Geniza Lab

Letter from Amram b. Yosef to Nahray b. Nissim inquiring about a letter sent to Aden Alexandria. Dating: 1094–97. ʿAmram has suffered from ophthalmia for one year and cannot find anyone to cure it. He excuses himself from coming in person to pay his respects to the Nagid and asks Nahray to represent him. ASE.

Letter from Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: November 28, 1062 (Udovitch). The writer recently returned from a long trip in Palestine. He suffered from illness during his trip. He visited Jerusalem, and had the time to manage trading, as he bought textile products, oil, nuts, and silk, and arranged shipments of coins. The writer also mentions the bad times in Egypt and the pressure that the community in Tripoli, Libya, is having because of the taxes. Goitein translation of the illness passage (r5–11), slightly altered, is as follows: "You have received no letter from me, because exhaustion (iltiyāth) did not leave my body from the very time I left. I arrived in Tyre, but was unable to do business there for more than five days and then remained confined to bed (lāzim al-farsh) for nineteen days. Finally God granted me recovery. I proceeded to Jaffa and from there went up to Jerusalem—may God rebuild it—and again I could not do there business for more than eight days and then was confined to bed (lāzim al-farsh), suffering from chills and fever (al-bard wa-l-ḥummā), during the month (of the High Holidays). By God I was unable to walk up the Mountain (of Olives) on the day of the Festival (21 Tishrei) but had to ride. I gave myself up. But God the exalted was merciful to me for the sake of His name and gave me health. I was able to leave the house, but the remnant of the weakness (or 'illness'; baqiyyat al-ḍuʿf) is still with me. The travel to Tinnīs, and from there home, was a great trial which to describe would take too much space. I praise God who turned the end to the good and brought me back in safety." Information from Goitein's note card (#27134) and Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #449. VMR. ASE.

Letter from Abū Faraj to Eliyyahu the Judge. In Judaeo-Arabic. Interesting format: arranged in two columns. Deals mainly with small business matters. The writer mentions Eliyyahu's sons as "Rabbi Zecharia and Rabbi Berakhot." Information in part from Goitein's note card.

Commercial letter from Mūsā b. Shahriyār to the three Tustarī brothers, Abū al-Faḍl Sahl, Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf and Abū Sahl Saʿīd, in Fusṭāt. The letter is in Judaeo-Persian and the address is in Arabic script. The writer may be identical with the Moshe b. Shahriyār who appears in a legal document from Damascus in 1007 CE (T-S 16.14; information from Goitein's note card). The fragment is labeled "L15" in Shaul Shaked's (unpublished) classification of Early Judeo-Persian texts.

Letter in Hebrew to [...] b. Efrayim, mentioning a shaliaḥ and asking a favor. Needs further examination

Letter from a prominent member of the Yeshiva in Palestine writing to a communal leader in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic with some Hebrew. Ends with the motto "yeshuʿa." Goitein identified the sender as Daniel b. ʿAzarya; the addressee as possibly Sahlān b. Avraham; and the date as 1361 Seleucid, which is 1049/50 CE. Gil misread the date as 1391 Seleucid and therefore identified the sender as David b. Daniel b. ʿAzarya. The purpose of the letter is to announce an upcoming visit "for the renewing of the covenant" (tajdīd al-ʿahd) with the community of Fustat. The response should be sent to Tinnīs. (Information from Goitein and Gil.)

Letter from a son to a father. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer thanks the addressee for the wuṣūl (official receipt), since the tax (mas) is looming. He asks him to send immediately aqwāl, i.e., piyyutim, and lists many requests by name. At the end of the letter there is again a request for aqwāl. The writer complains about neglect. Information from Goitein's note card.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Probably a begging letter. The conventional praises of the addressee are exceptionally eloquent and deferent. The addressee has evidently helped the writer in the past. "As for my situation. . . a word is sufficient."

Letter from the Maghreb regarding business and family matters. Unfinished. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th century. At the bottom of recto, the writer says that he forgives his sister for what she said, considering her difficult circumstances (qillat ḥīlatihā) and the suffering of the children. Reused for accounts. Needs further examination. Information in part from Goitein's note card.

Communal letter in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: First half of the 11th century. Mentions Ṣadaqa b. ʿAllūn. Edited by Elinoar Bareket. Awaiting fuller description.

Letter in Arabic script from [...] al-Ḥazzān, in Damascus, to Abū l-Faraj Yashūʿ (?) b. Barhūn al-Ḥibr (= the ḥaver). Dated: Tuesday, 10 Shaʿbān (year not given). Mentions "the brother, my master, Raʾs al-Kull" (line 5) and contains a few words in Hebrew including "his enemies" (line 10). Much of the letter seems to be devoted to mediating a conflict between the Raʾs al-Kull and the addressee. Needs further examination. The paper was later reused for a halakhic text in Hebrew and Aramaic. Information in part from Goitein's note card. ASE.

An inventory of books. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 13th century. The list includes books in the hand of R. Anaṭoli and al-Dayyān al-Maskil (identified by Friedman as Shemuel ha-Levi b. Saadya), both deceased at the time the list was written. See Friedman, "Maimonides Appoints R. Anatoly Muqaddam of Alexandria," Tarbiz 83 (2015), p. 155.

Legal document. Apparently unfinished. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dated 1145 CE (Elul 1456 Seleucid). Involves a certain Abū l-Ḥasan b. Mūsā.

Marriage contract for Shelomo b. Yosef and Munā bt. ʿAmram. From somewhere in Egypt. Dated 1086/87 CE (1398 Seleucid).

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda, probably to Sahlan b. Avraham in Fustat, written in his own hand. (Gil)

Letter from Faraḥ b. Yosef, in Alexandria, to Nissim b. ʿAṭiyya, in al-Mahdiyya. The writer gives details about shipments of goods to al-Mahdiyya and asks the recipient to help sell them. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 744)

Letter by Menashshe b. Moshe to Rabbi Eli b. Mevorakh, probably sent from Sicily to Egypt. The writer orders some clothing and mentions Abu al-Bishr and the Nagid, probably referring to the Sicilian Nagid Zakkar b. 'Ammar. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Faraḥ b. Yַūsuf b. Faraḥ al-Qābisī in Alexandria to Abū Zikrī Yehuda b. Menashshe in Fustat. Gil dates the letter to May 1069. Parts are very faded. The letter contains details about goods Faraḥ b. Yַūsuf had sent to Yehuda b. Menashshe, as well as two references (verso, lines 5 and 7) to Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṣāʾigh, known as Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ, a powerful shipowner who was the last Muslim ruler of Palermo, 1069–72. The letter mentions that Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ had appointed as nagid of the Jews of Palermo Zakkār b. ʿAmmār, brother of Ḥayyim, the wakīl of the Sicilian merchants in Egypt. Goitein (Med Soc., 2:25, 525, n. 11, and the edition below) reads lbn al-Naʿnāʿ, and the hand in this document is indeed ambiguous; Gil initially followed this reading (Italia Judaica, I, 96), but later corrected it, and it's correct in his edition.

A pregnant woman, seemingly well-to-do, complains to her sister in the city about neglect and expresses apprehension that part of her house will be taken by the military, the Ghuzz or Turkomans, in billeting (nazl). The ṣāḥib al-dīwān lives now in the neighborhing house and walks over the roofs and knows what is going on—particularly that there is plenty of space for soldiers in the house. The sister, who possibly had a part in the house, should come. Information from Goitein's note card and Med Soc, IV, p. 24. The letter was dictated to Ibrāhīm (the writer's father?) and addressed to Abū l-Ḥasan b. Ibrāhīm al-Ṣā'igh in the market of the goldsmiths in Fusṭāṭ. The first part of the letter is a rebuke for the addressee's silence. "We could all die, and still you would not ask after us. We hear news of you only from hearsay. If it were not for my pregnancy, I would have traveled [to Fusṭāṭ] to ask after you, because I am tired of sending letters without receiving responses. You now write to tell me, 'Come to us,' because my maternal aunt has died. You did not even write to tell me that you were sick [as well]. Even if I were your enemy, that much at least you would owe me. My cousin died, and you did not even write to console me or your paternal uncle. . . What is the solution to (or reason for?) this enmity? Please come and visit, for the house is derelict and empty. We fear the billeting—for the ṣāḥib al-dīwān lives next door in the house of Yūsuf and walks over the roofs—and that the Ghuzz will take it, and we will not be able to say anything. Even Ibn al-Sarūjī sold his house because of the Ghuzz." On verso: "By God, my sister, console the daughter of my maternal aunt on my behalf. I was sick and was unable to write to her to console her about her mother. As soon as you see this letter, send its response and whatever you see fit with whomever will deliver it. I will pay for it. All of my children have fallen sick, and the female slave is also sick, may God make the end good. By God, I do not need to urge you to send the response quickly, for my eyes are on the road and on every person who arrives. When I hear you are healthy, I will rejoice. I have taken a vow not to break my fast during the day until your letter arrives. I have perished from fasting. Perhaps you will come in place of your letter, and look into what you will do with your [share in the house?]. For Ibn Hilāl is not waiting for Ibn al-Qāḍī to arrive. He has already sent and made me take a vow regarding you. . . ." She concludes with sending regards to Abū l-Ḥasan and his siblings and his son, and to Ibrāhīm. ASE.

Document in Arabic script, torn and reused for a Judaeo-Arabic literary text.