Letter: Moss. VII,165

Description

Letter from ʿIwāḍ b. Ḥananel, in Alexanria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Second half of the 10th century. The writer reports on a terrible Nile journey "as if it were the sea of Sfax"; the water entered the boat because of the many "ניו"; this may be a plural form of نَوء, which means storm or gale. ʿIwāḍ stayed up all night, sitting in the water and guarding the merchandise, crying out for help and receiving none. Eventually someone agreed to help, but demanded a hefty price. ʿIwād ultimately reached Alexandria safe and sound. He reports on the state of the merchandise and how he is faring trying to sell it. Information in part from Goitein's transcription.