Geniza Lab

Fragmentary letter partially written in Hebrew mentioning other letters in which the sender already explained his case.

Fragment of a petition or report probably to the vizier (ḥaḍrat al-wizāra... al-wazīr al-ajall... ). From the upper left corner; the ends of 9 lines are preserved. In Arabic script, in a chancery hand. Blessing the power of the ruler (sulṭānhu, but possibly meaning caliph, so not clear whether Fatimid or Ayyubid). Using the "yunhī" clause typical of state petitions and reports. Reused on recto for seliḥot. MR. ASE.

Either a poem or letter in rhymed prose addressed to a dignitary, probably a Gaon, who is a Kohen.

Beautiful calendar for the year 1815/16 CE (5576) with information about each month in a medallion set in a floral pattern.

Tabular calendar for the year 1815/16 CE (5576), probably connected to the previous shelfmark.

Account of building operations ca. 1240. Written on a sheet of paper made into a booklet of four leaves, it is a record of current payments for building materials and labor. The works going on are financed from huge sums of rent deposited with the banker al-As'ad in the course of two years. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 453 #136)

Interesting accounts in Judaeo-Arabic for a construction project—carpenters for installing the door, acacia wood for the door, nails, gypsum, tiles/paving stones, the wage of the tile-layers, marble, sand, etc. Various names are mentioned as well, including al-Shaykh al-Asʿad

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic.

Most of a long letter in which the writer uses colorful language to narrate his woes of the last 10 years. The addressee's father is named Abū l-Majd. Merits further examination

Letter from a wretched Abū l-Ḥasan b. Yūsuf begging for charity from a dignitary, probably the Nagid.

Detailed accounts in Ladino, sums listed in Venezianos (probably Venetian ducats) and Muayyadis.

Letter in Arabic from a father to a son that consists almost entirely of greetings and well-wishes. The family rejoiced to receive his letters from Tripoli al-Gharb (Libya) and from al-Mahdiyya. The addressee's mother sends her regards, as do his brothers Baqā' and Maʿānī, as do his sister and her children (and she possibly orders a dinar's worth of colored silk when he returns). Umm (?) Yūsuf sends her regards, as do Umm Sitt al-Jamīʿ and Abū Saʿd and Abū Surūr. Verso: Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic mentioning items that were sent with Abū Surūr and others with [. . .] al-Nafūsī and others with [. . .] b. Hilāl. There may be notes from Goitein that are not yet attached. ASE.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic mentioning items that were sent with Abū Surūr and others with [. . .] al-Nafūsī and others with [. . .] b. Hilāl. There may be notes from Goitein that are not yet attached. ASE.

Arabic accounts.

Late accounts in Arabic.

Detailed accounts in Judaeo-Arabic.

Letter from Eliezer Zussman, in Jerusalem, to his son Avigdor. In Hebrew. It has an unusual form for a letter: there are no greetings and it ends "ne'um Eliezer known as Zussman"—he seems to have written this page mainly in order to document what happened. Dating: probably not very long after 14 January 1546, the date of the earthquake. "Contemporary Hebrew documents provide an additional, independent source of information about the earthquake. From a Hebrew manuscript notice written by Eliezer Sussman ben Rabbi Abraham Carit [or Tsarit?], who arrived in Jerusalem in [November] 1545 two months before the earthquake, we learn that 'In the month of Shvat the Almighty has shown us signs and wonders that none of our forefathers ever witnessed, and on the 11th of that month, on Thursday, about one in the afternoon. . . (because) of the quake many towers fell down, almost the third of their height, and the tower of "A.A." was one of them. About ten gentiles were killed in Jerusalem but none of the Jews, and in the town of Nablus the earthquake was so strong that at least three hundred gentiles, and three or four Jews were killed. There were also further shocks after that, but not so strong, and to this day we are in constant fear of an earthquake all day and night. . . (Braslavski, 1938).' The 11th of Shvat corresponds to 14 January 1546, which was a Thursday. Klein (1939) suggests that the acronym "A.A." stands for "Avraham Avinu", i.e. our Father Abraham, and refers to the tower over Abraham's Tomb in Hebron. This locality is mentioned in Mujir al-Din's sequel as Al-Khalil, the Arabic name used for Hebron because of Abraham's, the Friend of Allah, sanctuary. The disagreement as to when the copy of this document was made and by whom (Braslavski, 1938; Turnianski, 1984), does not detract from the authenticity of its contents. Sussman died about 20 years after the earthquake [see T-S 13J4.19], and the phrasing suggests that he wrote the note shortly after the event." Ambraseys and Karcz, "The Earthquake of 1546 in the Holy Land," Terra Nova 4 (1992), no. 2, 254–63. There are various notes and calculations added in Italian in 1917 on this fragment and the others in the folder.

Letter in Hebrew dated 1778/79 CE (539 = ותקוה טובה) from the Jewish community of Jerusalem to the Jewish community of Pisa begging for financial aid. The sum of 75,000 arayot is named. Among other distressing events, there was a terrible famine in the preceding year. Their sheliḥim are Eliyyahu Ẓevi, Yaʿaqov Burla, and Yaqar Gershon. ASE.

Letter in Hebrew dated 1781/82 CE (542 = מבשר) from the Jewish community of Jerusalem to the Jewish community of Pisa begging for financial aid. A sum of 8,000 arayot is named. Their shaliaḥ is Yosef b. Robi (? יוסף ן רובי). ASE.

Letter in Hebrew dated 1791/92 CE (552 = וינטלם וינשאם) from the Jewish community of Jerusalem to the Jewish community of Pisa, begging for financial aid, naming a sum of 70,000 arayot. Their shaliaḥ is Mordekhai ha-Levi. ASE.