Geniza Lab

Letter by Akhlabu b. Aharon ha-Kohen from Alexandria to Yosef b. Eli ha-Kohen Fasi. The writer apologizes for not having accompanied the recipient on his way out of Alexandria; he thought that the ship would not sail in the stormy weather. The ship sailed, but had to make a stop in Abu Qir. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 328)

Legal testimony. In Hebrew. Dating: Late, probably no earlier than 15th or 16th century. Unfinished and unsigned. Esther bt. Elʿazar b. Pinḥas, the wife of Yosef b. Moshe b. Asher makes a declaration concerning the business partnership between her father and her husband.

Letter addressed to the Nagid Mevorakh b. Seʿadya, in Cairo (al-Qāhira al-maḥrūsa bi-l-ʿizz al-dā'im). In Hebrew. Only the introductory blessings and the address are preserved on this fragment. On verso there are writing exercises in a childish hand which consist of a pious phrase (אלנגאח עליה באלתקוא ואלצלאח).

Letter from the judge Eliyyahu, in the Sinai desert, to his son the physician Abū Zikri, in Jerusalem. Eliyyahu admonishes him to live in peace with his younger brother and to attend to various other matters. (Information from Goitein's index card) EMS and VMR

Letter from ʿOvadya ha-Kohen b. Iṣḥaq to his cousin and friend Abū Zikrī Yaḥyā ha-Kohen b. Yosef b. Yiftaḥ in Tinnīs, mentioning other kohanim. ʿOvadya ha-Kohen received some money from Abū Zikrī Yaḥyā ha-Kohen so that he could obtain certain books which a group or a family of kohanim in Tinnīs wanted to study. ʿOvadya ha-Kohen was unable to procure the requested books. Instead, he sent to Tinnīs three parts (quires?) of a Babylonia rite prayer book and Saʿadya Gaon’s commentaries on Job and Proverbs. He advised his friends to study these until he was able to find the books desired. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below, Goitein, MedSoc, Vol. 2, p. 194 and Goitein, Jewish Education in Muslim Countries, pp. 137-138.)

Detailed commercial accounts for the year 1526/1215 of a silk merchant who served also as Parnas. His business correspondent was charged with collecting a yearly pledge for Rabbi Jophthan, wherefore this detail of communal finance appears in the private account of these two merchants. The sums collected are debited to the business correspondent, the monthly payments of four dirhams to Rabbi Jophthan are credited to him. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, 465)

Family letter from the end of the 12th century to Abu al-Faraj b. Abu al-Barakāt, a doctor in Fustat, from his brother in Alexandria. The letter mentions forceful collection of the capitation tax (jaliya) in Alexandria. (Information from Frenkel. See also Goitein, MEd. Soc. 2:372, 2:372, and 4:61. Goitein describes the document as following: Family letter from a physician in Alexandria to his brother, also a physician, who had traveled to Fustat without having paid his poll-tax (or having forgotten to send the receipt back). The writer had to pay a certain sum every day to the Muslim authorities (tarsim) until he would pay the poll-tax for his brother. After two days of refusing to do so, he was confined to prison and paid the poll-tax.

Letter from Yosef b. Yeshuʿa, in Tripoli (Syria), to Nahray b. Nissim. The letter mentions Nahray's pilgrimage to Jerusalem and shipments of emblic myrobalan and frankincense. A certain old woman has gone blind in one eye, and the other eye is in danger, so Yosef asks Nahray to send him tutty (zinc oxide) or whatever else might be beneficial.

Letter from Yosef ha-Kohen b. Meshullam, in Aden, to Avraham Ibn Yiju, in inland Yemen, written around 1150-51.

List of persons on payroll of the community, headed by Sayyiduna al-Nasi, referring, it seems, to the head of the Jews David b. Daniel (ca. 1090). Lower part contains the letter of recommendation on behalf of a man described as munqati', confined (by illness?) to his home and unable to work. Letter writer asks a cantor who was also in charge of the social services to look after him. Same handwriting as list. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 442, App. B 15)

Shelomo b. Eliyyahu asks Dā'ūd b. Yehuda ha-Kohen to read out a letter of condolence—enclosed with the present letter—to Moshe ha-Kohen and his son Salāma in Malīj. He excuses himself from traveling due to his illnesses. Shelomo sends his regards to his sister Sitt al-Riyāsa and her siblings and her mother.

India Book I, 6–7: Court proceedings dealing with the dispute between Yosef ha-Lebdi the India trader, and Yequtiʾel b. Moshe, 'the representative of merchants' in Fustat. This Monday morning session of the Fustat court followed immediately that of document no. I, 4-5 which was held on the preceding Thursday. In this session the questioning of Yosef Lebdi was concluded. The document is written in the hand of Hillel b. Eli. Dated: Monday, 8 Iyyar 1409 Seleucid, which is 12 April 1098 CE.

India Book I, 12: Court proceedings from Fustat dealing with the dispute between Yosef ha-Lebdi the India trader and Yequtiʾel b. Moshe, 'the representative of merchants' in Fustat. These are the proceedings of the eighth session. With no news from Aden, Yequtiʾel and Yosef came up with the idea of sending a man to Aden to fetch the disputed goods. After some discussion, however, the parties retracted their proposal. No signatures are attached to this deed. Dated: Dated: Wednesday, 18 Elul 1409 Seleucid, which is 18 August 1098 CE.

India Book I, 13: Draft of a letter from Yosef Lebdi, the India trader, to Ḥasan b. Bundar, 'the representative of merchants' in Aden, dealing with the dispute between Yosef ha-Lebdi and Yequtiʾel b. Moshe, 'the representative of merchants' in Fustat. This letter, as Lebdi makes clear, was composed under the instructions of the court of Fustat. Lebdi informs the recipient that the court has instructed him to write to Aden and request an official account, approved in court, of the dealings made with Yequtiʾel's share of the property. The letter can be dated to 1098 and was written in the hand of Hillel b. Eli. The letter begins in the verso of Bodl. MS Heb d 66/66 and then continues to Bodl. MS Heb d 66/67 (recto and then verso).

Document (b), written in the blank space underneath the book list, at 90 degrees: Draft or copy of a legal document. Looks like the same hand as the booklist. In which ʿIzziyya(?) the daughter of Barakāt al-Qalyūbī ratifies a settlement (ṣulḥ) with (or on behalf of?) the wife of her recently deceased father. The widow is owed money from belayot (i.e., wear and tear on her trousseau). The widow (or the daughter?) will receive 15 dinars, and the daughter relinquishes her right to the two half-ruins and the half-schoolhouse that Barakāt owned in Qalyūb. At the end of the entry, it states that her husband Hillel b. [...] al-Malījī was also present and in agreement. This is probably not the same case as DK 239.1 + T-S AS 151.31 (a petition featuring an Umm ʿIzziyya(?), a dead man, a widow, and two ruins), but it is tempting to consider that possibility.

Document (a): Book list. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 13th century, as it mentions the Mishneh Torah and Guide for the Perplexed.

Letter from Natan b. Avraham to Perahya b. Muʾammal, spring 1039.

Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Location: Fustat. Dated: 5 Av 1443, which is July 1132 CE. Connected with the same case as T-S 8.131, namely the divorce arrangements of Ṣedaqa b. Semaḥ (called ha-Meshorer, the poet or singer) and Sitt al-Kull bt. Berakhot ha-Levi. The separation took place three months earlier (8 Iyyar 1443/1132). By the decree ("marsūm") of Maṣliaḥ Gaon (probably after the request of the woman's father: see T-S 8.131), a committee of eight elders (all undersigned) was appointed in order to confirm and fix the alimony for Ṣedaqa's wife and child. The committee gathered in the synagogue of the Palestinians. It was suggested that one and a half dirhams per day would suffice to provide for their living expenses (ll.7-8), but after the recommendations of some people attending (l.4), it was decided to decrease the payment, and fix the alimony at one dinar per month (l.14), arguing that the aforementioned sum was overrated (ll.12–13). This sum was intended to cover all her expenses for food, lighting, public bath and rent. Witnesses: Avraham b. Shemaʿya; Natan b. Shelomo; Natan b. Shemuel ha-Ḥaver; Peraḥya b. Ḥalfon ha-Ḥaver; Menashshe b. Yaʿaqov; Avraham b. Shelomo; Meshullam b. Menashshe; and Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. (Information from Weiss's edition and Goitein's index cards)

Fragments of the minute book (Pinkas) of the Jewish community of Cairo (testimonies), 1436. [Goitein (on photostat) reads different date: 1236 and recognises handwriting of Yehuda (Ha-Melammed b. Aharon al-Ammani)].

Letter addressed to R. Ḥananel, who receives about 10 lines of titles. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely early 13th century. Only three lines are preserved of the body of the letter. The writer alludes to a woman (or to the ḥaḍra=addressee?) who was staying with him in S[...]. The rest is missing.