Letter: ENA NS 2.8

Description

Letter in the hand of Berakhot b. Shemuel. Possibly addressed to Avraham Maimonides. In Judaeo-Arabic. The letter is an extremely polite reminder to give the writer some money, perhaps as reimbursement or as a wage from the public funds. "When I observed some delay on the part of the master, which is not his custom. . . . I attributed it to his honor's (al-ḥaḍra) preoccupation with the illness of the master (al-mawlā) and the distraction of his mind and his distance from his country. . . ." It is not entirely clear whether the ḥaḍra and the mawlā are different people or not. "The proof, by God, will be from Sunday onward, and tomorrow is Friday, and I have not received anything except for 2 1/4 raṭls of [bread?]. What I received from the jāmikiyya only lasted through the end of the day today, Thursday, the 2nd of Dhū l-Qaʿda." Someone titled ʿAlam al-Dīn gave the writer 9 1/2 (dirhams?). The writer emphasizes the urgency of his request, "for I am among the dead/perishing." He appends an account of expenses for the week, again referring to the jāmikiyya. The expenses include many foodstuffs as well as the fee for the bathhouse and the launderer. The transcription below includes only the words, not the Coptic numerals given for each item. ASE.