ABSTRACT
Abu Zayd is caught trying to steal a silk textile from a monastery in the vicinity of the Egyptian town of Akhmim. In the discussion that follows it is established that there is an inscription (tiraz) identifying the patron as caliph Marwan and the place of manufacture as Ifriqiya (Tunisia). Abu Zayd claims that it was subsequently owned by another member of the Umayyad elite, ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Muʿawiya. He explains that following the Abbasid Revolution in which most of his relatives were killed, ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Muʿawiya fled west, passing through Egypt.
