Letter: T-S AS 206.202

Description

Long business letter mainly in Hebrew. Dating: Late, probably Ottoman-era. At the top of recto there is a summary of accounts with R. Avraham during the period from Rabīʿ II through Rajab. Somebody owes the addressee the sum mentioned. The term גמכייא/jāmakiyya (government salary) is mentioned. Mentions other names such as Yehuda, Shelomo, and Khalīfa. Mentions the cities of Qanā (in Upper Egypt) and Quṣayr (the nearby Red Sea port). Mentions a qāḍī and people 'eating up' the jāmakiyya without benefit. Mentions someone who is known as "the madman" (al-Majnūn) who is also evil, like the people of Sodom, and a relative of the שורפא (=shurafāʾ = sharīfs?).