Letter: T-S Ar.38.14

Description

Letter from an unknown writer, in Damascus, to Abū l-Ḥasan, in Aleppo. In Arabic script. The writer reports that his brother Ismāʿīl arrived in Acre, and they traveled together to Damascus, where they spent the holidays in the house of Hilāl. If they hear good news from Aleppo, they will travel to Aleppo, but until now the news from Aleppo has been bad (lines 7 and 13), and they are thriving in Damascus. The distance between Damascus and Aleppo is 20 days' travel. Mentions Ibn Mufaḍḍal. The next three lines have to do with the honey that the writer had deposited with Abū l-Ḥasan. It is not clear what he wants. He indicates that he wants to collect either the honey or its price (fa-innī muṭālibuka bihi). He also writes that he intended for the addressee to hide it (an tastatira bihi), and if the addressee was unable to do so (wa-inna min ḥaythu an lā waqaʿa satruhu), the writer will not grant him a credit for it (mā aḥtasibu laka minhu). He urges the addressee to look after the boy until the writer and Hilāl can come and get him or until they can send somebody to get him. They have been delayed on account of "the fear of the water"—of the rainy season? Hilāl sends regards to his father and paternal aunt and her sons. A postscript was then added stating that the Rūmī (Byzantine) died. (Information from Ṣabīḥ ʿAodeh, "Eleventh Century Arabic Letters of Jewish Merchants from the Cairo Geniza" (PhD diss., Tel Aviv University, 1992.) ASE.