Cairo Genizah : Letter; calendrical

Sahlān b. Abraham

Cairo Genizah

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Recto: letter, probably written by Sahlān b. Abraham, instructing his uncle, Aaron ‘the appointee’ (i.e. Aaron the cantor b. Ephraim), to attempt to make peace between Baqā [ha-]Kohen b. Joseph, and his wife Ḥusn b. Aaron, or to bring her to court. She had previously refused to appear in court, with her mother claiming that she was ill, and is thus in danger of being charged with rebellion against both her husband and the court. The letter ends with a request to send the two ṭarīs (= 0.5 dinars), a charitable donation to the synagogue, without delay, and is signed with Sahlān’s motto ‘covenant of integrity’. In the context of attempting a reconciliation between the couple, an allusion is made to Judges 19:3. Verso: Verso: Calendar for years 1345–1349 of the Seleucid Era (= 1033-1034 to 1037-1038 CE), indicating when months begin and festivals occur. In the beginning of the calendar the dates and times of tequfot are indicated. In the later years the tequfot are announced but no information about them is included. Part of the calendar for 1348 SE (= 1136-1137 CE) is included in a frame to indicate that it is copied with mistakes and the calendar is re-written below. </p>