The Haram Collection and Its Importance for Studying the History of Jerusalem during the Mamluks Days.Haram 102: Study of the Document

In an article published in December 1978 by two young scholars, Amal A. Abul-Hajj (Palestinian) and Linda L. Northrup (American) there was announced an archeological discovery of great importance for the study of medieval Islamic history. On August 19,1974 there had been found in the Islamic Museum in Jerusalem, a group of 354 complete documents and many other small fragments. The photographs of the documents are kept at the Museum and the McGill Institute of Islamic Studies. Up until today a number of articles and books on the Haram documents have been published. The Haram collection consists of 883 separately cataloged documents, majority of which come fourteenth (Christian) century and relates to transactions or records of events from Jerusalem under the Burji Mamluks.The article exposes an overview of the collection with an emphasis on the various types of documents and the issue of the Haram documents significance for studies on Islamic diplomatic, Islamic law and the history of Jerusalem under the Mamluks. The special focus is on the detailed analysis of one document, i.e., the Haram 102 which together with presented comparison of the documents discussed by Huda Lutfi in her article A Study of the Fourteenth Century Iqrars from al-Quds Relating to Muslim Women gives a unique opportunity to acquire some knowledge about the common life of the medieval Muslim woman.