Geniza Lab

Letter from Mūsa b. Yaʿqūb, in Damascus, to Abū l-ʿAlāʾ Yūsuf b. Dāʾūd b. Shaʿya (aka Yosef b. David), in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. The sender states that he issued two bills of exchange on Yūsuf’s account for 250 dinars and gave them to Ibn Hazar as a prepayment on paper that contains the watermark of one Ibn Imām, a Damascus-based paper maker (Gil, Palestine I:235). Mūsa writes also that he turned over camel loads to Salāma b. Jaysh the week prior. Mūsa requests in the letter sixty golden boxes, to be packed with leather bottles, and sent to him immediately in a warship; along with a container of flax oil and information about the price of borage ("oxtongue"). (S. D. Goitein, Letters of Medieval Jewish Traders, 89–91.) EMS

Letter from a Mevorakh b. Avraham from Sham (Syria). The addressee's is name not given. The writer asks for a shirt (qamis) because he is clothing-less. 'Mubarak b. Azarya and his brother-in-law Abu al-Tayyib know about the situation I was in in Syria...' (Information from Mark Cohen)

Letter sent by Ḥalfon b. Yiṣḥaq to Avraham b. Natan the seventh, referring to a rudder ordered by a notable, presumably for his Nile boat, and mentioning an order for a sword. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 299)

Long letter containing rhymed prose and biblical quotations, sent by Yehezkiah b. Shelomo 'the Frenchman' to Yosef ha-Kohen requesting help. In the manuscript small dots appear between parts of the lines. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter sent from Alexandria to Fustat, by Avraham b. Farah to Nahray b. Nissim, reporting on the arrival of ships in Alexandria and dealing with commercial affairs. Dated July 1053 by Gil and 1050-1055 by Ben Sasson. (Information from Gil and Ben Sasson)

Hebrew poem written by the cantor Aharon b. Efrayim for a man named Shelomo. (Information from Bareket, Shafrir misrayim, p. 41). Other poems on verso.

Letter from a young man named Sibāʿ, in Alexandria, to his mother, in Fustat, but addressed to his brother Abū l-Najm. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Possibly early 13th century, if Abū Saʿīd b. Thābit al-Ḥazzān mentioned at the end is identical with the brother of Meir b. Yakhin (aka Bū l-Majd b. Thābit). The letter describes the troubles the writer encountered from a capitation tax official on his travels in a Nile boat and saying he had arrived safely in Alexandria. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 299, 300.)

The activity of Elḥanan b. Shemarya as a judge, a holograph warning someone that he wouldl be banished unless he appears in court the following Monday. For another letter on this, see CUL 1080 J48.

Letter probably from Sahlan b. Avraham instructing his uncle, Aharon 'the appointed', to make peace between a husband and a wife, or to bring her to the court. She had previously refused to appear in court, with her mother claiming that she was ill, and is thus in danger of being charged with rebellion against both her husband and the court. The letter ends with a request to send the two ṭaris (= 0.5 dinars), a charitable donation to the synagogue, without delay, and is signed with Sahlan’s motto ‘covenant of integrity’. In the context of attempting a reconciliation between the couple, an allusion is made to Judges 19:3. Verso: Part of a calendar for the year 1345 (= 1034 CE), describing when the festivals occur. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Ya’aqov b. Salman al-Hariri, from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. June 23 1057. The main part of the letter deals with a trading business of dates that ended with the loss of 12 dinars. Also mentions ordering fabrics from Alexandria. The writer has a problem with a record of taxes he owes. In addition, mentions information about the dirhams’ rate and the process of making textile goods. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #663) VMR

Fragment of an opening of a letter by Shelomo b. Semah, Ramla, to the communities of Fustat, probably December 1033.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Avraham b. Sahlan, approximately 1020.

Copy of a letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to a dignitary in Fusṭāṭ in the hand of Ghālib ha-Kohen b. Moshe (c. 1030 CE). Original leetter in T-S 13J19.16. (Information from CUDL.)

Letter from Moshe Ha-Sofer, from the family of Meir Gaon, to Avraham b. Sahl Ha-Tustari, approximately 1030.

Letter from a ḥaver of the Jerusalem yeshiva, probably in Aleppo, to a gaʾon, probably Shelomo b. Yehuda, in Jerusalem. Dating: ca. 1035 (Gil). The ḥaver complains about the members of his congregation who plot against him and have twice slandered him, once to the present gaʾon, once to his predecessor. The writer’s innocence has been proven before, and will be proven again, with the help of Ṣadoq b. Levi, whose previous letter was lost. Also mentions Tamīm b. Avraham and Yefet Ibn al-Shayzarī. The writer is also on good terms with the local governor. The writer is leaving for Calneh to attempt to resolve a dispute within the Jewish community there over who should succeed their recently deceased judge. It's unclear what is meant by Calneh; various candidates for this biblical toponym have been proposed, but the most likely here is probably the one near Aleppo, identified with the modern village by the related name Kullan-Köy. As the recipient’s last letter was lost, the writer requests that the recipient send a letter of support to strengthen the writer’s authority within the community in Aleppo; with allusions to Job 30:26, 10:22 and Proverbs 27:19. (Information from CUDL and from Marina Rustow)

Letter from Yehoshua ha-Ḥaver b. Eli, Caesarea, to the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saadya.

Letter from Isma’il b. Farah from Alexandria, to Yosef b. Eli Kohen Fasi, Tyre. October 29, 1056. The letter is addressed to Nahray b. Nissim as well, who is about to lose his sight in one eye. [This is Gil's interpretation of r9, ʿalā ʿayn mā tarā, but see PGP description of T-S 10J20.12 for why this probably just refers to the addressee seeing his merchandise in person after previously not having seen it. Here too "anta" is probably a better reading than "innahu." ASE.] The letter contains details about the way to purchase linen in the villages. Also contains details about ships that are about to arrive from the Maghreb and are being slowed by eastern wind, and other ships from the Sham, Spain, and Sicily. In addition mentions the drought of that year. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #493) VMR

Letter sent from Alexandria by Hayyim b. Eli ha-Kohen to his father in Fustat, asking him to complete a number of errands, in particular in connection with a woman, probably the writer's divorced wife. Dated ca. 1080. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 580)

Letter in Arabic script. Concerns philosophical theology; comments on a treatise the writer had read. Mentions raʾs al-mathība. (Join: Marina Rustow) Reused for letter drafts in the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya (see PGPID 1244), so must date to before ca. 1050.

Letter of censure to the community of Malij and its leader.