Letter: T-S 10J16.4

Letter T-S 10J16.4

Metadata

Shelfmark
T-S 10J16.4
Primary Language
Judaeo-Arabic
Secondary Language
Hebrew

What's in the PGP

  • Image
  • 1 Transcription
  • 1 Translation

Description

Letter from the widow of the cantor Ben Nahman to a Gaon concerning the difficulties she is having with the son of her late husband and his sister over her right to domicile in the house to which she has a claim. Cf. T-S 13J13.6 (subsequent plea, two months later, from the same woman), also T-S Ar.18(1).107.

Related People

Sender
Widow of Ben Naḥman

Tags

Additional metadata

Collection
Cambridge University Library, Taylor-Schechter
Historical shelfmarks
TS 10 J 16, f. 4; TS Box 10 J 16, fol. 4; TS Box 10 J 16, f. 4; TS 10 J 16, fol. 4
Input date
In PGP since 1990
Image
Transcription
Translation

T-S 10J16.4 1r

°
1r
Mark Cohen's digital edition.
  1. אלעבדה זוגה
  2. אלחזאן בן נחמאן
  3. אלעבדה תנהי אלי הדרת הגאונות תכן מ[שר]תה לנצח
  4. ח]אל אלעבדה וולדהא וג/ו/עהם ועריהם לאן ללעבדה
  5. משתתה הי וולדהא ען אלדאר ג שהור מא תקדר
  6. תדכל אליהא לאנהא מתא דכלת אלי אלדאר יהגם
  7. עלי אלעבדה ביאן בן רגלי [[אלצגיר]] ויצר בי פי א
  8. אלמקאתל ופי אלאמאכן אלכטרה קצד מנה
  9. ללאדיה ואכר //[י]ום// [[דלך]] כרגת אלעבדה מן אלדאר
  10. לו לם יתפק תרכי עאבר עלי אלדאר כאן קד
  11. קתלני ומ[ת]ת בידי ואנמא אסתגאתת אלעבדה
  12. ואתפק עבורה ואיצא אן קד אעתצב הו ועמתה
  13. עלי ויכתלקו לי מא לא יצלח וסבב צבר אלעבדה
  14. אליום [[מ]] //הדה// אלמדה כוף לאלא ואלע[א]יד באללה אן יכרג אלצ[בי
  15. ען אלטריקה וינסב אלי ואלא פכאנת אלעבדה קד
  16. א[נ]תצרת באללה תע ובאבההא (!) אלכרים [ו]אלאן ק[ד
  17. בלגת אלסכין אלעצם ואלעבדה מסתגי[תה] ב[אללה
  18. תע ובבאהא (!) אלכרים אן תצטנע אלע[בד]ה [
  19. ינצר חאלהא ותראף פאן להא פי הדה אלדאר זכות
  20. ברוך ייי ואן לם אתכלת אלעבדה עלי אללה תע ומצ[ת
  21. אלי חאל סבילהא הקבה יכפיל שכרה ויהיה בעזר[תה
Mark Cohen, The Voice of the Poor in the Middle Ages (Princeton University Press, 2005).
  1. Your slave, the wife (= widow) of 
  2. [the] cantor Ben Naḥman 
  3. Your slave informs your excellency the Gaon, may your r[ul]e be established forever,
  4. [about the situati]on of your slave and her son, their hunger and nakedness. That is because your slave
  5. has been banished, she and her son, from her house for three months, without being able
  6. to enter it. For whenever I enter the house,
  7. Bayan, the son of my husband, pounces upon your slave and inflicts pain on me in my most
  8. vital organs and vulnerable places, intending thereby
  9. to harm me. The Iast // [t]ime // your slave left the house,
  10. had not a Turk happened to be passing by, he would
  11. have killed me. I st[r]etched out my hand and had just begun to cry out for help
  12. when he happened by. Also, he (her stepson) and his aunt have banded together
  13. against me and concocted improper things about me. The reason for your slave's forbearance
  14. all this time until today has been the fear lest, God forbid, the bo[y]
  15. go astray and it be blamed on me. Otherwise your slave would
  16. have s[o]ught the help of God the ex(alted) and of your noble gate. [But] now
  17. the knif[e] has reached the bone and your slave app[eals] for help to [God]
  18. the ex(alted) and your noble gate, to be shown favor [and]
  19. have her case considered and have pity shown on her. I have a right in that house,
  20. praised be God. If your slave does not trust in God the ex(alted), I shall go
  21. my way. May t(he) h(oly one) b(lessed be) H(e) double your reward and be [your] succor. 

T-S 10J16.4 1v

°
1v
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Cambridge University Library, Taylor-Schechter, T-S 10J16.4. Available online through the Princeton Geniza Project at https://geniza.princeton.edu/documents/1522/ (accessed June 10, 2026).