Michaelides Fragments : Letter between two brothers-in-law

Michaelides Fragments

<p style='text-align: justify;'><a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(1);return false;'>Recto:</a> Early epistolary format. Address comes immediately after the <i>basmala</i>: لابي نعيم. The writer states that he has received the letter of the addressee, that he is pleased that he is in good health, and that he has understood what he says in the letters. Closes with the phrase: و كتب ليومين بقيا من ذى الحجة 'It was written with two days remaining of <i>Dhū al-Ḥijjah</i>'. The letter is sent from a certain <i>Abū ʿAmr</i> and his wife <i>Umāma</i> to one <i>Abū Nuʿaym</i> and his family. The main reason of the letter is to get in touch and to maintain the <i>ṣihr</i> relationship (relationship through marriage). The letter closes after blessings for the addressee and the final <i>salām</i> greeting with the date.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>The references to the addressee within the letter fluctuate between the plural and the singular. The scribe makes mistakes in grammar and spelling. The letter is well structured with gaps to mark off the onset of sections.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'><a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(2);return false;'>Verso:</a> Address of letter on recto, partly obliterated.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'> For more information see <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/21541/II_the%20Texts.pdf?sequence=11'>full description in <i>Joy and sorrow in early Muslim Egypt, text 24</i></a>. </p>