Geniza Lab

Verso: A religious text, probably a translation of 'Keter Malkhut.' Recto: Letter of congratulations from Musalah to Shelomo and his son upon the marriage of the son. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Yosef b. ʿEli ha- Kohen al-Fāsī, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1057. In the handwriting of Salmān b. Hārūn. Yūsuf b. ʿAlī Kohen al-Fāsī writes of his intention to come to Fustat and meet with Abū ʿAbdallah (Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ) to see if he had kept his goods safe for him, and asks to send him his greetings. Contains information about movement of ships and goods. The situation in Alexandria is not good and merchants that were supposed to arrive there did not. Also mentions Nahray’s eye disease. Goitein's note card #27112: "Just as we do, one reacted to the news that a relative or friend was restored to health. One used for the occasion the same phrase 'I congratulate you' as one did with good wishes for holy days or a marriage or a safe return from a journey. T-S 13J17.2 is characteristic in this respect. The copyist of the letter had expressed his good wishes for Nahray's recovery from his serious eye disease. His boss had forgotten to do so but obviously read what the scribe had added. Thus the scribe adds, 'My lord Abu Ya'qub al-Kohen wishes to congratulate you on your recovery.'"

Recommendation letter for an Iraqi merchant who lost everything in a shipwreck. He is advised to write to Abu al-Bishr and his cousin. (Information from Goitein's index cards, and Goitein, Mediterranean Society, I, p. 409)

Letter probably from Shemuel b. Daniel b. ʿAzarya (the eldest brother of David b. Daniel). Describing his grief over his father's death. Dating: 1062 CE or shortly thereafter, if Goitein's identifications are correct (since Daniel b. ʿAzarya died in August/September 1062). "After describing his pain—also physical—over the loss of his father and his state of disconsolation (quoting Lamentations 2:13), he continues: 'You, the illustrious elder, have already learned how God the exalted has afflicted the people of Israel and, in particular, myself with the eclipse of the honored position (jāh) possessed by me through the vanishing of the crown, the glory, the power, the splendor . . . the nasi. . . and Head of the yeshiva....'" (Information from Goitein's index card and Med Soc V, pp. 258, 578.)

Letter from Yehuda ha-Levi to Ḥalfon b. Nethanel.

Letter from the physician Yaʿaqov, in Spain, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel ha-Levi. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: between summer 1138 CE and March 1139 CE. India Book 4 (Hebrew description below; full English to come.) Spain

Letter from Abū ʿAlī b. Barakāt to his son Abū Naṣr ʿAlī b. Abū ʿAli b. al-Quṣayr, in the alley of the candles, presumably in Fustat. The unemployed father can send nothing to his son and cannot travel because of the dangers on sea and land. He promises to return home as soon as possible when it becomes less dangerous. He gives advice about the running of the shop in his absence, and says multiple times that his son should tell all his customers and associates that he is coming back as soon as possible, and he has not run away or gone bankrupt or died. It appears that his wife had written that she was languishing in his absence, to which he responds that God has brought deliverance for greater crises than this, and as soon as he heard that, he vowed to fast in the day until he is reunited with them. In another place, he says he does not sleep at night due to longing for them. His son should not speak to Hiba the collector of the capitation tax, because Abū ʿAlī owes him money and needs to sort out the matter in person. (Information in part from Goitein's index cards, and Goitein, Mediterranean Society, I, p. 467.) ASE.

Letter from an unknown merchant from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim. April 20, 1064. The writer informs Nahray about the loading of their goods on ships. There is a doubt about the identity of the owners of several packages. Mentions shipments of flax, cotton, cloths, copper, and money. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #828) VMR

Letter from Efrayim b. 'Isma'il al-jawhari, Alexandria, to Yosef b. 'Awkal.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda (or Avraham son of the Gaon?) to Efrayim b. Shemarya. In Hebrew. Asking Efrayim to organize the Jewish community in Fustat to assist the bearer, a victim of theft (or refugee?), on his homeward journey. Dating: probably 1034/35 CE. (Information from CUDL). Join: Oded Zinger.

Letter from Shela b. Mevasser b. Naḥum, a judge of Alexandria, to Abū al-Ḥasan Surūr b. Ḥayyim in Fustat, dealing with family and public matters. The letter contains clues about the dispute between Shela and Mevorakh b. Saadya and reflects Shela’s conception of his role as a community leader. (Information from Frenkel, The Compassionate and Benevolent, p. 514; S. D. Goitein, Index cards.)

Letter from Moshe b. Yaʿaqov, in Damascus, to Abū l-ʿAlā Yūsuf b. Dā'ūd b. Shaʿya, in Fustat. Dating: 29 December 1057 CE (Gil) or ca. 1066 CE (Goitein). News has come from Egypt concerning a severe epidemic (wabā'), and the writer is worried and asks for news of the addressee as well as of the merchandise that he had sent to be sold in Egypt. The writer also encloses a letter for Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm b. Dā'ūd b. Sughmār.

Letter from Hassun b. Yiṣḥaq in Alexandria to Yahya b. Ismail in Fustat. The sender inquires about a shipment of tin sent to the addressee. Hassun also announces that he is anticipating a shipment of leather for which he specifies requirements concerning the shipment, expenses and the required documents. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #808)ת On verso another text.

Begging letter from Fuḍayl, the brother of Abū l-Ḥasan, and from Abū Saʿd, to his relative Abū l-Khayr Ṣedaqa b. Ṣammūh b. Sasson requesting help for himself and another person. Fuḍayl asks Ṣedaqa to 'make the rounds' and collect some donations from other Jews. "You know how sick I am after having been a man as [strong as] as lion." The total amount asked for is very modest, only five or six dirhams, which might have been only a symbolic number. The letter starts with a biblical quotation (Proverbs 21:14). (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 358, 605)

Letter sent by a young man named Siba to his mother in Fustat but addressed to his brother, Abu al-Najm, describing the troubles he had encountered from a capitation tax official on his travels in a Nile boat and saying he had arrived safely in Alexandria. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 299, 300)

Letter from Shemuel Ha-Ḥaver b. Moshe, Tyre, to Efrayim Ha-Ḥaver b. Shemarya, Fustat, approximately 1045.

In this appeal, typically addressed to the community ('your excellencies, my masters, the illustrious lordly judges, and...the elders of Israel'), a widow and mother of four, weighed down by debt, asks for 'something to conceal myself (astur bihi nafs) and the fo[ur] who are with me. She thus voices the common plaint of the master, the 'concealed,' who strives to maintain him/herself economically without having to 'uncover his/her face, especially by resorting to the public dole. (Information from Goitein's index cards and from Cohen)

Letter from Avraham b. Seʿadya the Hebronite, in Bilbays, to Moshe ha-Kohen b. Ghulayb, in Fustat. Dating: beginning of the twelfth century. Recto 1-15: Flowery Hebrew greetings and Passover blessings for Moshe and his three boys, Yoshiyahu, Sa'adya, and Yeshu'a. Recto 15-19: Updates on the health of family members since Moshe departed. Abu l-Bayan and his sister and mother are healthy. Recto 19-24: Avraham and everybody are extremely anxious about the outbreak of smallpox (juddarī) among aṣḥābunā. It afflicted one house, then two, then three. Suhayl's 3-year-old son died, and Mevorakh's son Khulayl is critically ill. Recto 24-25: Avraham and Abu l-Husayn and Abu Sa'id and Umm Abu l-Bayan and Bayan and _____ all send holiday greetings. Verso 1-3: Avraham's knee pain has gotten worse. He wrote this letter while lying on his side. Verso 4-7: Avraham enclosed another letter to his in-law Abu l-Surur and asks Moshe to forward it to Cairo. He asks Moshe to send him some kohl. ASE.

Letter sent by a traveler-businessman to Abū l-Munā al-Yahūdī al-Sharābī, in the al-Muṣāṣa quarter of Fustat, to be delivered to his brother's son Abū ʿAlī, specifying items that he had sent and how to sell them. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 193, and Goitein's index cards)

See PGPID 5529. This is an older transcription.