Abstract
Arab petitions have been studied as a distinct genre, combining diplomatic elements (formulas, layout, medium, writing) and a moral framework ("circle of justice"). Yet letters of request on papyrus show that polite petitions, even outside the courts, shared formats, formulas and moral standards with official petitions. While institutions imposed strict formats for petitions, letters of request offered scribes more flexibility to adapt the form to the context. With no rigid procedures, these letters left more room for formulation, although normative expectations also guided their content. Like official petitions, these letters are part of a "social practice governed by norms". It remains to be seen how to identify them as a corpus, distinguish them from ordinary letters, and study them alongside petitions addressed to the authorities.
