The present lot is an elegantly executed copy of two Judeo-Arabic texts then-current among Baghdadi Jewry: Quṣṣat ester ha-malkah (The Story of Queen Esther; pp. 1-27) and Diwan shama wa-sirḥan (The Poem of Shama and Sirḥan; pp. 29-84). The first, sometimes attributed to Joseph al-Shimsani (or, alternatively, to Joseph al-Tubrani), is a rhymed, lyrical adaptation of the Purim story that incorporates multiple aggadic and midrashic expansions of the biblical text. (A Joseph al-Shimsani is credited as the author of several works preserved in MSS Oxford, Bodleian Library, Or. 187; Cincinnati, Hebrew Union College 218; and Sassoon 132 and 547.) The second derives from the famed Sirat bani hilal, an Arabic epic ꦛpoem that had been transmitted orally for centuries before being committed to writing; very few Judeo-Arabic copies of this text appear to have survived (see, e.g., MS Manc💝hester, John Rylands Library, Gaster 2008).

The manuscript was created by Hannah Khatun (1823-1895), wife of Sir Albert (Abdullah Meir) Sassoon (1818-1896). The couple married in Bombay in 1838 and had six children together. Apparently somewhat learned, Lady Hannah Sassoon, as she came to be known, was also the owner of an Arabic adaptation of the book of Ruth (Sassoon 5). The first part of the present manuscript was signed and dated Wednesday, 19 Tishrei 5618 (October 7, 1857; p. 27), while the second part was signed and dated Tuesday, 17 Heshvan 5618 (November 3, 1857; p. 84). The book entered the collection of Lady Hannah’s great-g𝕴randson and half-nephew David Solomon Sassoon in ♑1894 as manuscript no. 11.

Physical Description

88 pages (8 3/8 x 6 in.; 213 x 153 mm) (collation: i¹⁰, ii¹², iii¹⁰, iv¹²) on paper (pp. 28, 85-88 blank); original(?) foliation in pen in Hebrew characters in upper-outer corner of rectos (ff. 1-14, 1-16, 18-29); modern pagination in pencil in Arabic numerals in lower margins at center (cited); written in Baghdadi square (titles and incipits) and cursive (text body) scripts in black ink; single-column text of ten lines per page; justification of lines via dilation or co💞ntraction of final letters and insertion of space fillers; headers on rectos; horizontal catchwords in lower margins of rectos and versos; regular underlining of character names; English signature of scribe on pp. 27, 84; Arabic signature (in Arabic characters) of scribe on p. 84. Decorative elements, tapering text, and/or poetic text arrangement on pp. 26-27, 29-66, 67-82, 84; David Solomon Sassoon signature on front flyleaf and stamp on p. 84. Small worm tracks in lower edges, not affecting text; some smudging of ink; small holes in upper quadrant of pp. 39-40. Original three-quarters leather over marbled boards inscribed with the name “Mrs. A.D. Sassoon,” scratched, wormed, and worn; paper ticket with title affixed to top of spine; paper ticket with shelf mark affixed to base of spine; original marbled paper flyleaves and pastedowns.

Literature

Yitzhak Avishur, “Temurot ba-aravit-ha-yehudit ha-hadashah shel yehudei iraq: ha-lashon be-heksherah ha-tarbuti,” Massorot 2 (1986): 1-17, at pp. 3-4.

Yitzhak Avishur, “Kavvim la-yetsirah ha-sifrutit-ammamit shel sheloshah rabbanim bavliyyim ba-mahatsit ha-sheniyyah shel ha-me’ah ha-19,” Pe‘amim 59 (Spring 1994): 105-123, at pp. 106-107.

Meir Benayahu, Sefarim she-nithabberu be-bavel u-sefarim she-ne‘etku bah (Jerusalem: Yad Harav Nissim; Merkaz Moreshet Yahadut Bavel, 1993), 217 ෴(no. 243).

Shmuel Haggai, “Aggadat ester etsel yehudei ha-mizrah,” Mahanayim 89 (1964): 64-65.

Samuel Abraham Poznański, “Megillat ester bi-leshon aravit,” Ha-tsofeh me-erets hagar 4 (1915): 163-165.

David Solomon Sassoon, Ohel Dawid: Descriptive Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the Sassoon Library, London, vol. 1 ([Oxford]: Oxford University Pre🔥ss; London: Humphrey Milford, 1932), 480𝕴 (no. 11).

Jacob Schwartz, “Megillat ester bi-leshon aravit,” Ha-tsofeh me-erets hagar 4 (1915): 99-114.