Letter to ‘Ulla ben Joseph ha-Levi

This letter, written by Yaḥyā ibn ‘Ammār of Alexandria, is a typical example of a formal petition to a wealthy Jew. Yaḥyā asks for financial assistance to alleviate the travails caused by his creditors, from whom Yaḥyā had fled to Fustāt (Old Cairo), leaving behind a large family in Alexandria that included an ailing mother. This letter adopts almost all of the structural features of an Arabic petition, as was common in such documents. He employed a number of rhetorical strategies to ingratiate himself to his would-be benefactor, ‘Ulla ben Joseph ha-Levi. This letter is in the handwriting of the court clerk Ḥalfon ben Manasseh ha-Levi.