מכתב: T-S NS 225.110

תיאור

Letter from an unidentified merchant to Abū Saʿīd al-ʿAfṣī. In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender reports on a shipment that he has sent with Jaʿfar: 62 wax moulds (qālib) weighing 51 1/2 raṭls in addition to 2 1/4 manns of violets (zahr banafsaj). With the proceeds from the sale of the wax, the addressee should purchase brazilwood (baqqam). If the violets sell for 1/2 dinar a mann or more, the addressee should use the proceeds to purchase costus (qusṭ) or high-quality brazilwood (this reading is not certain, as the first letter is missing). If the violets fetch less than that, then the addressee should hold on to the money. The Jaʿfar mentioned here is likely identical with the ship owner mentioned in Bodl. MS heb. a 3/19 (India Book II32). He was evidently Muslim; nothing else is known of him. The addressee, Abū Saʿīd al-ʿAfṣī, is known from numerous documents, including several in India Book II. AA. ASE.