Letter: T-S AS 155.307

Letter T-S AS 155.307

Metadata

Shelfmark
T-S AS 155.307
Primary Language
Judaeo-Arabic

What's in the PGP

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  • 1 Translation

Description

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Abū Naṣr b. Ibrāhīm, concerning both the India trade and commerce with the western Mediterranean. The writer reports prices and discusses commodities including lac, cloves, nutmeg, and pepper. He mentions meeting someone at Raʾs Tīnī, an Aleppan, and the arrival of a Byzantine ship (markab rūmī), apparently carrying Jews from al-Mahdiyya, among them Ibn Nufayʿ and a member of the Nahray family. On the verso, the writer reports news brought by recently arrived Jews, mentioning Yaʿqūb b. Isḥāq and apparently Tlemcen and Fez, though the damaged text leaves the precise circumstances uncertain. The postscript mentions ʿAydhāb and travel to Alexandria after the holidays. The letter closes with the Qurʾānic phrase ḥasbunā Allāh wa-niʿma l-wakīl (Q 3:173). Abū Naṣr b. Ibrāhīm was a prominent India trader and an associate of Abū Zikrī and Ḥalfon b. Nethanel. AA/YU.

Related Places

Mentioned
Alexandria, al-Mahdiyya, ʿAydhāb, Fez, Raʾs Tīnī, Tilimsān

Tags

Additional metadata

Provenance
Geniza
Collection
Cambridge University Library, Taylor-Schechter
Input date
In PGP since 2019
Image
Transcription
Translation

T-S AS 155.307 1v

°
1v
Yusuf Umrethwala's digital translation (2026).

  1. In Miṣr, let me know. We shall send [it] shortly, so that we may sell that,
  2. lest it spoil. As for the prices, lac is worth
  3. 68(?); cloves, 50(?); nutmeg, a dinar; civet, 8.
  4. The ten strings/beads(?), according to their varieties [...]. As for the
  5. pepper, [...] its price, because [...] has not arrived. [...] The silver
  6. coin/silver is [worth] from 8 to 8 less a qīrāṭ.
  7. The Aleppan met me at Raʾs Tīnī on the day of [his] return(?),
  8. and handed me a letter for [...]
  9. I was informed that he had moved on(?) and had already weighed it(?).
  10. This [sum/item], therefore, you should hand over to [...] [...] and [...]
  11. [...] altogether, safely; and that he is in Abū [Ṣīr?].
  12. [At] Raʾs Tīnī, and with them was a Byzantine ship.
  13. [...] them. A Byzantine ship arrived from [...]
  14. and aboard it were Jews from al-Mahdiyya, and Ibn Nufayʿ [...]
  15. b. Nahray, and they reported that the ship [...]

T-S AS 155.307 1r

°
1r

Verso

  1. And there is written in it the wording of the biblical verse: “For Solomon shall be his name,
  2. and I will grant peace and quiet to Israel in his days” (1 Chronicles 22:9).
  3. And likewise the verse, “Instead of your fathers shall be your sons” (Psalm 45:17), etc. [...]
  4. The Jews who had arrived reported that news had reached [them]
  5. [that] Yaʿqūb b. Isḥāq was killed [between(?)] Tlemcen and Fez.
  6. [...] may the outcome of the dirham(s) [...] be [...] except/unto this [...]
  7. [...] concerning your term/lifetime(?) and may He suffice for us all.
  8. “God is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs” (Qurʾān 3:173). Written in
  9. [...] of Elul.
  10. [...] and how can I remain idle? [...] And it has been discussed/reported [...]
  11. [...] to ʿAydhāb. If you know that I
  12. [...] Alexandria after the holidays, we shall join [them]/set out [...]
  13. [...] and return at the time of loading. So let me know; perhaps it will be
  14. better. [Do] as you see fit; the choice is in God’s hands.
Image Permissions Statement
  • T-S AS 155.307: Provided by Cambridge University Library. Zooming image © Cambridge University Library, All rights reserved. This image may be used in accord with fair use and fair dealing provisions, including teaching and research. If you wish to reproduce it within publications or on the public web, please contact genizah@lib.cam.ac.uk.
Cambridge University Library, Taylor-Schechter, T-S AS 155.307. Available online through the Princeton Geniza Project at https://geniza.princeton.edu/documents/22343/ (accessed November 13, 2026).