Geniza Lab

Fragment from the beginning of a letter to a dignitary. In Hebrew for the introduction, Judaeo-Arabic for the body, and Arabic for the address on verso: from Yūsuf b. Khalaf to mawlāy al-ḥaver(?) al-jalīl. The upper margin of recto was reused for a Hebrew scribal exercise. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter to Abu al-Fadl al-Murid ('the supplier' of gold and silver to the Mint) b. Tamim refering to acute shortages in the market, late 12th-early 13th century.

Court record detailing that in Denia, Spain, Efrayim b. Yaakov appoints one Abun as his attorney to claim whatever his late father might have left him in Egypt. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:407, no. 45) VMR The deed was confirmed in Al-Mahdiyya, Tunisia, and again in Alexandria.

Verso: Letter in the handwriting of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi. He has arrived safely (presumably from Fustat to Qalyub). He tells the addressee to take the coat (shuqqa) from the house of Ibn Tāj al-Maʿānī and give it to Rabbenu Shelomo, and to give other goods to Abū ʿAlī. He was saddened to leave (Fustat) when a woman in the family (al-kabīra) was sick (mutawajjiʿa). Note that Moshe cut up ENA 2558.18 + T-S 13J7.12, a legal document dated 1194 CE, and reused the versos of both fragments for letters. The transcription for this document is temporarily located on the record for the join (PGPID 1187). EMS. ASE.

Copy of a letter from Madmun b. Ḥasan to Avraham Ibn Yiju (Aden, 1133-1140). For the other copy, see PGPID 5457.

Fragment of a letter in Arabic script, probably a petition. The sender says that he (or less likely someone else) is unable to provide for himself (a trope of petitions) and presumably asks for assistance. In the margin is a draft of Bible commentary in Judaeo-Arabic, with biblical citations including Deuteronomy 33:2 and 18:18. (Information from CUDL)

Sale of a female slave. Seller: David Ha-Levi. 25 dinars. Probably 12/13 century. (Ashur estimation). VMR

Family note from Hilal. He is requested to meet Avi al-Fakhar, the brother-in-law of the writer, because the Christian Ibn Badir is not being trusted; written to his father-in-law. (Information from Goitein's index cards) VMR

Litigation in court concerning an inheritance, in Damsis. The two heirs Halal b. Ḥalfon and Abu al-Karam b. Ḥalfon are the litigants.The former accuses the latter of dishonesty. Verso: Yeshua b. Ali witnesses to the effect that the pawn he had was redeemed by Abu al-Karam for 10 dinars. (Information from Goitein's index cards) VMR

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Letter from Elazar b. Ahuv to Yefet b. Shemuʾel. Congratulation to a sister who had given birth to a daughter. (Information from Goitein's index card). VMR

Letter from a certain Yaʿqūb to Abū l-Faḍā'il b. Abū l-Saʿīd known as al-Yatīm. In Judaeo-Arabic. The addressee's mother has been sick. The addressee has been trying to sell her (or his wife's?) house, but he can't find a Jewish buyer and he does not have the proper documentation (tathbīt) to sell it to Muslims. The sender gives him advice about this. EMS. ASE.

Legal document concerning a husband who wanted to travel to see his mother and relatives and his wife took him to court for it. He reportedly said that he would “go and come back,” to which his wife replied, “I did not believe his words” (lo he ’emanti li-devarav). (Oded Zinger, Women, Gender, and Law, 83) EMS

Legal document concerning a power of attorney from Zuhra bat Joseph, apparently for Jacob he-haver, regarding the inheritance of hasan b. Faraj al-Amidi. Mentions Joseph b. Isaac and [...] ha-Levi b. Furqan, and towns such as Aleppo and the Lebanese Tripoli. Verso: document, probably a letter, in Arabic script. (Information from the Cambridge Genizah Research Unit via FGP).

Business accounts. Notes of receipts etc. Seven instructions to a (Goitein: "?") to meet with different persons and to arrange matter with them. (Information from Goitein's index card). VMR

Confirmation by witness of the divorce of Raisa b. Kathir, who wanted to marry Yosef. Written by Yefet ha-Hazan b. David. (information from Goitein's index cards) VMR

Letter and notes (verso) about a young woman. Probably written by Shemuʾel b. Seadia ha-Levi, the judge (Ha-dayyan) who was a pharmacist before being a judge. (Information from Goitein index card). VMR

Letter from the Jerusalem community in Fustat, in the hand of ha-Hazan Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya in Tamuz (July) 1028. R. Shlomo b. Yehuda was appointed to be the new head of the Yeshiva in Jerusalem and the Jerusalem community in Fustat are writing to get his re-approval for their leader and judge - Efrayim b. Shemarya. (Information from Goitein, Palestinian Jewry, pp. 83-86). VMR

Letter from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to his brother, Abu Zikri in Alexandria. An episode of Abu Zikri in which he suffered from "evil men" alluded to

Brief letter from Yosef b. Avraham in Aden to Avraham b. Yiju, ca. 1147 or 1148. The letter discusses some business matters and mentions the supposed arrival of Ibn Yiju's brother, Mevasser.