In legal terminology kharáj means land tax, and jizya poll tax. It has been proved conclusively, and here it is only needful to mention the fact, that this usage is not primitive, and that both words, kharájin the east and jizya in Egypt, meant tribute. The commonly accepted tradition is that 'Umar I imposed two taxes, land and poll, which were uniform throughout the empire.

In an article written in 1926 on “Byzantine Musical Instruments in the Ninth Century” I mentioned that one of the earliest extant accounts in Arabic of the musical instruments of the Arabs and their neighbours is contained in an oration delivered by Ibn Khurdādhbih before Al-Mu'tamid (870–93). The narration appears in the Murūj al-dhahab of Al-Mas'ūdī (d. c. 956). Both of these writers were competent, to some extent, to deal with the question in its general aspect, and for that reason the recital has an added interest. Ibn Khurdādhbih had been taught music by the famous Isḥāq al-Mauṣilī (767–850), who was his father's personal friend. By his books, and by other means, some historical details of music and musicians were preserved, and they have been cited by later writers. Some of this information has, however, been challenged more than once by the author of the Kitāb al-aghānī, who censures Ibn Khurdādhbih for his mere conjectures, and for making statements without sufficient authority. Yet it may be presumed that the details given by Al-Mas'ūdī on the authority of Ibn Khurdādhbih may be trusted. The former, who had the highest opinion of the latter, would scarcely have quoted him at such length without reservations had he not approved. Al-Mas'ūdī was a great traveller and observer, and he had himself dealt with the music and musical instruments of the Arabs, Greeks, Byzantines, Syrians, Nabatseans, Indians, Persians, and others in his various works. If Ibn Khurdādhbih had erred, “the Imām of the historians,” as Ibn Khaldūn has called Al-Mas'ūdī, would assuredly have corrected him.

Dr. Johns left among his papers a closely written and almost complete manuscript to which he had given no distinctive title. In looking over this manuscript I saw at once that he had copied and joined up K. 2800, Sm. 318, and K. 2655. At any rate, it is obvious that he would have made these joins, if he had been able to return to the British Museum, and would have seen that K. 2655 actually completes the copy of the last edict of Adad-nirari III on the obverse. A discovery of this kind is too important to remain in obscurity, and the discovery surely ought to go to the illustrious scholar who made it. There was only a transcription of the text in the manuscript, and after copying and joining up the three fragments I have given the author's edition with some notes to bring it up-to-date, as the author would undoubtedly have done better than myself. Moreover, Dr. Johns has also given an edition of his own text, K. 3042, in his Assyrian Deeds and Documents, 1077, referring to ancient endowments by Shalmaneser, Tiglathpileser, Adad-nirari III, and Sargon, and confirmed by Sennacherib. This text has also remained unedited for many years. The manuscript, therefore, contained not only a new document of extraordinary importance, but the first edition of an equally important document, and the two texts throw much light upon the history of Assyria from Šamš-Adad III to Sennacherib.

By the “Nob region” I would for the present purpose indicate generally the stretch of country south of the desert of Chinese Turkestan and lying between “the Śa-cu region” on the east and “the Khotan region” on the west, together with any part of the mountain hinterland to the south. It would thus include, for example, Cer-cen(Calmadana), Charkalik (Nob), and the former Shan-shan kingdom. The documents come mainly from the old fort of Mīrān, which was also, as we have seen, in communication with Śa-cu; there is, indeed, ample evidence of active intercourse between the Tibetan authorities from Khotan as far as Śa-cu and Kva-cu and even further into China proper. In general it is clear that by the routes along the desert edge and otherwise, long journeys, covering many hundreds of miles, were habitual among the populations of the scattered oases and widely separated mountain settlements; in respect of distances they thought in large measures. It is in virtue of apparent importance and frequent mention in the documents that Nob, with its three or four towns, or forts, may be used to symbolize the whole region. The citations may be arranged under the names of the districts or places, which hereafter may acquire a more definite location. The dates are, no doubt, for the most part in the eighth century a.d.

The tomb-scenes of Egypt of all periods are particularly rich in pictures of various phases of agricultural life: so complete is our material that it is possible to reconstruct every episode of the farmer's year. The newly sown seed was turned into the ground by various methods, sometimes by means of the hoe and human labour, sometimes by means of the plough drawn by oxen, and sometimes, again, it was trodden in by animals. From Herodotus' statement, it might appear that the only method of treading-in corn was by means of swine, but actually this method is very rarely met with. So far as I know, there is no instance of this procedure earlier than the eighteenth dynasty. In two Theban tombs (Nos. 24 and 146), each of which belonged to a different person bearing the name Nebamun, amongst the agricultural scenes, pigs are seen following the sower to tread in the grain. Both these tombs date from the reign of Tuthmosis III.