Geniza Lab

List of many important people (e.g. a lineage of the heads of Yeshivat Gaon Yaʿaqov) with family trees. "This is the ʿitra of al-Rayyis Abū l-Najm and his siblings and his cousins (awlād ʿamm)." Merits further examination.

Letter from Khalaf b. Yiṣḥaq, in Aden, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel ha-Levi, in ʿAydhāb. Dating: after autumn 1131 CE. Mainly in Hebrew, with some Judaeo-Arabic. The location of Ḥalfon and the dating can be deduced based on the mention of the great storm at sea, also mentioned in ח10 (T-S Ar.48.270). This is a letter of gratitude for Ḥalfon's halakhic responsum on matrimonial matters concerning one Abū l-Ṭāhir, who needed to return to Aden from India. Ḥalfon had been asked to write his expert opinion with regard to a man who died without male offspring, in which case his widow was obliged to marry one of his brothers, normally the eldest (levirate marriage). It is reasonable to assume that R. Yaʿaqov, mentioned in l. 22 as someone who admired Ḥalfon's responsum, is Yaʿaqov b. Salīm, who wrote ח5 (CUL Or.1080 J225), who was close both to Ḥalfon and to Khalaf. The greetings at the end confirm the closeness of Khalaf to Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon and to the family members of Ḥalfon (and they shed light on some questions, such as how many brothers Ḥalfon had). (Information from Goitein and Friedman, India Book IV; Hebrew description below.)

Recto: List of people. Verso: Piyyut.

Most of a long, very distressed letter from Menaḥem, writing in Fusṭāṭ/Cairo, to a business associate, whose family lives in Fustāṭ/Cairo and who has traveled. The details of the case are difficult to follow and merit deeper examination. Menaḥem's enemies have gotten the upper hand, and they are gloating to the utmost, and he has lost a great deal of money. In what remains of the letter, he first mentions the visit of Lu'lu' ("may the enemies of Israel perish"), who may be identical with al-Raqqī, to a prison (where Menaḥem had been held?). The entirety of the rest of the story has to do with the misdeeds of al-Raqqī and Ibn Kātib al-ʿArab, called "dogs" by the writer (they call him the same). The latter "stands in the middle of the markets [of Fusṭāṭ and Cairo] and hosts great gatherings (? maḥāfil), even greater than those of al-Raqqī. He said that I am his enemy and that I testified against him to the representative of the sultan" (r12–15, 29). Apparently the addressee normally has the ear of Ibn Kātib al-ʿArab, and so none of this would have happened if the addressee had not had to travel "for my sins" (r24–25). Menaḥem writes repeatedly that he is "in the fire" and that it would be better to be dead (r25–31, v21–25). His uncle (ʿamm) Abū l-Faraj is egging on al-Raqqī, standing in the market and "on the slaughterhouse" (?) and cursing Menaḥem and the addressee before the Jews and the Muslims. Abū l-Faraj is instructing al-Raqqī not to "appraise these pawns" (hādhihi l-ruhūnāt lā tuqawwimuhum) (does Menaḥem run a pawnshop?) (r32–36). The villainy of Abū l-Faraj goes deeper, for he "sits in the house with Yūsuf and his brothers and his children, dancing (raqṣ) and listening to music (ṭarab) (rm22–33). The installment of the story that continues on verso has to do with al-Raqqī's claim that he is owed 1000 nuqra (dirhams) by the addressee. Various legal documents and (false?) witnesses are produced (v1–15). Someone states, "This is how fortunes are lost because of slander" (v12). Menaḥem expands on his wretched state. He prays for God to command the "angel of my misfortunes" to relent. Every day ends with tears and with the melting of his liver, bit by bit (v19–32). He concludes by urging the addressee to come quickly and to seek aid from a powerful man ("kiss the feet for me of he whom you know," v33–34). He apologizes for the distressing matter contained in the letter (v35–37). R. David sends his regards and rebukes; R. Shelomo is well, recovering, back to his usual self; the addressee's wife and children are well (v37–40). In a postscript: "I heard that Muhadhdhab b. al-ʿŪdī is in critical condition and that wheat is expensive. May God have mercy." ASE

Fragment of a letter from Yoshiyyahu Gaon to Efrayim b. Shemarya, approximately 1020.

Fragment of a release in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe in the name of Sitt al-Dār and involving Abū l-Waḥsh Sibāʿ.

Legal agreement on dowry rights. Dated: First decade of Ḥeshvan 1442 Seleucid, which is 1130 CE. Betweeen Sitt al-Kull bt. Berakhot known as Naṭīra and her husband the poet (ha-meshorer) Ṣedaqa b. Ṣemaḥ. He grants her all her dowry; she releases him from responsibility. He is also warned that he would have to give her the delayed marriage payment if he should ever take a second wife. Signed by Ḥalfon b. Ghālib the cantor and Natan b. Yefet. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Recto: Fragment of a marriage document including a dowry list. Location; New Cairo. Dating: 1189–1288 CE. On verso there is piyyuṭ.

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Large but fragmentary (only the ends of the lines are preserved). Deathbed will. Refers to: "one of them (his sons?), named David"; "strife and lawsuits between them (his sons?)"; Fustat; a sum of dinars, of which 8 are the delayed marriage payment (presumably for his future widow). Signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe and [...] b. Yefet, and others whose names are missing. The validation (qiyyum) is signed by Yiṣḥaq b. Ghālib ha-Ḥazzan.

Fragment of a long legal document settling business accounts, involving a Mūsā who has gone missing, Berakhya, Sulaymān b. Yaʿaqov, Abū l-Surūr b. Natan, Maṣliaḥ, ʿAllūsh, and Yehoshua b. Natan. Verso: Three lines in Arabic script, apparently the draft of a beginning of a letter (a basmala followed by waṣal kitābak ayyuhā (?) l-ḥājib (?) aṭāl allāhu baqāk wa-adāma ʿizzaka wa-ta'ayyudaka). There are also a few jottings in Hebrew. ASE

This is the fourth letter sent by Yonatan ha-Kohen b. David of Lunel to Moses Maimonides, writing in his own name but also all the sages of Provence. The letter discusses three topics. (1) They have succeeded in finding a translator for the Guide for the Perplexed, Shemuel b. Yehuda Ibn Tibbon. "Indeed [the Guide] would have been 'as a small stone in a heap of stones' (Proverbs 26:8) and 'as a lily among thorns' (Song of Songs 2:2), a book for the illiterate, if our Creator had not brought us one wise and enlightened in every wisdom, whose father taught him the language of the Arabs, the son of the wondrous sage, the elevated physician, Yehuda Ibn Tibbon ha-Sefaradi." Yonatan then gives a list of works that Yehuda Ibn Tibbon has translated: Sefer ha-Emunot, Sefer Ḥovot ha-Levavot, Middot ha-Nefesh, Mivḥar ha-Peninim (of Ibn Gabirol), the Kuzari, and Sefer ha-Diqduq and Sefer ha-Shorashim by Ibn Jannāḥ. Then, referring to the Midrash on 1 Samuel 3:3 ("the lamp of Eli had not yet gone out [when the lamp shone of] Shemuel ha-Ramati"), he returns to Shemuel the son of Yehuda who has started his career in the lifetime of his father and teacher. "He scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion into his hands (Judges 14:9), and fed us, with the tip of the pen in his hand, of the honey [from your lips] and the drops of myrrh from your fingers, and our eyes were illuminated to see what was concealed. Our eyes have not been sated with seeing, nor our ears with hearing, and our desire has grown [greater than] in the beginning, like the thirsty bird that has begun to drink when the cup is taken away, or like the nursing baby torn away from his mother's breast." (2) This leads to the second topic: they wish to be sent the third and final part of the Guide, which they have not yet seen. (3) The third matter is alluded to in a postscript, in which Yonatan repeats a request for the responsa to the 24 queries they had sent regarding the Mishneh Torah. The response of Maimonides, who neglected to respond to the first three letters, has been preserved (not in the Geniza). From the response, we also learn that this letter by Yonatan of Lunel was accompanied by a letter to Maimonides from Shemuel Ibn Tibbon. In it, he introduced himself, expressed his wish to travel to Egypt and meet Maimonides in person, and sought advice on some matters of translation. Verso contains three different text blocks. At the top, very faded, is the address, most of which Stern succeeded in reading with UV light (משה יצ בן . . . ר מימו[ן] זצל המגיד דבריו ליעקב חקיו ומשפטיו לישראל). Next, there are 11 lines in the hand of Moses Maimonides, likely his notes to himself and/or an assistant when he filed away this letter: "When the responsa to their queries were delayed from reaching them due to an illness [. . .], they sent this fourth letter requesting the responsa and the Guide, and this is the text of their letter. [. . .] the Guide, and let the delayed responsa be expedited." The word after "illness" is difficult to read. Stern suggests רבאני and the translation "divine mania." Baneth suggests ובאני, meaning "an epidemic illness." Finally, in a third hand, there is a date, which must have been added by a later owner: Monday, 2 Elul 1580 (=1269 CE), Shabbat Shofeṭim. Information largely from Stern's analysis, pp. 18–20 and 23. There are various editions, awaiting digitization. For an edition of the writing by Maimonides, and a general analysis of the place of this letter in his correspondence with the scholars of Provence, see Stern, "Maimonides' Correspondence with the Scholars of Provence," Zion 16 (1951), pp.18–29. ASE

Ketubba fragment (left side). Dated: 1374 Seleucid, which is 1062/63 CE. Groom: Hiba b. Moshe. Bride: Riḍā bt. Neḥemya ha-Kohen. The early marriage gift (muqdam) is 5 [dinars], and the grand total (line 11) of the dower is 55 [dinars], though that would leave little for the me'uḥar; jewelry and copper are also mentioned. Witnesses include: ʿEli b. Yaḥyā ha-Kohen; Yiṣḥaq b. Yeshuʿa; Yosef b. Shelomo; Netanel b. Menashshe; Yiṣḥaq b. Waḥsh(?); ʿUlla/ʿEli ha-Ḥaver b. ʿAmram. On verso there is a Hebrew poem praising God and creation (and perhaps also a powerful person). (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.)

Deed of sale for a portion of a house. Location: Fustat. Dated: Ṭevet 1468 Seleucid, which is 1156/57 CE, under the reshut of Shemuel b. Ḥananya. The dyer Makarim b. Salāma sells to his brother Abū l-Ḥasan b. Salāma one one-eighth of a house in the Surayya quarter of Fustat, which had been known as the residence of Yūsuf the father of Abū al-Khayr al-Saqqā' (the water carrier) for 5 dinars. His wife Sitt […] bt. Fahid lifts her mortgage. Written and signed by Mevorakh b. Natan. Also signed by Seʿadya b. Avraham. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Court record in which Abū Sulaymān Dāʾūd b. Abū al-Khaṣīb Zurʿa confirms to owe to Abū al-Maʿālī al-Tājir b. Abū al-Ḥasan al-Tājir, aka Shemuʾel b. Judah Ben Asad, 100 dinars which he will return in two yearly installments. If he were to be late in doing so, he owes a fine of 10 dinars to the poor of Egypt to be collected for them by the Court. This debt was originally made before a Muslim court. Here it is prolonged. Fustat, Marḥeshvan 1153, written but not signed by Natan b. Shemuʿel. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below and Goitein, MedSoc, Vol. 3, p. 9, Vol. 2, p. 110.)

Letter of condolences to Hillel b. ʿEli on the death of his wife (?), wishing him to find consolation in the marriage of his son. The writer, possibly Yiftaḥ ha-Kohen, asks for information regarding the return of the nagid Mevorakh b. Saʿadya from the Upper Egypt to the capital. Second half of the 11th century. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below and Cohen, Jewish Self-Government, p. 114.)

Account of the Qodesh: building expenditures, ca. 1041. Most items in this account refer to building operations at the synagogue. Some other synagogue expenditures, such as oil, are also listed. Further details refer to a number of compounds belonging to the qodesh. It is written in a calligraphic handwriting and the account was probably intended ofr public display in the synagogue. The handwriting of Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya can be recognized. Since the document refers to oil used in the synagogue to the end of Elul 1351 Sel. (10 Sept. 1040), it was probably written in 1041. The verso of the document was used at the end of 1041 for an account written in Arabic characters. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 175 #12)

Account of the Qodesh: computation of total yearly revenue from rent, ca. 1041. A draft, written in Arabic characters apparently by Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya on the verso, probably after the recto had been display in the synagogue for several months. The parnas records the total yearly revenues, in gold and wariq (cash/silver). The revenue in gold was smaller than expected, and that in wariq bigger. Several additional revenue items and debts are listed. The account ended on 30 August 1041. (Gil, Documents, 179 #13) VMR

Legal testimony from Minyat Ashna, dated Tamuz 1461 (1150 CE), under the reshut of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya, in which Ṣedaqa b. Netanel ha-Ḥazzan, known as al-Raḥbī acknowledges a debt of 25 dinars to Shemuel ha-Sar b. Yehuda ha-Zaqen, known as Ibn Asad. He will pay 10 dinars over Elul and Tishrei, then 5 dinars each in Shevat, Adar and Nisan. ASE.

Fiscal document, in Arabic script. Large format with 16 lines preserved, marginal notes, and crossings out. The document is an internal fiscal Fatimid accounting document mentioning military spending from the year 500/1106-7. There are large sums of money and iqṭāʿāt. Mentions an official of al-Afḍal by the name Zahr al-Dawla Bandūd (?) al-Afḍalī. (See al-Maqrīzī, Ittiʿāẓ, III, 34).

Letter from an older Maghribī traveler, in Alexandria, to his cousin, somewhere in the Maghrib. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1100 CE. Evidently this letter was never sent. The writer has spent the last five years in Egypt attempting to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He describes the various disasters of the years 1095–1100 to justify both why he has failed to reach Jerusalem and why too he has remained in Egypt instead of returning to his family and waṭan. First, he describes the chaos in Palestine under the Seljuq occupation ("many armed bands made their appearance in Palestine"). He next describes the 1095 siege of Alexandria in which the vizier al-Afḍal deposed Nizār and secured the caliphate for al-Mustaʿlī ("the city was ruined. . . the Sultan conquered the city and caused justice to abound"). He again prepared for travel "when God conquered Jerusalem at his [the caliph's] hands," i.e., in 1098, only to be foiled by the appearance of the Franks, who "killed everyone in the city, whether Jew or Muslim." The writer is confident that the Fatimids will retake Jerusalem this very year, so he intends to remain in Egypt until he sees Jerusalem or gives up all hope. The letter ends with the writer's protracted illnesses. Throughout these years, the land has been filled with epidemic diseases (wabā', aʿlāl, amrāḍ, dever). The wealthy became impoverished, "most people died," entire families were destroyed. The writer himself developed a grave illness (maraḍ ṣaʿb), which lasted one year, and was shortly followed by another grave illness, which has lasted four years and perhaps continues to the present day. "Indeed [true is] what the Scripture has said of the dreadful disease of Egypt (Deut. 7:15). . . . He who hiccups (yastanshiq) will not escape from it. . . . ailments and will die from them. . . . Otherwise, he will remain alive." Note that "yastanshiq" typically means "inhale" or "snuff" (e.g., water for ritual ablutions) rather than "hiccup." Information largely from Goitein's attached translation and notes, and Goldman, "Arabic-Speaking Jews in Crusader Syria" (diss.), pp. 38–42, where there is a thorough analysis of the letter's context and a discussion of the writer's penchant for hyperbole.