Letter: Moss. IV,14.2 + AIU VII.E.119

Description

Letter from Mufaḍḍal, probably in Fustat, to Abū l-Majd al-Melammed, in Qūṣ. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Uncertain, but perhaps ca. 1230s CE, since T-S 13J26.6 (1234 CE) is a letter from Abū l-Majd in Qūṣ to Abū l-Mufaḍḍal in Fustat requesting guidance from the capital on communal affairs; if this decade is correct, plausible options are 1230 and 1237 CE (since the letter was written on Thursday, 1 Tammuz). Concerning a distinguished physician, evidently also the Head of the Jews ("Sayyidnā al-Rayyis") whose burdensome medical responsibilities affected his ability to respond to the needs of the Jewish community. This physician is likely Avraham Maimonides based on the above identifications as well as corroborating evidence (cf. T-S 10J14.5 and Cohen's discussion of this possibility, pp. 134–35 in his article). The sender reports that two different queries for legal opinions (fatwās) had been sent to the physician in the Egyptian capital. He had misplaced the first query and had recovered it only after the second arrived. The sender informs the addressee, who had submitted the two questions, that the physician had composed an answer (jawāb) to both and it was enclosed it the present letter. The verso contains greetings from Abū l-Faraj, Abū l-Riḍā, Yosef, Hiba, and their mother, as well as the address. Upside down, there is also a list of medicinal herbs in Arabic script, unrelated to the letter. The scribe of this letter has distinctive handwriting with very tall, hooked lameds. (Published by Mark Cohen, “The Burdensome Life of a Jewish Physician and Communal Leader,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 16 (1993), 125–36.) Join: Alan Elbaum. EMS. ASE