State document: T-S NS 184.24

Description

Formal-looking letter apparently from an astrologer to a vizier (سيدنا الوزير الاجل). In Arabic script. Dating: Probably Fatimid, 11th or 12th century. Quite damaged. Opens with the bare minimum of formulaic blessings. Refers to "Wednesday the 4th of Ṣafar" (l. 5) and then provides a technical description of the configurations of Mars (Mirrīkh), Saturn (Zuḥal), the sun, Leo (al-Asad), Jupiter (al-Mushtarī), and Venus (al-Zuhra) (ll. 6–9): المريخ غايب عن زحل مقبول من الشمس لكون . . . طالع برج الاسد من عشرين . . . من زحل ويكون المشتري في الخامس والزهرة . . . المشتري. The next section (ll. 9–11) may be prognostications based on the preceding astrological data, mentioning e.g. "cold" (bārid) and "money" (al-māl). In l. 12: "this day is superior to Monday, the 9th of Ṣafar." Reused in the upper margin and on verso for a literary text in Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew, a commentary citing verses from Samuel. ASE