Letter: T-S 12.533

Description

Letter from a mother, probably near or in Qayrawān, to her merchant son, in Fustat. Dating: ca. early 11th century. Includes some information about the coming and going of ships. "The day I learned of your travel for Egypt was more difficult for me than the day the Byzantines took you captive." Mentions that Ḥayyūn has brought the bill of divorce for the addressee's sister. The sender herself has been harassed by the capitation tax (jizya) collectors and had to go to Qayrawān and beg for charity in the synagogue, but without success. She urges the addressee to return quickly, for she is crying day and night. The addressee's nephew Isḥāq is without help in the shop except for Avraham al-Zūrzūr. It seems that the addressee has shipped some bales of flax, but they have not yet arrived. Greetings to various people including the addressee's sister and wife. Greetings also from her husband, the addressee's father. (Information in part from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #239.) VMR On verso there is an unrelated note about books: "the Song of Songs and Ruth together." The second fragment under this shelfmark may be unrelated, though the appearance of the parchment is similar and it likely also dates to the 11th century. It is the bottom of a legal deed with a number of signatures: Shelomo b. [...]; [Abū?] Saʿīd Saʿd[ū?]n b. Shabbat; [...] b. [...]; Shemuel b. Saʿīd; Ḥātim b. [...]; and Moshe b. Shemuel.