Letter to Her Brother, ‘Eli ibn Hilāl

In this Judeo-Arabic letter, an unnamed woman in Fustāt (Old Cairo) writes to her brother, Abū ’l-Ḥasan Eli (‘Alī) ibn Hilāl (Hillel) al-Baghdādī, who was the deputy overseer (nā’ib al-nāẓir) of al-Bahnasā, Egypt. She details many local events, the illness of her sons, and mercantile concerns over silk. The letter was written by the well-known scribe Ḥalfon ben Manasseh, thought to be the author’s husband. The ellipsis indicates a lacuna in the manuscript.