ABSTRACT
Cl. Cahen's recently published article entitled Notes de diplomatique arabo-musulmane throws light on the inadequacy of reports with regard to the character and the treatment of documents of an official, and especially of a politico-diplomatic nature, in the earliest stages of Arab-Muslim history as well as on the relatively uncertain form of the documents from these periods, insofar as such documents are transmitted at all. The existence of a site specifically intended for the storage of documents, i.e., a kind of archives, is clearly proved through the tradition for the period of 'Utman; and there is no reason to doubt that it represented an obvious and standard institution in the administration of the Islamic Community even during the rule of 'Utman's predecessors. The fact that the term Bayt al-Qaratis is mentioned in connection with the Sahib al-Diwan makes it clear beyond doubt that what had been involved in the case of the Bayt al-Qaratis was nothing else than "State Archives".
