Letter: AIU VII.E.94

Description

Letter from Meʾir ben Naʿim, in Fustat/Cairo, to his mother, in Damietta. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 12 Adar I 5562 AM, which is 1802 CE. He is distressed about contradictory messages in her previous correspondence: a letter of 28 Shevaṭ in the handwriting of Sh. Levi reached Yaʿaqov Abzaradel with the news that she was planning her return to Fustat/Cairo, "and we did not understand why." And then the messenger delivered a letter from her, in which she asked for the shroud, "and we did not know what to do." She should send word with Yehuda Mamon and/or Ḥayyim Barukh and his son Shelomo Barukh; and if she can find a good shroud in Damietta, she should buy it there and they will send her the cost. There is a column of itemized expenses on verso, adding up to 81, including items such as firewood, lemon, oven, yogurt, ful, and eggs.