hereafter HttTTEROTH: Historical Geography). The sum of twen¬
ty-eight dirhams is written in Siyakah script: my deciphering of the script may be liable to error, see S. Elkher: Divan Rakamlan. Ankara 1953 (hereaf¬
ter Elkher: Divan).
226 Huda Lutfi, A Documentary Source for the Study of Material Life Line 16: Urtas is a village approximately 9 kilometers from al-Quds, see HtJT-
teroth: Historical Geography, 116. The sum of forty-four dirhams is written in Siyakah script. It is difficult to render the term bayt in English since urban residential patterns vary according to geographical conditions and culture.
For some detail on what bayt consisted of, see Räfiq: Ghazza, 32, see also T.
Canaan: Thr Palestine Arab Hcmse. In: Joumal of the Palestine Oriental
Society 13 (1933), 1-83.
Line 17: For more details on what a dar may consist of, see Räfiq: Ghazza, 30.
Ghiras refers to the trees usually planted by that person who rents the piece of
land. These are owned independently ofthe land and the land owner may be
forced to buy the trees after the lease has expired. For more details, see
Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Minhaji al-Asyüti: Jawahir al-'uqüd
wa-mu'in al-qudat wa'1-shuhüd. 2 vols. Ed. M. al-Sabbän. al-Qähira 1955, p.
273 (hereafter al-Suyüti: Jawahir). The term ghiras if not qualified by the spe¬
cific name of a fruit, for example karm, would normally be referring to fig, grapes, olive trees in general, see Räfiq: Ghazza, 74. Dayr Abü Thawr is a vil¬
lage about 7 kilometres from al-Quds, HtJTTEROTH: Historical Geography,
119.
Line 18: It is clear from the document that Nafisa was engaged in marketing vegetable and fruit crops in the city. Considering the difficulties of transporta¬
tion at the time, it was more convenient for her to establish her commercial transactions in villages closely surrounding al-Quds. This is a good example showing how urban centres relied on surrounding villages for their food sup¬
plies. It should be noted that more Horam documents show other women
engaged in this kind of trade.
Line 20: The sum of twenty-three dirhams is written in sivakah script. Only three out ofthe six figures in this document are in siyakah, the rest are written in the Arabic script. Deciphering these through the use of manuals like the of
Elkher's is not always helpful. One would have to examine other Haram
documents to arrive at some measure of accuracy.
Line 24: For more details on the witnessing procedure in the shari'a, see the shurüt literature on al-shahäda, for example, al-Suyüti: Jawahir, II, pp. 434- 453. "
\
Die turkmenischen QMlbaS
Gründer und Opfer der safawidischen Theokratie
Von Hans Robert Roemer, Freiburg
Das militärische Potential, das eine der wichtigsten, wenn nicht die
ausschlaggebende Voraussetzung fiir die Errichtung der safawidischen
Herrschaft bildete, bestand aus einer Truppe, deren Angehörige Qizil-
baä genannt wurden. Sie setzte sich zmn allergrößten Teil aus turkmeni¬
schen Stammeskriegem zusammen, über deren Herkunft man früher
nicht allzuviel wußte, so daß noch vor vierzig Jahren Richard
Hartmann' die Aufklärung ihres Ursprungs als eine Aufgabe der
Orientalistik bezeichnen konnte. Das in der Tat bedeutsame Problem
hat inzwischen Bearbeiter gefunden, die es zu einem guten Teil gelöst
haben, wenn auch noch manche Fragen offen bleiben. Den Forschungs¬
stand hat der türkische Historiker Faruk StiMEB mit seinem Buch
über die Rolle der anatolischen Türken bei der Gründung und Konsoli-
dienmg des Safawiden-Reichs^ aufgearbeitet.
Das war 1976, in einem für die Turkmenen-Forschung ziemlich ergie¬
bigen Jahr, in dem auch John Woods seine Aq Qoyunlu-Dissertation'
vorlegte, während ich selbst damals gerade einen Überblick über das
„turkmenische Intermezzo" zu der Festschrift fiir Waltheb Hinz* bei-
' Deutsche Literaturzeitung 61 (1940), col. 561.
^ Saf evt Devletinin Kurulu^ ve Geli§mesinde Anadolu Türklerinin Rolü (Sah Is¬
mail ile halefleri ve Anadolu Tärkleri). Ankara 1976. — Welche Lücken auf dem Gebiet der wirtschaftsgeschichtlichen Forschung hinsichtlich der QizilbaS-Turk- menen Irans noch zu schließen sind, ersieht man aus der verdienstvollen Unter¬
suchung von Mehrdad Torabi-Nejad: Die Problematik der autoehthonen Gene¬
sis der modemen Wirtschaftsweise in Iran. Vergleich zwischen der sozioökonomi¬
schen Stmktur des safawidischen Persiens und des vormodemen Westeuropa. Diss, phil. Hamburg 1979.
' The Aq Qoyunlu: Clan, Confederation and Empire. Minneapolis 1976.
* Das turkmenische Intermezzo — Persische Geschichte zwischen Mongolen und Safawiden. In: Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran NF 9 (1976), p. 263-97.
Gestreift habe ich das Thema auch in meinem Aufsatz Historische Gmndlagen der persischen Neuzeit. Ebda NF 10 (1977), p. 305-21.
