מכתב: AIU VII.E.40

תיאור

Letter from ʿAzarya b. David to a notable, probably Mevorakh b. Saʿadya, based on the concluding blessing for "our teacher and rabbi Mevorakh the ḥaver in the great Sanhedrin and the lofty in understanding (ha-meʿulle ha-binot)." In Hebrew. The sender is appealing for charity for a poor family, possibly in connection with taxes (the word מס appears at the beginning of l. 15). It is not clear if he is begging on his own behalf or recommending others. The hand appears to be the same as that of ʿAzarya b. David, a scribe active in Ascalon in 1060/61 CE based on T-S 8.234 (PGPID 1836). The titles of Mevorakh suggest that this is Mevorakh b. Saʿadya in his early career. Mevorakh had acquired the title ḥaver by 1062 when he may have been in his early 20s. There are several words missing in a lacuna before his name. The last preserved word in the bottom line could be read [חמוד[ו ("his son"), meaning that the addressee is actually Mevorakh's father, but this is less likely, as we know from T-S 20.7 (PGPID 7500) that Mevorakh's father Saʿadya was already dead in 1050. ASE