Geniza Lab

Letter from Ṭāhir, in Qūṣ, to his mother, in Alexandria. In Arabic script; large, very regular characters. Dating: Possibly 11th century. Goitein notes that this fragment is a palimpsest, but the 'undertext' may simply be a mirror-image imprint. The sender has rented animals (either donkeys or camels) to travel to ʿAydhāb for 8 dinars. He hopes to set sail at the end of Rajab. A large part of the letter is devoted to greetings to everybody at home and requests for prayers. He reports that a man known as [...] al-Farsī (or al-Qurashī?) told him that his cousins (awlād ʿammī) are well, living in a place called تبليه ?نبايه? in Yemen. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card and attached notes.)