Geniza Lab

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Tuesday night, 1 Adar 1539 Seleucid, which is 1228 CE. The writer advises the addressee to resort to the intervention of the mothers and wives of certain 'righteous gentiles': Umm Ibrāhīm and her son; the amir Najm al-Dīn; the wife of Jamāl al-Dīn "who was in the wilāya (=iqṭāʿ?)" of Mubāriz al-Dīn and represented him "in the gate of the Sultan"; and Sitt Masʿūd. He also asks the addressee to inquire about ophthalmics (ashyāfāt). Information from Goitein's note card. ASE.

Letter from an unknown writer in al-Maḥalla to Sar ha-Sarim (Nagid Mevorakh b. Saadya) in Fustat. Written in Hebrew. Calligraphic and beautifully styled. Goitein suggests that the writer is the muqaddam of al-Maḥalla. The name ʿOvadya ha-Levi b. Saadya on verso may be the name of the writer, but this is not certain. The writer seems to be trying to obtain an invitation to serve in some position in Fustat. Information in part from Goitein's note card.

Letter from Yaʿaqov b. Salīm to Ḥalfon ha-Levi b. Natanʾel in al-Ghuwwa, Yemen, ca. summer 1131, concerning the controversy over the reshut of Maṣliaḥ gaʾon over the Jews of Yemen and the collection on behalf of the yeshiva in Fustat. Yaʿaqov b. Salīm, leader of a Jewish community in Yemen, having left Aden and moved to al-Ghuwwa, sends Ḥalfon a secret letter for Maṣliaḥ, head of the Jews in Egypt, and another letter for Abū Zikrī ha-Kohen, representative of the merchants in Fustat. Yaʿaqov b. Salīm had managed to get the Jews in the villages of Yemen to send contributions for Maṣliaḥ, and he asks Ḥalfon to beware lest the letters fall into the hands of his enemies. In case Ḥalfon is delayed on his journey to Egypt, he should ask Abū l-Yumn to deliver the letters personally. Yaʿaqov hopes he will receive an answer from Maṣliaḥ within the year. He also comments on books that he has sent to Ḥalfon, and notes that he had already copied the letter sent to him from al-Ghuwwa while he was staying in Aden. Yaʿaqov b. Salīm had left Aden for al-Ghuwwa because, like others, he was seceding from the authority of Maḍmūn b. Yefet and didn't want to be involved in controversy, all the more so given what we learn from his letter regarding contributions collected for the yeshiva of Palestine in this period of controversy. He himself had sent 34 dinars as an annual contribution from the villages of Yemen. The letter seems not to know that the villages had refrained from contributing that year — a rumor based on the exilarch's preventing the congregation from saying the reshut clause in the name of Maṣliaḥ gaʾon. Yaʿaqov b. Salīm points out that only two villages had not yet contributed, and that when their contribution came, the total contribution of the villages would be 404 dinars, a good amount according to Yaʿaqov b. Salīm, but also a much larger sum that any other geniza document mentions as a contribution to any reshut. Goitein read the sum as 600 (תר) rather than 404 (תד), but after the number the word danān(īr) appears, which in both classical Arabic and in this letter comes only after units. The regular contribution in the name of the gaʾon of Palestine demonstrates the attachment of Yemeni Jews to the central institution of learning. This seems to be the earliest document written from Yemen in the controversy over the reshut. It is exceptional that Yaʿaqov b. Salīm warned Halfon to handle the letter with secrecy and destroy it; fortunately, Halfon didn't obey the warning. The letter is difficult to decipher, but includes specific information about the affair, such as the copying of letters from the Davidic Persians and details about the collection for Maṣliaḥ, as well as greetings to Halfon's children ("his lion cubs"). Yaʿaqov b. Salīm was already known from Mann, Jews in Egypt and in Palestine, 2:366 (doc. 65; read al-Ghuwwa instead of אלגיוהומא). (Information from Friedman and Goitein)

Letter fragment. In Hebrew. Calligraphically written. The subject matter is communal strife; some wicked person is stirring up trouble, and the results are government decrees (nishtavnim) and a letter in Arabic script ("the writing of the Ishamelites"). The postscript instructs the addressee to send the response with the sister of Samʿān. Information from Goitein's note card and from Marina Rustow.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Late. There may be dates on verso.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic from the notebook of ʿArūs b. Yosef (see e.g. CUL Or.1080 J190). Information from Goitein's note card.

Recto: Letter fragment in Hebrew, rhymed. Much damaged. Verso: Formulae for condolence according to BT Ketubbot 8b. Information from Goitein's note card.

Letter from a man who might be Perahya b. Yosef Ibn Yiju, probably in Fustat, to his wife, in al-Maḥalla. She is the daughter of the judge of al-Maḥalla. The sender reports that he was given the honor of delivering a sermon before the two congregations of Fustat. He implores his wife, with both sweet words and threats, to join him in Fustat. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, 218, 567, 568; III, 219, 220)

Legal document. Small fragment (lower right corner). Dated: Tishrei 1484 Seleucid, which is 1172 CE. The name of the Nagid is unfortunately not preserved on this part.

Fragment of a letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda.

Recto and beginning of verso: Letter from a sick man to a physician. In Judaeo-Arabic. He reports that he has collected the prescription that the physician gave him and that he used it earlier in the day, but it had no effect. He is still in great and unmentionable distress whenever he leaves the toilet (murtafaq). He has sent the (substantial amount of) 109.5 dirhams that the physician charged him. He asks for further instructions, because he is in great distress. He is unable to leave the house but cannot bear sitting in in the house. Lower part of verso: The physician responds that the medicine has [not had enough time to] work, and that he should take another dose. There is then a cryptic instruction about doing something first that should be done first, "from whichever hand possible," for that is the greatest requirement for this illness. ASE.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Dealing with business matters and goods on a boat. The writer sends greetings to the addressee's son Abū ʿAlī and his brother-in-law Abū l-Ḥasan; also sends regards to Ḥasan and his maternal aunt.

Letter from Ḥassūn b. Daniel (? looks like حسون بن دانييل) to a certain Abū l-Ṭayyib. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. The Judaeo-Arabic is written with a rudimentary hand and spellings. Needs further examination.

Abū l-Majd, in Alexandria writes to his cousin Judge Elijah, in Damascus (?) on a business trip. See Goitein Nachlass material. Judge Elijah may in fact be in Fustat. Abū l-Majd writes, that a certain mawlā (his father?) wrote to him from Damascus telling him to come join him. "I was shocked; I don't know what to do. He said that he is blind in his eyes. I am making up my mind to go. I want to consult you about the trip. . . the news of the country, whether caravans are going. . . ." Abū l-Majd also writes, "I have sent you many letters on this matter and not received a response." AIU VII.E.38 seems to be one of those letters. ASE.

Legal fragment in Hebrew. Late. Needs examination.

Letter from Abū al-Riḍa, in Qūṣ, to Abū Zikrī, in Fustat, c/o the sugar factory (maṭbakh) of Abū al-Maʿānī. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. (Goitein's index card identifies the addressee as Eliyyahu the Judge, who did have a son named (Abū) Zikrī.) Dating: Probably early 13th century. The addressee is asked to give a responsum (fatwā) with regard to a certain Maḥāsin who wanted to marry his wife's sister. Maḥāsin had denied a charge in connection with this engagement before a Muslim court and confessed it in a Jewish court. The issue involves the wife (bayt) of Ibn Qasāsa and Abū Saʿd al-ʿAṭṭār, who calls himself Shaykh al-Yahūd. The sender complains several times about his illness and poverty (and therefore his inability to resolve the issue). He tells the addressee not to send letters to the shop of Abū Saʿd, because Abū Saʿd always reads them before passing them on to the addressee. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.)

Affidavit of a loan by Berakhot b. Yosef to Perahyah b. Adahay signed by Judge Eliyyahu in 1220-- see Goitein Nachlass material

Letter from ʿAmram b. Yiṣḥaq, in Alexandria, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel ha-Levi, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Middle of Adar (1451 Seleucid) = February 1141 CE. The letter deals with the illness of ʿAmram's wife (evidently a familly member of Ḥalfon's) and the way she was treated. She had been suffering lethargy, palpitations, and fainting spells for over a year and a half. She was treated for “the obstruction of the heart (inqifāl al-qalb) mentioned by al-Rāzī in the Manṣūrī,” but the medicine only made matters worse. Midwives were summoned to treat her for "the illness of women”—hysteria—by the application of oils and fats. When this, too, failed, she was overwhelmed by black bile (melancholia), rendering her “a piece of flesh, yearning for death but unable to attain it.” ʿAmram asks Ḥalfon to convey his wife’s medical history to the physicians of the capital, so that “perhaps she will attain relief.” (Information in part from Frenkel, and Goitein and Friedman, India Book IV—Hebrew description below.)

Letter Fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic, calligraphically written. Refers to someone's mother; the daughters of Ibn al-ʿArīsḥī; the sender and another man falling sick; and trebuchet stones (גנק/junuq) which were sold to Nissim b. [...] for the astronomical sum of 4,000 dinars. "Junuq" is a very rare word and seems to be the only plausble reading of גנק, but it may not be correct. It is also not clear how much of the paper is torn away from the right side of the letter (probably ~2 words per line), which means the 4,000 dinars may refer to something other than the גנק. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.)

Legal document mentioning [...] b. Ḥayyim Nafūsī. Scribed and signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Also signed by Avraham b. Shemaʿya and Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel ha-Sefaradi and ʿEli ha-Kohen ha-[...].