14.1 Ahdname. Copy in Arabic of the treaty listing the privileges which by tradition the Prophet Mohammed granted to the monks of the Sinai Monastery in the year 623 (Year of the Hegira 2)
Copy undated
Simonopetra Monastery
Paper
Copies of the ahdname exist in most Athonite monasteries, usually ratified by a Muslim judge, either in Arabic or translated into Turkish. The documents are usually decorated with flowers, and many bear the image of a hand drawn in black or green, symbolising the ratification of the original document by Mohammed, by placing his palm on it, for by tradition he was unlettered. The names of the first caliphs and of several of the Prophet's disciples are appended as witnesses to the 'contract'. Such documents were carried by monks travelling in various parts of the Empire for the purpose of collecting funds for their foundations.