Letter: ENA 1178.9

Letter ENA 1178.9

Tags

Input date

In PGP since 2017

Description

Letter from an unknown man to his niece (bint al-akh). In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 13th century. He opens, "How long will you remain a widow?" The writer has found her a promising suitor who recently visited Bilbays, a learned man who works as a teacher, the son of the sister of the teacher Bū l-Ḥasan Hillel al-Shanshāwī. The writer urges the addressee to send the suitor a letter (? תדפעי לה מן ענדך) and go along with this plan. He continues to urge her to cease wasting her youth in spinsterhood ("for I am a man and I was older(?) than you and I did not sit (i.e. as a widower)."). Cairo is also mentioned. The letter ends very abruptly with none of the formulaic regards, so this was probably a draft.

ENA 1178.9 recto

recto

Transcription

Translation

ENA 1178.9 verso

verso
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  • ENA 1178.9: Images provided by the Jewish Theological Seminary Library (JTSL) CC-Zero / Public Domain