Miriam bat Maymūn

Outside of a letter that she sent her brother and at least one brief reference in another text, little is known about the life of Miriam bat Maymūn, a sister of Moses Maimonides. From the point of view of the family, it may be significant that she carried the name of the sister of the biblical Moses. Her ability to read or write is not known. From a letter she sent to her brother, preserved in the Cairo Geniza, it appears that she spoke in an Iberian dialect of Arabic, as would be expected. Given that she sent a letter to Maimonides, who was probably living in Fustāt, she may have lived elsewhere in Egypt or, it has been suggested, even further away.