of the prophets” quite in the orthodox way which gives no indication of the Fatimite teaching of a subsequent prophet of greater importance in Abdullah b. Maymun. The general tone is distinctly Shiʿite, but Fatimid only in the reference to the family of the Mahdi. Was there any basis to the rumour that a general holocaust was intended? Such a thing seems almost incredible, but there are certain signs which point in its favour. Soon after the appeal made to the Khalif in Rabiʿ I. he made a huge bonfire of all the wood collected, and for this there was no obvious purpose, and it is certain that he had developed a tendency to use burning as a form of punishment. We are not prepared to say, therefore, that the rumours circulated about the store of wood on Mokattam were entirely baseless. Al-Hakim was particularly severe upon the inferior servants of the court, and especially on the runners or footmen, many of whom were put to death whilst others obtained letters of protection. This may have been an instance of religious intolerance, or simply a case of the capricious cruelty which now began to appear in Hakim’s conduct and contributed so much to the theory that he was suffering from a disordered mind. In 395 the old penal laws dating from the year 36 were re-enforced against Christians and Jews. Both were required to wear a distinctive dress, the Christians to have turbans of black or dark blue, a custom which the Christians seem to have adopted voluntarily in the first place, and which the Coptic clergy retain to the present day, the Jews to wear yellow turbans: the women of both religions were forbidden to wear the waist sash which was a characteristic part of female attire, and the men were required to adopt it. At the same time it was forbidden to sell slaves to Christians or Jews. The citizens of Fustat, sorely tried by the scarcity and dearness of food resulting from the bad Niles, groaned in secret over the caprices and severities of their ruler, but did not yet venture to express their dissatisfaction openly. It was otherwise with the free Arab tribes settled in the country, and in 395 the B. Qorra in Lower Egypt broke out in open rebellion. Al-Hakim had no great trouble in punishing these rebels but his severity in doing so, although it checked the movement, only left them ready to take up arms again on a more promising opportunity, and for this they had not long to wait.