Letter: T-S 10J11.21

Description

Letter from the cantor Ḥalfon b. David (aka Khalaf al-Lādhiqī), in Jerusalem, to the elders (sādatī wa-mawālayya jamāʿat al-shuyūkh al-miṣriyyīn), in Fusṭāṭ. In Judaeo-Arabic, in a beautiful scribal hand. Very faded. Dating: Likely 11th century. This may be a letter of appeal for charity, since Ḥalfon/Khalaf leads by identifying himself as an elderly man with dependents (rajul kabīr tāʿin fī l-sinn wa-ʿalā ʿāʾila). He refers to praying, the Torah, and 'al-qiyām fī l-jibāya wa-l-kitābāt.' On verso there is the address of the letter and an explanation of calendar reckoning in a different, crude hand. (Information in part from CUDL.) Merits further examination. ASE