Letter: JRL Gaster heb. ms 1862/13a

Description

Fragment of a mercantile letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: likely 12th century. Refers to the arrival of a ship from Bīsh (מרכב ביש), i.e., Pisa, usually known as بيشة in medieval Arabic documents; see the letters edited in Michele Amari, I diplomi arabi (Florence, 1863), and see T-S 13J13.12 (PGPID 7990) for a reference to the "Bīshānīs," i.e., Pisans. The present letter reports that al-Qāḍī al-Muwaffaq said that the Genoese traders told him that saffron was cheap in their land. Mentions "some/one of the islands." Little else is preserved. ASE/AA