[1]: 16 Yusuf was born into the Ibn 'Awkal family, who appear to have originally been of Persian origins - one early letter addressed to Yusuf's father is from Iran and in a mix of Arabic and Judeo-Persian - before moving to what is now Tunisia in the mid-10th century and ultimately to Fustat sometime after the Fatimid conquest of Egypt in 969.
His father was named Abū Bishr Ya‘qūb; by his time the family was established in Fustat.
His main office with a reception room (majlis) in downtown Fustat, probably not far from the port given the nature of his business activity.
Yusuf had at least two other offices, including one on the Dār al-Jawhar, the main gem trading center of medieval Cairo.
Since he was involved selling gems to "a regal clientele", his activity in Cairo was important to put him close to the royal court.
[1]: 20–1 Yusuf had inherited a position as a representative of the Babylonian academies from his father, but despite his title there is no indication that he actually took part in any scholarship, and "a stream of complaints from both Egypt and the West suggest that he was delinquent or negligent" in those duties.
[2]: 46 One of Yusuf's closest associates was Abū Imran Mūsā ibn al-Majjānī, who served as his chief representative in Qayrawan.
[1]: 25 A rivalry between Musa and the powerful Taherti family is evident as early as 1011; in 1015 Yusuf himself cut all ties with them and there were open hostilities between them.
[1]: 27, 83 Yusuf's agents were mostly not actually employees per se, but rather other merchants who worked not for commission but instead because they hoped to receive similar services in return.
[1]: 24 Lists of various statistics — current market prices, currency exchange rates, demand for various commodities, and departure and arrival schedules for ships — were included in some letters, "much like the financial pages of a modern-day newspaper".
In fact, the flax trade was so prominent that letters sometimes omit the word itself, instead saying simply "bale", "load", or "consignment".
[1]: 28–30 A surviving Geniza document shows that, in one year, Yusuf exported approximately 54 tons of flax to the port of Mahdia.
Based on the average price of flax at the time, Norman Stillman estimates that Yusuf's revenue was about 4,860 dinars, or US$486,000 (as of 1973 values) just from this one commodity being shipped to a single port.
It's possible that places like Mahdia or Qayrawan served as the main "depots" where local Tunisian merchants went to buy raw materials.
[1]: 38–9 Sappanwood (Biancaea sappan; called baqqam in Arabic and historically known as brazilwood in English), which is used to produce a vibrant red dye, is one of the most commonly mentioned trade goods in the entire Geniza archives.
Originally imported from India, it was used as a varnish (shellac), a source of red dye (called lake in English), and for medicinal use.
No direct mentions of Yusuf dealing in lacquer are known, but he received quotes on its prices and, according to Norman Stillman, there is "no doubt" that he was involved in exporting it from Egypt to the Maghreb.
Yusuf was extensively involved in the pepper trade, but the exact amounts and prices are somewhat unclear and "difficult to synthesize".
[1]: 44 Luxury goods (a‘lāq) such as precious metals, gems, and expensive fabrics, were costly but lucrative merchandise.
Another letter from Iṭrābulsī relates that government officials had opened for inspection a shipment including crystal as well as a luxury fabric called Abū Qalamūn, which according to Nasir-i Khosrow was made exclusively in Tinnis and supposedly changed color at different hours of the day.
[1]: 54–5 Three major aromatics are mentioned in the Ibn 'Awkal correspondence as export goods: camphor, musk, and odoriferous wood.
There are no mentions of shipments of either camphor or musk, but numerous market quotes indicate that Ibn 'Awkal was probably involved in exporting them westward.
Other medicinal substances mentioned in the Ibn 'Awkal correspondence include yellow myrobalan, a fruit from India used in the Arab world as a digestive and astringent as well as in the tanning and dyeing industries; sukk, an unidentified substance made from date juice, gallnuts, and "Indian drugs" (‘aqāqīr hindiyya); tragacanth gum, which had various uses including as a laxative, an antacid, an agglutinative; and scammony, which was used as a purgative and vermifuge.
[1]: 50–1, 54 The plant Rubia tinctorum, called "madder" in English and fuwwa in Arabic, has roots that can produce a vibrant red dye.
For example, in one letter, Ismā‘īl al-Tahertī asks Ibn 'Awkal to buy him silver dirhams if he can't find good quality 'Amtānī indigo.
[1]: 58, 62 North Africa, Sicily, and Spain were major olive-growing regions, and olive oil (in Arabic, zayt) was one of their main exports.
For example, one letter from the contact Hārūn al-Ghazzāl asks Ibn 'Awkal to receive and sell for him 21 skins of olive oil arriving on the barge of Ben al-Ḥdeb ("son of the hunchback").
[1]: 71 Coral (marjān), gathered off the coasts of Spain and North Africa, was one of the major exports of the Muslim West during this period.
In one, al-Jawharī wrote that he had left three baskets of saffron with Ibn 'Awkal and asked him to find a buyer for it who was willing to pay "5 dinars per mann on two months credit".
In another, al-Jawharī wrote that he had followed Ibn 'Awkal's instructions to "use the proceeds from the sale of flax at the al-Mahdiyya fair to buy various commodities, among them saffron".