Studies in Arabic Literary Papyri. Volume III

Language and Literature y Nabia Abbott

by Nabia Abbott

Book cover: Studies in Arabic Literary Papyri. Volume III

Extent: 216 pages

Publisher: Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures

Subjects: Ancient Near East, Literary Studies

Series: Oriental Institute Publications

Series volume number: 77

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(December 1972)

ISBN: 9780226621784

Price: $40.00

Out of stock

The studies reveal a steadily accelerating literary activity in both the religious and secular fields throughout the Umayyad period. Poets and scholars in the various fields used concurrent oral and written transmission for the publication, transmission, and preservation of their literary products.


The present volume concludes the series of studies in Arabic literary papyri as envisaged in the Preface to Volume I. The studies reveal a steadily accelerating literary activity in both the religious and secular fields throughout the Umayyad period. Poets and scholars in the various fields used concurrent oral and written transmission for the publication, transmission, and preservation of their literary products. The isnad, particularly in its multiple forms, was used to a much greater degree in the religious than in the secular fields. For poetry the family isnad took second place to that stemming from a poet’s personal secretary, katib, or from his transmitter, rawi. A characteristically Arab approach and critical outlook mark Islamic literature of this period and of the early decades of Abbasid rule … [From the Preface, p. v].

  • By (author) Nabia Abbott