Letter: T-S Ar.18(1).123

Description

This shelfmark unites three fragments, which all have Hebrew liturgical poems on one side (in the same hand?), and remainders of letters in Judaeo-Arabic on the other. Fols. 2 and 3 appear to be in the same hand and perhaps from the same letter, whereas fol. 1 is written in a different hand. Fol. 1: Mercantile letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The addressee's letter arrived, along with the 5 shipments it mentioned, 4 for "Sayyidnā Av (Bet Din)" and 1 for the sender. The sender paid the price or wages for the one load (1 rubāʿī) and the four loads (1 dinar) as ordered. He then provides updates on other shipments. As for Av, he set sail the day prior (אלבירחה) for Tripoli. Av asked the sender to pass on greetings to the addressee and to his son Ghālib. Mentions "our Rabbi Binyamin" and a community. Mentions someone's brother 'our Rabbi Mevasser.' Greetings to the cantor Hiba and to R. Yaʿqūb. Fol. 2: Upper part of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Addressed to a dignitary with the epithets "ha-Nadiv ve-ha-Shavaʿ." Mentions updates concerning R. Yeshuʿa and correspondence with Abū l-ʿAlāʾ. The sender reports that Ghālib has been diligent in his studies of the 'siddur' and other subejcts with somebody. then mentions a silk veil or scarf (wa-l-miqnaʿa al-qazz...). Fol. 3: Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The sender has sent a riding animal (dābba, bahīma) together with Ḥasan b. Moshe along with this letter. The addressee should come in (to Fustat?) with the animal, and he should feed it whatever fodder it needs (aʿlifhā aysh mā iʿtalafat) and charge the sender for it. (Information in part from CUDL)