This document features a chancery script written in rotulus format. Lines curve upward and baselines are nested and stacked, with each succeeding word beginning above the previous. Words are stacked at line-ends. Interlinear spacing is noticeable. Abusive ligatures are frequent. Though there is little to no variation in ductus width and letterforms do not adhere to a consistent angle of incline, the remaining features — upward-curving lines, nested and stacked baselines, stacked words at line-ends, abusive ligatures, and noticeable interlinear spacing — conform to the graphic conventions of the Abbasid/Buyid chancery of Baghdad.

Further Reading

• Shawe-Taylor, Edward. 2026. “Abbasid Continuities and Seljuk Innovations: Persian State Documents in the Bamiyan and Firuzkuh Papers.” In State Documents from the Medieval Islamicate World, edited by Nadia Vidro, Arezou Azad, and Marina Rustow. Edinburgh University Press, forthcoming.

Glossary

Abusive ligature — the joining of canonically non-connecting letters (e.g. alif) to a succeeding letter; a feature of both cursive and chancery scripts

Ductus — the movement of the pen caused by the gestures of the scribe when writing; particularly relevant when describing variation in stroke width between thick and thin strokes

Interlinear spacing — the space between lines of text

Nested baselines — baselines of individual words which are slanted, with succeeding words beginning above the end of the preceding word

Rotulus — a document in the form of a long vertical scroll

Stacked words — words written above one another toward the end of a line, a deliberate layout convention of the chancery style