Ibn al-’Aṭṭār (d. 399/1009) was one of the most important jurists in Cordoba at the end of the caliphate. He is mainly known for having authored the most ancient notarized document to be preserved from Al-Andalus, the Form for Notarized Documents and Court Records (known in Arabic as the Kitāb al-waṯā’iq wa-l-sijillāt). Furthermore, he was a member of the qadi’s council, a position to which he was appointed by the supreme judge. Likewise, he was known as an expert in inheritance law and legal consultations, with his biographers mentioning his extensive knowledge of calculus, linguistics and grammar. This training led him to develop his specialty in the science of drafting contracts, knowing the precise formulas, clauses and technical terms of law to perfection. In this sense, he shared specialized knowledge with Cordoba’s notaries of that era, similar to the Moorish notaries of other places and times.

However, as occurs in life stories of many other scholars, Ibn al-’Aṭṭār was known for his difficult, lewd, mocking character, as well as his way of arguing both with his contemporaries and the politically powerful in Cordoba, which caused him numerous problems.

Amalia Zomeño is a senior scientist at the Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Mediterranean and Near East (CCHS-CSIC, Madrid). She has a PhD in Arabic Philology from the University of Barcelona and was a visiting fellow at Princeton University (1998-2000). The main topic of her research is Islamic Law, and she authored a book titled Dote y matrimonio en al-Andalus y el norte de África (Dowry and Marriage in Al-Andalus and North Africa, Madrid, 2000).

She is currently working on the Arab notarial documents that have been preserved from the period of Al-Andalus and is preparing an edition of an unpublished body of work, as well as a monograph on families in the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. She has also studied the Al-Andalus notaries, as well as the notarial documents.