Letter: T-S 8J39.1

Description

Letter from Natan b. Mevorakh ha-Kohen, in Ashqelon, to the parnas ʿAllūn b. Yaʿīsh. Written in both Arabic script and Judaeo-Arabic. Contains a request to intercede on behalf of two men with the exilarch David b. Daniel (ca. 1082–94), and to convey their acknowledgements and thanks for his favors. (Information in part from Cohen, Jewish Self-Government, pp. 207, 321.) NB: A previous description indicated that this letter is written in the top margin of an earlier letter in Arabic script, all of which is now lost except for the basmala and part of the address in the top right corner, referring to al-firnās al-jalīl. However, it is more likely that everything here belongs to a single letter, and the part that was understood to be the 'address' is actually the end of the first line of the letter.