Procedures of Protection. Coptic Protection Letters and Village Life
In the villages of late antique and early Islamic Egypt local authorities, such as village officials or monastic leaders, could issue documents, which promised some sort of protection to the receiver. Until now, about 140 of these documents—generally referred to as “protection letters”—and documents...
Shranjeno v:
| izdano v: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/anisl, |
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| Glavni avtor: | |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Jezik: | Anglais |
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Annales islamologiques
2021
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| Online dostop: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Izvleček: | In the villages of late antique and early Islamic Egypt local authorities, such as village officials or monastic leaders, could issue documents, which promised some sort of protection to the receiver. Until now, about 140 of these documents—generally referred to as “protection letters”—and documents related to them have been published. Fairly little attention has been paid to the procedure that led up to the production of a protection letter. The Coptic papyrological record preserves testimonies of this procedure, such as letters with requests for protection letters. Through the analysis of five such testimonies, I examine the different steps people could take to obtain a protection letter. These analyses will highlight the importance of relationships and intermediaries in the communities as well as the roles of written and oral communication as part of the procedure. |
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