Geniza Lab

Recto: Letter sent from Damascus. In Judaeo-Arabic. Goitein describes it as a lovely family letter praising the town for its opportunities to make a living (r24–26) and describing the well-being of a boy who was left by his father with relatives while he traveled to Egypt (r8–13). "He is well, comfortable with them. He reads with them, dresses with them, plays with them. He is not a stranger. Everyone loves him. They sleep in one bed." As for the writer's brother: he is overcome by weeping due to separation from the family. If he had not been sick, he would have come together with the letter. (Information in part from Med Soc III, p. 234, and from Goitein's index cards.) Verso: Letter of appeal for charity. Opening with a long Hebrew poem. A few lines of the body of the letter, in Judaeo-Arabic, are preserved at the bottom. (Information from CUDL.)

Letter from Simḥa ha-Kohen (in Alexandria) to his parents-in-law Eliyyahu the Judge and Sitt Rayḥān (in Fustat). In Judaeo-Arabic. Simḥa describes in moving terms the illness and death of his female slave (jāriya). Goitein and Motzkin understood this to refer to his daughter, however it probably means slave here, because Simḥa cites as condolence the formula from Berakhot 16b, "המ ימלא חצרונכם" (noted by Eve Krakowski, 07/2022). The physician Abū l-Thanāʾ had been caring for her in his home, and ultimately told Simḥa to take her back when her illness became hopeless. Simḥa (briefly) rejoiced because no one had expected her to walk again. A porter carried her home in a basket. She then died at home despite their hopes for her recovery. Simḥa's wife–the daughter of Eliyyahu and Sitt Rayḥān—is now in a deep depression ("the world closed itself to her") and sees nobody except Sitt Rayḥān when she visits. Simha now begs her to visit again soon. See also T-S 18J4.10. Discussed in Goitein, Med Soc II, 251.

Letter from Alexandria relating to Jewish prisoners from Byzantium who were brought to Egyptian ports. Detailed summary in Mann, Jews, vol. 1, p. 91. Recto: part of a letter, c. 1030 CE, from Yeshuʿa ha-Kohen b. Yosef the judge, in Alexandria, to Efrayim he-Ḥaver in the Great Sanhedrin b. Shemarya, in Fusṭāṭ, seeking financial help for Shabbetay b. Netanʾel, a ransomed captive who wants to return to his native Byzantium via Jerusalem. Greetings are sent to Efrayim’s son-in-law, Yosef. Verso: address in Arabic script. Information from CUDL.

Note to Abū Saʿd b. Moshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Draft. Beginning only. Epressing the writer’s desire to see him. Followed by one line in Arabic script and by a short text (a midrash?) concerning circumcision. (Information from CUDL.) See also Goitein's note card.

Letter in Ladino. (Information from CUDL). Line 25 on Verso mentions Jerusalem.

Fragment of a roll containing part of a letter, a reply written by Abu Zikri, and a fragment in verse. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from the thirteenth century. An Alexandrian cantor named Berakhot writes to a physician and poet named Yedutun (Psalms 39:1) in Fustat. (This Yedutun may or may not be identical with the well known poet and cantor Yedutun ha-Levi from the same time period.) The two used to belong to a circle of friends. The letter reflects the activity of such a cycle of friends which counted cantors, physicians and Parnasim (welfare officials) among its members. (Information from Frenkel; see also Goitein, Med. Soc. vol. 5, pp.285-6)

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Beginning of a letter to Yaʿaqov ha-Kohen b. Aharon ha-Kohen. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter sent from Alexandria in which a cheese-maker asks his son to send him the receipt for his capitation tax and writes that he hopes to travel home as soon as the Khalij canal of Fustat has enough water. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter sent from Fustat by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu ha-Dayyan to Sitt Rayhan, expressing concern about her health (r3–11, v20, address), dealing with a house of which one quarter belongs to her, and asking her to travel to Fustat. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

List of names and outstanding loans. There are small marks in the text resembling a '<' standing for the fraction 1/2. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Note to R. David to summon a Maghribi named Abu Dawud Khayyat, whose grown-up son had died and whose wife is critically ill with dysentery and fears that she will not see her husband again. On verso are accounts and several versions of the signature of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu, placing the date in the early 13th century. ASE.

Letter of request, addressed apparently to Madmun b. Yefet, by a person in inland Yemen, for help against Ibn Yiju, involving a shipment of five bahars (of what is not said).

Letter addressed to 'our lord,' dealing with a dispute between friends. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 295, 588)

Part of a letter, c. mid-16th century, from Abraham Sagis, in Jerusalem, to Joseph Qorqos, who is normally resident in Jerusalem but is currently visiting Egypt, regarding the distribution of funds sent to Jerusalem by various Egyptian donors, including the dignitary Shelomo Alashqar, from which support was also given to the Ashkenazi yeshiva and the recipient’s own yeshiva, both in Jerusalem. Mentions David Zulati, Jacob Galican, Jacob Hami, Judah, Abraham, and Mordechai. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from a woman named Najma, in Fustat/Cairo (l. 4), to her father Moshe Perdonel. Dating: ca. 16th century. There is a detailed summary in Goitein, Med Soc V, p. 222 note 17. See also Esther-Miriam Wagner, “Goitein and girlish prose: T-S 13J 24.22," Fragment of the Month, Cambridge University Library, March 2012, for revisions/refutations of many of Goitein's beliefs about this letter.

Sentimental letter sent by a man to his maternal uncle reporting that he and his wife are well and healthy, but perishing from longing for the recipient and the family, and giving regards to about 25 persons. Possibly dated to the 14th century. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 25, 26, 432)

Letter to Moshe b. Hini ‘the lesser’, mentioning business affairs and people including Abraham Leon (c. 17th century). (Information from CUDL)

Letter to Mattia Ashkenazi and his brother Shelomo, from their father. (Information from CUDL)