Geniza Lab

Book list, perhaps older than recto: "The goods that belong to Rabbenu Yiṣḥaq.. delivered to Abū(?) Yaʿqūbb." Books include al-Manṣūrī and the poems of al-Ḥarizi. (Information from Goitein's note card) ASE

Letter/petition addressed to a notable. In Hebrew (for the poetic opening) and Judaeo-Arabic (for the body). In a typical 11th or early 12th century hand. Reused for Hebrew piyyut (recto) in the hand of a prolific scribe. Joins: Alan Elbaum. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter from Alexandria from the 21st of October 1219, a short time before the crusaders' assault on Damietta. A man who had to flee Cairo to Alexandria due to debts writes to his sister, who still resided in Cairo, to ask for her help. The letter reflects the difficult situation in Alexandria. The Jewish community cannot manage to support all those in need, since it has only recently paid a large sum to the ruling authorities, a kind of a war tax (tabarru' and ju‘l). (Information from Frenkel). See additional information in Goitein, Med. Soc. 1:98-99 and the detailed discussion in V:55-56. Goitein adds that the letter was sent from Alexandria by a former official of the imperial mint of Fustat to his rich sister. The writer describes how he had lost his post, his house and all his possessions. He hired out his boy to a tailor who paid him half a dirham per week. He lists ten reasons why he cannot possibly come to Cairo; the tenth and "most stringent reason for not making the trip to Cairo was the certainty that his enemies seeing him in such a state of humiliation would rejoice over his misfortune." "Despite the careful enumeration of all his afflictions he forgot one, possibly the worst of all, which he added as a postscript ot his long letter: 'Because of my worries I got dry pimples and my skin peeled off my bones.' Of all concerns, bad health is most apt to move hardhearted relatives" (Med Soc V:56). See also T-S 8J20.26.

Letter dated 15 Sivan 1208 from Yehuda b. Aharon b. al-'Ammani (Alexandria) to Abu l-Majd Meir b. Yakhin (Fustat). The first part (r.6-17) deals with exchanges of piyyutim between the two cantors. “You mention that the dirges have arrived and that you have everything. That is impossible. Had you said 'I have one out of ten,' all right; but that you have all of them is impossible, for some of them were composed [meaning recently] by my uncle Zadok—may his Rock keep him" (Med Soc V, 179, 556). Yehuda also conveys the news that Abu l-Majd's brother Sa'id was very ill but has now recovered, while Abu l-Majd's mother and his brother Hilal are well. The remainder of the original letter (r.18-v.12) is a recommendation for the bearer, the Maghrebi Moshe b. Khalifa who arrived in Alexandria at least a year and a half prior and who was blinded by an eye disease and a failed operation. For two months after the operation, he suffered elevated pulse (? צרבאן) and "saw dreadful things in his soul" (? אבצר אלעטאים פי רוחה), and today he remains like a dumb stone. He has dependents including a wife, a virgin daughter, and a 6-month old son. The community has supported them for a year and a half, but the pesiqah no longer suffices, and his own relatives in Alexandria are unable to provide for him. Moshe carries another letter with signatures from "the Judge"; Sadoq the cantor; Bu Sa'id b. Alqash; Bu 'Umar al-Levi b. al-Baghdadi; Yehuda himself; Bu 'Imran b. Ghulayb; R. Simha ha-Kohen; and Eliyyahu the Judge. There is a postscript (v.16-20) written two days after the original letter, when Yehuda heard that Abu l-Majd's wife is dangerously ill. He prays that he will hear of her recovery soon. There is a second postscript (v.21-24) noting that Moshe cannot travel at the present moment because he would be required to pay the capitation tax twice, but that Abu l-Majd should take care of him whenever he does arrive. Ashtor misread the date as 1400+168 by the Seleucid calendar (1257 CE), while it is in fact 4800+168=4968 since Creation (1208 CE). The same is true for T-S 13J21.25 which Yehuda wrote one week after this letter. Information in part from Goitein's note card. ASE.

Letter by Yosef Yiju, in Mazara, to his sons Perahya and Moshe, in Fustat or Alexandria. In Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew. Dating: Fall or Summer, 1156 CE. India Book III, 49. "Contents: A. Complaint that the longing for the addressees was 'killing' their parents, who, in addition, suffered from all kinds or privations and illnesses (lines 1-9). B. The writer had hoped that Peraḥya would soon come back as a married man, for he wanted to participate in the education of his niece and future daughter-in-law (lines 9-17). C. The 'master' had refused to pen this letter (lines 17-26). D. The writer thanked God that his son Moses was rescued from the pirates and did not care about the loss of the goods (lines 26-37). E. The boys should have informed their father what merchandise and of what value they had sent with Ḥajjāj; cf. III, 44. The man had sent ninety rubāʿīs only a year after his arrival and another ninety some time later (lines 37-49). F. Admonition to bear the losses with submission to God's will (line 50 and margin). G. The religious importance of marrying one's cousin (verso, lines 1-10). H. Hope to see his sons again, despite present hardship (verso, lines 10-15). 1. Request that the Head of the Jews in Egypt write letters to the Muslim commanders of Mazara and Messina and to Jewish notables in Sicily to arrange for the travel of the Yiju family to Egypt (verso, lines 15-27). J. Greetings (verso, lines 28-36). K. Address of sixteen lines." Description based on India Traders (attached).

See PGPID 4730; this is the same transcription without diacritics.

Letter to Mar Shabbetai Ravilon from his brother, Mar Yaqub, dealing with the trade of hides, including a shipment to Crete and business concerning Moshe the Dyer and Mar Haggai. Written in Hebrew, the letter contains many Greek words, including expressions and technical terms of the trade. (Nicholas de Lange, Greek Jewish Texts from the Cairo Genizah, 1996, 7-21) EMS

Ketubba (marriage contract). Fragment (last few lines only). The groom is named Yosef. Signed by: ʿEli b. ʿAmram ha-Levi (active 1049–66, not to be confused with ʿEli ha-Mumḥe b. ʿAmram); Yehuda b. Yaʿaqov ha-Levi; Thābit b. Yosef. Reused for literary text on verso. (Information from Goitein’s index card.)

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Letter by Meir b. al-Hamadani to Maimonides, asking him to accept his son as his assistant for the study of medicine. He stresses that he dared to apply to him only because he had heard that Maimonides' nephew, who had worked under him thus far, now practiced elsewhere. He promises to pay Maimonides a higher honorarium than the former apprentice. Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 248. On verso there is a medical prescription (nuskha li-l-khayālāt) containing twelve ingredients, along with a record of four donations received in a pesiqa dated 1225/26 CE (1537 Seleucid). ASE.

Responsa of R Hananel concerning the using of the Assyrian script for secular purposes. Maimonides responsa om this matter is mentioned. AA

Letter from the judge R. Hanan'el b. Shemuel to notable in Alexandria. AA

Letter from Moshe b. Peraḥya, the muqaddam of Minyat Ghamr, to a prominent scholar in the capital. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 1230s–40s (the last years of Avraham Maimonides or the first years of his son David). Identification of the sender (and dating) was made by Amir Ashur, based on handwriting. The sender explains that his rival in a nearby place was stirring up much publicity for himself and asking the recipient intervene for him with the head of the Jewish community as he requests that Minyat Zifta be restored to him in full and that he likes to retain also Malij , for which he has held letters of appointment for years. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, 49 and V, 188, 192.) Compare T-S AS 157.86.

Esther writes to her parents in law after having returned from Safed to Cairo, describing how she learned certain needle work and expressing thanks to the lady who taught her. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

The Nagid R. Yehoshuaʿ warns against disqualified kosher butchers. Middle of the 14th century.

Letter. The hand and style resemble those of Abū Zikrī the son of Eliyyahu the Judge. In Judaeo-Arabic, high register, rhymed prose. The contents are very difficult and need further examination. The writer seems to be defending himself against a rebuke he received from the addressee. He mentions his mother several times as well as a woman in labor, but the latter might be proverbial ("I hear that a woman in labor (makhīḍa) when nothing happens becomes enraged (maghīẓa).") He conveys good wishes for the addressee's recovery from an illness (r23–25). ASE.

Commercial letter sent from Isaac and Joseph (probably in Babylonia) to Judah ha-Sar, mentioning a voyage to India and commodities including gold and silver slag (iqlīmiyā' tibriyya and fiḍḍiyya respectively). Information in part from CUDL. See also Goitein's notes below.

Letter from ʿAbd al-Raʾīs b. Makīn to a certain Yosef. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dealing with small business matters. Dating: maybe 14th–17th century. A woman expresses her longing for another woman named Sāda (or Sara). The mother and her daughter may be in Jerusalem. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Recto: Letter by Sherira Gaon to a correspondent in Fustat, complaining about Egypt and the West's neglect of the Yeshiva. Beginning and end are missing, but the letter should be dated to 962 CE, written while Sherira was still Av Bet Din in Pumbeditha. Verso: Under the title תרגום אפאטיר, there is a list of parashot and their corresponding haftarot, including for special sabbaths and festivals, with Judaeo-Arabic instructions. Written in a slightly clumsy hand with many deletions. (Information from CUDL)

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.