Geniza Lab

Small fragment of a legal document (ketubba?) involving [...] bt. Peraḥya ha-Zaqen.

Letter in the hand of Yehoshuaʿ b. Yosef to Yehuda b. Sighmar. The letter reflects the economic difficulties of the Jewish community of Alexandria due to the heavy expenses of freeing captives. These financial obligations were so straining that the community was unable to properly host 'The Prince (Heb. Nasi) Daniel b. Azarya.' The letter was written in 1060-1061. Daniel b. Azarya resided in Fustat and, apparently, planned to visit Alexandria at the time. (Information from Frenkel. See also Gil, Ishmael, 4:671 which describes the document as following: Letter sent from Alexandria by Yeshua ha-Kohen b. Yosef to Yehuda b. Moshe b. Sighmar in Fustat, dealing with ransomed captives. The writer complains about damage caused to his vineyard by one of the leading Christians in Alexandria, Abu al-Khayr b. Hanun, and notes that he has complained about it to the Amir Abu Mansur. The Christian is behaving in an ugly manner, "as if I myself killed Christ." Dated ca. 1040.

Letter from Yeshua b. Isma’il al-Makhmuri from Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1060. The writer traveled safely from Rashid to Alexandria, after he had to leave a large part of the goods in Rashid. Mentions several relatives. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #304) VMR

Letter from Barhūn b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Tahirti, in al-Mahdiyya, to Nahray b. Nissim, probably in Alexandria. Dating: ca. 1045 CE. Nahray is sending goods to the Maghreb and selling goods that he receives from Barhūn and vice versa, Barhūn sells goods in the Maghreb and sends goods to Egypt. They both also buy goods. The writer mentions a business collaboration with Abu Naṣr Ḥesed ha-Tustari and a partnership with Abū l-Qāsim ʿAbd al-Raḥmān in trading gems. T-S K25.253 (PGPID 8595) is another copy of the same letter (from l. 31 onward). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #377 and Goitein's index cards.) VMR

Legal document(s). Location: Fustat. Dated: Ṭevet 1392 Seleucid, which is 1080/81 CE. (The first deposition is from 10 Ṭevet, the second is from 21 Ṭevet.) Two court depositions concerning a debt, allegedly paid, and "a load of Ḥalabī" (Aleppan textiles) drowned in the ship of Abū ʿAlī al-Shāmī. The parties are Sason b. Natan and Ḥesed b. Shela; one of them makes a statement mentioning "before I traveled to Tripoli," (Libya). The first deposition is signed by Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq; Yehuda b. Menashshe, and Yosef b. Shemuel. The second deposition is signed by Avraham b. Yiṣhaq, Yehuda b. Menashshe, and Ṣedaqa b. Menaḥem. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card)

A letter from Faraḥ b. Ismaʿīl, probably in Fustat, to his father Ismaʿīl b. Faraḥ in Alexandria. Ca. 1057. Faraḥ b. Ismaʿīl writes that he is sending a pouch of dinars with the bearer of the letter and asks his father to exchange them for a different currency. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 691.)

Letter written by Nissim b. Ḥalfon on behalf of Marduk b. Salih Tahirti (Gil) and sent from Alexandria to Abu Ishaq Barhun b. Salih Tahirti in Fustat. The letter contains details about goods bought by Marduk for Barhun, and describes fighting, probably taking place in Sicily. Dated ca. 1057 (Gil's dating). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, and from Ben-Sasson, Sicily)

Letter from Yosef b. Khalfa from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1062. Regarding a large deal of pearls, which the writer has a part in. Mentions that he received fabrics. He states that although his business is wide, he cannot support himself in Alexandria, and he considers coming to Fustat to work as a tailor. In the handwriting of Yehuda (Yahya), Yosef’s brother. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #563) VMR

Deed of a gift.

Letter from Avraham b. ʿAmram to Nahray b. Nissim (and Barhūn b. Ṣāliḥ?), Fustat, 1067 CE. The letter includes information about the Tahertis who are in Jerusalem, and about the death of one of them. The writer requests urgent action regarding obtaining witnesses in Fustat, in particular from Yūsuf b. Yannai al-Baradānī, regarding the rights of a woman to property that remained in Qayrawān. A letter is mentioned that reported difficult news about the events in the Maghrib, apparently Qayrawān. Information from Gil.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic to a certain Shemuel, also mentioning a certain Yosef. It opens with a poem. The story conveyed in the letter is difficult to follow, involving a disagreement, writing a letter but not sending it, someone arriving to the synagogue, someone leaving for Alexandria, and sad news that made the writer and Yosef cry and scream in sympathy. The writer asks the addressee to thank the teacher Natan on his behalf and to ask him to take care of the writer's son Moshe. The number "תשא" appears here, perhaps a date, perhaps 1701 = 1389/90 CE.

Letter from Alexandria to a merchant in Fustat. Around 1065. The letter contains a list of different goods’ prices. Mentions collecting debt in Adan, and persecution of merchants from Genoa in Alexandria. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #794) VMR

A fragment of a Palestinian deed (maʿase) settling a marital dispute, affirming that the wife will be receive room and board from her husband's estate after his death. Information from Friedman, Jewish Marriage in Palestine, p. 443, n. 44.

Marriage contract between Natan b. Peraḥya and Malīḥa bat Yefet, Fustat, 1119. An enormous sheet illuminated in various colours and decorated with flowers. Very poorly preserved. Mentions 25 gold dinars as part of the dowry. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below.)

Document in Arabic script, perhaps a state petition or decree, beginning with "wa l-mamlūk yasʾal l-tawfīq" and mentions a wall "ṣūr"; reused for poetry in Judaeo-Arabic (see separate entry). Needs further examination.

Judaeo-Arabic poetry in the hand of Nāṣīr al-Adīb al-ʿIbrī. Large and well-preserved. Probably mainly love poetry.

Letter from an unknown writer, in Alexandria, to an unknown recipient, presumably in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: written in mahzor 275, which spanned the years 5207–25 (1446–65 CE). The writer greets the addressee as his 'brother', excuses his imposition (al-tahajjum (!) ʿalā faḍlikum) and mourns that the people of Alexandria have lost the science of intercalation, and requests that the addressee send him a calendar, starting with the upcoming Tishrei and extending to the end of mahzor 275. He sends regards to the addressee's wife, to his son Yehuda, and to Elazar Sofer. ASE.

Beautiful calligraphic fragment of deed of sale of a bathhouse in Zawilat al-Mahdiyya, Ifrīqiya, by one Jew to another. The seller describes the bath and mentions that the bathhouse had been acquired by his brother, as proved by the document of purchase produced in court. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 98, 99)

Fragment of a legal document involving the execution of the will of a certain Avraham. Mentions Adoniya b. David, Shemuel ha-Levi b. Avraham, ʿAllūsh, and Avraham.

Fragment of a late ketubba, with sums in muayyadis, including the stipulation that the husband will not take a second wife without the bride's consent.