On the
origins of registered Post:
"It is also possible
to impress a seal upon some soft substance, so that the letters
of the legend appear on that substance, and to place the substance
(with the seal impression) on the knots (of the strings with)
which letters are tied, and upon places for deposits (such as
storehouses, strong boxes, etc.). The first to introduce the sealing
of letters, that is, the use of signature, was Mu'âwiyah. He also
introduced the ministry of the seal. It is composed of the secretaries
who see to it that the letters of the ruler are expedited and
sealed, either by means of a signature, or by tying them. Letters
are tied either by piercing the paper and tacking (the letter)
together (with string), as is the custom of the secretaries of
the Maghrib, or by glueing the top of the sheet to the part of
the letter over which the top is folded, as is the custom of the
people in the East. Over the place where the letter is pierced
and tacked, or where it is glued, a signature is placed. It guarantees
that the letter has not been opened and that its contents have
not been read. The people of Maghrib place a piece of wax where
the letter is pierced and tacked, and seal it with a seal upon
which some signature is engraved for use in sealing, and the engraving
is impressed upon the wax. In the old dynasties of the East, the
place where the letter was glued was also sealed with an engraved
seal that was put into a red paste of clay prepared for that purpose.
The engraving of the seal was impressed upon the clay. Under the
Abbâsid dynasty, this clay was called 'sealing clay'. (The use
of) the seal was peculiar to the ministry of correspondence. In
the Abbâsid dynasty, it belonged to the wazir. Later on, custom
differed. It went to those who were in charge of (official) correspondence
and the office of the secretaries in the (various) dynasties.
In the Maghrib, people came to consider the seal ring as one of
the royal marks and emblems. They made artistic seal rings of
gold inlaid with gems of hyacinth (ruby), turquoise, and emerald.
The ruler according to their custom wore the seal ring as an insignia."
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