Letter: T-S 8J21.26

Description

Letter from Abū Sahl Levi ha-Levi (?) in Qalyūb (?). Goitein's note card: "The writer's wife quareled with the wife of the recipient. The latter's brother had consulted an astrologer. The recipient should visit next Sunday, since he was at peace with the writer's wife. The recipient should feign that he would bring his own wife to come. Verso: Arabic chancellery script" (for which see PGPID 35177). It is not clear that the recipient's wife features in this letter at all. Goitein read "ahl al-makān" in line 14 as referring to the recipient's wife, but this could just as well be referring to the writer's conflict with his own wife, which he wishes the recipient to mediate. The handwriting and colloquial spellings resemble those of Abu Sahl (Levi) the cantor, the father of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi and Abu l-Ḥasan Yedutun. Moshe was in the habit of visiting Fustat from Qalyub on Sundays, as mentioned here. Curiously, the writer switches from Judaeo-Arabic to Arabic in the margin, but this is not for secrecy, as it is just a repetition of what he said in the main text. ASE.