מכתב: Moss. II,167

תיאור

A distressed letter to Abū ʿImrān, in the house of Umm Ḥasana, on the alley of the synagogue, Fustat. The handwriting and spelling are very rudimentary. The letter opens with the usual, "I assure you that I am in full well-being and health, all I lack is the sight of you. Otherwise: we are in terrible distress from the high prices and the lack of a living. We go five days without seeing bread, eating only turnips and fava beans and fresh dates. . . we have no food other than this. Life is worthless to me, and I beat my head from the distress and the killing." The writer desperately awaits a letter from his cousins (awlād ʿammi); perhaps there will be relief in it. He has heard that the addressee is studying to be a tailor and wishes him great success. He sends regards to various members of the addressee's family. The scribe may be the same as in T-S Ar.30.246 and numerous related fragments (books of magic and astrology). ASE.