Geniza Lab

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Tuesday night, 1 Adar 1539 Seleucid, which is 1228 CE. The writer advises the addressee to resort to the intervention of the mothers and wives of certain 'righteous gentiles': Umm Ibrāhīm and her son; the amir Najm al-Dīn; the wife of Jamāl al-Dīn "who was in the wilāya (=iqṭāʿ?)" of Mubāriz al-Dīn and represented him "in the gate of the Sultan"; and Sitt Masʿūd. He also asks the addressee to inquire about ophthalmics (ashyāfāt). Information from Goitein's note card. ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. All four fragments likely belong to the same letter. T-S AS 207.180 + T-S AS 207.198 is almost a direct join, and T-S AS 207.179 + T-S AS 207.17 is definitely a direct join; the first pair does not seem to directly join with the second pair. In the first pair of fragments, after the standard opening greetings, the sender reports that (s)he ran into [Yaʿ?]qūb al-Kohen al-[...] al-Khawlī (=agricultural overseer) and asked after the addressees' news. Then (s)he met with Masʿūd the Parnas and asked after them. This is followed by a fragmentary reference to "the siege of the city" (al-ḥiṣār ʿalā l-balad); "you are in Fustat every day"; and instructions about sending letters. The second pair of fragments transitions into standard closing greetings, including from "my mother" to "her/your mother and her brothers and sisters." The sender has learned that the addressees are sick, probably an ocular complaint, because (s)he next mentions a sack (ṭillīs), 3/4 of a raṭl, and "within it is an ophthalmic" (ashyāf), and "there is benefit in it, for people were preoccupied with the diseases..." Joins by Amir Ashur. AA. ASE.