Geniza Lab

Letter from Yefet ha-Melammed (the teacher). In Judaeo-Arabic. Somewhat crude hand and spellings. Dating: Likely 12th or 13th century. "I heard that you are intending to come to us. I was intending to come to Dimyāṭ, but I canceled when I heard that you were coming. Now, someone from Minyat דרכסוס named Badr al-Dīn has brought you 16 raṭls of indigo.... We had given him 160 nuqra (dirhams) per qinṭār...." The writer advises the recipient not to pay too much for the dye used for writing. Dealing with some other small family and business matters. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)

Family letter sent by Joseph to Abu al-Hasan, informing the addressee that he will come visit on Hanukka and sending his greetings to several people, such as Umm Najib and Abu al-Najm. 13 century or later. The address on verso is Arabic script. (AA).

Letter sent by Abu al-Hasan b. Atiya to Wafi b. Hasan and Avraham b. Sedaqa, dealing with an Islamic law that stipulates the levying of 500 dinars from the Jews in Egypt, and sending greetings to relatives (FGP)

Letter from Shemuel b. ʿEli gaʾaon, Baghdad, with opening praises, copied in the hand of his disciple Yosef b. Yaʿaqov rosh ha-seder. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat, probably to Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tahirtī in Būsīr, ca. 1053. Nahray sends details of various sales in Fustat and of related payments. A man arrived in Fustat, who fell ill and died within 15 days. During his illness he prepared a will, leaving 10 dinars for charity in Fustat. Some of this money was given to the son of raʾs al-galut instead, whom Gil identifies as David b. Ḥezekiya. The receiver of the letter was appointed as one of the executors of the will. On verso there are illegible accounts in the hand of Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tahirtī. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 744.)

Letter from Shemuel b. Eli Gaʾon in Baghdad to an unknown person. In the hand of his disciple Yosef b. Yaʿaqov Rosh ha-Seder of Irbīl. The sender mentions that the community members do not fulfill their duties towards the yeshiva. Also discusses the problem of girls forced to marry against their will. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 207. See also Goitein index card.)

Letter from a certain Peraḥya to the Nasi Shelomo. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Reporting that he had intended to pay him a visit on the occasion of his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, however the Nasi Yoshiyyahu came to visit the community for Sabbath, thus he had no time for the visit. He sends greetings in the name of his two sons, Moshe and Shemuel. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Daniel b. ʿAzarya (in the handwriting of his scribe), probably in Jerusalem, to ʿEli b. ʿAmram, in Fustat. The sender mentions the praises that he has heard about ʿEli b. ʿAmram from Moshe, a man who recently arrived in Jerusalem from Egypt. Daniel is not named in the letter or address, but can be identified by his ʿalāma, ישועה, which occurs at the end of the letter and next to the direction of the letter on verso. On verso there is the address of the letter. In a different hand, there is also a long text consisting of a collection of passages from the Babylonian Talmud, Ḥagiga 12; Moʿed Qaṭan 5, 9, 16, for liturgical-homiletic purposes. (Information from CUDL and Gil, Palestine, vol. 2 p. 693-694, #377). VMR

Calendar for the years 4728–4731 of the Era of Creation (=967-968 to 970-971 CE), dated according to the Era of Creation. The calendar mentions intercalation, the length of the variable months, days of the week of beginnings of months and the date and time of the four tequfot. The calendar has a heading שארית מח[זור] ‘the remainder of the 19-year cycle’. (Information from CUDL.)

Marriage contract (ketubba). Groom: Netanel b. Avraham. Bride: and Ṣabiyya bt. [...]. The dignitary Neḥemya b. Avraham he-Ḥaver is mentioned. Dated: 1345 Seleucid, which is 1033/34 CE. (Information from Goitein’s index card.)

Marriage contract (ketubba). Location: Fustat. Date: Not preserved, but it was drawn up under the authority of the Nagid David, probably more likely David I Maimonides (d. 1300) than David II Maimonides (d. ca. 1410). Bride: Sharafiyya bt. Makīn b. Abū l-Najm al-Parnas. Groom: Unclear, but the names Abū Naṣr Moshe ha-Sar and Yeshuʿa ha-Sar are mentioned. Joins by SDG. Information in part from CUDL. Needs further examination.

Ketubba. Groom: Yosef b. Neḥemya. Bride: Zuhra bt. Avraham. Signed by the cantor Yefet b. David (b. Shekhanya, active 1014–57 CE), Avraham ha-Levi b. Mulham (?), Avraham b. David, Shemuel b. Shemuel, Yeshuʿa b. Yiṣ[ḥaq], [...] b. Khalaf and [... b.] Yosef. It seems that the total payments add up to 7 dinars. (Information from CUDL and Goitein's index card.)

Letter from Sulaymān to his father. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script. There is also a basmala in Arabic script followed by "al-mamlūk Sulaymān" at the top of recto. The sender urges his father to spend the holiday with him, as he was accustomed to doing, although at that time he had urged the writer to visit with him. He also reports that his wife is pregnant. On verso there is also poetry in Arabic script and additional jottings in Arabic script. (Information from Cecilia Palombo, CUDL, and Mediterranean Society, V, 15).

Two merchants setting out from Alexandria on a voyage to the Muslim West appoint their wives as executors and guardians of their children: (1) Yosef b. Isḥāq al-Fasi gives his daughter Sitt al-Ḥusn 200 dinars and appoints his wife Sitt al-ʿAshīr bt. Barhūn as guardian of his daughter. He asserts that the amount of the principal and profit of a partnership included in the estate has to be accepted according to the word of his partner, because the partner was known for his trustworthiness and religiosity. Dated: Tammuz 4857 AM, which is 1097 CE. (2) Abū l-Faraḥ ʿArūs b. Yosef entrusts Sitt al-Kull bt. Avraham b. Ṭībān, his wife and mother of his boy, with all his affairs and possessions and makes her his heir, as well as guardian of their boy. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, 252; V, 133, 205, 333; and from Goitein's index cards; and from Goitein's hand list.) See also detailed description on CUDL.

Letter of appeal for charity. In Judaeo-Arabic, with a long Hebrew introduction. Asking for assistance in the petitioner’s difficult times of poverty and illness, mentioning his benefactor Abū l-Rabīʿ Sulaymān. Dating: ca. 13th century. This is the handwriting of Berakhot b. Shemuel, who wrote numerous such letters (presumably on behalf of other people.) (Information in part from CUDL.)

Leaf from a collection of magical spells and recipes, in Hebrew, copied in a 16th-century hand. One recipe aims to cause a woman to fall into a state of sexual desire. ‘Take your trousers and put them on over your head, so that you are naked. Say: “So-and-so son of So-and-so is doing this for So-and-so daughter of So-and-so, in order that she will dream that I sleep [with] her and she sleeps with me”.’ (Information from CUDL.)

Ff. 1-2: Beginning of a letter from a certain Nissim to Eliyyahu b. Zekharya the Judge and to his son the physician Abū Zikrī. The sender tells them they should praise God for saving their children from a dreaded fate (illness?). Dating: ca. early 13th century. F. 3 contains Arabic jottings and Coptic numerals. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Marriage contract (ketubba). Groom: Yiftaḥ. Ten dinars are mentioned, and this seems to be the entire obligation. Dated: 24 Adar II 1551 Seleucid, which is 1240 CE (though Goitein's index card suggests that he preferred 1340 CE, for unclear reasons). (Information from CUDL and Goitein’s index card)

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe (active 1100–38 CE), concerning a business partnership between Natan ha-Kohen and the doctor Mevorakh b. ʿOvadya ha-Kohen. (Information from CUDL.)

Power of attorney. Location: Probably Qayrawān. Dating: ca. 1030s CE. Dealing with a debt of 74 dinars owed by Salmān b. Sahlūn to Yosef b. Yaʿaqov. Signed by Yaḥyā b. Solomon, Yeshuʿa b. Yosef ha-Shofeṭ ha-Kohen (whose signature is surrounded by an elaborate motto), and Avraham b. David b. Labrāṭ. (Information from CUDL and Goitein's index cards)