מכתב: Halper 394

תיאור

Letter from ʿAmram b. Yosef to Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy, Alexandria. Dating: 1094–97 CE. "The addressee Moses, mostly referred to as Mūsā, was active in communal affairs and was honored, because of his generosity, with the title Segullat (ha-'Yeshiva), 'Treasure' (of the Academy).l He was a native of Tunisia, who had settled in Alexandria and was temporarily in Fustat. Lines 1-32, and margin. Expressions of friendship, complaints about the bad times, personal misfortune, and an eye disease, which made it impossible for Amram to come to Fustat in person.2 Verso, lines 1-7. Letters from Yosef b. Abū Kathīr Ibn Yahboy,3 sent, it seems, from 'Aydhab,4 contained, according to hearsay, news about Abū l-Faraj Nissim and the camphor. The addressee is advised to question the Jewish merchants arriving from there. Lines 7-20. In his dire circumstances ʿAmram had given some of his books to the schoolteacher Yiṣḥaq al-Nafūsī (also a Maghrebi) to sell, but this man had moved to Fustat and nothing was heard from him. Mūsā is asked to remind him of his duties as a pious person and gentleman.5 {See the introduction to II, 3, for the dating.}" Description from India Book, English edition