A.H. 86–96.
are apt to paint Umeiyad rule in dark colours, The insurrection of the Copts in the year 725–726 (107 A.H.) was due to a defect in the system rather than to harshness in its administration. For as the Copts went over one by one to Islām, and so became legally exempt from taxation, the number of tax-payers was always dwindling whilst the amount to be raised was steadily increasing. The tolerance of the Arabs appears from the fact that the governor's rescripts are still written in Greek (as well as Arabic) and replies made in Coptic. Many of the Pagarchs were Christians and all the subordinate officials. The government clerks were not required to use Muslim formulæ in their letters, and the sign of the Cross was allowed. Indeed, how little the Arabs cared for the letter of their religion appears from the fact that the seal of ʿAmr bore the impress of a steer.[1] There was no religious persecution; the raids of external foes from without ceased; and the cornering of wheat was made impossible.[2]
- ↑ This is a rather awkward fact for the critics of the Old Testament. The Arab governors, no doubt, made use of the seals of their Greek predecessors. A common representation is that of (apparently) a wolf, facing towards the right, with a star in front or above. See H. I. Bell, Greek Papyri in the British Museum, vol. iv., p. 432; Karabacek, Papyrus Erzherzog Rainer: Führer durch die Ausstellung, p. 148.
- ↑ See Greek Papyri in the British Museum, by H. I. Bell, vol. iv., pp. xxxii ff.
