Letter to Her Son

This Judeo-Arabic letter, preserved in the Cairo Geniza, expresses the emotions and daily anxieties of a mother missing her son, who was living in Alexandria. As was common practice, the writer dictated this letter to a scribe, who added his personal notes, testifying to the interconnected relationships in this period. The woman’s concerns about her son’s health, the scribe’s desire to acquire a book to copy, and the other quotidian demands of this letter make their lives particularly relatable. Italics indicate Hebrew in the original.