Geniza Lab

Letter from Bū l-Khayr to an unknown addressee. In Judaeo-Arabic. About the sending of garments and an artisan and other matters. (Information in part from Goitein's index cards.)

Letter of appeal for charity. In Judaeo-Arabic. Well-written. Refers to "three breads (akhbāz) a week." (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Letter from Nahray b. ʿAllān in ʿAydhāb to his son ʿAllān b. Nahray in Alexandria concerning shipments. Based on a letter from another India trader (ENA 4020.8) and the fact that the date on the letter is for the 8th of Sivan, the letter was probably written on May 16, 1141 CE. Nahray is frequently mentioned as a contemporary and associate of Maḍmūn, the merchant representative in Aden, and Abū Zikrī Kohen, the equivalent in Fusṭāṭ. Nahray writes that he is traveling with both Muslim and Jewish on the boat of al-Dībājī ("the brocade dealer"). In ʿAydhāb , the merchants sold part of their goods and otherwise traded them for products from eastern markets. He describes that they were nearing the time when they needed to set sail, and so the merchants broke up into two groups to cover more ground, with the Muslim traders making purchases at the pepper and brazilwood bazaars and the Jewish traders at the lac bazaar and otherwise selling off some of their goods for cash. Nahray purchased 330 pounds of lac (resin from the lac insect used in varnish, wax, and red dye), paid two dinars needed to arrange packing, canvas, and ropes, and made a few other purchases, including a sari that was to be a gift; all of this ultimately left him without cash for further shipments. Additionally, he paid Abu ʾl-Faḍl b. Abu ʾl-Faraj al-Dimyātī ("from the Egyptian seaport of Damietta") a dinar for expenses for the lac. al-Dimyātī was to deliver the lac, a copy of the account, and the distribution list to Abū Zikrī Yehuda, the Kohen, who will sell the shipment and distribute his portion to his partners before delivering the remaining balance and the account to ʿAllān. Nahray also mentions that Yaḥyā b. Sar Shalom ("Prince of Peace") was carrying a second shipment consisting of two bales of brazilwood weighing two bahārs (equivalent to 600 pounds) and 70 pounds, two bales of cowrie shells measuring one mudd (likely the Jerusalem mudd or similar, which was equivalent to 100 liters), five manā (equivalent to about two pounds) of ashbāh wood, and half a manā of old camphor. There were also ten Qaṣṣī robes that would be sold to cover customs dues and other related expenses. Yaḥyā was to write an account, deduct customs and other expenses, and then to sell as much as seemed appropriate, but then inform ʿAllān , who was to instruct as to whether they would sell the entire shipment or only part of it; he mentions, for example, that they might sell the cowrie shells in Spain. Nahray sends regards to ʿAllān, his grandsons, his own wife, ʿAllān's wife, his brother, and his nephews, and urges ʿAllān to take care of the family. He tellsʿAllān to hold onto letters that he had left behind, as they contained accounts. Nahray concludes by saying that he didn't expect the voyage to produce much profit; he ultimately sent 100 dinars to Maḍmūn with the hopes that it might more successfully return gains. He instructs ʿAllān to set aside 15 dinars for when he returns, and then to take a tenth of profit from the above shipments and use it to make further profits. (Information partially from Goitein's index card and partially from Goitein's Letters of Medieval Jewish Traders)

A note written by Avraham b. Farrāḥ Iskandrānī to Yaʿaqov b. Avraham on 21 June 1054, as an addendum to his letter written the previous day (see ENA NS 22/1). Complements the information in the main letter and provides additional details about the sale of the writer’s merchandise in a public auction. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 825-826.)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Most of the folio is preserved, but the text is faded and damaged. Probably concerning communal affairs. Mentions Abū l-Faḍl b. Pinḥas and "sayyidnā Av[raham?]." (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Court notebook. In Hebrew. Dated: 5443 AM, which is 1682/83 CE. Signatures written at the ends of the entries include Shelomo Somekh ha-Sofer, Avraham ha-Kohen ha-Sofer, and Nissim Kaʿk. There are 16 folios and many records. Needs examination

Literary work, manuscript, containing prayers and declarations that are salutary for a sick person to make on his deathbed, or for a healthy person during the high holy days. Of documentary interest for the lavishly illustrated frontispiece giving the name of the owner and/or scribe מאיר בן הקצין המפורסם, the statement that it has been copied from the pinqas of the ḥevra qadisha of the town of מנהיא, and the date: 5492 AM, which is 1731/32 CE. A substantial portion of the manuscript is in Yiddish. NB: Incorrect shelfmark.

Letter in Judaeo-Persian. Dating: possibly eighth century. The letter concerns trade in sheep and other items, the ruler (ispahbud) of Tabaristan, cattle, slaves, strings of coins, horse-riding paraphernalia and various commercial transactions. The document is fragmentary; it was discovered in 1901 by Marc Aurel Stein in Dandan Uiliq (an archeological site in the Taklamkan desert, approximately 120km north of Khotan). Zhan Zhang, who is editing and translating the document as of 2021, describes the language as embryonic or Early New Persian, containing grammatical and/or lexical elements from Middle Persian, Sogdian, Hebrew, Arabic and Chinese.

Letter in Judaeo-Persian. Dating: possibly eighth century. The letter concerns trade in sheep and other items, the ruler (ispahbud) of Tabaristan, cattle, slaves, strings of coins, horse-riding paraphernalia and various commercial transactions. The document is fragmentary; it was discovered in 1901 by Marc Aurel Stein in Dandan Uiliq (an archeological site in the Taklamkan desert, approximately 120km north of Khotan). Zhan Zhang, who is editing and translating the document as of 2021, describes the language as embryonic or Early New Persian, containing grammatical and/or lexical elements from Middle Persian, Sogdian, Hebrew, Arabic and Chinese. The letter was published in Margoliouth, "An early Judaeo-Persian Document from Khotan, in the Stein Collection with other early Persian Documents," The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1903): 735–60 and revisited in Bo Utas, "The Jewish-Persian fragment from Dandan-Uiliq," Orientalia Suecana 17 (1968 [1969]): 123–136; Zhang is re-editing it in light of advances made over the past half-century in the study of Iranian languages.

Letter from Bu Nasr b. Ibrahim to Abu l-Rabi' Sulayman ha-Kohen b. Abu Zikri Kohen, Fustat, the square of the perfumers. Bu Nasr is irked that his preceding letters to Abu l-Rabi' or to Abu l-Fakhr never arrived, otherwise they would have known that Abu l-Fakhr was to pay Abu l-Rabi' 6 1/3 dinars (this seems most the most likely interpretation of "he should pay him" but the pronouns are not clear). He then turns to a situation with a certain Moshe, who is the one who brought the letter of Abu l-Rabi' and insisted that Bu Nasr entrust him with goods for delivery. Bu Nasr is irked by this too, because he had no way of knowing that Moshe was trustworthy, moreoever Moshe's manners were those of a boor and an ignoramus. He then briefly discusses the matter of a turban. A letter to "al-Kohen al-Siqilli" is mentioned. ASE.

Deed of release. Location: Fustat. Dated: Adar II 1461 Seleucid, with the signing deferred until Tammuz 1461 Seleucid, which is 1150 CE, under the authority of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya. Avraham b. Ṣedaqa says that his mother-in-law loaned 7 dinars to Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm al-Najīb b. Yaḥyā Ibn al-ʿAnānī. Now, Avraham acknowledges that he has been repaid by Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm and the latter's sister. The debt was contracted before Avraham married into the family. He now releases Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm and the latter's sister from any claims, whether on his own part or on the part of his wife Sitt al-Jamīʿ or his mother-in-law the wife of Karīm who is the paternal uncle of Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm. Interestingly the document ends with a Judaeo-Arabic formula (תאבת צחיח ומסתתם) in lieu of the customary Aramaic formula (שריר ובריר וקיים). Witnesses: Ṣemaḥ b. Shemuel ha-Kohen; Naḥum(?) b. Moshe ha-Levi. On verso there are a couple undeciphered words in Arabic script.

Recto: list of various garments and textiles along with numbers. Verso: multiple blocks of text going in four different directions. One of them is the ending of a legal document (or draft thereof) dated Kislev 1161/2 CE (1473 Seleucid). Another may be a continuation of the accounts on recto along with calculations of total sums of money. Needs further examination. ASE.

Court notebook, probably. There are three legal records on this folio, each one in a different hand. Record #1: Recto contains a detailed narrative concerning the disposition of the estate of the brother of Naḥum b. Yaʿaqov who was killed in a different country. The government confiscated his property, but it seems that Naḥum was able to liberate some or all of it, including indigo and other goods which he is selling off. The murdered brother left a minor son. Needs further examination. Record #2: The first document on verso is a remarriage contract (ketubba) for Fuḍayl b. Efrayim and his divorcee Ḥasana bt. Yūsuf. Location: Fustat. Dated: 26 Adar 1378 Seleucid, which is 1067 CE. (T-S 16.357 is their marriage contract from two years earlier.) Witnesses are: Ḥalfon b. Shabbat ha-Ḥazzan; Natan b. Avraham; and the well known judge ʿEli b. ʿAmram. Record #3: The second document on verso is a bill of divorce. Location: Fustat. Dated: Tuesday, 24 Sivan 1378 Seleucid, which is 1067 CE. Husband: Ṣadaqa b. Abū Naṣr. Wife: Khalīfa bt. Moshe. The name of ʿEli b. ʿAmram ('ha-shaliaḥ ha-maẓliaḥ') appears in the last line, but the handwriting is different from what appears to be ʿEli b. ʿAmram's own signature, just above this document.

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Location: Fustat. Dated: 1427 Seleucid, which is 1115/16 CE. Ghāliya bt. Shelomo the divorcee of Ṭahor b. ʿAdiyya al-ʿAkkawī appears before the court and accepts an arrangement under which she will receive a yearly allowance of 4 dinars (from her ex-husband Ṭahor?). A sum of 65 dinars owed to her is also mentioned, which is crossed out and replaced by "all that [...]." Signed by the cantor ʿEli b. Yeḥezqel ha-Kohen he-Ḥaver.

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Location: Fustat. This is probably the beginning of a power of attorney granted by the parnas Abū ʿImrān Moshe b. Moshe ha-Levi known as Ibn Majjān (appears also in T-S 10J5.16 + T-S 18J5.2 and L-G Misc. 50) to Abū l-Surūr Simḥa b. ʿAmram ha-Kohen known as Ṣāḥib Shamʿa, for the sake of representing his business interests "in Palermo (Ṣiqilliyya) and elsewhere, the lands of the west, the lands of Sicily (diyār Ṣiqilliyya), and al-Andalus."

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Location: Fustat. Dating: Refers to the beginning of Ḥeshvan 1429 Seleucid, which is 1117 CE, but it is not immediately clear if this refers to a future or past date. The document narrates a protracted dispute which came about when Abū l-Faḍl Maṣliaḥ al-Ṣiqillī sued Abū l-Ḥusayn Yaḥyā al-Ḥalabī al-Ṣayrafī for a few dinars. It seems that this contract is laying out the terms under which Abū l-Ḥusayn will pay back the debt via Abū Saʿd [...] b. Naḥmān. (The debtor here, Abū l-Ḥusayn al-Ḥalabī al-Ṣayrafī, is also known from several other documents, e.g., ENA 3616.22, ENA 4011.72, ENA 4020.2, and T-S 8J4.9.)

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Location: Fustat. Refers to the ending of a man's period of mourning; 'the middle one, R. Peraḥya'; a number of dinars and a rubāʿī; 3 dinars and a rubāʿī; a period of time involving Elul; an additional payment on top of rent; and Abū l-Surūr.

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Location: Fustat. Concerns one sixth of the equipment (? ʿudda) of a sugar refinery (? maṭbakh). The brother of Abū l-Faḍl Shela ha-Levi purchases it from Ibn Fahda, while Abū l-Faḍl serves as guarantor. Also mentions a party named Mawhūb. Various conditions for the sale are listed as well as a circumstance under which the sale will be reversed.

State document, ending line of a petition containing the raʾy clause. The fragmentary line reads as "حضرته..رايه العالي في ذلك ان شالله". Hebrew liturgical text on verso.

State document, in Arabic script. Wide spacing, two fragmentary lines. Some of the words read as "من مساعدته....من ذلك في امره".