Lot Essay
All but one or two of the documents relate to Jerusalem; the exceptions having to do with Gaza. They give an understanding of many aspects of the social and economic life of Jerusalem in the Ottoman period and the place of the holy city in the Ottoman administrative system.
The collection contains documents of many different types, written in both Ottoman Turkish and Arabic, and provides an excellent illustration of the variety of Ottoman diplomatics. For example the group contains no less than ten fermans (decrees) issued by the central government in Istanbul to the holders of official posts in Jerusalem. These bear tughras of nine 17th, 18th and 19th century Ottoman rulers beginning with Sultan Murad IV (1623-40). The others are Sultans Ibrahim (1640-48), Mehmed IV (1648-87), Süleyman II (1687-91), Ahmed III (1703-30), Osman III (1754-5), Mustafa III (1757-74) and Abdülaziz (1861-76).
In addition there are many examples of official correspondence at other levels, especially from the governor-general of Damascus, who often signs himself 'Amir al-Hajj', to his subordinate, the mutasallim of Jerusalem. Other addressees of the Amir al-Hajj include the agent of the Catholic monastery (Dayr al-Afrani) in Jerusalem. Letters of this kind bear the elaborate penches or official signatures of various dignitaries which are accompanied by seal impressions. These latter are notable for their clarity and for the magnificence of the seals employed. This a feature of the collection as a whole, as is the presence of fine examples of the scripts used in official documents in this period including siqayat, divani, naskh, ta'liq and riq'ah.
Another constituent of the collection is a large group of Arabic documents issued by the court of the kadi ij Jerusalem. There are also documents written by individuals asking favours of their superiors. One such is a petition from al-Sayyid Mahmud ibn Salim al-Ghazzi addressed to Sultan Abdülhamid I and dated 14 Jumada 1196 (27 April 1782 AD), in which he asks to be given the vacant post of trustee of a waqf in Gaza. The upper part of the document was left blank by the petitioner, as was customary, and as it passed through the Ottoman administrative system this blank was filled in by various officials in Istanbul with instructions and calculations. It must then have been returned to Mahmud in ferman form, several examples of which are included in the collection.
We are grateful to Tim Stanley for his help in the preparation of this catalogue entry
The collection contains documents of many different types, written in both Ottoman Turkish and Arabic, and provides an excellent illustration of the variety of Ottoman diplomatics. For example the group contains no less than ten fermans (decrees) issued by the central government in Istanbul to the holders of official posts in Jerusalem. These bear tughras of nine 17th, 18th and 19th century Ottoman rulers beginning with Sultan Murad IV (1623-40). The others are Sultans Ibrahim (1640-48), Mehmed IV (1648-87), Süleyman II (1687-91), Ahmed III (1703-30), Osman III (1754-5), Mustafa III (1757-74) and Abdülaziz (1861-76).
In addition there are many examples of official correspondence at other levels, especially from the governor-general of Damascus, who often signs himself 'Amir al-Hajj', to his subordinate, the mutasallim of Jerusalem. Other addressees of the Amir al-Hajj include the agent of the Catholic monastery (Dayr al-Afrani) in Jerusalem. Letters of this kind bear the elaborate penches or official signatures of various dignitaries which are accompanied by seal impressions. These latter are notable for their clarity and for the magnificence of the seals employed. This a feature of the collection as a whole, as is the presence of fine examples of the scripts used in official documents in this period including siqayat, divani, naskh, ta'liq and riq'ah.
Another constituent of the collection is a large group of Arabic documents issued by the court of the kadi ij Jerusalem. There are also documents written by individuals asking favours of their superiors. One such is a petition from al-Sayyid Mahmud ibn Salim al-Ghazzi addressed to Sultan Abdülhamid I and dated 14 Jumada 1196 (27 April 1782 AD), in which he asks to be given the vacant post of trustee of a waqf in Gaza. The upper part of the document was left blank by the petitioner, as was customary, and as it passed through the Ottoman administrative system this blank was filled in by various officials in Istanbul with instructions and calculations. It must then have been returned to Mahmud in ferman form, several examples of which are included in the collection.
We are grateful to Tim Stanley for his help in the preparation of this catalogue entry