Letter: T-S 8J27.12

Description

Fragment of a business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Addressed to "my son." Dating: ca. early 13th century (Goitein's estimate, apparently based on identifying "majlis sayyidinā wa-majlis al-Shaykh Abū Isḥāq" as a reference to Avraham Maimonides and Avraham he-Ḥasid respectively). The sender anxiously inquires about the state of the wakīls (the representatives of the merchants) and the effect of some unknown event on them and on the public. He instructs the addressee to retrieve a bag (kharīṭa) from the storehouse (khizāna) and withdraw 100 + 200 dirhams every day(!) for rent payments. Goes on to mention saffron; collecting debts; not "cutting off" the sessions of Sayyidnā and al-Shaykh Abū Isḥaq; having sent with Hilāl 12 dirhams; 8 pounds of myrtle; and a quantity of beautiful and kosher (for sukkot) citrons — the word appears to be spelled תורנג (tūrunj) here. (Information in part from Goitein's index card and from Mediterranean Society, I, 190.)