Ottoman Jewish customs receipts were written in Hebrew because both officials were Jewish

Evidence

Jews served especially in the customs administration, where their knowledge of European languages and conditions was useful. Those who came from Europe could speak Spanish and often Italian too. We find for example great numbers of customs receipts in the Venetian archives, in Hebrew letters. A customs receipt is given so that the recipient can show it to another customs officer, and if the other customs officer was also likely to be Jewish, it made good sense to write the customs receipt in Hebrew letters. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 166

Categorization

• SHARE: Send to an Ottomanist or anyone into administrative history — the Hebrew-letter customs receipts in Venetian archives are a delightful material-culture survival.
• CANDY: Ottoman customs officials wrote receipts in Hebrew letters because the clerks on both ends were Jewish — a bureaucratic trust shortcut.