Geniza Lab

Address of a letter from Shelomo Cesana & Company to Karo y Frances & Company, in Fustat/Cairo. This fragment is only an address, probably belonging to one of the letters in a nearby shelfmark.

Letter from Shelomo Cesana & Company to Karo y Frances & Company, in Fustat/Cairo. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 5 Kislev 5569 AM, which is 24 November 1808 CE. On verso there are some sums. Needs examination for content.

Drafts of the opening of a letter, quoting Esther 6:11. Maybe to the writer's father. Dating: Late, probably 18th or 19th century.

Letter fragment from Shelomo Cesana & Company probably addressed to Karo y Frances & Company, in Fustat/Cairo. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Ca. 1800 CE. This portion lists out accounts. Probably belonging together with one of the nearby shelfmarks.

Address of a letter probably from Shelomo Cesana & Company to Karo y Frances & Company, in Fustat/Cairo. Dating: ca. 1800. This fragment is only an address, probably belonging to one of the letters in a nearby shelfmark.

Literary text. In Hebrew. Ashkenazi hand. Late.

Panegyric for a certain Elʿazar. In Hebrew.

Detailed astrological table in Judaeo-Arabic. Gives the auspicious days for such activities as "demanding rights," "imḍā' al-dīwān" (?), and going to the bathhouse. ASE

Erotic poetry in Judaeo-Arabic. "O if only my eye were inflamed (ramidat). . . O if only it were blinded," etc. ASE

Legal queries from al-Maḥalla. The first one asks how to calculate the value of a marriage contract (ketubba) where there is no fixed rule concerning the additional marriage payment (ziyāda). (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Ghāliya bt. Yiṣḥaq, widow of Furayj b. X, and Ḥusn bt. Ibrāhīm acknowledge in court that they have received two dinars from the debt transfer (ḥawāla) of Abū Yūsuf Yaʿaqov b. David through the cantor Musāfr b. Shelomo, the cantor from the debt transfer of Abū Manṣūr Ghālib b. Yiṣḥaq. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter of appeal from an elderly, blind woman, mother of several sons and grandsons, to the Gaon Maṣliaḥ. Dating: 1127–38, based on the tenure of Maṣliaḥ Gaon. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Written by a scribe on her behalf (Goitein: "A refreshing mixture of the accomplished style of a court clerk and the woman's ipsissima verba"). Subject: She complains about being neglected by her firstborn son Abraham after the death of her daughter, and begs for charity. "After eight lines of biblical quotations and an introduction in Hebrew, the letter continues: 'I wish to inform your high excellency that I am a blind woman. For a long time, I have been sitting in a corner with no access to this world, but as long as my daughter lived, she was always around me and cared for me. Now she has died, and her brothers and their sons have taken what she possessed. My son, Abraham, the firstborn, took the estate, and has not provided me with anything since she died, not even a loaf of bread. I have now entrusted my spirit to God, the exalted, and to you. Shout at him and tell him that he should give me what is indispensable. May the Holy One never let fail your strength and may he guard you from the blows of Fate, such as blindness and indigence, and shield you under the shelter of his wings'" (Goitein, Mediterranean Society, V, p. 124).

Complaint addressed to a Gaon by a son-in-law of a man who left one quarter of a house to an infant daughter and another quarter to his son. The writer probably claimed (that part of the document is torn off) that the man had also promised something to his married daughter, his wife. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 281, 489)

Bitter letter by a public officer complaining about his lot. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 88, 89)

Letter from Yiṣḥaq Ibn Barukh, in Almeria, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel ha-Levi. Dated: Sunday, 29 Tammuz 4898 AM = 10 July 1138 CE. Concerning their joint business endeavors which are related to Yehuda ha-Levi as well. Ḥalfon had asked the writer to transfer 150 dinars to Yehuda ha-Levi, probably indicating that Yehuda ha-Levi invested in Ḥalfon's business. The sender will transfer the whole amount, when he receives it, to Yehuda b. Ghiyāth in Granada, who will transfer it to Yehuda ha-Levi. (Information from Goitein, 'Rabbi Yehuda ha-Levi in Spain in the light of the Geniza papers', Tarbiz, 24 (1955), pp. 136-137). VMR. See also India Book 4 (Hebrew description below).

Large fragment of an interesting family letter in the handwriting of Toviyya b. Eli addressed to Avraham b. Saadya and another recipient. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter to (Eli ha-Kohen) b. Hayyim, a parnas in Fustat, 2nd half of 11th century.

Letter from the Qaraite Moshe b. Yiṣḥaq al-Maghribī, in Jerusalem, to Abu l-Faraj Nissim b. ʿAmram al-Ṣayrafī, in Fustat. Dating: Mid-11th century. The letter is addressed to the market of the producers of copper tools (sūq al-naḥḥāsīn) in Fustat. This fragment is only the beginning of the letter; the entirety of what remains consists of blessings and prayers and good wishes for the holidays. (Information in part from Gil.) VMR. ASE.

Letter from a factotum to his boss. Reporting that everyone at home is well and giving the prices of different goods. Wheat: 1 dinar per 9 waybas. Honey: 5 dinars per 1 qinṭār. Wax sells well. Flax is exported to the Syro-Palestinian coast. Mufarrij and Shūʿa the Bāniyāsī escaped from the enemy attacking Caesarea (although Goitein read this as Mufarrij and Shūʿa escaping to Bāniyās). Shūʿa returned to Malīj. Mufarrij will come in Elul. (Information from Goitein's index cards.) The letter ends on verso with three lines of Arabic script (يخصو حضرته بافضل السلام وكتابه لا يقطعه عني...), not yet transcribed. ASE

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim, in Būṣīr, to Abū Isḥāq Barhūn b. Ṣāliḥ al-Tahirti and his cousin Barhun b. Mūsā, in Fustat. Dating: February 11, 1054 CE. Nahray came to Busir to hurry the buying of flax, according to the advice of ʿAyyāsh b. Ṣadaqa, who is in Busir as well. The letter contains instructions about the business in Fustat while Nahray is absent. Also mentions business with several Muslims. In addition, mentions silk that awaits in Sicily. The addressee had been ill but recovered. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #257) VMR