Oxford, Bodleian MS. Heb. d. 65.17

Bodleian Library (Oxford, United Kingdom)

One leaf document

Parchment

Brown (iron-gall)

Calamus

No ruling can be seen

38+marginalia (recto); 14 (verso)

11th Century CE

Qayrawan

Alexandria, Busir

Judeo-Arabic

Letter

Business letter sent from Qayrawan by Efrayim b. Ismail, probably to Yaʿaqov b. Yosef b. Awkal in Fustat or from Ifrīqiya by 'Allush b. Yeshuʿa to Ismaʿil b. Avraham in Egypt. The letter deals mainly with merchandise and shipments of goods. Dated to the beginning of the 11th century or the first third of the 11th century. The letter mentions the difficulty of transporting goods due to difficult times and praises the business acumen of Yehuda, who sought help from the government (sulṭān) with the transport of goods (ḥattā waffaqa Allahu Yehuda saʾla l-sulṭān fī ḥiml"). Also mentions several shipwrecks and the writer's preoccupation with a barge that hadn't yet reached the port of Alexandria. YU.

No vowels or accents

Bought through the Rev. Prof. Sayce, 1896 (from the Genizah).

990053629400205171

https://www.nli.org.il/en/discover/manuscripts/hebrew-manuscripts/itempage?vid=KTIV&scope=KTIV&docId=PNX_MANUSCRIPTS990053629400205171&SearchTxt=d.%2065.17,AND (Date accessed: 2026-02-09)

https://genizah.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/catalog/volume_88 (Date accessed: 2026-02-09)

M. Gil, In the Kingdom of Ishmael‎ (in Hebrew) (Tel Aviv University, 1997), vol. 2.

M. Ben-Sasson, The Jews of Sicily, 825–1068: Documents and Sources‎ (in Hebrew) (Ben-Zvi Institute, 1991).

Available online through the Princeton Geniza Project at https://geniza.princeton.edu/documents/2532/ (accessed February 9, 2026).