Letter: AIU VII.E.80

Description

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Moshe Bibas, in Rosetta, to Karo y Frances & Company, in Cairo. Dated 10 Heshvan 5568 AM (1807 CE). The letter carrier is specifically named in the addendum to the letter and below the address: ʿAlī al-Dīb(?) al-Wardānī. The scribe tends to overuse the letter yod throughout the orthography of the letter, sometimes where vav might be warranted, so אלדיב could be a nickname: i.e. الدب "the bear." A boat captain with the surname (or nickname?) al-Faʾr "the mouse" is mentioned in another letter from 1807 (AIU VII.E.101 - PGPID 30399) that was sent by Karo y Frances. This particular letter from Moshe Bibas deals with the trade in coffee and silk. Related payments are mentioned from ʿEzer ʿEzrī and Girgīs al-Sabbāgh, which are number by "deposit" אמאנה (possibly physical deposit boxes): אמאנה נומרו ١ (imānat numero 1) and אמ׳ נומרו ٢ (im[ānat] numero 2). The payments inside each deposit are detailed by currency and quantity, specifically Venetian bīndūqī(!) (būndūqī) and French gold coinage (פראנסה עין). MCD