מכתב: ENA NS 29.28

תיאור

Letter from a woman, in Rashīd, to Yom Ṭov al-Buḥayrī (it seems her son-in-law) and his wife Esther (it seems her daughter), in Fustat/Cairo. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably no earlier than 16th century. The specific relationships are not entirely clear. She seems to use masculine verb endings when addressing each one of the two; she opens with "salām allāh taʿālā ʿalā a[l]-ṣihr(?) al-ʿazīz wa-ʿalā al-bint al-ʿazīza Esther min ummik" and there is no clear alternative to eading ṣihr, which can mean son-in-law as well as brother-in-law; but she also writes "greet your mother-in-law" (with masculine verb ending), a statement that has to be addressed to her own child. In any event, she congratulates them on acquiring a female slave (if אכצתי is indeed to be read as אכדתי) and urges one of them (presumably the daughter, but the verbs are masculine) to "take it with a gracious word" (khudhu bi-kalima ḥilwā). The remainder of the content is obscure. Greetings to Doña Sh[..]; to the aforementioned mother-in-law; and to Khuḍayr and Manṣūr. ASE.