Geniza Lab

Letter from a nightwatchman (?) to a dignitary requesting help. He is still owed 1 1/4 dinar from the year that ended and is afraid the coming year will be the same. Abu'l-Muna' had written to the addressee in the past on behalf of the writer. He says: 'I was unable to face writing to you...' (Information from Goitein index cards)

Draft of an appointment deed to Yeshua b. Yosef to a public role. The handwriting is that of Yeshua. According to the biography of Yeshua, the letter can be dated to the fifties of the Eleventh Century (see Frenkel, p. 54). (Information from Frenkel).

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Business letter in Arabic script from Hilāl b. Ibrāhīm to his father, Abū Isḥaq Ibrāhīm b. Hillel; mentions the mother's illness. Verso: accounts in the hand of ʿArūs b. Yosef, and address of the letter on recto.

Awaiting description - see Goitein notes and index card linked below.

Letter from Yaʿaqov ha-Kohen b. Isaiah to Yiṣḥaq 'Hemdat ha-Yeshiva.' (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Business letter to Abu Yusuf containing information and instructions concerning various items. The letter also mentions a shipment of goods and may refer to trade with Europe. (Information from Gointein's index cards)

Letter sent in response to a message from the addressee, with well-wishes. The sender mentions the consummation of someone's marriage.

Letter from Nissim b. Ḥalfon, probably from Tinnīs, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Dating: Probably from November 17, 1046. The letter contains personal information: the destruction of the writer’s house and his illness. Mentions Sahlān b. Avraham. Also mentions shipments of money and goods: honey, crocus, linen, linen fabrics, and “lāsīn” silk. The illness passage (v12–16) reads as follows: "My lord, I have a great pain (wajaʿ) in my thigh (bi-fakhdhī), and I lack the strength (ʿayītu). . . a medicine for me to drink (dawā' nashrabuhu). I went (wajjahtu) {to} the doctor, but it/he was of no avail. When I go to the bazaar, I am forced to sit on the road five times and more. I have ceased all my work. May God have mercy on me." The translations of Goitein and Gil diverge significantly. Goitein reads "bi-kabdī" (in my liver) and Gil reads "bi-fikrī" (in my estimation) instead of "bi-fakhdhī." Both read "mayyit" (incurable, fatal) instead of ʿayītu, but as the next word is almost illegible, the only way to decide between the two readings is via comparing it with Nissim's other מs and עs. Goitein reads "wajba" instead of "wajjahtu" and understands it as "the prescription of the doctor." Goitein suggests that he is "sitting on his heels" five times or more in order to urinate, whereas Gil remains agnostic about why he has to sit down. Perhaps it is simply to rest. Information from Goitein's note card (#27131), and Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #585. VMR. ASE.

Letter written by Saadya to Shemuel the Nagid conveying information about flax and other items kept in store at the request of the addressee. This information was probably needed for an inheritance case. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Incomplete letter to a physician asking him to intervene with the Nagid concerning a complaint about a teacher from Tiberias who is accused of influencing several pupils' mothers to transfer their boys from the school of the plaintiff to his own. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 187 and 559, and from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Ayash b. Sdaka, from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. August 4, 1045. Ayash writes about the ships movement from Mahdiyya and Sicily, and about trades with the Tustaris and with Muslims. Also mentions that Yosef b. Musa al-Tahirti is about to travel to Spain by ship. )Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #476) VMR

Letter from Labrat b. Yitzhak from Qayrawan, to Yosef b. Danash, Fustat, in the handwriting of Nissim b. Yitzhak b. Alsahl. Both the sender and the addressee are probably from Fez, and have business with the Maghreb and Egypt. Labrat might be Nissim’s brother. The writer asks the addressee to send money that he owes another merchant, Avraham b. Barukh, which is waiting for the money before he can return to Spain. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #228) VMR

Letter from Mūsā b. Iṣḥaq b. Nissim al-ʿĀbid (al-Mahdiya) to Avraham b. Daʾūd al-Raḥbī (Fustat), ca. 1030. The writer supplies goods from the Maghreb, including oil olive, fruit jam, spices, etc. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 683.) Contains a list of prices of local goods: pepper, laque, spices, sugar, precious stones and pearls. Letter written in the evening after the fast of the day of Atonement. (Informations from Goitein index cards linked below).

Awaiting description - see Goitein notes and index card linked below.

Letter from Efrayim b. Maymun, probably from Qayrawan, to Ishaq b. Eli al-majani, probably from Mahdiyya. 1039. The writer asks the addressee to write him letters. Also mentions the disagreement he has with Yosef b. Farah b. Avraham Alfasi. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #639) VMR

Awaiting description - see Goitein notes and index card linked below.

Letter from Harun b. Yosef al-Ghazzal, Qayrawan, to Yosef b. 'Awkal.

Letter from Nissim b. Yitzhak b. al-Sahl to Avraham b. David. From 999. It seems that the two have an argument about sending dinars. The writer apologizes and asks to move on with their business, because of the friendship that was between their families in the previous generation. Seems like they are from Fez. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #225) VMR

Awaiting description - see Goitein notes and index card linked below.