T-S 12.45
Letter to the judge Natan (b. Shelomo?) ha-Kohen (he-ḥaver ha-meʿulle ha-dayyan ha-maskil bet din hagun...). In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 12th century. Goitein's index card suggests that the sender could be the addressee's cousin Ṭoviyya b. ʿEli—but the handwriting is not Ṭoviyya's. The purpose of the letter is to ask for help on behalf of the bearer, formerly the tax farmer (ḍāmin) of 'the freight (nawl) of [...]' in Shubrā Damsīs. This man left the city years ago, and he was targeted by his creditors when he returned. The case seems tangled and involves Salāma Ibn al-Muʿallim, 33 dirhams, Barakāt al-Dimashqī, outstanding debts to the diwan, and 3 dinars. (See Goitein's attached notes for his attempt to sort out the details.) The addressee is asked to help the bearer approach 'Sayyidnā' for help. The sender says "there is benefit for us in this" (wa-lanā bihi nafʿ). (The same phrase, incidentally, appears as a Judaeo-Arabic marginal annotation in an Arabic-script document from 1507 CE—D. S. Richards, "Arabic Documents from the Karaite Community in Cairo," doc. XV.) The sender also refers to a woman who is "naked and lacking everything," perhaps a family member of the ex-ḍāmin. ASE
