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393

GLIMPSESFROM THE CAIRO GENIZA O}i I{AVAL WARFARE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN ATVDOI\TTHE MOISGOLII{VASION
s. D . co ITEIN ( Jer usalenr )

Among the rnany and variegated fields of research cultir;atecllry the reverccimaster to whonr this volumc is dedicated t h e r e is o n e w h i ch i s p a rticular ly char acter istic of a scholar rvho lives rvith manuscripts and, at the same time, is enclowecl r v i t h a kce n scn scr o f h i stor l' : the publication of contcm por a r v r cp o rts o n h i sto ri ca l events. Thus no student of M icldle E a s t c r n h i sto ry rvo u l d co n sent to m iss such an excellent sour ce of information as the eyc-rvitncssreportof a Turkish officer rvho took part in the ltattle l;etween the Mongols and Maml u k s a t 'A i n Ga l u t, S e p te mber tz6o, outstanclinglybr ought to l i g h t l r y P ro fe sso r L e vi D ella Vida. A s a sma l l to kcn o f g ratitude and admir ation, thr ee fr agments of letters from the Cairo Geniza ' are published hcre, r v h i c h al so co .n ta i nre fe re n c csto militar v events. Thc stor ies t h e y h a ve to te l l a rc sh o rt and one letter is par ticular ly badly p r e s e r ve d . H o u 'e ve r, a s w c hear in our sour cesso seldom the 'u'oice o f th e ci vi l p o p u l a ti o n r vhich had to cndur e all the hor rors and hardships of mecliaeval rvarfare, even thcse brief c o m m en ts o l t co n te mp o rar y events lr r ay not be altogether ri'ithout value.
' About the nature ar-rdscope of tlie Cairo Geniza see the present rvriter's article T/te Cairo Gertizaas a ,roarce for the l{istory of Muslim Ciui/isalion, in Studia fslamica,III (Paris I 9 5 5 ) , p p . j 5 - 9 r , 1 r ' h e r e further literature is quoted.

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The first fragment published in the following is fron-r a letter sent arotrnd rloo from al-Mahdiyya, then the capital of Tunisia, to Cairo. In the letter itself, as far as it is preserved, n e i t h e r t h e p l a c e s o f d e s p a t c h n o r o f d e s t i r - r a t i o na r e i n d i c a t e d . However, the rccipient, 'Arr-rs b. Joseph, was a u'ellknorvn businessman,u'ho flourished in Cairo during thc last decadc of the t I. century and the first tu'o of the tz, ancl u'as engaged both in the Mediterranean and the Indian trade'. On the other harrcl,the very contcnts of the letter shows that it rvas scnt from al-Mahdiyya. As the letter clearly betrays a state of blockade on that main port of Tunisia, one may u'onder horv the letter lvas clcspatched and rcached its destination. TJre ans\\rer to this qttestion is to be foLrnd in maJrlr Geniza papers: although passengers:rnd merchandise mostly u'ent ltrship, mail often \v:rs sc'nt overiand throtrgh professional mes'Arhs' interest in the naval r,var hacl, sengers, called ftrt!". of course, practical reasons: he rvas cagcr to knor',' rvhether the Andalusian and North-African merchants rvotrld arrive u'ith their urares in Egypt that summer or not. The eneml' mentioned in the letter (ll. Z and 9) most probfrom Sicily, although it ma1, have been ably were I'forn-Lans also raiclers sent by one of the Italian merchants-cities, sr-rcir as Genoa or Pisa. As is u'ell-knor,l'n, al-Mahdiy;'a itself had
' Details about this rnan rvill be found in my forthcoming eclition of tire Geniza papers on trade and trar.el betrveenthe Xlediterralrcanand thi: Indian ocear),rvhere a special subsection(V /) is devoted to hinr. ' Thus rvhen the famous Hebrew poet Yehuda Hallevi stoppedat all\'Iahdiyya on his rvav-by sea- from Spain to Egypt, he received there n-rail dispatched to hirn frorn Spain overland, rvhile the ttrerchantu'ho took care of him there sent a letter, also by land, to Cairo, describing in detail the adventures of the poet in that town. Whiie the letter was rvritten, the poet already was on board ship arvaiting departure for Alexandria; nevertheless i t i s e v i d e n t f r o m t h e c o n t e n t s o f t h a t l e t t e r t h a t i t s s e n d e r e x p e c t e di t t o arrive lorrg before that ship. Details in the present rvriter's article T/te last phase in tlte life of Yehuda l{alleui in the lig/tt of //te Geniza papers, itt T a r b i z , X X I \ r ( J e r u s a l e mI 9 5 4 ) , P P . z t - 1 t - .

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GlimPses on naaal zuarfare irz tlte Medzterraned.n

395

been taken temporarilv by Christian forces in ro87 and rvas again to fall into Norman hands sixty years after that first s a c k ' . T h i s ti me , h o u .e ve r,the blockadecould not have been r;ef)' heavy, as single merchantmen tried to break it. The f i r s t , a n A n d a l trsi a n sh i p , w e ar e told, cam e off undamaged a f t e r a ba tti e to r,'n 'h i ch n i g h tfall set an end. However , it had t o g o b a ck to S fa x i n S o u th er n Tunisia and u' as thus unable t o r e a c h th e h i g h se a . T h e second ship, r vhich belonged to M o r o c c an s,w a s d ri ve n to th e coast, r amm ed and captur ed b1' the crreml', .rho was altle to take au.ay even the thiqd/, " the h e a v y b a g g a g c" , th c ca rg o of the ship. I n o rd cr to u n d e rsta n d the par ticular indignation of the N o r t h - Afri ca n me rch a n ts th en in al- M ahcliyy' a,it is tr scful to c o m p a r e a n o th e r re p o rt o n p ir - acyin those r vatcr s at the same t i m c . I n a l e tte r to th e repr csentative of thc Jewish mer c h a n t s i n C a i ro , a n A l e xa rrdr ian businessmandcscr il> es thc plight of a number of Jervish merchants travelling from althc pirates, took Mahdiyya to Sicily: the af /xabaslt-shazaatzV, the Jews and the light luggagc thcy had (a/-hhzf), but the heavy baggage (atlr-t/raql) remained in the ship ". That t h i s t i m e th e e n e mv h a d l e i sur e enough to car r y a\\r a) ' cven t h e c a r g o o f a Mtrsl i m sh i p near the ver y gates of thc capital s h o w e d th a t th e rtrl e rs o f Tunisia had cntir cly lost their f o r m e r ma ri ti me sl l D re ma cv.

T h c se co n d fra g me n t, tvhich is published her e only in p a r t , i l l ustra te s e \,-e n mo re tellingly than the fir st the eclipse of Muslim sea power during the first half of the tu"elfrh century. The letter was written in r r 37 and clearly contains a reference t o t h e a tta ck o f a Ge n o e sefl eet on Bougie, at that time the
'Cf. Enc. fslatn, IIi, p. r2z s. z. al-N{ahdiya, ,11-Baya2/o'/-Mog/trih. transl. b). E. Fagnan, I, ,148-45o etc. ' B o d l e i a n , O x f o r d . l \ { s . b r r , f o l . 5 , r l . r 8 - 9 ( T o b e i n c l u d e c il n the r.olume mentioned in note I of p. 396).

_ffi
396 S . D. Goitein

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rnost important harbour of Algeria, in tt36, rvhen Yahl'), the last Hammadid (.ttzz-t t 5z), \\ras rr-tler of that to\\'n '. The letter \vas sent from Spain, as the rvriterr alludes to t h e f a c t t h a t t h e e n e m y a t t a c k e d B o r - r g i ea n d n o t t h e c o a s t of Andah-rs. It \vas certainly addressed to Egl'pt, for the t'riter is senditrg a consignment of coiiyriunl through the sahib, the agent, of " our lord, n-ray his glory be exaitecl ", l\.ho can l;e none btrt the Gaon, or President of the Palcstinian Acadcmr', rvhich then, orving to the presenceof thc CruJer,r.ish s a d e r s i n t h c H o l y L a n d , h a d i t s s e z r ti r - rC a i r o . I n n r a . n y o t h c r Geniza papers of that tin'rethe Gaon is mentioned in that tl'a\". The u'ritcr of the lctter no doubt had his homc ancl familv He is rvriting herc to his u'ife, rvhom he asks to grcct in Egypt. hcr grar-rdmother (r'erso I7), as well as his ol'n mother (in tht: l i n c s u ' h i c h a r e n o t r e p r o c l u c c c lh e r t : ) . H e a p o l o g i z c s f o r n o t corrring hon'rc that vcar becauseof the insecnrity prevailing or-t sca or,l'ingto the u'ar betrvccn Christians and Muslims but cons o l e s h i m s e l f a n d t h e a d d r c s s e er v i t h t h e t h o u g h t t h a t s h e h a c l cnough left to keep her going until his return. In addition, he sent her six baskets of coliyriunt 3. It is interesting to see that thc'uvritcr did not even consider thc possibility of travclling by land. No doubt, travel over-

' SeeA. ScHAUBT, Ilandelsgesc/tichle der romttnisc/ten L'o/,\er, \[.ijnchcn T r v c l v e G e n o e s es h i p s a t t a c k e d t h e p a r a , z t 7 . I 9 o 6 , p . z 7 B , B e r l i n und port and took au'ay rvith them a richly loadcd tnerchant matr. ' At that time, the Gaon of the Acaclerny was I'Iaslial,r, rvlio died in rr38, see Jacon \{aNN, Terts attd Studies iru Jezuis/t I{islory and Literalure, I, p. z5!, lvhere furthcr literature is quoted. : Tlie traders, rvl-ro rnerchanrvent overseas,allvays sent their farr-rilies Collydise-rvhich u'as made into money-, but no cash, for their exPenses. riurrr rvas found in .Sirain,cf. E. Lf l't-PnovENEAL, L'Espagne tnusulmaneatt X , s i i c l e , P a r i s I 9 3 2 , p . r 7 7 . I t f r e q u e n t l y o c c u r s i n t h e G e n i z a p a p e r sa s article of export, as far as India. The rvord sitl in this docurnent, aerso 1. t7, was abot'e translated as " grandntother ". Horvever it corrld mean also aunt and mother-in-lau'. It is true, the husband speaksof his mother as'rvirlidati, but he could refer ''. t o i r e r a s e c o n dt i m e a s " y o u r m o t h e r - i n - l a r v l n m a l t y l e t t e r s ,t h e u ' r i t ers ask their parents or other relatives to pray to God that they shotrld safely come home.

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G/impses on n(zaal zL,arf(tre in the Mediterranean

397

l a n d u . a s fa r mo re e xp e n si \.e and per hapsalso m or e danger ous th e Mediter r anean. Seeabove p. 394. t h a n t h e j o trrn e y th ro r-l g h A n o t h e r i n te re sti n g p o i n t to be gather ed fr om the letter is the w r i t e r ' s r e m a r k t h a t a p a r t i c t r l a r l yb i g s h i p h a d j u s t b e e n c o n s t r u c t e d ' a n d th a t h e h o p e d to ar r ive on it in Egypt in the foll o u ' i n g v c a r . O b v i o u s l y s r - t c ha b i g s h i p p r o v i d e d p r o t e c t i o n against pirates and enemies as t-ell as from the dangers of the s e a . T h e r e s e e n r st o b e a n o t h e r a l l t r s i o nt o t h i s s h i p i n t h e G c n i z a papcrs. For u'hen the Hebrcu- poct Yehuda l{allcvi arrir-cd from Spain in Alcxandria on the 8. September II+o, it rvas mcntionccl in the letter.'vhich annollnccclhis arrival to a friencl of his in Cairo that he travellcd " ort the nnv ship of thc Sult a n " , r v h i l e o t h e r p : r s s c n g e r sc a m c " o n t h e s h i p o f t h e Q a ' i c l " . " A t t h c l > c g i n r r i n go f t h e i e t t c r t h c r v r i t c r s a y s t h a t h e h a d i n t e n ded to travel either on thc ship a/-Fa,b/tr2--11esf probablv bclongirrg to or namecl aftcr ont Fah/tr at/-Dau/o--or r','ith thc u ' h i c h o b v i o r , r s l l ' m e a n s" a s h i p o f t h c n r a n f r o m Gaeta ". Many years ago, cle Goeje has emphasized that the Muslim geographer Ibn Gtibair, in thc vcrv days of the great \\.ars between Christians and Muslims (Ii84) travellecl all the rvav from Ceuta to Alexandria and back again from Acrc to Sicily and from there to his homeland on Christiar-r ships 3. A similar fact emcrges from the Geniza papers, ."rrhcreJews f r o n t M t i s l i n r c o t t t l t r i e s f r e e l y t r a y c l o n G e n o e s eo r P i s a p e s h i p s a .
' L i n f o r t u n a t e l \ ' , t h e n a n r e :o f t h c p l a c c u ' h e r e t h e s l ' r i pu - a s b u i l t i s torn a\vav. N'Iost probably, it rvas Almeria, sec E. Ltvt-PRovENQAL, ,y'. ril., p. t8r. ' C f . t l r e a r t i c l e .n r . e r r t i o n e p. 3a-+ ad bor-e notc 2. p. z6 and note r5. 'I'lre Sultan nlost probablv rvas the Hanrmi"did Yahya b.'Aziz of Bougic. v a r i o r - rC s e n i z a p a p e r st h e r e a p p e a rs i d e b y s i d e t h e s h i p o f t h e S u l t a n For ir-r ancl that of tlie Q-r'id or of Q.f id Nlairnr-rn of Almeria. Not\', these trvo, the Sult;rn Yah,l'z\arrcl the Qrr'iclI{airnun of Alnreria appear likervi-se together rd i . it h P i s a o n z J u l y r r 3 3 . S e e i n a t r e a t v o f p e a c ea r r d f r i e n c l s h i p conclr-rde ," n 7 d note3 there. It is true Schaube - { . . S C ' H A L R E , o / . c t l . . 1 t . 2a speaks of t h e ^ \ l r n o r a v i dS u l t a n . B u t n o A l r n o r a v i dS t r l t a no f t h a t n a r n ee r - e re x i s t e d . : DE GopJr, NI. J., fnternalionaal lmudelsuerheer itt de Middeleu'iL,en,\'erslagen and \Iedecleelingen der Kor.r. Akademie, Letterkrrnde, Anrsterdanl I9o9, pp. 264-5. a Detaiis in the forthcoming volurne referred to in note r of p. :o-1.

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Here, u.e rvould have an instance of the tise of a ship from Gaeta and also at a tin-re of great tension. To be sure, Gaeta was conquered by Roger II of Sicily trvo years before, in r i35. This holever, does not exclude that a ship should be called after " a man from Gaeta ". As the husband mentions the Gaetan ship to his rvife in trgypt rvithout any further comment, it

must have been quite common for an Egyptian Jerv to travel o n th a t sh i p fro m Spain to the Levant.
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T i rc l a st cl o cunr entto be published her c n' as u' r itten al mo st e xa ctl v a h unclr edyear s after that jr - r stdiscussed. It u .as .se n t,a s \\rc sh a l l s hor viater on, fr om M osr - r lin December t276. A t th zrt ti me th e Near and M iddlc East wer e at the m er cv of th e Mo n g o l h o rcl s,who, after the defeat and death of the Khrv hri zm S h a h Ga l e l ad- Din encoutr ter edno m ilitar y for ce r vh i c h w a s a l rl e a n d rvilling to opposc them . Jingiz Khan \v as a l re a d y d e a d , b u t it was under his successorOgothay ( r zz 9iords of rz4r) that the Mongol armies became the ur-rdispr-rtccl th e E u ra si a n co ntinent. Kieu' fell ( 6.7.r 24o) ancl anci ent l l ,r,rssi a h n i sto rl ' c am e to un encl. The joint Ger man ancl Pol i sh a rmi cs w e re r outed at Licgnitz ( 9.4.r 2e,) and it r vas on l y r vhich caused the victor s not to i n n e r Mo n g o l i a n dcvelopm ents p u rsu e th e i r cn e mies m or e dceply into their ter r itor y. Lik en- r adeheadr vay' . rvi se , i n C h i n a th e M or - r gols F ro m su ch a time we hear in this docur nent the voice of t h e h a r r a s s e dp o p u l a t i o n a n d i t i s i n s t r u c t i v e t o c o m p a r c i t rvi th o th e r re a cti ons to the l\{ ongol ter r or clescr ibedto us i n th e l i te ra ry so l l rces. B o th th e se nder and th: r ecipient of the letter belonged to th e ro ya l h o u se of David, the ancient King of Isr ael, fr o m rvh i ch " th e P ri n c es of the Diaspor a " of Babylonia- Ir aq h ad b e e n ch o se n fo r at least onc thotr sand year s. At that tim e,
' Cf. B. Sluten, Die -LIongoleu itt fran, Leipzig 1939, p. 31 it. The same, Die ,llongc/enzeil, Berlin 1948, pp. r.+-5. Pnncv SvrES, A I{islory of Persia, II, pp. 9o-1.

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Glinepses on naual zuarifarz itz tlte lrlediterranean

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horvever, the Davidic family had become extremely ramified a n d i t s m e m b e r s w e r e l i k e s o m e S h a r i f s o r S a y y i d s , r , v h ot r a c e d their origin back to the Muslim Prophet ancl to some half-forgotten dynasty which was, or pretended to be, of the Prophet's family. The recipient resided temporarily in Egypt, but obviously belonged to the branch of the family who had its seat z9-3o) and both in l\,{osul. For he rvas expected there back (.11. . u v r i t e r possesscd there, togcther rvith other Davihe and the dids, a joint mansion. The main section of the letter, rvhich i s n o t p r i n t e d h c r e , c o n c - e r n sr e s t o r a t i o n s t o b c c a r r i e d o u t i n '. that house The cxact whereabouts of the sender can be ascertained o n l y ' b y a p e r t r s a l o f t h e u , ' h o l et e x t o f t h e l e t t c r , r v h i c h c o n tains 86 lirres. He rvritcs from Mosul, a few days after thc c , v , g 1 1d r escribcd by him, but asks to send him the ansu'cr to A i c p p o , t o r v h i c h t o r v n h c w a s p r o c c c d i n g ( . 1 .l z a n d 1 . 6 o ) . Furthcrmorc, hc requests the addressec to buy him a specificcl piece of cloth and to bring it u'ith hinr, u'hen thcy u,'otrld mc'ct in l)amascus ". He rcfers in thc letter to a prcr-ious s t a v i n D a m a s c t r s ( 1 . 3 z ) , u ' h c r e n e w s t h e n c : r m e rf r o m M o s u l '1. 39) On that previotrs iourncy he hacl met the acldressee and it is u'ith a rcfcrcncc to his coming home from that journcy that the iettcr opens (1. 7). Sincc his return to his homctou'n Mosul, the rvriter sa.ys, hc hacl endured three times dangcr from the " Tatars " 3, the last onc rvhcn an attack rvas made by them " on the day of fasting ". As the letter was lvritten in the month of Teveth r 548 of the Seleucid era-lvhich corresponds to 3o \ovember to z8 December tz76-, onll'the fast of the lo of Teveth, which coincided rn'ith g December r216, cotrld be meant. On the clay of fasting, the ri'riter and some other people held their
'Reserved for a later publication,'vhen also the intricate problerns of the identitv and rvl-rereabouts of the various persons mentioned in the ietter rvill be discussed. ' Tlre u'ord bidimish.g in iine 86 belongs to ila /-ligti' in l. 85 and does n o t d e s i g n t h e p l a c e o f d i s p a t c h .u ' h i c h a s a r u l e , n e v e r a p p e a r sa t t h e e n d o f a l e tt e r . 3 Tl-re rnost comrnon nalne for tr{onsois in the Arabic of that time.

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prayers in the viliage of al-'Inrraniy,va, obviously because the syrlagogue of that place \\ras particularll' holl', just as the synagogue of Damuh near Cairo or Gaubar near Damascus. For the Muslim geographer Yaqht (ed. Wiistenfeld, III, p . 723') tells us that in al-'Imraniyya eastof N{osul there \vasa cave callc'd David's cAve, r.l'hich serr-ed as a goal of pilgrimage. Yacprt does not say, for rvhich religion; but such holy legendaryplaces connected u'ith the herocs of the Olcl Testament normally \\rerc visited l;r,' the adherents of the three monotheistic rcligions and it is not ver)' farfe tched to surmise that the presenceof a large number of Davidids in Mosul gavc rise to that locai sanct u a r y . I n ; r n o t h e r v o l u m e ( I I , I r . 3 8 8 , 1 1 .t 4 - r 5 ; , Y a q f r t m a k c s anothcr refcrcnce to that village, rvhich is verl'usefr-rl for tl-re undcrstancling of thc docttmetrt ttnder disctr-ssion. \\/hile describing the Khazer 1i1'g1-q6 famous in Mr-rslim historyYaqr-rt says that its source rises near a village callecl Arltiin and then florvs bctu,eetr the village of al-'Imr5.ni1,ya and the I t i s n o t a m i s s t o a s s t t m ct h a t t h c m o u n mountain Khilibtd'. t a i r - ru ' h i c h i s r e p e a t e d l y r e f e r r e d t o i n o r i r l c t t e r ( l l . t 3 , t 5 a n d zt) is none but that Khilibta. As to the Mongols, there is of corrrse nothing :rerv in thc rcport that they killed everybody', of whom' the1, cotrld gct h o l d . I t i s h o u r e v e ri n t e r e s t i n g t o r e a d t h a t t h e y r o d c i n c o m pat:t detachments of 25 (.zr'), 50 (1. tZ) atrd " approximatclv " roo ridcrs (1. l8). That they disappearedas suddenll' as they camc and that there is no mentioning of any attempt at resistance is also characteristic. Unlike the stories, reportcd by Muslim and other historians altout the terror-stricket'rpopulatior-r, rvhich was paralyzed b1' fear, one cleariy sees irere that the u'riter did not lose his head despite utmost danger. Of course, he recited " the confession of sins ", ?S one shottld do, r,vhen one expects death (1. I8), but he managed to escape three timcs. Obviousl'r' the Mongols had the habit of reappear-

' T h e n a m e o f t h i s rncrrrntairr (rrnder the form of Halabs/ta)lvas farvho took part in a seminar, held tny frorn Baghdid, students miliar to jointly by Professor D. H. Baneth and mvself. in rvhich this letter rvas discussed.

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Glimpses on naual zz,arifareirc th.e Mediterranean

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irg soon, after thel' had devastated a region, for our rvriter a n d h i s co mp a n i o n sre ma i n e d for full eight days on the Khilibta m o u n t a i n , n o u ri sh i n g tl re mselves with the leaves of oak- tr ees a n d b r e ad ma d e o f b ra n , b e for e they dar ed to appear in the open country on their way back to Mosul. As it is rvellkno\\,'n. the Mongols r,verenot keen on penetrating hills covered r,vith d c n s e v e g e ta ti o n . T h a t th e r vr iter devotcs onlv zz out of t h e 8 6 l i n e s o f h i s l e tte r to h i s nar r ow cscapefr om thc M ongols possibly indicates that by that time the population of the c o u n t r i e s a d j a ce n t to th e Wester n botr ndar iesof Per sia had a l r c a d v b e c o m e a c c t r s t o m e dt o t h a t t e r r i b l e v i s i t a t i o n .

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(t) I a m rn 'ri ting this lettcr - m ay God pr olong thc lifc o f my l o rd , th c (z) Sheikh and make per manent his honottr c d in gooclhr :alth, p o si ti o n , h i s su ccess and happiness- ( :) beir "r g n ra v Go d u n i te L rs ( 4) in the best of cir cttm stances. \4r hat I h a ve te l l yo u (5 ) a botr t the nelvsof the r var is that ar t Andait r .si a n (6 ) sh i p se t sail fr om al- M ahdiyyzr , the cnemy ( 7) fought i t, i ru t th e r-ri g h tsepar atedthem and it ( 8) r etur ned safely' t o S fa x. T h cn , w h e n ( q) u secondship set s:r il, the etlem v r an tme cl i t (ro ) a n d to ok evcr ything which r vas in it, mer chandi s e a n d (rr) p e o p l e , a nd left the ship tur ned upside clown. ( r t ) E l e v e nm e n r e t u r n e c.l. . ( r 3 ) A b o u t t h i s . . . ( I 4 ) T h c N { a g h r i b i s (rve reve ry a n g rv), that the enem y was able to car r y ar vay ( 15) you. evcn their cargo... (t6) This is rvhat I have to annollncre P l e a sel e t me kn o r'r ' ( r 7) the pr ice of khazash ( a kincl of siik ) . In th e re ma i ning lines the nam es of som e per sons and w a re s a re d i sce rn i ble. Address: To my lord, the Sheikh Abu l-Afrah __may God preserve his honottred position'A r[s, so n o f Jo se ph,m( ay he r est in) E( den) From his gratefr-rl Abraham, solt of Jacol r m( ay) h( is soul dwell) i( n bliss ) .

[,t]

Glimpses on rzaual zuarfare itz t/ze :vlediterranea?x

4o3

Alotes on Text r. The letter is rvritten in big, almost childish, characters and in a ratirer erratic orthography. It is by no meansusual to rnrrite p l e n e ( i . " . r v i t h a t r x i l i a r y v o w e l s )t o t h e e x t e n t t , h i c h tlre u'riter indulges in. c,f. (a) rrt: (tu'ice) for Ar; (u) Eln for f.,\t ; ' t o ; ) l : f o r 5 ; ( f ' l E " L - ' l : 'f:o r ; < - : * . H o u - e r . , , r ,-g , fi iN:::D ll7tr^ tor (rvhich stancls here for --tr^S is much ir-r vogr,re. .l -1r* cf. D. H. Rancth, Bnlletin of thc Jea,ts/2, PalestitzeEr!loration So ci e ty, X II (Jcru sa l er n r g4s- q, r 4r - r 53, ancl J. Illau, T/te 'Alif os an fndicotiott d(clt.eatit.te of -Subjcct arzd Prcdzcatc irz . / u d n a o - A n t b i c7 ' e r t s , ' f : r r J ; i z ( J e r u s a l e m r 9 5 5 , 2 7 - 3 ) . - this is title to be gir,'cn to a nrcrchant. (z'; S/zcihlt. ta'ltId comlnon; it means thc same as tazuflq. "9.y (:) tDnulN)N tu'o nrisspelli'gs i. on(-. *,orcl. pxnniNgs, pLir)Jl is intencbcl. The first misspelling (s/r for {) is commor. (tz) T h e th rce i l l e giblc letter s ar e not r tS dl . Qf) For h/mzas/t sce \)ozv, Supplement, s. a. ej-. l{orvc \ r c r , i t i s n o t s i m p l ; ' " s i l l <" , l r u t a s p e c i a i k i n d o f i t , f o r i r - r a n oth cr l e tte r to o u r 'A r t- r s, M s. L]nivcr sity I- ibr ar l' Cambr iclge t3 I 2r, fol 6,r r. r4-s, it occrrrs t o g c t h c ru ' i t i r h / z a z zt ,h e m o r e c o m mo n rvo rd fo r th a t comm oclitv.
2.

Leltarfrom

spa/n to fJgypt abottt w'ar- in t/ze Mcdtte?-ra?xeart

(Spring rr3Z)
l i 1 1 i 1 ,g ;5 1 1L 1i,b r-a ry Cambr iclgc- , Talr lsr - qchi:chtcr Collect i o r r I 3 J 2 7 , f . r Z . z S c m . h i g h . U p p e r a n d r i g h t s i c l ct o r n 2 \ r - a 1 ;. f'h e p a rt p re ser r ,cdis br oacl bet.nveen 5,5- r j cm.

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nDn$n:u lDtl 1n'rr:xts rurybx:n:l
TnaNsrarroN. (t) . . betu.eenthe Mus]lims and the Rum. Nobodv clared

to ta l k a ny ntor e I had indeed ar vaite- dthe arr i v al (z) a b o u t t-l ra vel b) ""n. of a ship, (3 ) e i th e r th e Fakhr i or the Gaetani., Howe' n' erGod dec r eed th a t th e l ' . . d i d n ot attack ( ?) Spain but Bougie and even s et (+) sa i l fo r B a rr S.niyya( ?) r ny m oney, as I u' as unatr le to tr avel thi s (S ) . . . . (6 ) ye a r. T h e n after God had caused] them that disa s ter , th e y \\'e n t back and I rn'as forced to go to Q) I am trnable to come this year out of fear (8) thev have becom e ver y str ong and tr i ed (q ) they had tu' ent) ' sev en (r o )

I I s]

Glimpses on naual zuar.fare in t/ze Ilfedz.terranea?z

405

(rr) sh i ]p s, b u t \,ve r ecr efeated. Hor vever , I am afr aid that th e y rvi l l b tri l d ( tz) ma n y] sh i p s a n d star t r var again this vear . On the other hand, I see (rs) th a t yo u sti i l h ave] m eans to keep you going tiil I com e to you ga) if God u-ills. Furthermore I sent vou u,ith Abii s_Surilr lt. ShD,a ( r5 ) a n d A b r-r l -H a ]san, the agent of or ir lor d, n_r a;r fuj5glor y b c e x a l t c d , s i x b a s k e t so f c o l l y r i u m .
zte rso

(t:) ( I4 ,)

Thcy havc built in a b i g ship. I hope to conr c in it.

( tz) P l e a seg re ct yo u r gr anclm otler ancl ask hcr nevclr to ccase to p ra v u p o n me . T h i s rva s w ri tten in the r ast decacr e of the mor - r thof N i s s a n r 5 . 1 8( S e l .- r r 3 7 A . D . ) . Note.r otz Tert z. (r) R i l rn .- o ftcn m eans Itar iar - r s in tr - r e Ge' iza paper s of t h i s t i m e , a s i s t h e c a s ei n t h e c o n t e m p o r a r v M u s l i m historians. (+) Whcther ;1r;g.1),a*il, is here the namc of a place or a na u ti ca l te rm o r som ething cr se coulcr ,ot be m acle out. Tlte Postscript. Dating according to decades, usuar in I i g yp t e ve n i n p re -Islar nic tim es, i; so much i' vogue in t h ese p a p e rs, th a t so me ' ,r iter s of letter s or clocumentsad]r er c t o th i s h a b i t e 'e rl rvher e they mention the cxact date. T h e i e tte r i s *,ri tte n in a beautiful ha' clr vr iti' g, as found r t i t ]r cl crks o f a co u rt or a btr siness house.

3. ^4 Letter about tlze ,I(otryol fnuasz.orz (-Ulosul,I)ecentbe r tr36)

i, *, * {
T
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B o d l e i a n ,O x f o r d , M s . F I e b . a j , f o l . 2q. tz,7 broad.

52,5 cm. high,

fi f,. It
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[t;]

Clz'rnpseson naual zuarifare in tlze ,'L{edzterranea?z 4o7

TnnxslerroN.
FIebr-erv and Aramaic u'orcisare indicated in the translation by italics.

Yot.rr Name, Olz.Xterciful!. (z)Donot ask__n-rv lord atrd master, the illustrious, noblc benefactor (S) the doyen of the House of Dar.id and the Sharif of the Jewish commtrnitr', Q) the graat prin.ce, forlress, tozilcr, Prince of t/te Diaspora () oJ f.rrae/, /zis /a(.otzour\, /zis g(.reatncss), /tis /t(o/in.ess) ortr tn(a.ster\ and /(.ord) Solonzon, ntat,God eralt th.et/zrotza(6) of his rztle anJ grant hz'nt. /tt's zais/res and desircs in. eterntty-(7)--u,'hat happcned to your scrvant (.....) o t t h e t i m e u ' h e n h e a r r i v t - . d( 8 ) in this country, after he had been in cianger from thc Tatars (9) thrce tirnes. The last was that they arrived on the morning of thc Fast, (ro) when \\re werc in al-'Imraniyya. They rcnrainecl outside t/ze toztnt killing (rI) everybody who was on his tl'ay to or from the tori.n, u,hile rve stayed in the synagogue rvaiting for u'hat (rz) the e.nemv lvoulcl do from hour to hour. Indeed, God hacl merc)r upon us anc{ they lvent a\{'ay from trs. (r:) When night had fallen) we tricd to get to the moltntain, still rvithout having eaten. Hou'evcr, r,vedicl not (ra) find the 'rva1'. f'litrs lve passed the night under the hedge of an orchard (r 5) right trrrtil mor.ning, lvhen u'e tried again to rcach thc mountain. However as they came (r6) ltetwcen us and thc mor-rntain, u,'e turned back to get to thc farm, ltut saw olt our (r7) u.ay fifty riders and rvhen rve tried anothcr route, we saw on it (r8) altout a hundrecl. I and those rv-ho \\'ere me saicl the confession.oif sins, for u,"e\\,'ere sure (r9) "vith to be ltilled. Hon'ever God put into mv heart to cross over to a h e d g e o f ( z o ) r a s p l t e r r ; r - a t h i c k o n e, a n d I t o o k c o v e r u n d e r it, I and the boy; (zr) the Tatars went lt,v that hedge, tu'enty-

(r) In

five (zz) riders of them; had one of them stretched forth his l v h i p , i t u ' o u l d h a ' u ' er e a c h e d ( 2 3 ) u s . W e r e m a i n e d t h e r e t i l l noon, lr.hen thev rode a\va)'from (zq'; that vicinity and rvent u p t o t h e m o u n t a i n , r i , ' h e r e\ \ ' e r e m a i n e d e i g h t ( 2 5 ) d a 1 ' - s , eating the leavcs of oak-trees and old bread. Finally' Q6) \\re rvent dorv.n finding the country' full of dead. !\/hen we arrived, (r7') \ve learnt that in that night

,to8

S. D. Goitein

Ir6]

ru mo u r sp re a d that u' e had been killecj. ( .28)But God he l pe d , h a d me rcy a n d saved us. Hor vever , the fact ( 29) that I h a d n o t th e p ri vi l ege to see you was as thor ,r ghI r vaskilled and th a t I (S o ) a rri ved and did not find yolr .. M "y God un i te u s a s h e h a s se par ated tr s.
.Notes ott Te.rt 3. (r) This old Aran-raic formlrla, rvhich preccdes anv proper lctter, may have l;een the model for the pre-Islamic c{o-l> erll . (:) !d'ifa for " famil1"' obviousll. indicatcs thc large size 'fhe of the Daviclic family' at that tin're. for spclling g1t'1tp' perhaps reflects the pronunciation s/'t.er|/ for shar|f . -i:..P H o l v e r , , e r ,a s t h i s l e t t c r i s w r i t t e n i n r a t h e r e x a c t s p e l l i n g , t h e aclclitional I rnay be only a lapsus calarni. ( 6 ) F o r f l 3 ) " i n e t e r n i t y " , m o r e u s u a l l y t h c f o r n r r - r l airD N n ) O n y : " A m e n , i n c t e r n i t l ' , S e l z r" i s f o t r n d a t t h e e n c l o f thc rvishcs expressed for the addressee. ( 9 ) D ' r D T) , i . e . 3 f > r . T h e r e a d i n g i s n o t b e y o n d c l o u b t . 'fhc plr,rral .9;) for q.lLr.i) is rare. ( r o ) I t i s d i f f i c u l t t o s e e w h y t h e r v r i t e r u s c s . F l e b r e r vr v o r d s for sa1-ing " otrtside the town ". \Vhile thc use of Hebrcrv and Aramaic u'ords is natural in formulas (I), technical tcrms ( r 8 ) a n d g o o d r v i s h e s ( + - 6 ) , i t i s r - r o tv e r y c o m m o n i n t h e G e n i zapapers to rnix the langr-rages. The rvriters ttsc citherr Hebaqiyu for baqu is rvidespread and possibly brew or Arabic. was regarded as more " literarv " than the latter. (r 5) The use of the fourth for the first verbal stem (a/talu and aknzant, 1. zo) is noteworthy. (r6) The wav of describing the writer's escape clearll' indicates that the addresseewas thoroughly familiar ri'ith that landscape. (17) O:XD, ..r-rU for t.5rU is of course common even in a letter of an educated man. Likervise N)tfP i. e. garena, l. 18. a . J L <p o s s i b l y m e a t " I s s o m e t h i n g o t h e r t h a n (2il n!N::, " bran ". It is diffi:trlt to see, horv they cotrld get bran, r,','hile hiding on the mountain.