מסמך משפטי: T-S 16.292

תיאור

Recto: Letter from Ḥananʾel b. Shemuʾel to a certain Shilo (and/or David he-Ḥaver?). The opening greetings include a complaint about lack of letters and mention that Yeshuʿa and al-mawlā al-Amjad are living in Alexandria. The substance of the letter concerns the question of whether Hebrew script ("ktav ashuri") may be used for secular purposes. Ḥananʾel cites an autograph responsum of Maimonides on this question, citing a responsum of R. Yosef (Ibn Migash), ruling that it is forbidden, and that for this reason the Andalusīs have adopted a script that is sufficiently different from the 'Assyrian' script that it may be used for secular purposes. Verso and all of the empty spaces on recto are filled with various kinds of drafts and jottings, mainly in Arabic script. The largest subset of this seems to be a letter draft to a certain Waliyy al-Dawla, addressed with titles such as al-ḥaḍra al-sāmiya al-ajalliyya al-sharīfa. . . . . There are also drafts of Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew letters, as well as a small section of accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. AA/ASE