Geniza Lab

Letter from Avraham b. Natan, possibly in Tyre, to a tenant of his, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Gil identified the sender based on his handwriting. Dating: ca. 1094 CE. The sender tells the addressee to pay the rent that is due to Nahray b. Nissim (called both "Rabbenu" and "Gadol ha-Yeshiva"), who will forward it to the sender, who needs it to pay his own rent. The addressee and his wife must be very careful in looking after the house, and especially must not sublet it to anybody who will mess it up. They should send an update on it, and inform the sender about who is living on the lower floor. The lower floor must not be let to a Jew, "because a Jew will want an oven (tannūr) and kitchen (maṭbakh)," which is not feasible on the lower floor. "You know that I let it ONLY to you. Comply(?) with the terms and pay the rent which you owe to Rabbenu Nahray." (Information in part from Gil's edition and Goitein’s index card.)