Geniza Lab

Biblical commentary, late. The description of a ketubba under this shelfmark in FGP is probably intended for CUL Or.1080 9.19.

Seʿadya's commentary on Psalms. Note that the identification and transcription of the Persian business letter on FGP belong instead with CUL Or.1080 6.30

Letter from a woman named Archondou, in Alexandria, to her son Fuḍayl, in Fustat. Her main purpose in writing emerges at the end: she wants her son to come and fetch her, as she wants to go to Fustat. The woman's name, the use of a Greek word (τυλάριν, ?mattress, r12, 19), and the spelling of the proper names 'Archondou' (ארכודו) and 'Alexandria' (אלכסדריאן) all indicate a Greek-speaking milieu. Archondou expresses her sympathy for her son's eye disease, "from the day I heard that my eye has flowed and I have wept day and night without case" (r9–12). She too has an eye disease: "My eyes hurt very badly and I give three zuz every week to the doctor, and I cannot move from this place. If God is good to you, do me a favour and come quickly to fetch me out of here so that I do not die" (v10–14). Information from de Lange's edition. ASE.

Lease of an apartment of the Qodesh ca. 1180. Abu'l-Bayan, one of the prominent parnasim of this period, leases an apartment, which is in a tabaqa, i.e. an upper floor, to a certain Abu'l-Fadl. The apartment is in Dar al-Zajjaj, one of the compounds owned by the qodesh. The lessee is himself a parnas. The tabaqa is described as the apartment, sukn, of Makarim Ibn Sahlan. In fact, this must be understood as Makarim and Ibn Sahlan, since they are listed separately in accounts of rent, where they pay five dirhams a month each, the same sum of rent that Abu'l-Fadl, the new tenant, will have to pay. Abu'l-Bayan, the representative of the qodesh, cannot be one of the parties in the concluding formula which says "from each of the two," since he represents the court. The most plausible explanation is that the two tenants rented the tabaqa of the qodesh inhabited by them, to a third party, with the knowlesge and active participation of the qodesh. This would represent a subletting of an apartment of the qodesh. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 313 #73)

Legal document. Fragment of beautifully written old ketubba. No name, no date, no conditions preserved. No or next to no jewelry reported. Marriage payments: 10 + 20 = 30. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Letter sent by Salama b. Asad the perfumer to Ismail the perfumer, accompanying a payment made to him and ordering eleven items, amongst which some uncommon ones. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 585, and from Goitein's index cards)

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions the amirs Shibl al-Dawla (a man of the same title appears in F 1908.44I) and נאתץ(??) al-Dawla. Also mentions a man titled al-Pe'er; a peasant who covets the writer's mechandise that is "with him"; "ḥadrat al-wilāya" (the title of a wālī?).

Appeal for charity by the scholar Mawhūb b. Ḥalfōn ha-Ḥaver Ibn al-Bunduqī (“the son of the Venetian”). (Information from Goitein’s index card.)

Account of the Qodesh: payments to building workers, ca. 1045. Two fragments written in Arabic script, on vellum, the verso of a letter. Apparently, this was an intiial record of the names of the people and the itemized list for the day on which work was done, to serve as a basis for payment and the final recording. The names seem to be of both Muslims and Copts. The record covers a period of about five months, from the beginning of July to the end of November, 1045. Gil's interpretation is that the work was done at the compound of al-rayis, by which a notable of the congregation was mean. The sums due aare not mentioned since there were set rates according to professional grade. Some of the workers are sani'in, which seems to mean here the more skilled masons; some banna'in masons; there is also a sabi, an apprentice. The only payment recorded is of one dinar, which was probably an advance. The handwriting seems to be of Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp.208 #30)

Letter from a merchant in the Maghreb to his business partner in Fustat (might be a person from the Tahirti family). The beginning of the 11th century. Details about selling large quantity of flax and shipments of hundreds of dinars from the Maghreb to Egypt. Also mentions buying lead and other goods and details about the prices of different goods as indigo. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #137) VMR

Fragment of a letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda, probably to Sahlan b. Avraham, 1029.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to an unidentified person in Fustat.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to an unidentified personality in Fustat, 1034.

Fragment of a letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda in a time of distress, approximately 1030.

Letter from a certain ʿEli, unknown location, to the cantor Isḥāq, in Damietta. Addressed specifically to the shop of Abū l-Surūr al-Ṣayrafī. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. Dating: ca. 1100 CE, based on Goitein's assessment of the handwriting and the people mentioned. The letter is interspersed with learned quotations of poetry, Bible, and Talmud. The sender apologizes for neglecting the addressee's letters. He reminds the addressee. to send him items he had left with him, including the little thawb (thuwayb), the scarf or turban (radda), and the kerchief (mandīl). He says that the judge Abū Isḥāq al-Rayyis has written several times to Abū l-Surūr and that Nissim b. Naḥum also came (from Damietta?). He particularly wants the collected poems of Yiṣḥaq Ibn Khalfūn (an Andalusi Hebrew poet of the late 10th–early 11th century), either his copy that is with the addressee, or a new copy that the addressee has made. It seems that someone else borrowed another copy, 'was ashamed to give it back,' and took it with him to Yemen. He also wants "my letter/epistle and the poems(?) of the Parnas who/which went to Tinnīs," or copies, since his brother Avraham wants to study it (the letter is torn in the key phrase in this sentence, and this translation is not certain). In a postscript on verso, he wants the addressee to get half a dinar from al-Mawṣilī and purchase bees' honey with it. (Information from Goitein’s index card and from Goitein, "Ibn Khalfun's Collection of Poems in 11th Century Egypt and Yemen," Tarbiz 29 no. 4 (1960), 357–58.)

Legal deed dated Av (July/August) 1233 CE in the handwriting of the judge Yeḥiel b. Elyaqim. Fragment: beginning only. Information from Goitein's note card.

Seven autograph responsa in the hand of Avraham Maimonides. The last one is even signed: אברהם ברבי משה זצל. Awaits further examination. (Information from Goitein’s index card.)

Letter from Ya’aqov b. Yosef al-Tunisi, Fustat, to Salah b. Barhun al-Taharti, Ramla. The writer sends goods to Ramla, to the merchant’s officer Ahmad b. al-Harani. Mentions details about merchandise that arrive in Fustat. Both the Taharti brothers, Ismaʿil and Salah b. Barhun, are in Palestine. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #140) VMR

An appeal of a man from Alexandria to the Nagid in Fustat requesting the Nagid's help in arresting a man who a legal court determined that he owes the writer money. The twelfth century. (Information from Frenkel)

Calligraphic family letter, sent from Giza, containing many names and detailed instructions. Dated to the 13th century. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, 423, and from Goitein's index cards.) A very rough translation is as follows: "Your letter arrived with Ibn al-Jalajuli. Najm al-Din read it with me in Giza and wrote a response in his own hand. A letter with Abu l-Ḥasan arrived with the news that you are sick, and we were pained on your account, myself and the mother. As for Tawus and Mas'udah, they did not greet us (?). The old woman and Mas'udah fought, she said to her, "You claim that I owe you something, I don't owe anything to anybody!" We went to Abu l-Khayr, I and the Hakim, as soon as Abu l-Ḥasan arrived with the letter. We fought with him. We said, "Give the ghazal (?), we will do it outside." But he didn't do it. He prepared it and he will do it. As for what you sad, my brother, that I should rise and come, you know that I am busy with the speaking (?) of Najm al-Din until matters are stable (?) with him. On Wednesday, the day after the arrival of the letter, I went to Amin al-Din the son of the founder and bought five of indigo (nīl) from him. I gave him your letter and he read it and I kissed his hand and humbled myself and cried. He was pained and said, come back another time. He is good of heart and wishes for your delivery. He promised me. Every day I await for the response from him, and every day I go to him -- may God grant that salvation is at his hands, and the next letter after this one will tell of your salvation. My brother, I cannot travel until I have a letter with news of your delivery. There is no sense in traveling like this. I can't even buy or sell things until your matter is settled and the speaking (?) of Najm al-din. As for what you said about going to to al-Shams b. al-Muzawwiq - he did not leave me in Giza after he read your letter except that he was good (of health?). Maybe we don't need any of them. You know that he does not have any influence apart from money. Until now, nothing has been settled between me and him. If you need money, send word with someone you trust, and we will give it to him. My brother, there is fire in our hearts because of you. Mother and your sister and the Hakim all want to come to you. A blond apostate (poshea') arrived after Abu l-Ḥasan's letter and said that you had departed. Someone wanted to write a letter to someone; but he searched for you and did not find you. He calmed our hearts a great deal. He told us that your leg hurts you. Their fear was calmed, and they recovered from their state...." Further people mentioned include Hajj Muhammad, Najm al-Din, the old woman, the Hakim, Hikam (?), and al-Shaykh Hilal. ASE.