An eleventh-century pledge of allegiance to Egypt from the Jewish community of Yemen

Abstract

The article presents a Hebrew letter sent from ū ibla in Yemen to Fusṭāṭ, Egypt, around 1095 C.E. The letter was written by a local leader in Yemen and stresses the allegiance of the Jewish community to Mevora b. Saʿadya, who had recently been reappointed ‘Head of the Jews’ in the Fāṭimid Empire. Tra- ditionally the Jews of Yemen, like those of Arabia, fell within the sphere of influence of the Babylonian Academies in the Geonic period. This letter is further evidence that the Jews of Yemen kept close ties to Egypt and the Palestinian Academy too.