Geniza Lab

Recto/verso: recto and verso

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely Tammuz 1232 CE, and almost definitely 1232–37 CE. See below for explanation. Writer and addressee are unidentified. The writer dictated the letter to his son. They were evidently affluent merchants and suppliers to the army. The letter is mainly about the controversy over the prayer reforms of the Nagid Avraham Maimonides. The sons of the Sixth (the family members of the previous dynasty of Nagids) submitted a petition against Avraham to the Sultan al-Malik al-ʿĀdil, to which Avraham responded with a counter-petition signed by almost 200 people from the community, testifying that he had not forced his prayer reforms on anybody. The writer maintains that all those who signed in favor of Avraham testified falsely and deserve to be punished by the shaving of their beards, for he claims that Avraham certainly did force his prayer reforms on the community in their synagogues. The writer goes on to report on recent deaths, including that of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu (who predeceased his father) and Yūsuf b. al-Kharrāz (who ate dinner and went to sleep and died; in the morning, his face was "black as ink"). There is a section on the prices of various commodities, a section on relations with the military officer Kātib al-ʿArab, and greetings. As for the justification for the dating: Avraham Maimonides died in 1237. There were two sultans named al-Malik al-ʿĀdil. The first was the brother of Saladin and reigned 1200–18. The second was the grandson of the first (the son of al-Malik al-Kāmil) and reigned 1238–40, after the death of Avraham Maimonides. However, during the years 1232–38 when al-Malik al-Kāmil lived in Syria, al-Malik al-ʿĀdil the Younger sometimes represented his father in Egypt. Goitein determined that the reference must be to al-Malik al-ʿĀdil the First, which would date the document to 1204–18. But the plot thickens, because Shelomo b. Eliyyhau—whose death is reported in this document—was still alive in the month of Av in 1231 CE (Med Soc II, 575 n. 60) and Heshvan 1231 CE (Freer F 1908.44H). The present letter is dated Sunday 5 Tammuz. This narrows the window to 1232–37 CE. The trouble is that the 5th of Tammuz can never fall on a Sunday.... so either the scribe was off by a day or meant to write 15th of Tammuz. The latter option is supported by the phrase "may its sadness be turned to joy," which might refer to the upcoming 17th of Tammuz fast. (Information mainly from Friedman's article on this document; see also Mediterranean Society, I, p. 141; II, p. 485).