Letter: T-S AS 166.174

Description

Letter from Abū l-Munā b. Yaʿaqov, unknown location, to an unidentified addressee, presumably in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 11th or 12th century. Same writer as T-S AS 167.24; may be an indirect join. The sender says that he is unable to leave the children for some reason. He reports that the ZNJBRY ship (אלמרכב אלזנגברי) has not yet arrived. This probably refers to Zinjibār in eastern Yemen, less likely Zanzibar. Mufaḍḍal is on that ship. The sender suspects that it might be in Mirbāṭ (in present-day Oman). The sender offers to receive and hold on to any letters intended for Muḥsin. "As for the female slave (al-waṣīfa), we have not found anything"—it is not clear if they are looking to purchase a slave or if they are looking for one who has run away. Mentions someone named Munajjā in the margin. Very little of the text is preserved on verso. Mentions tar (qiṭrān). Greetings to the addressee's son Sulaymān. The final two lines are a complaint about the sender's condition (loneliness and ḍīq al-ṣadr ('constriction of the chest')). AA/ASE