Letter: Moss. IXa,3.4

Description

Verso of the literary text PGPID 39625. The verso contains administrative memoranda or letters in Judaeo-Arabic in which Ḥayyīm ʿAfīf addressed a a superior with updates on various events (the recipient was likely a leader in the communal administration). Besides the lofty honorifics in each address "א]ברהם? אלמוחתרם דאם לעזהו אמין]" the social hierarchy is captured by the fact that Ḥayyīm ʿAfīf signs as "מוקדם הדא עבדכום". One of the documents deals with the purchase of cotton and the other discusses the postal system[?] (טרק אלבוסטה) and some issues preventing the circulation of letters (עדם ארסאלנה לבום מכאתבאת). This correspondence may have had legal bearing but its exact purpose remains unclear. The paleography and likely mention of the postal system supports the likelihood that these are 19th-century documents.