Geniza Lab

Private letter from Raqqa to Moses Maimonides (?). Letter from Raqqah (Syria) to Fustat. May 1197. The writer stayed in Fustat in the past. He laments the lack of intellectual life in Raqqa, and is determined to return to Fustat once his business in Raqqa has furnished sufficient profit. Halakhic questions had been addressed to Yosef, and then to Shemuel and Avraham in Aleppo, and Shemuel had come to Raqqa with a commentary on Berakot. Various business matters are also discussed, involving ʿEli, and also Abu l-Zuhd in Damascus, as well as the recipient. He sends his greetings to Maimonides and several other people in the city. It seems like he is a poet and a person who copies books. Mentions his desire to return to Fustat but because of his work he cannot. He was expecting to receive several books from Aleppo and other places but only one of them arrived. The writer is a clothing merchant as well and has contacts with the people in Aleppo and Damascus. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #90 and CUDL) VMR