Geniza Lab

Fragment of a letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda (handwriting of Avraham b. ha-Gaon) with the signature of the Gaon, maybe was addressed to Avraham b. Shalan. Expresses Thanks to Avraham b. Shalan. Mentions his son, Shalan. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2 p. 183, #97). VMR

Letter from Shelomo b. Semah, Ramla, to Efrayim b. Shemarya, approximately 1030.

Polite letter in Judaeo-Arabic, in which the sender explains that he had been reluctant to visit the addressee, as he surmised that his 'brother' Abū Zikrī Yaḥyā b. Menashshe (cf. Halper 383) was visiting, and he was not on speaking terms with the latter. He would now like to come, especially with regard to the friendship which had existed between him and the addressee's late son. The blessings for the addressee include "the restraining of the hand of those who rule by oppression." (Information from Goitein's index card and CUDL.)

Part of a letter written by Shelomo ‘the lesser, Head of the Yeshiva’ (i.e. the Gaʾon Shelomo b. Yehuda), in Jerusalem, to Efrayim b. Shemarya, in Fusṭāṭ. Dated: 1035 CE (per Gil). Regarding the special collection to help restore ‘the cave’ (i.e. the Rabbanite synagogue in Jerusalem, that was damaged in the collapse of part of the Western Wall on the Temple Mount during Passover 1034 CE). The restoration of the synagogue is described, including the removal of rubble, and the use of 62 beams and 600 planks. Also mentions details concerning captives, as well as Yosef b. Yaʿqūb, a prominent member of the Fusṭāṭ Jewish community, who is loyal to the Babylonian academy of Pumbeditha and has the title Alūf. Greetings are sent to the addressee's son-in-law, Yosef. (Information from CUDL.)

Part of a letter, probably from the first half of the 11th century, possibly written by Yeshuʿa b. Yosef ha-Kohen, on behalf of the Jerusalemite and Babylonian Rabbanite communities in Alexandria, to the leader of the Jewish community in Fusṭāṭ (name not preserved but titled ‘the distinguished scholar’), perhaps Elḥanan b. Shemarya, regarding the plight of five Jewish male youths who were cruelly held captive and, having been ransomed for 100 dinars, subsequently fell ill. The ransom had been raised at great cost to every member of the Alexandrian Jewish community. (Information from CUDL.)

Deposition (modaʿ) in court made by one Abū Saʿd. Location: New Cairo. Dated: Tammuz/Av 1466 Seleucid, which is 1155 CE, under the authority of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya. Abū Saʿd declares that he had paid a sum of 16 dinars (out of 32) to his opponent only to protect himself against his slander. The money did not belong to him. Signed by Moshe b. Seʿadya and Sason b. Yeshuʿa ha-Levi. The validation is written and signed by Sason b. Meshullam; also signed by Hillel b. Yosef and Yosef b. Yehuda. This fragment was formerly known as T-S 10J24.6. (Information from Goitein's index card and CUDL.)

Verso: Copy of a will by Yeshua b. Isma’il al-Makhmuri. September 1090. In the handwriting of Shlomo ha-Kohen b. Eliyyahu (which became the Gaon later). Presenting the will in necessary for a court discussion. The will is missing the witnesses’ names but it has the names of the people that the deceased appointed to deal with selling the goods he left, as well as building his grave (“the cave”). These people are Musa b. Abi al-Hayy Khalila and Shemuel b. Yehuda. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #327) VMR

Awaiting description - see Goitein notes and index card linked below.

Letter from Shemuel b. Khalīfa, in Damascus, to Yosef Abū l-[...], in Fustat/Cairo. In Hebrew. Dating: Perhaps ca. 17th century. Specifically Friday, Erev Rosh Ḥodesh Tammuz, but the year is not given. The sender complains about the lack of letters and asks for help retrieving a debt of 200 ducats from a Muslim—or rather it seems that they are trying to bribe an official (sar) with that money, who is supposed to intervene with the king about something. Mentions Moshe ha-Kohen. Moshe Ṣāyigh added a postscript in a different hand (right margin, upper text block), in which he greets the 'prince' (the same official from the main letter?) Moshe b. Aṭār (משה ן אטאר). (Information in part from CUDL.)

Awaiting description - see Goitein notes and index card linked below.

Letter from Umm Dawud to her nephew Abu Zikri describing the wedding of her daughter (c. first half of the 13th century).

Letter from Yehoshuaʿ Ha-Kohen B. Yair, Tiberias, to the communities of Aleppo, approximately 1020.

Letter from Yaʿaqov b. Yiṣḥaq, in Aleppo, to his son Yiṣḥaq b. Yaʿaqov, in Fustat. Dating: c. 1030 CE (based on Frenkel's assessment). In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. In a beautiful scholarly hand and excellent style. His son was evidently a tailor. The letter lists items that Yaʿaqov has sent (including the wool garments "buqyār" and "mayzar") and other matters. Ash(mūn?) and Abū ʿĪsā are mentioned. See T-S 13J20.16, in which the same writer tells his son about his severe illness. On verso there are Arabic-script writing exercises (each letter of the alphabet written with different letters after it).

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Rudimentary handwriting. Mentions Barhūn and al-Rayyis Abū Zikrī. From the Maghreb? Information from Goitein's note card.

Letter from Sahlān b. Avraham to a Ḥaver. Dating: ca. 1035. Mentions Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAllūn. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2 p. 622-623, #339). Goitein summarizes this as follows: "Fragment. According to the request of a Gaon, the scribe of a court deposition restates the contents of that deposition (probably lost), which was against the interest of a certain ḥaver. The letter is addressed to that ḥaver. Preserved is the name of Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAllūn, who was granted a power of attorney." VMR

Letter from Abū l-Riḍā to his brother Shelomo. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. Asking for urgent help with "ghathth al-bayt" (a problem of his wife? or actual house?). On verso he adds that he only wrote this letter while 'sick in the brain' (muta'allim al-dimāgh). Information in part from Goitein's notes.

Letter from a man to his prospective father-in-law. In Judaeo-Arabic. Expressing his enthusiasm about the future connection (ittiṣāl) with him and stating to have heard from the Ḥazzan Ṣadaqa Ibn Nufayʿ (the go-between) that the younger and not the elder daughter was to be the prospective bride. The letter appears to have been left unfinished. Information from Goitein's note card.

Letter from Abū l-Faraj and his son Abū l-Majd in Bilbays to Eliyyahu the Judge (who is the cousin, ibn khāl, of Abū l-Faraj). They have been in Bilbays only a brief time, since 17 Iyyar, seeking a living there because of difficult economic conditions in Alexandria. But this project has not worked out, and so they are planning to return to Alexandria. The main purpose of the letter is to ask Eliyyahu to rebuke another Abū l-Faraj, who owes the writer 18 dinars, and force him to pay. The writer had deposited the money (and other goods) with this Abū l-Faraj on the night before he traveled; this was witnessed by another cousin (ibn khāla) of Eliyyahu, Manṣūr b. Sahlān. The writer told Abū l-Faraj to draw up a contract for the deposit/loan, but he never did so. (Probably he is now denying that he owes anything.) "If I had known that the matter would turn out like this, {I} wouldn't have given him a penny. . . . My greatest need from you is to rebuke Abū l-Faraj, for he is a heretic [zindīq]. My only salvation from him will be through God and through you. I am shocked at how he treated my son. . . . I am now a piece of flesh: I lack money, sight, and a living." He mentions his weak vision earlier in the letter, too, when explaining the "delay of my raḥl (merchandise? travel?)." Also of interest in the letter is what Abū l-Faraj conveys about his hospitality for Eliyyahu's son, the physician Abū Zikrī, who returned from Jerusalem the previous year. Initially, Abū Zikrī stayed with Abū l-Faraj the son of the Parnas. But after Yom Kippur, the writer said, "He should stay with me instead of with strangers." And thus they lived together, "head to head"—apparently an expression of his great hospitality. When the writer and his son, along with Asad and Abū l-Munā, started preparing to travel (to Fustat?), they urged Abū Zikrī to come with them, citing the wishes of Eliyyahu, but he refused. Asad ended up advancing him 17 dirhams for the capitation tax. Abū Zikrī has no intention of coming, but rather is staying in the house of the writer, along with Sulaymān the Yemeni (perhaps the father of Avraham b. Shelomo the Yemeni, who lived with Abū Zikrī in Jerusalem, and who had family in Bilbays, see T-S 8J16.3 and T-S 13J21.5). Abū Zikrī's motivations seem in part financial—he says he will not come until his father sends him 10 dinars. The letter is full of idiosyncratic spellings, many probably reflecting colloquial pronunciation. ASE.

Letter of the cantor Yefet b. Shekhanya to Egypt. The transcribed portion of the letter describes how he came to Acre but did not take any donations from the community, for he learned that they already collected donations for Elhanan b. Shemarya, the rabbinic leader of Egyptian Jewry in early 11th century. MY (Finkel Jubilee Volume, p. 134)

Letter from Yefet b. David in Tyre to his father David b. Shekhanya (c. 1008-11 CE). A collection (pesiqa) for the young hazzan Husayn b. Dawud b. Sakan of Fustat in Acre (well-known under the name Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya). (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:221, 222, 569, and CUDL) EMS