Geniza Lab

Fiscal account beginning with the words waṣala ilā bayt al-māl al-maʿmūr. Mentions several amount in dinars

Letter in Arabic script. Maybe addressed to [...] al-Ḥakīm. The writer twice says "wa-ḥaqq al-Tawrā" ("by the Torah!").

Business accounts in Arabic script.

Tables in Arabic and Coptic, divided into rectangular boxes. Needs further examination. See also Halper 487 (PGPID 32516).

Tables in Arabic and Coptic, divided in rectangular boxes. Needs further examination. See also Halper 485 (PGPID 32515).

Inventory of books. Dating: 16th century. It is not clear to me (ASE) what library this is in or whether it is digitized.

Memory list for the family of Shmuel b. Hananya ha-Nagid. AA

Memory list. AA

Siddur with colophon by Obadiah the Proselyte. "Obadiah the Norman Proselyte who entered the covenant of the God of Israel in the month of Elul, year 1413 of [the era of] Documents [=1102 CE] which is 4862 of [the era of] Creation — he, Obadiah the Proselyte, has written [this prayer-book] with his own hand." See https://johannes-obadiah.org/, Obadiah Siddur.

A poetic letter? referring to the head of the congregations. On vellum. AA

Business letter from Avraham Kolon (קולון) to Yosef Ardiʿa (ארדיעה). In Hebrew. Dating: Monday, 5 Adar [5318 AM], which is 1558 CE (see A. David's article for explanation of the date). The sender was delayed 8 days in Rashīd, as he could not find any camels/cameldrivers to hire, so he sent his perfumes/spices by Nile barge (גרמי). He and R. Yosef have found no buyers for the (ostrich) feather or for the ginger, but he has managed to sell some of the addressee's indigo (אנייר = añir = añil, originally from Arabic al-nīl). If there is a difficult epidemic in Fustat/Cairo, the addressee should put all the goods of Yaʿaqov לוחמית and Yiṣḥaq פורדוניל in storage (? באוצר), as this is not the time to leave any goods with any person. (Information from Avraham David's edition.)

Fragment of an anonymous letter emanating from Babylonian Geonim or members of the schools. The content emphasizes the need of communal leaders and includes biblical citations from Ezra 7.28, Ezekiel 10.11, and Proverbs 16.20. (Jacob Mann, Texts and Studies in Jewish History and Literature, Vol. 1, Hebrew Union College Press, 1931, 185-6, 194) EMS

List of deceased persons.

List of deceased persons.

Deed of manumission for Ashu, an Indian female slave, written by Avraham Ibn Yijū, Mangalore, October 17, 1132. On the verso and on the margins of the deed Ibn Yijū copied drafts of 3 poems for Maḍmūn b. Ḥasan of Aden (See II, 40). Both Goitein and Friedman suggest that Ibn Yijū bought Ashu so that he could release her and then marry her. This deed is especially important for the 'reshut' clause, written in India, and mentioning both Daniel b. [Ḥ]isday, the Exilarch in Baghdad and Maṣliaḥ b. Shelomo, the head of the Palestinian Yeshiva residing in Cairo.

Three poems by Avraham Ibn Yiju in honor of Madmun b. Ḥasan, Aden, ca. 1140, who was expecting his third son.

Letter from Ṣadoq ha-Kohen, in Sunbāṭ, to Peraḥya ha-Kohen, probably in Malīj. Reporting on the substance of a legal case that came before him in the city of Sunbāṭ. The case was dated Wednesday, middle third of Ṭevet 1460 Seleucid (=1148/49 CE), under the authority of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya. It was a lawsuit between Abū l-Faḍāʾil Shela b. Natan, on one side, and Seʿadya b. Yosef and his wife, on the other. Someone's father Natan died, and there is a disagreement about a deposit; the city of Malīj is mentioned. (Information from Goitein's notes.) There are photostats and an edition in Goitein's notes (to be uploaded).

Letter from a son, unidentified location, to his father, in New Cairo. In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender is anxious for news of Abū l-Majd, and how he fared after leaving Bilbays. The addressee should inquire about him from any caravan that arrives from Syria. This letter should be forwarded to Abū l-Majd if possible. (Information from Goitein's notes.) There are photostats and an edition in Goitein's notes (to be uploaded).

Letter from Labrāṭ b. Moshe b. Sughmār, the chief judge in al-Mahdiyya, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: Ca. 3 August 1057 CE (Gil) or 1061 CE (Goitein). Goitein explains, "Our letter was written after 1057, the date of the ruin of Qayrawān, when R. Nissim (b. Yaʿaqov) and other inhabitants of that city had found refuge in Sūsa, a seaport on the Tunisian coast north of al-Mahdiyya. R. Nissim died in 1062.The reference to the Sicilian city whose male inhabitants were put to sword by the conquering Normans fits the fall of Messina in 1061." Labrāṭ extols the great rabbinical authority R. Nissim b. Yaʿaqov, and his pupil the enigmatic "Rav" of Egypt. At the time of the writing of this letter, R. Nissim lived in Sūsa. There he supervised the copying of his writings, which was done for the Qayrawān scholar, Nahray b. Nissim, who then lived in Egypt. The letter relates how R. Nissim's writings were transferred to Egypt, an important detail, which sheds light on the value of the Geniza fragments of these writings, which have been published by Sheraga Abramson. Labrāṭ reports on the progress of the court case that Nahray b. Natan brought against his brother Yisrael b. Natan (both of them the cousins of Nahray b. Nissim) regarding the inheritance of their father's estate. The letter hails the zeal and progress made in Jewish learning by a son of R. Natan b. Avraham, Av ha-Yeshiva, the sometime Gaon of the Palestinian academy. The letter concludes with a report of the conquests made by the Normans in Sicily. The reference is to their taking of Messina by assault, and the losses suffered by Jews and, in particular, by Muslims. The writer expresses apprehensions with regard to the import of grain from Sicily, since Tunisia itself, a primarily agricultural country, had been laid waste by the invasion of the Arab tribes. Labrāṭ opens the letter with copious well wishes to Nahray because of his eye disease (wajaʿ ʿayn and ḍuʿf ʿayn) and conveys well wishes to Nahray on behalf of R. Nissim (r4–11). Goitein cites this letter as an excellent example of the convention of expressing preoccupation for a sick correspondent and conveying congratulations upon his recovery: "After having read the bad tidings in Nahray's missives, [Labrāṭ] had become disquieted and frightened, and passed his sleepless nights in asking God to accept himself as Nahray's ransom and to heal him. He had also passed the news on to "the Light of the World" (the spiritual leader of the Tunisian Jews), who was also very worried about it; his prayer for Nahray, Labrāṭ is confident, would be accepted. Finally, the merchants arriving from Egypt reported that Nahray was well and his eyes restored, whereupon Labrat praised and thanked God. He would be set at rest, however, only by a personal letter from Nahray confirming this happy turn of events" (Goitein, Med Soc V, p. 111). Labrāṭ goes on to describe the serious illness of R. Nissim himself (r14–18). All had despaired, "but God looked upon us and did not afflict us and blind our eyes." R. Nissim recovered, but the remnants of the illness did not leave him for a long time. Information from Goitein and Gil. There are photostats and an edition in Goitein's notes (to be uploaded). ASE.

Letter from Salāma b. Mūsā Safāquṣī, probably from Mazara, Sicily, to Yehuda b. Moshe b. Sughmār (Alexandria), ca. 1055. Salāma b. Mūsā intends to buy a house in Mazara. The letter describes the writer’s conflict with local Jews who are plotting against him, and mentions a ban of excommunication declared against them. Salāma b. Mūsā asks for goods to be sent with various people and expresses a wish to renew the partnership agreement with Yehuda b. Moshe b. Sughmār. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 431. See also Goitein notes linked below.) There are photostats and an edition in Goitein's notes (to be uploaded).