Letter: Bodl. MS heb. c 28/60

Description

Letter from Avraham b. Ḥabīb, in Alexandria, to Abū Zikrī Kohen, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Goitein's attached notes include discussions of how this letter was likely copied by a scribe (an unskilled and careless scribe, in his view). The letter opens with congratulations on the engagement of Abū Zikrī’s son, blessings for a successful wedding, and a request for confirmation of this happy news. It continues with the news that a Byzantine (Rūmī) ship arrived from al-Mahdiyya. The sender reports that all is well with the ship of Nājī. There is no news from the Maghrib except that Ibn Maymūn set out with 17 ships in the great wilderness(? maybe בר is an error for בחר, and this simply means Mediterranean). He hopes that the government's ships will arrive soon. He learned that the Byzantines plundered large sums of money from the Jewish traders when they arrived in Sicily. The victims who made it to Alexandria wish to receive a letter (or document? kitāb) from 'sayyidnā al-qāḍī' and go up with it to Cairo (seeking redress against the Byzantines?). See Goitein's attached notes for transcription and further discussion.