Letter: T-S 20.145 + T-S AS 153.176 + T-S AS 153.177 + T-S 18J5.3

Letter T-S 20.145 + T-S AS 153.176 + T-S AS 153.177 + T-S 18J5.3

Tags

Input date

In PGP since 2017

Description

Letter/petition probably from ʿAmram b. Aharon ha-Kohen "the seventh" (the son-in-law of the head of the Palestinian Yeshiva, Evyatar b. Shelomo ha-Kohen) to "our rabbi the third" (Rabbenu ha-Shelishi), possibly identical with Ṣadoq b. Yoshiyyahu, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic with some Hebrew. Calligraphically written with wide space between the lines. Dating: 1108–09 CE. The sender wants the addressee to exercise his influence and intervene with the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saʿadya to have the Fatimid navy rescue Evyatar and his family from Tripoli in the period between the summer of 1108 CE (when the populace of Tripoli overthrew Ibn ʿAmmār) and 12 July 1109 CE, when the Franks sacked Tripoli. Goes on to refer to the flight of Fakhr al-Mulk Ibn ʿAmmār from Tripoli and how he left it in the hands of his cousin Abū l-Manāqib. The sender says that he has previously sent a letter concerning "the same matter" to "our cousin," a great dignitary and a kohen. "They took it and traveled with it... toward the beginning of Shabbat Vayoshaʿ (=Beshalaḥ?), the day that Ibn ʿAmmār traveled for Beirut—let him return no more to his house, and let not his place know him any more (Job 7:10)—and then traveled for Tiberias (? טברי) to fortify himself there, and the city is now in the hand of his cousin (ibn ʿamm) Abū l-Manāqib." In the bottom section (note that there is still a gap between T-S AS 153.177 and T-S 18J5.3), refers to "in this crisis and others..."; the sender says that he has already explained the condition of the 'brother' Abū l-Faḍl and his family in other letters; he reiterates greetings to the addressee and his two sons; and his own two sons, ʿAzaryahu and Maṣliaḥ, convey their greetings. Ends with a motto that might be reconstructible as [yu]ḥash [yeshaʿ] be-qarov (יוחש ישע בקרוב). In the mirror-image text, a few words from other sections of the document are preserved, which may help find the remaining pieces: Abū l-Faḍl al-Levi and al-Shaykh Abū l-Ghanāʾim. (Information in part from CUDL and Brendan Goldman's edition.) Joins by Alan Elbaum (except for T-S AS 153.176 + T-S AS 153.177, which is from CUDL). There is a possibility that T-S 18J5.3 is actually a distinct letter, from the same sender to the same addressee, since the interlinear spaces are a couple millimeters wider. See also T-S NS 327.127 (PGPID 25798), which may be by the same scribe, but the right margin is a little bit smaller. For an example of the Fatimid state document format which this is emulating, see another report concerning this period in Tripoli (unpublished): T-S AS 129.149 + T-S AS 116.11 + T-S NS 137.20 + T-S NS 207.44 + AIU I.C.73 + T-S NS 238.99 + T-S NS 244.84 (+ T-S NS 125.135). ASE

T-S 20.145 1r

1r

Transcription

Brendan Goldman, "Arabic-Speaking Jews in Crusader Syria: Conquest, Continuity, and Adaptation in the Medieval Mediterranean" (PhD diss., n.p., 2018).

upper fragment

  1. ]מא

  2. ]אתר[ ]ה אשרח יסיר ממא

  3. שרחה סיידנא ראם אלמתיבה יסתירו

  4. אלהינו בסתר תכפיו פי כתאבה ממא

  5. קד בלגת אליה חאלתה ואנה קד

  6. בקי לקא מא לה מלתגא אלא אללה

  7. [                                             ]הנגידות

 

lower fragment

  1. תעאלי וקד כתבת אלי הדרת [הנגידות]

  2. תכון לעולם סאלתהא אדא כרג אל

  3. אסטול אלסעיד יסאל מקדמה פי

  4. כלאץ סיידנא גאון נטרוהי מן שמיא

  5. וכלאץ אטפאלה מן טראבלס אן כאן

  6. לה נזול אליהא ואריד מן הדרת רבנו

  7. השלישי תשוגב לעד אדא מתלת

  8. בהדרת אדונינו הנגיד נגיד עם יי

  9. שר השרים עוז בית ישראל דגל

  10. הרבנים נר המערבי מרדכי הזמן

  11. ראש מערכות ישראל נזר סגולה

  12. וכתר הגולה רכב ישראל ופרשיו

  13. יתמיד אלהינו ימיו ושנותיו ושררותו

  14. כימי השמים על הארץ תגאריהא

  15. פי הדא אלמעני ותדכרהא איאה פי

  16.             ]לאנהא כתירה אלאשגאל

Translation

T-S AS 153.176 1r

1r

recto

  1. א[

  2. אקרן אללה גמיע אמו ….  נן

  3. אלם עאדה וקד כתבת אלי הדרת

  4. שרינו גדולינו בן דודינו שר בית

  5. ישראל תפארת הכהנה ישמרה

  6. שומר נפשות חסידיו פי הדא אלמעני 

T-S AS 153.177 1r

1r

recto

  1. ואכדוה ושאפה (?) .. .. …..

  2. מעלי שבת ויושע יום ספר בן עמאר

  3. אלי בירות לא ישוב עוד לביתו ולא 

  4. יכירנו עוד מקומו וקד תוגה אלי 

  5. טבר ינתצר בה ואלבלד אליום פי

  6. יד בנ עמה אבו אלמנאן … ו[

  7. לו. ...[

 

T-S 18J5.3 1r

1r

T-S AS 153.176 1v

1v

T-S AS 153.177 1v

1v

T-S 20.145 1v

1v

T-S 18J5.3 1v

1v
Image Permissions Statement
  • T-S 18J5.3: Provided by Cambridge University Library. Zooming image © Cambridge University Library, All rights reserved. This image may be used in accord with fair use and fair dealing provisions, including teaching and research. If you wish to reproduce it within publications or on the public web, please contact genizah@lib.cam.ac.uk.
  • T-S 20.145: Provided by Cambridge University Library. Zooming image © Cambridge University Library, All rights reserved. This image may be used in accord with fair use and fair dealing provisions, including teaching and research. If you wish to reproduce it within publications or on the public web, please contact genizah@lib.cam.ac.uk.
  • T-S AS 153.176: Provided by Cambridge University Library. Zooming image © Cambridge University Library, All rights reserved. This image may be used in accord with fair use and fair dealing provisions, including teaching and research. If you wish to reproduce it within publications or on the public web, please contact genizah@lib.cam.ac.uk.
  • T-S AS 153.177: Provided by Cambridge University Library. Zooming image © Cambridge University Library, All rights reserved. This image may be used in accord with fair use and fair dealing provisions, including teaching and research. If you wish to reproduce it within publications or on the public web, please contact genizah@lib.cam.ac.uk.