State document: ENA 3974.3 + Bodl. MS heb. b. 18/23

Description

Two petitions to the Fatimid ruler Sitt al-Mulk. Dating (Rustow): 411–14/1021–24. The Bodleian petition is from an official of a congregational mosque, perhaps the chief khaṭīb. This is probably the final copy of the petition. It has to do with delayed payments to the deputy khaṭīb Mūsā b. Azhar, since the tenants of the pious foundation (ḥabs) of the mosque have fallen in arrears and owe about ten dinars for the period ending Rajab 415 AH (September 1024). He requests that a decree (manshūr, line 11: literally, an open letter, a decree without a seal) be issued to the governor (ʿāmil) and administrator (mutawallī) of the district that housed the mosque asking them to help the deputy, Mūsā b. Azhar by supporting his efforts to extract payment from the tenants; by sending him money directly; and by generally enforcing the terms of the trust. In the JTS petition, Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥasan complains that a local amir has confiscated his grain. He asks that it be intercepted before it reaches the port of Giza. On verso is a series of Hebrew biblical verses (Zach. 3:5–4:9) with the Aramaic translation (targum) added after each verse; the scribe has glued together these two petitions to form a single rotulus, suggesting that the Arabic documents may have survived together in an archive. Join: Marina Rustow. A note on the join: although the Arabic-script documents on ENA 3974.3 and Bodl. MS heb. b. 18/23 are different petitions, they are a join because a small triangle of the Bodleian petition has remained attached to the JTS petition. (Information from Marina Rustow's analysis and edition.) A note on images: The FGP image of the Arabic side acquired from the Bodleian has cut off a few lines of the Arabic text and needs to be replaced. The image in Rustow, BSOAS 2010, is complete, but in black and white. The fragment was later rephotographed in color for Rustow, "The Fatimid Petition," Jewish History 2019. The FGP photo of the Hebrew-script side is complete. MR