Literary text: T-S NS 102.110

Description

Three or four drafts of poems in Judaeo-Arabic. The poem on recto is the most polished and is headed "ʿalā [...] ha-ereṣ ha-meyuḥedet," which could either be a description of the theme (something to do with the "special land" i.e. Palestine) or a reference to the melody. It is a lament about the afflictions visited on a group of people ("calamities have come upon us... and they have not found any reason for our perplexity... the sun disappeared and the moon was eclipsed..."). It also refers to another group of people who "find no country but that they take it into captivity (or: conquer it)." It is tempting to read this as related to the Crusades. Verso contains two or three distinct poem drafts. The one at upper right is barely preserved. The one at upper left depicts the poet addressing a group of companions. He is complaining about and/or lampooning a figure, possibly Fate (dahr/zamān) who "partakes in every abomination... he is always roaming the bathhouses(?)... he is known as Father of Blood (Abū l-Dam; alternatively, Father of Blame / Abū l-Dhamm)... his face is like the face of a yellow dog... corpulent and swollen of spleen... wicked and crazy without doubt... stupider than he is rightly guided... And my friends answered me and said, 'does he not ride the cow (yarkab baqara) of Bardawīl?' (or 'is he not constituted with the coldness (yurakkab bi-qirra) of Bardawīl?') (אמא ירכב בקרה ברדוילי)." This reference is very opaque but might refer to Baldwin a.k.a. Bardawīl. The meter may assist figuring out the proper vocalization. All the verses of the upper section are repeated in the lower section (ll. 1–10 of the lower section correspond to ll. 1–14 of the upper section), and the lower section then continues with other verses (ll. 11–20) which are nearly identical to the poem on recto (ll. 14–23). There are several words crossed out and replaced with different ones. There are also one or two marginal glosses. In the bottom margins there are jotted accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. The Arabic script on verso mentions a druggist (al-ʿaṭṭār), someone titled Tāj al-Mulk, and possibly [...] al-ʿAdanī. ASE