The Nessana Papyri and the Administration of Early Islamic Palestine

This study examines the administration of Early Islamic Palestine, drawing primarily on the papyri from Nessana in the Negev Desert. It sheds new light on the administrative division of Palestine into geographical units known as kūra/chōra and iqlīm/klima in Arabic and Greek, respectively, as well as on the role of the symboulos, the Islamic provincial governor. The paper offers a revised interpretation of the administrative structure of Nessana and Palestine during the Early Islamic period, particularly under the Umayyads, and proposes a new understanding of several Early Islamic papyri from Nessana that contain administrative information.