A Genizah Letter from Rhodes Evidently concerning the Byzantine Reconquest of Crete

Author(s): Joshua Holo

Source: Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 59, No. 1 (Jan., 2000), pp. 1-12
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
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A GENIZAH LETTER FROM RHODES EVIDENTLY CONCERNINGTHE
BYZANTINE RECONQUESTOF CRETE*

JOSHUAHOLO, The University of Chicago

1. INTRODUCTION

As with much of the materialfrom the Cairo Genizah, the value of the present let-
ter stems from the fact that it offers an entirely personal account of an historical moment,
thereby bringing it to life in a way political history can never do. The author of this un-
dated communication, Moshe Agura, writes from the island of Rhodes, seeking to emi-
grate to Egypt. He describes his personal tragedy, in which he lost track of family
members and failed to build a life in the Byzantine Empire.
Moshe's description of events, though unconcerned with historiography, nonetheless
provides enough informationto date the writing of the letter and to determineits historical
context. His characterizationsof Rhodes and Crete point to the year 961, in which the
Byzantines reconquered Crete from Amir CAbd al-CAziz. An historical analysis of the
social, political, and economic status of the Jews in mid-tenth-centuryByzantium reveals
how this letter jibes perfectly with that date. As such, Moshe's epistle constitutes the only
known, firsthand, Jewish account of the Byzantine victory on Crete and its significant
consequences.

II. THE LETTER OF MOSHE AGURA

T-S N.S. 324.1

The letter is written on one side of a single parchmentfolio. The folio measures 14 cm
long and 10.2 cm wide, and multiple folds cross the parchmentboth vertically and hori-
zontally. The upper right and left corners are missing, and the first and last parts of lines
1-3, as well as the last part of line 4, have been destroyed. A rather deep fold conceals
the first letters of line 1. Four small lacunae on lines 3, 4, 9, and 10 and a tiny hole on line
3 have removed some individual letters. In addition, there is some fading on the left side
of the parchmentand some blotted words throughout.
The author wrote in a square, relatively clear hand, in unpointed Hebrew. He pointed
only Greek proper names. He employed a stylized, abbreviated ligature designating the
Lord, and the standardabbreviation,'73, for the Aramaic title mar. His ? exhibits a char-
acteristic hook at the top of the ascender, flowing from the top right towards the bottom
left. The final D is circular, and the K is composed of two strokes.
*
My thanks go to Norman Golb, who brought this improved this article. The responsibility for any flaws,
manuscriptto my attention and whose insights greatly however, is entirely my own. I would also like to thank
the Syndics of CambridgeUniversity Libraryfor hav-
[JNES 59 no. 1 (2000)] ing granted me permission to publish this document
? 2000 by The University of Chicago. and photograph.
All rights reserved.
0022-2968/2000/5901-0001$02.00.
1

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2 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

i:::l:

:: :

::-:~::

..-.....

:-:::~:: -:i:2:::::
:::'lj:
-Z~:_:::::_i::

:::::::::::r:

.:..:
-:-:::i::::::

FIG. 1.-T-S N.S. 324.1. Courtesy of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library

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 A GENIZAH LETTER FROM RHODES 3

The first line of the verso contains what may be the name of author'ssister-in-law, who
is one of the addressees mentioned in the letter, in line 18. Also on the verso are lines
written in a different hand, perpendicularto the addressee's name.

TextualEvidence for Date

Living on Rhodes, Moshe Agura writes this letter to his brother-in-lawand family, pre-
sumably in Egypt, trying to reestablishcontact after a prolonged period of silence between
them. The situation in the Greek isles has reached a point of intolerability for Moshe, and
he seeks refuge with his relatives across the Mediterranean.Accordingly, the letter is a
plea for information with respect to the well-being of his family and to the possibility of
his joining them. Embedded in this emotional epistle, a few telling clues strongly indicate
authorshipimmediately after the Byzantine reconquest of Crete in 961.
Moshe's unequivocal description of Crete provides the core textual evidence for dating
the letter to that momentous event. Moshe complains that "Crete is no longer as it was be-
fore, rather it has been overthrown."This description logically refers to one of the two
changes of power that took place on Crete between the tenth and twelfth centuries, during
which the vast majority of the Cairo Genizah material was written. The first was the re-
conquest of the island by the Byzantines, as the result of the success, in 961, of the great
general and later emperor Nicephorus Phocas.' The second power struggle on Crete was
the short-lived rebellion of Karykes in 1092.2
The numberof Genizah documents dating from the tenth century pales in comparisonto
the numberof those dating from the following two centuries. Hence, statistically, Karykes'
eleventh-century rebellion presents a more probable date, insofar as it coincides chrono-
logically with a greaternumberof Genizah documents. The cataclysm described by Moshe
Agura, however, does not match what little we know about the rebellion of Karykes,which
does not seem to have turned Crete "upside down" as Moshe's literal words describe.3In
addition, the Hebrew ']"Min line 11 is best understoodas the language of revolution and
not rebellion, for which there is another root The content and tone of the letter
"t1n.4
confirm this reading, for they overwhelmingly indicate a turn of events more compatible
with the overthrow of the Arab Crete in 961.
The great reconquest, described by Leo Diaconos and the Continuatorof Theophanes,5
took place after previous failed attempts by Leo VI (r. 886-912) and his son, Constantine
Porphyrogenitus(r. 945-59). Intent on victory, Nicephorus Phocas sailed to the island in

A thorough description of events can be found in:
Dmitris Tsougarakis, Byzantine Crete: From the Fifth
Century to the Venetian Conquest (Athens, 1988), pp.
65 ff. Tsougarakis cites, among others, Leo Diaconos,
Historia, ed. C. B. Hase, Corpus Scriptorum Historiae
Byzantinae, vol. 5 (Bonn, 1828), 2.6-7. See also
Theophanes Continuatus, Chronographia, Patrologia
Graeca (PG), vol. 109, cols. 491-500, ?? 7-14.
2 See Basile Skoulatos, Les personnages byzantins
de Alexide (Louvain, 1980), pp. 160-61.
3 See letter, 11. 10-11, where the word "over-
thrown" comes from the Hebrew root 7] meaning
"turn upside down."
4
An interesting use of 7]D can be found in a respon-
sum of ca. eleventh-century Franco-Germany, where a
legal decision is based, in part, on the fact that "the
government has been overthrown."Joel Mueller, the
original editor, used this verb to place the responsum
approximately in the region and era of Rashi: Joel
Mueller, r1n'1 Df123 f
~7m•lwnl'Al nfblxz (Jerusalem,
1967), no. 24, pp. 21b-23a. Irving Agus, Urban Civi-
lization in Pre-Crusade Europe (Leiden, 1965), p. 157,
translates as "overturned,"but he disagrees with
]D,"
Mueller's placement. He concedes, however, that
must mean "grave disturbance, war, or revolution."19,3
In the Greek of Anna Comnena, in the Alexiade, ed.
and trans. BernardLeib (Paris, 1937), 9.2, the term for
the Karykesaffairis the unambiguousterm for "revolt"
or "rebellion,"
TorYocaia.
5 See n. I above.

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4 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

960, blockaded it, and laid siege to its capital, Khandak.The amir, CAbdal-CAziz,sought
help from the Abbasids, the Fatimids,and perhapsthe Umayyads in Spain, to no avail. After
a difficult winter and brutal siege, the Greeks breached the walls. Both massacre and enor-
mous plunder followed, as the Greeks reestablishedhegemony over the strategic island in
March 961. Church and State immediately began to reassert religious and political ties
between Crete and Constantinople, in order to solidify the reconquest. The Arabs are pre-
sumed to have fled or to have converted to Christianityand assimilated into the culture of
the new rulers. Of the Jews, one can only speculate, based on analogy to their status in the
rest of the Empire.
As described by the authorof the present letter, Crete has been overthrown,and Rhodes
is an "island . . . evil in every respect."6 Appropriately,Moshe's decidedly urgent desire to
emigrate is expressed in language befitting a refugee, as he explains to his family that
.. the Lord decreed [against us] ... Now I am in Rhodes, but regarding your father I have not
learned whether(or not) he is alive. So, if you have heard anythingabout your father and
brother(s),writeme ... andwe shall go there,all of us ... 7
The gravity of Moshe's situation reflects the reconquest of Crete much more than it does
the comparatively minor rebellion of Karykes.Moreover, the tone and content of the letter
fit into the broaderpicture of tenth-centuryByzantine Jewish history.

III. THE LETTER OF MOSHE AGURA AND BYZANTINE JEWISH HISTORY

Despite the relative paucity of tenth-centuryByzantine Jewish sources, the known his-
tory of that period presents a picture consistent with Moshe's letter. In the tenth century,
widespread communities of identifiably Byzantine Jews were to be found not only
throughout the Empire but also beyond it. Politically, the Jews under Byzantine jurisdic-
tion suffered more than their Arab counterparts,but they never ceased to exist and some-
times to thrive in the Greek world. Economically, they were active members of the
Byzantine and Mediterraneanmarkets, playing especially important roles in the textile
industry. Finally, while Greek served as a vernacular,Hebrew thrived among them, both
as a lingua franca and as the language of learning and prayer.
From within this historical context of tenth-century Byzantine Jewry, Moshe's letter
provides valuable evidence that speaks to precisely these social, political, and economic
issues. First, the very language of the letter reveals the natureof the community'sHebraic
culture.Second, the letter'spurpose,emigrationto Egypt, confirmsthe dispersionof Hellenic
Jewry. Third, the content decries the Jews' poorer standing within the Empire, and finally,
those same complaints hint at some of the religious problems that largely defined the Byz-
antine Jews' relationship to their temporal rulers. As such, a linguistic and historical anal-
ysis of this letter supports the textual evidence in pointing to the Byzantine reconquest of
Crete and contemporaryRhodes as the setting of its composition.

The Language of Moshe Agura

Moshe's Hebrew is generally clear, with a few notable idiosyncrasies reflecting both
Greek and Arabic influences. For example, he uses the defective verb tP (lines 11, 19) and

6 See letter, 1. 12. 7 See letter, 11.5-12.

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 A GENIZAHLETTERFROMRHODES 5

t7VX" (line 10) as a present-tense copula, meaning "is" and "is not" respectively. Since the
present-tense copula does not exist in Hebrew, it appears to represent Greek influence.8
The authorreveals an aspect of contemporarypronunciationthroughthe addition of a pro-
thetic X at the beginning of the word "Crete"in line 10. The X is notable because the use
of the prothetic vowel reflects Arabic phonology more than Greek, in which word-initial
consonantal diphthongs are common.9 Indeed, another occurrence of the word "Crete"
from a Greek-Jewish source has no such vowel.'0 Placing Moshe Agura as a Greek-
speaker on Arab Crete aptly accounts for these Greek and Arabic influences in his letter.

Byzantine Jews in the Mediterranean World

The settlement of Greek-speaking Jewry beyond the borders of the Byzantine state
further elucidates the relationship between Byzantine and Arab Jews. Moshe's family
settled on both sides of the Mediterranean, in both the Muslim and Christian spheres.
Moshe avails himself of this connection in order to avoid the obstacles associated not
only with Byzantine Crete and Rhodes, but also, by implication, with the Empire at large.
Other sources also attest to the dispersal of Byzantine Jewry, putting Moshe's appeal
within a well-established context of strong Jewish ties across both the Arab and Byzantine
Mediterranean."11
An informative Genizah letter, catalogued as Or. 1080 J.1 and published by Nicholas de
Lange, comes from Egypt, where a woman with a Greek name wrote to her son with an
Arabic one.12This Hebrew letter, roughly contemporarywith Moshe Agura, represents a
fluidity among Byzantine and Arab Jews that supersededthe differences in their respective
vernacularlanguages.13The presence of Greek vocabulary in the same letter demonstrates
some intergenerationalattachmentto Greek, since mother and son shared a common, liv-
ing language.14Another Genizah letter, written in Judeo-Arabic and published by Joshua
Blau and Simon Hopkins, refers to the "Cretanquarter"of Fustat (Old Cairo) and seems
to confirm the presence of Byzantine Jews in Egypt.'"Conversely, in the present letter, the
prothetic X in the word "Crete"'6points to Arabic influence among the Greek-speaking,
Jewish population of Crete during the period of Arab rule.17

8 Cf. Nicholas de Lange, Greek Texts from the
Cairo Genizah, Texte und Studien zum Antiken Ju-
dentum, vol. 51 (Tilbingen, 1996), p. 19, n. 12.
9 Cf. J. Blau and S. Hopkins, "Judeo-Arabic Letter,"
Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 6 (1985): 431, 1.
30. The author of the Judeo-Arabic letter writes from
the "Cretanquarter"where Crete is spelled:
10 Cf. de Lange, Greek Texts, p. 23, 1. 9, where
'Tt.' ?.t.
there is no prothetic K.
11 See Jacob Mann, The Jews in Egypt and in Pal-
estine under the Fatimid Caliphs (New York, 1970),
vol. 2, p. 96, n. 2 (reprint); and Mordechai A. Fried-
man, Jewish Marriage in Palestine (Tel Aviv and New
York, 1980), vol. 1, p. 44, and vol. 2, pp. 364-65.
Friedman published a ketubbah (T-S 16.374) and
places it in Tyre, while Mann believes that the same
ketubbah is Byzantine. The two positions need not be
mutually exclusive, and perhapsthe document demon-
strates another Arabic-speaking branch of the Byzan-
tine Jewish diaspora.
12 De Lange, Greek Texts,pp. 11-15; the first men-
tion of this manuscriptcan be found in S. D. Goitein,
A MediterraneanSociety: The Jewish Communitiesof
the Arab Worldas Portrayed in the Documents of the
Cairo Geniza (Berkeley, 1967-88), vol. 2, p. 256, n. 81.
13 For dating, see de Lange, Greek Texts, p. 11.
Goitein published a twelfth-century letter from an
Arab Jew in Byzantium, married to a local Byzantine
woman; clearly the relationship between the Byzan-
tine and Arab Jews thrived. See Goitein, "A Letter
from Seleucia (Cilicia)," Speculum 39 (1964): 298-
303.
14 De Lange, Greek Texts,pp. 11-15. lists the evi-
dence of the fact that the writer was a Greek speaker.
The letter includes such words as: •hidptiv(mattress?)
and K~Ltanapatv (untranslated).
c•acaXc
See n. 9 above.
15
16 See letter, 1. 10 and n. 9 above.
17 De Lange, Greek Texts,p. 12, n. 3 remarks,with
respectto Or. 1080 J.1, on the nonstandardtransliteration

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6 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

Insofar as Crete was part of the Muslim world, the local Jewish ties to their Arabic-
speaking coreligionists waxed stronger, even though the Cretan Jews were Romaniotes,
i.e., Greek-speaking. Business, politics, and family relationships brought Jews from both
cultures into constant contact. Even so, as a Greek-speaker,Moshe's initial inclination to
remain in Byzantine territoryafter the island was reconqueredis not surprising.Ultimately,
however, upon his realizationof the difficulties of such a choice, Moshe looked southward.
As one would expect, Moshe called upon his Egyptian support system, the very existence
of which typified the trans-Mediterraneanrelations between many Byzantine and Arabic-
speaking Jews.'8

The Status of the Jews in Tenth-CenturyByzantium

The letter of Moshe Agura also reflects the problematic civil status of Jews at the dawn
of the Byzantine renaissance. If indeed from the year 961, this letter provides unique tes-
timony as a Jew'sfirsthand reaction to Byzantium'sreestablishmenton Crete. Understand-
ably, Moshe laments the transferof Crete to Byzantium because the change in sovereignty
imposed prejudicial legislation, which was only later mitigated by the Empire'sburgeon-
ing prosperity.
Byzantine law of the tenth century targeted Jews for crippling disadvantages.'9Most
damaging was their persecution at the hands of Romanus Lecapenus (r. 920-44), which
Jewish, Christian, and Muslim sources unambiguously attest.20 Furtherevidence indicates
that the long-termeffects of this persecutioncontinuedinto the mid-tenthcentury.In a letter
to an unnamednoblewoman, Hasdai ibn Shaprut,the tenth-centurySpanish Jewish leader,
sought to guarantee the safety of the Byzantine Jewish subjects, whose tribulations had
come to his attention.21 That epistle, evidently addressed to the Empress Helena, demon-
strates the vulnerability of Jewish interests, even after the death of Romanus and the res-
torationof ConstantineVII to the throne,in 945.22 Thus, when Byzantium conqueredCrete
sixteen years later, the Cretan Jews joined a Jewish community somewhat battered from
abuses yet within living memory.23

of the Arabic dad in the personal name Fudhail; instead
of the expected 3, the author represents the dcd with r.
De Lange suggests two possibilities: either this orthog-
raphy represents Greek sensibilities, unfamiliar with
standard Judeo-Arabic orthography, or the text is an
earlI one, i.e., early tenth century.
Mann, The Jews in Egypt, vol. 2, p. 87; Joshua
Starr, "The Place-Name Italiya-Antaliyah," Rivista
degli studi orientali 17 (1937): 475-78.
1In the late ninth-/early tenth-century, the com-
pendious Basilika and the handier Prochiron already
preserved and ratified limitations for Jews with re-
spect to testimony in the courts, Christian slavehold-
ing and military service, almost all of which had
already been established in the Codes of Theodotius
and Justinian. These sources are found in Starr, Jews
in the Byzantine Empire 641-1204 (Athens, 1939), pp.
144-47.
20 The sources can be found in Starr, Jews in the
Byzantine Empire, pp. 151-52. More recently, the
Jewish sources were discussed in Norman Golb and
Omeljan Pritsak, Khazarian Hebrew Documents of the
Tenth Century (Ithaca, New York, 1982), pp. 79-80,
114-15.
21 Mann, Text and Studies in Jewish History and
Literature (Cincinnati and Philadelphia, 1935), vol. 1,
pp. 21-22.
22 Ibid. The theory was first put forth by Mann,
Texts and Studies, pp. 10-12, and it was subsequently
supported by Starr, in Jews in the Byzantine Empire,
p. 8, and Golb, in Khazarian Hebrew Documents, p. 80.
Constantine VII Porphyrogennitus went on to rule until
959, and there is no evidence of continued persecution
under him, except for this letter, which was probably
written at the very beginning of his reign.
23 For over half a century, the Jews had endured
serious setbacks. In the late ninth century, Basil I
(r. 867-86) forced the Jews into religious disputation
and probably conversion, according to the anonymous
Megillat Ahimaaz, ed. and trans. Marcus Salzman
(New York, 1924), pp. 6 ff. In the early tenth century,
Leo VI restricted the Jewish silk trade; see n. 28 be-
low. Finally, R. Lecapenus persecuted the Jews during
his reign; see above, nn. 20-22.

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 A GENIZAH LETTER FROM RHODES 7

Moshe's description of Rhodes reflects the hardshipof tenth-centuryByzantine rule and

therefore supports the date as established by the description of the overthrow of Crete.
Moshe complains that "this island [Rhodes] is also an evil place in every way."24Just as
he regrets the loss of Crete to the Byzantines, he similarly finds another Byzantine terri-
tory, Rhodes, to be "evil"; tenth-centuryByzantine policy consistently remindedhim of the
better conditions under the Muslims. More pointedly, however, Moshe's confusion and
vexation bear the hallmark of a recent immigrant. Arab Crete was pulled out from under
him, and he was left trying to make a life undera new and somewhat heavier yoke. Under-
standably,he laments that "... unfortunatelywe are now confused, because we only just
now came, but could not succeed."25

Jews in the Byzantine Economy

Economic conditions of tenth-centuryByzantium furtherexplain Moshe's bleak attitude

with respect to the Empire. In sources throughout the Eastern Mediterranean,Jews are
prominently mentioned in relation to the processing and trade of two types of products:
fabrics and hides.26Jews in the Byzantine Empire suffered specific sanctions with respect
to both of these trades.
Many sources document Jewish occupation in, and sometimes domination of, various
aspects of the textile industry, such as dyeing, preparing, and selling fibers and cloth-
including silk.27The Book of the Prefect, however, an early tenth-centuryeconomic statu-
tory code, mandatedthat Jews be excluded from the export of raw silk.28The decree nat-
urally undermined Jewish economic interests, which were highly invested in the silk
trade.29Moreover, the trade itself governed the processing of the raw material, which was
also very much a Jewish industry, as Benjamain of Tudela and other sources attest.30The
decree cut the Jews out of the system of distribution (i.e., the international market) to

24 See
letter, 1. 12.
25 See
letter, 11.13-14.
26 As early as the fifth century, a mysterious con-
version of the imperial weavers to Judaismestablishes
a connection between Byzantine Jews and the textile
industry; see Clyde Pharr, trans., The Theodosian
Code (New York, 1952), 16.8.6. An epitaph from
Corinth, dated between the ninth and twelfth cen-
turies, describes ". . . Eliaqim, surnamed Caleb the
dyer.. ." published by Starr, in "The Epitaph of a
Dyer in Corinth,"Byzantinisch-Neugriechische Jahr-
biicher 12 (1935-36): 42-49. Interesting,if less clear,
evidence can be found in a surname/nicknamemen-
tioned in a Byzantine Genizah fragment; one of the
principals in a transaction is named Mar Moshe
Spatha, where "Spatha" perhaps means "weaving
blade"; see de Lange, Greek Texts,p. 27, n. 20.
Goitein, in A Mediterranean Society, vol. 1, pp.
101-8, 111-12, discusses the economic role of tex-
tiles and hides, respectively.
27 Benjamin of Tudela, Sefer Masacot, ed. and
trans. Marcus Adler (London, 1907), ??23-24; Codex
DiplornmaticusCajetanus, vol. 2 (Monte Cassino,
1891), no. 317 (1129), found in Eliyahu Ashtor, "Gli
ebrei nel commercio mediterraneonell'alto medioevo
(sec. X-XI)," in The Jews and the Mediterranean
Economy: 10th-15th Centuries, sec. 1 (London, 1983),
p. 423; Goitein, A Mediterranean Society, vol. 4,
pp. 72-77.
28 J. and P. Zepos, Jus Graecoromanorum, vol. 2
(Aalen, 1962), p. 114. See A. A. Vasiliev, History of
the Byzantine Empire: 324-1453, vol. 1 (Madison,
Wisconsin, 1980), pp. 343-44, nn. 123-24; Vasiliev
charts out some of the controversy with respect to the
date of the Book of the Prefect. The early date is based
on the introduction to the Book of the Prefect, as pre-
served in some manuscripts. The later date, in the
mid-tenth century, is supported by Starr, Jews in the
Byzantine Empire, p. 163 (where the relevant decree is
published and translated)and accompanying notes.
29 Goitein comments on the preeminence of silk
among the Genizah documents that discuss clothing
and textiles; see Goitein, A Mediterranean Society,
vol. 4, pp. 167-70. Goitein, ibid., vol. 1, p. 103, ex-
plains that while this law itself testifies to the prior
presence of Byzantine Jews in the trade, the total ab-
sence of Genizah documents that discuss Byzantine
Jewish silk tradersattests its efficacy.
30 See above, n. 27. Cf. Oreste Dito, La storia cal-
abrese e la dimroradegli ebrei in Calabria (Cosenza,
1989), p. 35, who claims that the southern Italian silk
industryin the twelfth century was a Jewish monopoly.

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8 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

which the processing of silk was subject.31 Thus, by excluding Jews from the sale of silk,
the law indirectly wrested a measure of control over silk production as well, thereby deal-
ing a double blow to the Jewish economic interests.32
If the author's name, Agura, meaning "market,"33 at all reflects his trade, then he would
have borne the brunt of this tenth-century Byzantine law.34 Certainly, his urgent desire to
emigrate indicates some kind of reversal, only hinted at in his crude characterization of
Rhodes as "evil." Moreover, for Greek-speaking Jewish merchants, the status of Crete
was crucial for two reasons. First of all, the Jews of Arab Crete, bona fide Romaniotes,35
enjoyed ties to Byzantine Jewish traders by virtue of their shared language, while simul-
taneously benefiting from comparatively free trade. Secondly, the geography of the island
rendered it "the most importantfoothold for. . . sea power in the eastern Mediterranean
Basin."36In these respects, the Romaniotes of Arab Crete enjoyed a degree of freedom in
international trade unknown to the same Jews under Byzantine rule, who may have been
allowed to import but could certainly not export silk. The ability of Jews to trade rela-
tively freely in the Muslim world, which had recently included Crete, brought restrictive
Byzantine policy into sharp relief, justifying Moshe's frustration.
In addition to textiles, tanning numbers among the primaryindustries of the Byzantine
Jewish economy. Benjamin of Tudela in the twelfth century would elaborate on the role
of that trade in the capital, but tanning clearly played a majorrole in Jewish Crete as early
as the tenth century. The Jewish role in tanning has also been tenuously associated with
RomanusLecapenusand the expulsion of the Jews to the Galata,outside of Constantinople.37

Benjamin of Tudela and other sources are found in
Steven Bowman, The Jews of Byzantium, 1204-1453
(Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 1985), pp. 333-37.
31 Robert Sabatino Lopez, "Silk Industry in the
Byzantine Empire,"Speculum 20 (1945): 18-19.
Among the fundamental purposes of The Book of
the Prefect, economic compartmentalization ranks
very high. The authorssought to guaranteethat no sin-
gle guild maintained interest in both the production
and distribution of a given commodity, be it textiles
(IV.7 and VI.10), leather (XIV.2), or fish (XVII.3).
Hence, the restriction of the Jews in the international
sale of silk may prove to bear on their importancein its
production.
32 Cf. Goitein,A MediterraneanSociety,vol. 1, p. 50,
cited in Anna Muthesius, "The Hidden Element in
Byzantium's Silk Industry:A Catalyst for the Impact
of Byzantine Silks on the Latin Church before 1200
A.D.?" Bulletin ofJudeo-Greek Studies 10 (1992): 21.
Muthesius provides a concise and useful overview of
the Jewish involvement in the silk trade. Both Goitein
and Muthesius discuss Or. 1081 J.9, in which a Jewish
imperial silk dyer flees from Byzantium to Egypt in or-
der to escape charges of spoiling silk. This manuscript
underscoresboth the Jewish presence in the silk indus-
try and the hardships associated with Byzantium.
33 The change from an unaccented,shorto vowel, as
in dyop6, to a long, unaccented u vowel as in
occurs in Greek papyri from the Byzantine period. See
,'n1.1_
Francis Thomas Gignac, A Grammarof the Greek Pa-
pyri of the Roman and Byzantine Periods, vol. 1, Pho-
nology, Testi e documenti per lo studio dell'antichith,
vol. 55 (Milan, 1976), p. 211.
In Hebraic terms, a similar phenomenon is at-
tested in the chronicle of Obadiah the Proselyte of
Norman Basilicata, Italy. In his geographical descrip-
tion, he writes the name of the town Tolve as and
the river Bradano as ".fn,
Photos of the manuscript
can be found in A. .r1.•.
Scheiber, "Fragment from the
Chronicle of CObadyahthe Norman Proselyte,"Acta
Orientalia Hungarica 4 (1954): 271-95.
34 Goitein, A Mediterranean Society, vol. 1, pp.
101-4, 153-54, proves that merchants were, by and
large, highly diversified. Silk, however, overwhelm-
ingly figured very prominently in even the most di-
versified trade.
35 Zvi Ankori, Jews and the Jewish Communityin
the History of Medieval Crete (Athens, 1968), pp.
351-52.
36 George Ostrogorsky, History of the Byzantine
State (New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1969), p. 284.
37 See Benjamin of Tudela, Sefer Masacot, ??23-
24; for Jews and R. Lecapenus, see n. 20 above; and
"'?Yl1'Da 1"0," in Medieval Jewish Chronicles, ed.
Adolf Neubauer (Amsterdam, 1970), pp. 185-86 (re-
print). The anonymous author, who finished his work
during the reign of Nicephorus Phocas, criticizes Ro-
manus Lecapenus, although he does not do so on the
grounds of persecuting Jews; rather, in the context of
a king-list, the authorsimply disparages Romanus as a
usurper. Another invective against Romanus can be
found in the apocalyptic tract "The Vision of Daniel,"

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 A GENIZAHLETTERFROMRHODES 9
Moreover, the Jewish tanningindustrywas taintedby some of the problems associated with
it; tanning produced bothersome pollution, and it was viewed with great disdain, thereby
diminishing the Jews' status, especially insofar as it may have been forced upon them.38
Zvi Ankori provides architecturaland archaeological evidence which demonstratesthat
the reconquest of Crete brought with it a renewed Jewish role in local tanning.39Another,
undated Genizah letter from Byzantium (T-S 16.289) discusses a series of transactions
dealing with the sale of hides, one order of which was destined for Crete.40In light of the
putative relationship between tanning and Romanus'spersecution, and in consideration of
the resentment which the process generated, tanning may be viewed as one of the by-
products of Byzantine domination, in some measure imposed on the Jewish community
with all its associated stigma.41 Though unmentioned by Moshe Agura, increased Jewish
tanning may have played a part in his discontent with the status of Crete.
Above and beyond the specific fabric and tanning markets, the conquest of Crete
boded poorly for Jewish merchantsaltogether.The mere conquest of the island allowed the
Byzantines greater control over Mediterraneancommerce, to the Jews' detriment.Due to
the fact that the
... Muslimslost maritimehegemonyover the Mediterranean afterthe expeditionof the Byzan-
tines againstCrete,a balancewas bornbetweenthe Fatimidsandthe Byzantines.Thisequilibrium
allowedthe ships of the Italiansto sail on the high seas . . while the Jews could not even com-
pete.42
Having gained the strategic island, the Byzantines were able to manipulate the market,
favoring the Venetians who had interdicted Jews both in their city and on their ships.43
Even if Moshe's nickname or surname, Agura, does not reflect his trade, the economic
developments associated with the Byzantine reconquest of Crete merit his emotional re-
action to the historical event. Drawn into the world of Byzantium-decidedly disadvan-
tageous as compared to the Abbasid/Fatimidsphere-he desperately sought to emigrate.
He betrays his exasperation when he demands of his in-laws, "why didn't you inform me
by means of a letter [that you were living there]?... [Tell me] how you are [faring]
and... and we shall go there in blessing, to meet up [with you] in peace."44

From Islam to Christianity

In addition to economic and political challenges, Byzantine rule posed religious ones
as well. The well-attested religious zeal that accompanied the Byzantine expedition

in Andrew Sharf, Jews and Other Minorities in By-
zantium (Jerusalem, 1995), pp. 133 ff.
It is important to note that the relationship between
tanning and the persecution of R. Lecapenus does not
rest on demonstrative proof; indeed Joshua Starr dis-
putes it. See Starr, Jews in the Byzantine Empire, p. 29.
38 Ibid., pp. 29, 136, 225. The Talmud itself, Baba
Batra 16b, gives evidence of the distaste with which
tanning was regarded: "Woe unto him whose craft is
tanning."
39 Ankori, Jews and the Jewish Community, pp.
327 ff.
40 De Lange, Greek Texts,p. 22, 1.9.
41 Ankori, Jews and the Jewish Community,p. 352.
42
Ashtor, "Gli ebrei nel commercio mediterra-
neo," p. 420 (my translation).
43 Ibid., p. 428, n. 102, citing S. Romanin, Storia
documentatadi Venezia,vol. 1 (Venice, 1853), p. 371.
Approximately thirty years later, Emperor Basil II
(r. 976-1025) promulgateda similar edict on his own
initiative; see Basil II, Novellae Constitutiones, PG,
vol. 117, cols. 616-17.
44 See letter, 11.22-24.

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10 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

recharged the ancient tension between the Church and the Jews.45 This letter from a de-
spairing Jew supports Zvi Ankori's conviction that Byzantine rule brought with it
". .. decrees and ordinances discriminatingagainst the Jews whom [the Byzantines] found
already settled in captured Arab Khandak...."46 Having recently suffered serious set-
backs, Moshe betrays that particularbitterness reserved for misfortune that immediately
follows well-being. Thus, Moshe remarksnot merely that Crete is fraught with problems
but, more trenchantly,that "Crete is no longer as it used to be ...."47

IV. CONCLUSION

For the Jews, Byzantium promised a political, economic, and religious step down from
life in the Muslim world. Moshe's letter laments precisely the moment of the turn for the
worse, as he describes the reversal on Crete and a keen desire to emigrate from Rhodes.
No event between the tenth and twelfth centuries is more aptly applied to this letter than
the Byzantine reconquest of Crete. On the contrary,a later date would find no support in
history, for after these turbulent beginnings of Byzantine rule on Crete, the unfortunate
state of the Jews did not last for long. Once the great Byzantine renaissance took hold,
Jews eventually found ample opportunityand even advantage in immigrating to the Byz-
antine Empire.48Ironically, the very conquest of Crete that Moshe Agura so resented also
heraldedthe prosperousand pluralistic Byzantine revival, during the height of which such
a letter would have been out of place.

V. TEXT AND TRANSLATION49

[ ](•R) S0mblf ('fl77)ml(1 f)[ i .1

l'x l) x n'm
[](z~' 5nnj)rn (7 'r)[ .2
[ ]In,:•? n,,nzza7 5:,5i7nz•? ,( )[ ]] .3
•
[S]Yf 54[ P,,nK PXl "ljnt3 53t7Kl"1 ]],nn] .4
7mnln
ns( a ),hnlna •:sr n7xa msz , .5
],•.0_
_
L5;S
nmIY~XnXnsmnl ;I~
nm 7l'x n .6
7,SK55'lyza "n~nnR5,
l•Taz ;nnv,:1 p7i7i,SK .7
?

45 For an example of the crusade-likeattitudeof the 52 Apparently the Greek KcaXil,

campaign, see Theophanes Continuatus, Chro-
nographia, PG, vol. 109, cols. 491-94, ?? 8-9;
Ankori, Jews and the Jewish Community,p. 328, n. 2;
Tsougarakis,Byzantine Crete, p. 76.
46Ankori,Jews and the Jewish Community,p. 351.
47 See letter, 1. 10.
48 Ankori,Karaites in Byzantium(New York, 1959),
pp. 163-64.
49 Brackets indicate lacunae; parentheses indicate
illegible, hence inferred, characters;underlining indi-
cates difficult readings.
50 Cf. de Lange, Greek Texts, p. 13, 1. 1 for traces
of a similar formula.
51 In light of the fact that Mar Tuvyah is later de-
scribed as Moshe's brother-in-law,the wordinn appears
to signify a general category meaning "in-law,"as op-
posed to the moreliteral"father-in-law"or "son-in-law."
perhaps translated
from the Hebrew or Arabic, meaning "beautiful."
53 In the manuscript, '? is actually written as a lig-
ature. The ligature of these charactersis very common
throughout the history of Hebrew, especially when
used to designate the Lord; cf. de Lange, Greek Texts,
p. 319 (T-S 16.289, rec.), 1. 3. In an unpublished
Genizah fragment, T-S 18.J.5.7, the curved, flared
ascender also appears coming from the TVwhen used
in lieu of the Lord's name and sometimes from the b
as well.
54 This reading is difficult, but seems to be [l]'nll.
Another possibility, DP"n, finds loose parallel in Or.
1080 J.1 (de Lange, Greek Texts, p. 13, 11.5-6) and
T-S 16.289 (de Lange, Greek Texts,p. 23, 1. 2).
55 One does not expect the use of 193,which usu-
ally means "on behalf of," in this context, and it may
come from the Greek sense of Cf. 1. 15.
Rtpi.

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 A GENIZAH
LETTERFROMRHODES 11

1*g n ])
(X.'
frnC tLann.g1r
ceutt . e .8
?

357 ..~t ykfowtaI .9

6[m]nral72
,oun7mU-hr
an Q, 1?Xfl
Y os ]xntltlidr "11f
4"
[7]77 •Z:: Da '•.72;1 fIlX l .10
.12
5a"1,l,"X ''?•,',7
dau g htrnt, 7.ta.s.ith1 fl '1
aa• n 7 .7
N'71 ', xs?l 7' D7m
7fln~fl
.16
.12
S'X fl P]'X5 'f .21
a1•Tz, nn'X,z ,
5nflX::
:::lan7• ?59fi'7r11•'1~-
7:17~m'lTz::,rl::l,:Iz•r . 16
'f~fKt rrnY X~'X
az~nn ~1flX l~st;71?~' PKf''f ..21
17
,"l?.la•,"1Vr.,•r~r•a~zp narba•72
to
2.'.1.9
.1
and: myinla1MtarTulvaatntol
,nYr72~ fnn• Kf7 =nK C=72• ,z YTa,,n,, .21
:l'lrl f1l;77'l::lr•:: 6'5mrlPnrl'l• Kf7•r•7"l .22
15. the Lord 'edK[)n greings] o 60pec-ae[n .o18
th"[may[(n'nrm P=a•72•
5K;1~ fSK1nn n la aa
nzn:: (.)72• .24
,

3 .... your mother Qaly, know that I am alive ...

6. w as miserable, I took he L ord) and greetings of peace unto...
daughter,
on the Isle of Rhodes. Now I am in fatherd
to...andbut
5... that when the Lord decreed [againstRhodes,
27 us], regarding your
[when] my mother-in-law [sa]w how
your sister
not have
learned whether
4. and our son[s]-in-law. We (or not) he inthe Lordthat you are [alive], too. Know
[my]if
6. was miserable, I took her and brought her to her husband
7. on the Isle of Rhodes. Now I am in Rhodes, but regarding your father
8. ! have not learned whether (or not) he is alive. So, if
9. you have heard anything about your father and brother(s), write me...
10. Now Crete is no longer as it was of old,
11. ratherit has been overthrown. So, if the place is good over there, write us,
12. and we shall go there, all of us, for this island, too, is evil in every respect.
13. While we would like to mention every detail to you, unfortunatelywe are now
14. confused, because we only just now came, but could not succeed. Forgive
15. us, my daughter, for my prayer is before the Lord day and night on your behalf.
16. Let me know of any news, my daughter,and I shall prayon your behalf. Accept [wishes
of] much
17. peace from me, Moshe Agura, your in-law

56 PerhapsonYlV?. cf. the proper name for Crete, 1. 10. For this unusual
57 Perhaps the author began the word and form of D'1,see Marcus Jastrow,A Dictionary of the
realized that it would not fit; regardless, he'tpy7,
continued Targumim(London and New York, 1903), s.v. uXK,
on the following line. citing J. Sanh. III.6 (=21b).
58 I.e., Rhodes. 61 In standard Hebrew, one would expect 'b, as the
59 Perhaps indirect object of "mention."
'•flf.T phenomenon of the prothetic
60 For the phonetic ?,

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12 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

18. to my brother-in-lawMar Tuvya, and to my wife's sister Pwtytyn.62

19. We trust in the Lord [that] you are alive. Indeed I am alive, but, if
20. the place is good [over there], write us and we shall go there, all of us. Now, I did not
21. realize that you were [living] there, but I recently heard [that you were],
22. so why didn't you inform me by means of a letter? Write me anon
23. a letter of yours [stating] how you are [faring] and how the Lord has helped you,
24. and we shall go there in blessing, to meet up [with you] in peace. Amen.

62 Apparently the feminine form of the personal and G. Benseler, Wiirterbuchder griechischen Eigen-
name tnoeilrog, meaning "beloved," which occurs in namen, Vol. 2, A-Q2 (Graz, 1959).
inscriptions as early as the tenth century. See W. Pape

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