Document Confirming the Emancipation of a Slave (‘Itq)

Location: Khurasan

Materials: ink on light-coloured parchment; bulla of red clay

Dimensions: 28.1 x 18.1cm

Accession Number: DOC 11 [AR 14]

Other Notes:

Arabic document.

The document (‘itq) confirms that al-Harith ibn Malik has emancipated a slave belonging to him called Nufah and her three children, al-‘Abbas, Hatim and a girl Sindiyya. Eleven witnesses are named.

The document was sealed with a bulla bearing a number of seal impressions. One has the name ‘Harith ibn Malik’, another the name ‘Muhammad’ with a six pointed star, and a third ‘May God be praised’, repeated. Besides the textual impressions, the bulla also contains a seal impression representing a quadruped, blank impressions and thumbnail marks.

Bibliography:

G. Khan, Arabic Documents from Early Islamic Khurasan, Studies in the Khalili Collection, volume V, London 2007, no.30, pp.155–7.