מכתב: CUL Or.1080 J180

תיאור

Letter from Abū Zikrī Kohen in Fustat, to Abū Zikrī Yaḥyā b. Sulaymān b. al-Shāmī, in ʿAydhāb. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Ṭevet 1452 Seleucid = December 1140 / January 1141 CE. Deals with business matters, mentioning commodities such as camphor, brazilwood, and frankincense. Goitein's handwritten description in his notes: "The letter is directed to the East African port ʿAidhāb, for the writer like asks the receiver to take action there, cf. top, l.1–verso, l.7. It was sent from Cairo, for the sender reports that people were going up to ʿAidāb top, ll. 6–8, and he includes a list of prices with the request to buy at the receiver's place. No. 244 is instructive in various respects. It shows us the motivation of the representative of the merchants of Cairo as that of ʿAidhāb. The way in which Abū Zikrī asks the receiver to look after the novice Mufaḍḍạl, verso ll.7–14, is tantamount to an outright command and the same could be said about his order to deal with the goods saved from the Dībājī's ship, margin l.6–verso l.7. Likewise we find the Wakīl of ʿAidhab in charge of the goods saved from Dībājī's boat, although another man, Akbar, had received them. To be sure, the merchants concerned, both Muslims and Jews, had entrusted the Wakīl with this task. On the other hand, it is astonishing that the Muslim merchants and one Jew, Nahrai, had to make the long and dangerous journey from Cairo to ʿAidhāb in order to take over their goods. [[Most probably great quantities were involved.]] In no. [reference to be inserted later] we find Nahrai setting out from ʿAidhāb in the Dībājī's boat. Here, it is to be understood that he had come back in the same. If the goods saved were pepper, lac and brazilwood it is safe to assume that the ship did not founder, in which case these products were likely to be spoiled, but was captured by pirates and later on recaptured, most probably by the Fatimid fleet. It is interesting to learn from our letter, l.19–margin l.1, that a merchant could take a credit from the Dīwān, government, in ʿAidhāb. It cannot be assumed that for this he needed the recommendation of representatives of the merchants, as Abū Zikrī would have certainly referred to a relevant document attached. The reason for this extraordinary precaution obviously was the following: the Oriental goods were sent "en bloc", with the share, qisṭ, of each merchant indicated in the list handed over to the Wakīl. A considerable part of the sending was lost, margin l. 7. The merchants obviously did not trust the Wakīl to portion off the remainder equitably. About this important aspect of the Wakīl's office, see [reference to be inserted later]."