IFAO

Le verso arabe et grec de la lettre de Qurra b. Šarīk P.Sorb. inv.2344 est publié ici pour la première fois. On en tire la date du texte, 18 janvier-17 février 709.

Mots-clés : Qurra b. Šarīk – poste – flotte – ravitaillement.

The Arabic and Greek text on the verso of the letter of Qurra b. Šarīk P.Sorb. inv.2344 is here published for the first time. From it one can establish the date of the document as 18th January – 17th February 709.

Keywords : Qurra b. Šarīk – mail – fleet – food supplies.

Rares sont les lettres privées à porter une date. La plus ancienne semble la présente, adressée par un inconnu à quatre femmes vivant sous le même toit.

Mots-clés : papyrologie arabe, correspondance, datation, premiers siècles de l’islam.

Private letters are rarely dated. The oldest surviving specimen may well be the one presented in this article. It was addressed by an unknown person to four wives living under the same roof.

Keywords : Arabic papyrology – correspondence – datation – Early Islam.

L’Éthiopie a souvent été considérée comme une région essentiellement chrétienne. La présence de l’islam, pourtant attestée dès le Xᵉ s., a fait l’objet de peu d’études. Outre les témoignages qui nous ont été transmis par des auteurs ayant appartenu au domaine musulman, il existe de rares témoins épigraphiques en arabe qui, bien que documentés depuis plus d’un siècle, ont trop souvent été négligés. Cet article étudie quelques-unes de ces inscriptions qui ont été identifiées au cours des dernières années et, dans certains cas publiées, offrant alors une nouvelle lecture et interprétation. Il contribue ainsi à une meilleure connaissance de la diffusion de l’islam dans cette région.

Mots-clés : Épigraphie – Éthiopie – Tombes – XIᵉ-XVᵉ s.

Ethiopia has often been regarded as a mainly Christian area. The presence of Islam, yet recorded from the tenth century, was the subject of few studies. In addition to the testimonies that have been transmitted by writers belonging to the Muslim area, there are few epigraphic witnesses in Arabic that, though documented for over a century, have too often been neglected. This article examines some of the inscriptions that have been identified in recent years and, in some cases, published, offering, in this case, a new reading and interpretation. It thus contributes to a better understanding of the spread of Islam in this region.

Keywords : Epigraphy – Ethiopia – Tombs – 11th-15th c.

L’objectif de cet article est de présenter le fonds des archives grecques de Suez qui a été découvert en novembre 2008 dans la ville portuaire de la mer Rouge. Les archives sont constituées d’un matériau riche et diversifié (des registres des actes notariés, fiches d’enregistrement des ressortissants grecs de Suez, etc.), issu de la communauté, de l’école et du consulat grecs de Suez. Le fonds couvre, dans son ensemble, une période assez vaste : dès la fin du XIXe siècle jusqu’aux années 1960. Pendant cette période, la population grecque de Suez fut la population étrangère la plus nombreuse de la ville ainsi que la plus active sur les plans économique, social et culturel. Compte tenu de la rareté des informations sur la présence grecque dans les villes d’Égypte, à l’exception d’Alexandrie et du Caire, ce fonds s’avère extrêmement précieux pour les historiens intéressés par l’histoire contemporaine de l’Égypte et par l’histoire de la présence grecque dans ce pays.

Mots-clés : Égypte – Grecs – Suez – communauté – étrangers – archives – histoire contemporaine.

This article presents the collection of the Greek records of Suez, which was discovered in November 2008 in the port-city of the Red Sea. These records, deriving from the Greek community, school and consulate of the city, constitute a rich and diversified material (notarial acts, registration files of the Greek citizens of Suez, etc.), that covers a vast period: from the late 19th century to the 1960s. During that time the Greek population was the most numerous foreign group of Suez and the most active in terms of economic, social and cultural activities. Given the scarcity of information on the Greek presence in Egyptian cities other than Alexandria and Cairo, these records are extremely valuable for scholars interested in the contemporary history of Egypt and the history of the Greek presence in that country.

Keywords : Egypt – Greek community – Suez – foreigners – archives – contemporary history.

In this study, pigment materials in the Sabil Al-Kazlar were studied using XRD, SEM-EDAX, light optical microscope, UV analysis and FTIR in order to determine their miner-alogical and chemical composition and to evaluate how these pigments were affected by air pollution and clay minerals. The pigments revealed are golden pigment as gold (Au), black as bone black, and red pigment as cinnabar (HgS). The wooden ceiling collating the render-ing layer on which the pigments were applied is composed of anhydrite and gypsum mixed with sand. Lead sulfide was detected in the examined cinnabar red sample which indicates the effect of lead as a pollutant on the deterioration of the wall paintings. Clay minerals de-tected in the plaster layer on the ceiling in the Sabil are kaolinite and a smectite-illite mixed layer. The detection of halite in all the studied samples indicates the effect of rising ground-water on the studied ceiling. The wall paintings in Sabil Al-Kazlar were created using tem-pera technique with a rabbit skin glue medium. The artist used the multilayer style using the gesso grosso and the gesso sotile techniques.

Keywords : Sabil Al-Kazlar – pigments – air pollution – clay minerals – gold – cinnabar – bone black – Xrd – Sem-Edax – Ftir – cross section.

The Surra (bundle) for Mecca and Medina is the traditional money or funds sent by countries with the Haǧǧ caravan to be distributed among the poor of Mecca and Medina. Egyptian Sultans used to send Surra of money to Mecca and Medina with The Trustee of the Surra (who is responsible for its delivery cash remittance) who go to with Haǧǧ-journey and al-Maḥmal. This search publishes new document of Surra which khedive Ismail sent to Mecca and Medina in 1290 A.H – 1873 A.D.

Keywords : Surra – holy carpet – Maḥmal – piligrimage – money – piaster – palaces – coin – document – bundle – Mecca – Medina – poor – trustee – Egyptian sultans – khedive.

A glass goblet in the form of a rounded cup kept in the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo was discovered at Fustat city in 1962. This lustered glass cup was famous as the goblet of al-Amīr ʿAbd al-Ṣamad Ibn ʿAlī and is 9.5 cm high and 13.5 cm in diameter. The decoration is painted in luster and the rim bears a simple kufic inscription that reads : “Bismillāh [al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm mimma ama]ra ʿAbd al-Ṣamad Ibn ʿAlī aṣlaḥahu Allāh wa ʿazza naṣruhu”. “In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate. One of the things ordered by ʿAbd al-Ṣamad Ibn ʿAlī. May God make him prosper and his his victory be glorified”.

It is worth mentioning that when Scanlon first published this goblet he dated it to the year 155 A.H. / 733 A.D. He based his dating on the inscription, which bears the name ʿAbd al-Ṣamad, and whom he identified as the governor of Egypt for one month in the year 155 A.H. / 733 A.D. under the second Abbasid Caliph Abū Ǧaʿfar al-Manṣūr. Several other scholars in the field accepted Scanlon’s words without question. However, none of the historical sources mention the name al-Amīr ʿAbd al-Ṣamad Ibn ʿAlī among the Abbasid governors of Egypt at this date. Accordingly, and after further investigation in the historical sources, it became clear that ʿAbd al-Ṣamad Ibn ʿAlī was one of the Abbasid officers who held several high positions under the Abbasids. On present historical evidence, however, this study concludes that the goblet can be firmly dated within the years 136-137 A.H. / 753-755 A.D., which precedes the generally accepted date by about eighteen or nineteen years. It now seems certain that the technique of painting in luster on glass was developed in Egypt as early as the second century A.H. / eighth century A.D.

Keywords : ʿAbd al-Ṣamad Ibn ʿAlī – lustered glass – boblet glass – Abbasid – inscription – islamic art – Fustat.

Les buttes de grès du site d’al-Aqula – Wadi al-Gemal, à l’entrée est de l’oasis de Dakhla, portent de nombreuses gravures rupestres et inscriptions datant de la préhistoire à l’époque ottomane. Sur un rocher bien en vue, une scène (h. 32 cm, l. 42 cm) représente un dieu hiéracocéphale ailé, en taille héroïque, armé d’une lance, combattant un homme qui brandit un glaive et un bouclier. La scène s’inspire d’un relief de la porte du temple voisin d’Ayn Birbiya (fin Ier s. av. J.-C.) qui figure Amon-nakht, une forme d’Horus, perçant de sa lance les ennemis de l’Égypte, et rappelle le Seth harponnant Apophis du temple d’Hibis à Kharga. Le traitement du thème traditionnel du triomphe du dieu ou du roi n’est cependant pas canonique, puisque l’ennemi est représenté prêt au combat et non déjà vaincu comme il est de règle. Le relief présente plusieurs traits qui le datent de la période romaine, en particulier la figure du barbare, et s’inscrit dans la tendance de l’époque à représenter des dieux guerriers dont on espère protection. Gravée en bordure du désert, la scène jouait un rôle apotropaïque et peut-être même constituait-elle un relief cultuel populaire du dieu Amon-nakht.

Mots-clés : Dakhla – désert – Amon-nakht – Horus – Seth – dieu guerrier – barbare – triomphe – ­apotropaïque – relief cultuel – époque romaine.

The extensive al-Aqula – Wadi al-Gemal site, situated on the eastern border of Dakhla Oasis, displays a great deal of rock-drawings and inscriptions dating from Prehistory to the Ottoman Period. At the base of a sandstone hill, an engraving (Height 32 cm, Width 42 cm) shows a falcon-headed winged god holding a spear fighting a smaller man who is wielding a sword and a shield. The scene is derived from a relief from the gate of the neighbouring Birbiya Temple dating to the end of the 1 st c. B.C. This scene depicts ­Amun-nakht, a form of Horus, striking the enemies of Egypt with a spear. It also reminds us of Seth harpooning Apophis at Hibis Temple in Kharga. However, the traditional motif of the triumphant god or king is treated in an unusual way in that the enemy is depicted ready to fight instead of already defeated. Several features point to a Roman Period date, especially the attire of the barbarian. The scene fits with the trends of an epoch in which Egyptian gods were often featured as warriors from whom people expected to be rescued. Because it is engraved on the fringe of the desert, it has surely an apotropaic meaning. Furthermore, it could even be considered as a small cult relief of the god Amun-nakht.

Offerts au Louvre par l’Égypte en 1986 à la suite des fouilles de l’Ifao au Gebel el-Zeit, trente-cinq tissus votifs en lin, actuellement conservés au département des Antiquités égyptiennes, ont été datés par analyse radiocarbone. Les résultats, calibrés à l’aide du logiciel OxCal 4.1 sous IntCal09, s’étendent sur une période allant du début de la Deuxième Période intermédiaire à la fin de la XVIIIe dynastie. Dans un premier temps, nous avons organisé ces résultats suivant des groupes déterminés à partir des âges calibrés. Ensuite, la pertinence de ces groupes a été testée au moyen d’un test statistique de nature bayesienne, qui a permis de déterminer des séquences chronologiques. Ces séquences ont enfin été contraintes par des datations d’événements historiques, afin de suggérer des termini ante et post quem pour chacun de ces textiles.

Mots-clés : datations par le radiocarbone – modélisation bayesienne – textiles du Gebel el-Zeit.

Thirty-five votive textiles, given to the Louvre Museum by the Egyptian Government in 1986 after excavations by Ifao on the site of Gebel el-Zeit and now part of the collection in the département des Antiquités égyptiennes were analyzed by radiocarbon dating. The radiocarbon dates were calibrated by OxCal 4.1 Software, using the IntCal09 calibration curve. The results give us a period that extends from the beginning of the Second Intermediate Period until the end of the 18 th Dynasty, which were then divided into groups based on results. The relevance of these groups was subsequently tested using a statistical bayesian approach. The archaeological sequences thus deduced were constrained according to historical events, in order to propose termini ante and post quem for each textile.