Geniza Lab

Query about niddah submitted to Abraham Maimuni by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu-- see Goitein Nachlass material

Letter in Hebrew. Fragment: right side only. Dating: Likely 16th century. Involves trade in barrels of wine (ḥaviyot and "barilas").

Letter from an unidentified man, in Jerusalem, to the Nagid Natan Sholal, in Fustat/Cairo. In Hebrew. Dating: Late 15th century. The sender reports that he is writing with great effort, because he has been sick ever since his marriage. He has not recovered his full strength, his joints are weak and painful, and he cannot turn his face from side to side ever since he fell off of a mule en route to Jerusalem. The main purpose of the letter is to conciliate Natan, who is upset about the marriage of his daughter to the sender's son, which evidently took place behind his back in Jerusalem. There is also discussion of Natan's property in Jerusalem and a report on the books that he left behind him in 1481 CE. The sender managed to find 4 of Natan's books, including the Gemara of Ketubbot, an Arabic commentary on Psalms(?), and Israel Israeli's Arabic commentary on Avot. (Information in part from Avraham David's edition on FGP.) ASE

Formulary or draft of a get-well-soon card. In Hebrew. Dating: Late, perhaps 15th–17th century. Very florid.

Letter from Musa and Salah and Ishaq al-Taharti to Yosef b. Awkal and to his sons Hillel and Binyamin (probably in the year 1011).

Formulary for a legal document of ḥaliẓa (rejection of levirate marriage). On vellum.

Family letter addressed to a place north of Qus in upper Egypt, beginning with two Hebrew verses from a poem, in which a woman with a child asks her sister and mother to take more interest in her because of her condition. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 172, 221, and from Goitein's index cards.) Same sender and addressee as L-G Ar. II.129 and T-S 8J24.4. In fact, this is probably addressed to Fustat (based on L-G Ar. II.129), though the family has business dealings in Qūṣ.

Accounts written by ʿArūs b. Yūsuf. Incomplete. (Information from Goitein's index card)

Letter from a son to his father. He complains about difficult circumstances and reports that ʿIwāḍ al-Bazzāz (the clothier) died. ʿIwāḍ may have owed the sender some money. The lower part of the letter is missing. On verso there are a couple words in Arabic script, including "dirham."

Recto: Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Only the right margin of the original letter is preserved. Dealing with business matters. Verso: Letter fragment or account in Judaeo-Arabic.

Legal fragment from a marriage document. Needs examination

Document in Arabic script, possibly a letter. Four lines are partially preserved. Reused for Hebrew literary text.

Letter in Arabic script from Mubārak b. ʿAllūn. Reused for Hebrew literary text.

List of names with interspersed Aramaic.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic addressed to Abū l-Baqā.

Small scrap that is either blank or has very faded Hebrew text.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Late. Mainly for foodstuffs: eggplant, coriander, mulūkhiyya, chickpeas, etc.

Letter from Abu Nasr b. Ibrahim, Alexandria, to his partner Abu Ishaq the nāʾib (deputy). Dating: 11 May 1141. The first page of the letter (which originally contained three pages) is lost. The letter deals with commercial matters, taxes, political issues regarding the raising of taxes and information on the affair between Yehuda ha-Levi and the convert b. Basri.

Circular letter. Fragment of a calligraphic letter addressed to “our master” (Sayydinā) and referring to a letter addressed to 'all the congregations pertaining to the city of the king (=Cairo)... to all the congregations of the land of Israel and Canaan, and all the exiles beyond the river...." Although the writers had been unable to meet some of their obligations, they ask a question concerning a certain al-Makhmūrī who had died. Verso: The answer, in Hebrew. Phrases only. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Letter in which an heir informs his correspondent that no one, the government included, had any claim on his inheritance and adds that his case was unambiguous. Only the question whether the government would take one half or three-eights remained open. Dated ca. 1100. Mentions that the judge is sick. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 397, 607)