Letter: PER H 34

Description

Recto and verso: Letter. One of the small handful of Judaeo-Arabic papyri. Labeled "papyrus II" in the classification of Blau and Hopkins. Dating: Probably 9th century or earlier. Unlikely to have come from the Cairo Geniza; it is possible that most or all of these documents derive from a commercial circle in Ushmūn. This document is by far the most extensive and well-preserved Judaeo-Arabic papyrus known (at least this was true in 1987). It is also the first to have been discussed in print (in 1886/87). This is a letter from Yaʿaqov b. Yosef possibly to somebody named Yom Ṭov and/or to [Yose]f b. Menaḥem Shuqayr in the Jews' Market (Sūq al-Yahūd), possibly in Ḥawz Shuqayr ("the precinct of Shuqayr"). The addressee may be the father of the sender. The letter discusses numerous shipments of textiles and money. (Information in part from Blau and Hopkins and from Gil.)