State document: Moss. Xa,3.10

Description

Petition to the Ottoman sultan from Pinḥas son of Yūsuf. At the top, there is an annotation in a combination of Hebrew and Arabic script. After the standard honorifics addressing the arzuhal (arḍ-u ḥāl) to the unnamed sultan in lines 1-2, the petitioner references Saʿadīya Kohen who is not complying with the terms of a transaction. The petitioner and/or Kohen may have served in the Ottoman financial administration given the mention of the position "āmil" in line 3 (intendant, revenue collector) and the mention of "state funds" in line 6 (māl-i mīrī). But the word "āmil" may instead hold the alternate meaning of a private commercial "agent." At least two different sums of money are listed, 500 para (l.4) and 1,000 para (l.5). It seems that Saʿadīya Kohen "fled" before paying all or some of the totals listed (variations of the Turkish verb "kaç" appear throughout the petition). MCD.