In an Antique Land (49 page)

6
and he was a Rabbi:
Khalaf ibn Ishaq once addressed Ben Yiju as the son of the ‘R(abbi) Pera
yâ, son of Yijû' (S. D. Goitein, L
etters
, pp. 192).

7
Madmun ibn Bundar:
See S. D. Goitein,
Letters
, pp. 177; 181–82; and ‘From Aden to India: Specimens of the Correspondence of India Traders of the Twelfth Century', p. 45, (in
Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient
, Vol. XXXIII, pts I and II, 1980). For the institution of the nagîd, see Goitein's articles, ‘The Title and Office of the Nagid; a Re-examination' (
Jewish Quarterly Review
, pp. 93–119, LIII, 1962–3), and ‘Mediterranean Trade in the Eleventh Century: Some Facts and Problems', p. 61 (in
Studies in the Economic History of the Middle East
ed. M. A. Cook, Oxford University Press, London, 1970). The Nagîdate and the interesting historiographical controversies surrounding it are also extensively discussed in Mark Cohen's
Jewish Self Government in Medieval Egypt

8
Madmun's earliest extant letters:
T–S 20.130. My assumption that this is the first item in Madmun's correspondence with Ben Yiju is based on a comment in the text (recto, lines 4–5) which seems to suggest that Ben Yiju had only recently made the journey to India.

9
From the tone and content of those … letters:
Their business relations were patterned on a model of informal co-operation, widespread amongst Middle Eastern merchants, in which traders in different countries rendered each other mutual service. For more on the subject of co-operation amongst merchants see S. D. Goitein's article ‘Mediterranean Trade in the Eleventh Century: Some Facts and Problems', p. 59; and Abraham L. Udovitch's ‘Commercial Techniques in Early Medieval Islamic Trade', (in
Islam and the Trade of Asia
, ed. D. S. Richards).

10
The letters are full of detailed instructions:
for example, one passage in a letter from Madmun to Ben Yiju in India reads: ‘… collect yourself all the letters for the people of Mangalore … and be careful with them because they contain things that I need urgently … deliver each one to the person to whom it is addressed, by hand, personally, for God's sake.' (T–S N.S. J 1, verso, lines 6–10). In a departure from the epistolary conventions of the time, Madmun used the second person pronoun, inta, a relatively familiar form, to address Ben Yiju: I have translated it as ‘yourself' in this passage. It is a clear indication that there was a certain asymmetry in their relationship.

11
The other was Khalaf ibn Ishaq:
Khalaf was a fine calligraphier and a prolific correspondent; many of his letters to various different correspondents have been preserved in the Geniza. See S. D. Goitein, ‘Portrait of a Medieval India Trader', p. 453–54.

12
Judah ha-Levi … composed poems in his honour:
See S. D. Goitein's article, ‘The Biography of Rabbi Judah Ha-Levi in the Light of the Cairo Geniza Documents' (in
Essays in Medieval Jewish and Islamic Philosophy
, ed. Arthur Hyman, Ktav Publishing House, Inc., New York, 1977).

13
Abû
Sa'id
alfon:
In a letter to Ben Yiju in Mangalore, Madmun refers to a certain ‘Nâkhudha Abu Sa'îd' who might be Abu Sa'id Halfon (T–S MS Or 1081, J3, recto, line 3). Although to the best of my knowledge, no letters addressed directly from Ben Yiju to Abu Sa'id Halfon (or vice versa) have been preserved, several letters between others in the circle have survived (e.g. T–S MS Or. 1080 J 211 and T–S Box J 1 fol. 53 [Khalaf to Halfon]. Cf. Shaul Shaked,
Tentative Bibliography
, pp. 47, 150).

14
The second of the great travellers:
Abû-Zikrî Sijilmasi and Abu Sa'id Halfon were in fact partners in the Indian Trade, and several documents relating to their joint business dealings have been preserved in the Geniza (e.g. T–S 13 J 22, fol. 33, ‘Memorandum to
alfen b. Nethaneel, while on his way to India, from his partner Abû Zikrî' and T–S N.S. J 22, ‘Deed of acquittance by Abû Zikrî to
alfon b. Nathaneel in connection with their India business' (Shaul Shaked,
Tentative Bibliography
, pp. 132, 160).

15
Chief Representative of Merchants:
See S. D. Goitein,
Letters
, p. 62; ‘The Beginnings of the Kârim Merchants', pp. 176–7 (
Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient
, Vol. I, part 2, E. J. Brill, Leiden, 1958); and ‘Bankers Accounts from the Eleventh Century AD', pp. 62–3 (
Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient
, IX, pt. I—II, 1966).

16
References … a shipowner called Ma
rûz:
See T–S 8 J 7, fol. 23, recto, line 3; T–S N.S. J 10, verso 1st Account, line 9; and 2nd Account, line 1.

17
So close were the … three:
See S. D. Goitein,
Letters
, pp. 62–5.

18
At the time … gifted Hebrew poets:
Cf. Yosef Tobi, ‘Poetry and Society in the works of Abraham ben Halfen (Yemen, twelfth century)' (in
Biblical and Other Studies in Memory of S. D. Goetein
, ed. Reuben Ahroni,
Hebrew Annual Review
, Vol. IX, Dept. of Judaic and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures, Ohio State University, 1985).

19
instances of Geniza traders living abroad:
See, for example, S. D. Goitein, ‘Abraham Maimonides and his Pietist Circle', p. 157 (in
Jewish Medieval and Renaissance Studies
, ed. A. Altmann).

20
The second reason … lies in a cryptic letter:
T–S MS Or. 1080 J 2 63, verso.

21
Fortunately the scrap:
Ben Yiju was clearly the recipient of his letter, because the back of the letter is scribbled on in a handwriting which is unmistakably his. Professor Goitein included the catalogue number of this letter in Shaked's catalogue of Geniza documents, and he must have known of its contents for he described it there as the ‘first part of a letter sent by Ma
mûn … of Aden to Ben Yijû in India,' (Shaul Shaked,
Tentative Bibliography
, p. 47). But he did not quote it in any of his published references to Ben Yiju and probably did not fully appreciate the implications it has for the story of Ben Yiju's life.

22
‘Concerning what he':
T–S MS Or. 1080 J 263, recto, lines 16–22.
The meaning of the second part of the last sentence is doubtful, and my reading of it must be taken as provisional at best. The reference to the ‘court' may be to the council of foreign merchants (cf. M. N. Pearson,
Merchants and Rulers in Gujarat
, p. 17, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1976).

23
‘His servant spoke to [the king]':
It is not quite clear who the reference is to. Aden in this period was controlled by the Zuray'ids, a dynasty of the Isma'îli sect, nominally linked to the Fatimids of Egypt. The dates and lines of succession within the dynasty are rather obscure, but it would appear that none of the Zuray'id rulers of this period bore the name Sa'id (cf. g. R. Smith,
The Ayyûbids and Early Rasûlids in the Yemen
, Vol. II, pp. 63–7, Luzac & Co. Ltd, London, 1978). However, the name could have been the popularly current name of the Zuray'î ruler of that time.

24
The word is dhimma:
In Islamic law, members of tolerated religious groups are known as the dhimmi.

25
In the twelfth century … Qus:
Cf. J-C. Garcin, ‘Un centre musulman de la Haute-Égypte médiévale: Qû
' (Cairo, IFAO, 1976) and W. J. Fischel's ‘The Spice Trade in Mamluk Egypt', pp. 162–4. The twelfth-century Arab geographer, Al-Idrisi wrote of Qus that it was a big mercantile city with many resources, but its air was unhealthy and few strangers escaped the insalubriousness of the climate (
Kitâb
, p. 127).