Anecdota Oxoniensia. Semitic series.

THE, CITY OF FUSTI4T MIS!?.7

77

and Judha'm, the two sons of 'Ad'i ibn Murrah; Ra'shidah ibn Jazillah
ibn Lakhm; the Banili'1-Magha~fir ibn Ya'far; the Bandl Wa'il; (names
were given to the Khalij and Al-JKantarah and the Quarter'); Habib
ibn Mughaffal, who dwelt in the Wadi Habib2; the IKarafah; the Fol. 22 b
BanO H.ajas ibn YsUf ibn Wail Al-Malik Abcu'1-Khair ibn Sharatlhil
'When 'Amnr returned from Alexandria and settled at the place where his tent
(fustat) had been pitched, the tribes assembled together and divided the place
between them. Then 'Amr appointed as stewards of the quarters, Mu':Awiyah ibn
Khadij of the tribe of Tajilb, and Shanlk ihn SImioh tribe of Ghatif, and 'Amrn
ihn KRabizar of the tribe of Kh a~n, and Haiwil ibn Na~shirah of the tribe of
Magh~fir; and it was these men who appointed settlements for the Arabs and
divided the place among the tribes; and this was in the year 2 I.' (Khi'tat, i.
p. r 4V.)
The names of the Arab tribes here furnished by our author as those which
laid out the different quarters of Al-Fusta~t, and gave their names to them, are
also found in Al-Makrilzi (ibid.) and Ibn Duk~ma~k, iv. p. if., with the addition
of others.
1This passage seems to be corrupt.
2Habib was one of the companions of Mahomet, shared in his flight, and took
part in the conquest of Mecca. Under the caliph 'UthMan, he retired into the
Nitrian valley, which was therefore named after him. Wadi Hablib is the most
usual of the names given by the Arabs to the Nitrian valley (see fol. 20 a), which
they also called Wa~dl Natrfin, Wa~di 'l-Mulfik, Desert of Asklit (72Kl'aOL., Scaetis),
Desert of Shiha~t and M'iza~n al-Ku ib (Balance of Hearts), Of the last two names
the former is simply the Coptic Shih'it (~gTfrom which 2KidaOtv and Asklit
are derived, and the latter is an Arabic translation of the two elements of which
the Coptic name appeared to be composed, namely ~yI, ' measure,' 'weigh,' and
fT,'heart.' See Al-Makrilzi,. Khi~tat, i. p. I A I; As-Suyi, I. p.in
3This is said to be the name of the tribe which settled on the plot of ground
to the north-west of Al-Fusta't which afterwards became the great cemetery of
Al-Kara~fah; but another account of the origyin of the name 'IKaraffah' is given on
fol. 42 a. See Yaikuit, Geogr. Wdr/. iv. P. t A.