מכתב: T-S 8.22 + NLI 577.10/1

תיאור

Description from NLI 577.10/1: Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably late 12th or early 13th century; this range can probably be narrowed based on the people mentioned, including the Ayyubid-sounding al-Muʿaẓẓam. Recto is mainly business dealings, including with "Rabbenu" and al-Shaykh al-Yesod. Mentions purchasing 5 dinars' worth of wheat for the upcoming year. The sender is distressed about something, in addition to his earlier loss of the gold that had been left with Hārūn. At the bottom and in the margin mentions Abū l-Majd, Makārim al-Wakīl the collector for the compound of the מלכיין, Ṣafiyy al-Dawla, Ibn Sibāʿ, and Raḍiyy al-Dawla. Then mentions an "original deed" (of sale?) and its witnesses, possibly including Abū Naṣr b. [...], and another deed (or ketubba?) written and/or signed in Qūṣ by Abū Saʿd b. Abū שפה, Karam b. Mufaḍḍal, and Munajjā Ibn al-Maḥallī. The sender has enclosed "it" (money?) together with the letter to be forwarded to "them," which they should not pay now, but only pay if it becomes necessary ("for nothing is permanent but God"). The next part of the letter includes multiple urgings to take care of the necessary renovations in the house, also mentions a woman who has "no relative, no in-law, no brother, and no friend except for you and like you." At the bottom of verso, the addressee is told to speak to the elder Fakhr al-Ṣanāʾiʿ (a master craftsman?) who belongs to the entourage (min ghilmān) of al-Muʿaẓẓam Description from T-S 8.22: Letter addressed to Abū ʿImrān b. Abū l-Faraj al-Kohen. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1168–1204 CE, based on the reference to Maimonides ("our Rabbi Moshe"). The letter mentions: Ṣafiyy al-Dawla ('al-muḥtashim') and Abū l-Ḥasan the partner of the sender; a warehouse (al-makhzan); an eighth of a dinar; Makārim Ibn al-Amshāṭi and the rent of the warehouse; transferring something to a ṭārma (Nile boat cabin); the word דבשנא ("our honey"?); ʿĪsā Ibn al-Ajlaḥ ("bald on one side of the head"); Abū l-Khayr b. Mufaḍḍal; possibly a physician (al-ḥakīm); someone who is 'long of ears' (ṭawīl al-adhān) and clever (shāṭir); a deed of release and a power of attorney; Hiba al-Labbān and various collaterals; Zayn b. Saʿīd; the town of Qalyūb; Alexandria; a request that the addressee meet with the elder Fakhr al-Ṣanāʾiʿ; Rabbenu Moshe (likely Maimonides); greetings to the addressee's father Abū l-Faraj Beḥir ha-Kohanim; to Abū l-Fakhr al-ʿAṭṭār; al-shaykh al-yesod; Abū ʿImrān al-Tifʾeret; Abū l-Faḍl; and Abū l-Makārim. Join: Alan Elbaum. The two pieces likely join directly, but requires further examination; is possible there is still a third missing piece between them.