Cairo Genizah : Letter; colophon

Cairo Genizah

<p style='text-align: justify;'><p>Recto: letter from a woman, probably from Alexandria, to her paternal uncle. Ca. 1030 according to Gil (1997, ii 664). The writer's family, a family of merchants that had emigrated from the Maghreb, has been left without any males after the death of both the writer’s father and grandfather. The writer describes the wretched state of the family. She fears that her mother will fall sick from severe grief: she has no eye or body left, and she is either literally or practically fainting from her excessive weeping. They are worried that their property will be confiscated when the government finds out that there is no man in the family. She appeals to the uncle to help them. Despite the difficulties, she also mentions that the family has received a shipment of merchandise. On verso there is a note in Judaeo-Arabic about the hafṭara for haʾazinu (unrelated to the letter on recto): תרגום אפטארה האזינו. There are stitching holes at the top of the letter, suggesting the parchment was taken from a book, and as this note is written transversely in relation to the letter, it may have been part of the original text.</p></p>