Letter to Abū ’l-Faraj Joseph Ibn ‘Awkal (II)

In this Judeo-Arabic letter, the brothers Joseph and Nissim ben Berekhiah inform the important merchant Abū ’l-Faraj Ibn ‘Awkal of the death of the Tunisian nagid (an office of local leadership that appeared in a number of areas of the Islamic world during the eleventh century) and the precarious position that his death left them in. Abū ’l-Faraj was a leader of Fustāt (Old Cairo) Jewry and a man of significant financial means, so it is not surprising that the brothers appealed to him. Abū ’l-Faraj likewise played an important role as an intermediary between the Baghdadi and Palestinian academies and their supporters in the Maghreb. Ellipses indicate lacunae in the manuscript.