Geniza Lab

Letter. In Hebrew. Ṣedaqa Nes or Nīs (ניס) writes to Moshe b. Yehuda, in Alexandria. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century, based on the associated fragments. Same writer and addressee: Bodl. MS heb. c 72/14, 72/15, 72/17, and 72/38. The writer may be identical with the Ṣedaqa mentioned in Bodl. MS heb. c 72/10 and 14. Subject: business in books, paper, basbousa, ammonium chloride (nushādir). The writer sends regards to Messer Louis Pizarro (מיסר לויז ביזרו). Mordekhai Ḥefeṣ sends his regards to the addressee. Information from Avraham David's edition and notes. ASE.

Letter addressed to Moshe b. Yehuda. Mainly in Hebrew with some Judaeo-Arabic (isolated words throughout and a block of text in the middle of verso). Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century, based on the associated fragments. Contains extensive discussion of business dealings, mainly in materia medica for 'the druggists' and 'the doctors.' Currencies: peraḥim and muayyadis. Commodities: pepper, sal ammoniac, clove, brazilwood, nutmeg (jawza), sandalwood. Various names are mentioned, including someone called "al-Germani" (the German or Ashkenazi).

Letter addressed to Moshe [b. Yehuda]. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century. Dealing with business matters. The sender conveys Shemuel's request that the addressee help Fakhr al-Dīn with the sale of the khiyār. There is a rumor that קרקשונה (Carcassonne? A merchant from there?) wishes to purchase them. There is also a Muḥammad involved.

Letter. In Hebrew. Eliyya b. Elyaqim, in Crete, writes to Moshe b. Yehuda, in Alexandria. Dating: 1484 CE (written in the document in the Italian portion on verso). Subject: Commissions of a manuscript and shipments of wine and cheese. Regarding the manuscript, Eliyya has been tasked with acquiring a copy of Nachmanides's commentary on the Torah. He first approached the notable Vittore Royge (? השר ויטור רויגע) who knew nothing about how to obtain it. He asked further and found one copy on new paper in an excellent hand for 8 ducats. He has also heard rumors of another one on parchment for 15 ducats. Eliyya asks for instructions on how to proceed. Eliyya sends regards to Ṣedaqa (Nes or Nīs) and Avraham Talmid and Yosef Castro Sefaradi. Verso contains three lines of writing in Italian and the mirror-image imprint of some biblical verses.

Letter. In Hebrew. Ṣedaqa Nes or Nīs (ניס), in Syracuse (שראקוסה), writes to Moshe b. Yehuda, in Alexandria. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century, based on the associated fragments. Same writer and addressee: Bodl. MS heb. c 72/14, 72/15, 72/17, and 72/38. The writer may be identical with the Ṣedaqa mentioned in Bodl. MS heb. c 72/10 and 14. Subject: Business, including in ammonium chloride (nushādir), soap or soapwort (ṣābūn/borit), and copper (nuḥās/neḥoshet). Ṣedaqa also conveys his concern for Moshe's illness. In a postscript, he writes, "Cut out this small letter and give it to the sister מכ״ת . . the bringing in of the bride, 'And I will bless those who bless you.' And give the other one to Yosef." Information from Avraham David's edition via FGP. ASE.

Letter from anonymous writer, unknown location, to Moshe b. Yehuda, in Alexandria. In Hebrew. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century, based on the associated fragments. Subject: Thanking the addressee. The writer probably previously wrote a letter of recommendation for a certain Yiṣḥaq. The writer reports that he heard from Yiṣḥaq that Moshe treated him munificently. The writer conveys his gratitude and asks for a letter with information about how everything went with Yiṣḥaq and his sister, whether they are healthy, and whether they left any letter for the writer. Information from Avraham David's edition. There is a stylized "emet" at the top of the letter. ASE.

Letter from the Nagid Natan Sholal ha-Kohen, in Fustat/Cairo, to Moshe b. Yehuda, in Alexandria. In Hebrew. Dating: Before 1502 CE and perhaps after 1498 CE (since Shalom b. Zaytūn lived in Safed before then). Issuing instructions concerning provisions for the orphans of R. Avraham b. Ḥisān, who previously lived in Alexandria but moved to Jerusalem to live with their mother upon the death of their father. Other people mentioned: the bearer of the letter Ḥayyim; R. Yaʿaqov Fransi (of Jerusalem) and his brother R. Yiṣḥaq Fransi; R. Ṣedaqa Nes (of Alexandria); and R. Shalom b. Zaytūn. (Information from Avraham David via FGP.)

Letter from Yiṣḥaq bayt ʿAṭṭān, in Syracuse, to Moshe b. Yehuda, in Alexandria. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century. Contains a colorful tale of the writer's voyage. His ship was taking on too much water, so they had to stop in Rhodes. He and his party stayed there for a couple months before resuming the journey. They landed in מדון/MDWN, probably Methoni (aka Modone) in Messenia, to do business in bread and wine. The locals were about to steal the boat, so they took off in a hurry and abandoned their companion R. Ṣuriel who was still in town. Then the purpose of the letter: it is a letter of introduction ("a benefit for you and for him") for the Catalan Messer Bernard Lo Azina (לו אזינה), "a good Christian," who is bringing 500 kosher cheeses the writer saw him purchase, along with a hekhsher letter from the local judge. There are several curious linguistic aspects, too, including באש for "in order to."

Letter addressed to Moshe b. Yehuda (aka Mūsā b. Yahūda al-Turjumān), in Alexandria. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. Only the very beginning and the address are preserved. Possibly a join with another fragment in this folder. Dating: last quarter of the 15th century.

Letter from David b. Yaʿaqov al-Shammās to Moshe b. Yehuda, in Alexandria. In Hebrew with some Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century. Only the beginning of the letter and the address are preserved.

Letter from the Nagid Shelomo b. Yosef to the community of Alexandria. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 1470s or 1480s. The letter reports that Yaʿaqov פרנשיל arrived from Alexandria and reported that the congregation is in great distress from the punishment and the fines that the Nagid had imposed on all who oppose the '7 distinguished men of the city' (שבעה טובי העיר: on this concept, see Shweka, "And Every Day They Make Quarrels," p.26f). The Alexandrians seem to be asking for relief; the Nagid does not back down.

Letter from David (b. Yaʿāqov) al-Shammās to Moshe b. Yehuda of Alexandria. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century. Also signed by Aharon b. Ḥasde'el ha-Levi. "As for what you mentioned concerning your wife, it is not that she hates you and desires a bill of divorce for that reason. For she has been patient..." It seems that Moshe b. Yehuda promised to return on a certain date in a certain year and then delayed his return and failed to communicate properly with his wife when that date approached, and now people are getting anxious that he may have had a change of heart. The sender asked her about the raisins; she said they arrived with the son of Sehmuel al-Skandarī. Merits further examination.

Letter from Ṣuriel Dayyan, in Tripolis (Greece? or Libya?), to Moshe b. Yehuda, in Alexandria. In Judaeo-Arabic with occasional Romance words. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century. The sender may be identical with the Ṣuriel who was left behind in Methoni (Greece) in Bodl. MS heb. c 72/18. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions numerous business matters. "‘...they will not depart to the East so therefore I shall stay in Tripolis until the return (of the Tripolitans)...." (Esther-Miriam Wagner, "Subordination in 15th- and 15th-Century Judaeo-Arabic," JJL 2 (2014), p. 153). Merits further examination.

Letter addressed to to Moshe, probably Moshe b. Yehuda, the head of the community of Alexandria in the last quarter of the 15th century. In Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew. The letter contains an extended philosophical query into the question of life after death.

Letter from Ṣedaqa Nes, probably to Moshe b. Yehuda. Fragment: left half only. Reporting on business matters. Commodities include: cinnamon, nutmeg, indigo, materia medica, dār filfil, sandalwood. The sender asks for directives, reports that there are rumors of war by land, and prays for the coming of the Messiah.

Letter addressed to Moshe b. Yehuda, in Alexandria. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century. Only the beginning and the address are preserved. The sender reports that Moshe's letters reached him and ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Qarqashūnī(?).

Letter addressed to Moshe b. Yehuda, in Alexandria. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century. Only the beginning and the address are preserved. Mentions Fustat/Cairo.

Communal letter addressed to the congregation of Alexandria. Probably from the office of the Nagid. Dating: Probably last quarter of the 15th century. Only a small fragment from the beginning is preserved.

Letter addressed to Moshe b. Yehuda, in Alexandria. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century. Only the address is preserved.

Letter probably from the office of the Nagid to the community of Alexandria. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century. Deals with the prerogatives of various communal appointees, including cantors and slaughterers. Grants authority to the שבעה טובי העיר (cf. Bodl. MS heb. c 72/21). Among the communal officials is Moshe b. Yehuda, whose personal archive is the source of much of Bodl. MS Heb. c. 72.