מכתב: T-S Ar.30.160

תיאור

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: likely Mamluk or early Ottoman era. Concerning family and business matters. Mentions: 'my lord the qāḍī'; various instructions about transactions and letters; and "the boy ʿAṭiyya is weaned, and he wants to eat sugar every hour" (אלולד עטיה יל מפטום ויריד אלתנקל אלסוכר סאעה סאעה). Also mentions Ibn Abū Jābir "who is from אלקתם" and how he should send a letter to his son Abū l-Yusr "to אלקתם" concerning the daughter of Manṣūr al-Sofer in the presence of Sulaymān b. Zikrī. Further down there is an order of sugar and ḥalwā for the boy ʿAṭiyya. On verso there is a reference to the sufferings due to Ibn al-Qudrī (? אלקודרי). Haste is urged several times (סרעה סרעה סרעה). After the date on verso, there is a postscript. Mentions Ibn Abū Jābir again; soap; again obtaining a letter from him to his son Abū l-Yusr concerning the daughter of Manṣūr al-Sofer; again mentions the boy ʿAṭiyya. "Due to our sins we have lost a lot of money to the oppressors" (בעונות ראח פלוס כתיר לצלמא). The sender seems worried they do not have enough resources to support the boy. Again repeats that he is safely weaned and that he wants sweets (yurīd al-tanaqqul) "for he is used to being pampered" (wa-huwa muʿawwad bi-dalāl). Again repeats the order for different types of sugar and ḥalwā. (Information in part from Baker/Polliack catalog.)