Geniza Lab

Letter of condolence addressed to David Maimonides Nagid on the death of his brother.

Approval for receiving money, to Nahray b. Nissim. Second half of 11th century. An unknown merchant approves that he received 300 dirhams from Nahray for goods that are about to arrive in ships. Nahray would take this amount from the value he will get for the goods, which Nahray will sell. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #845) VMR

Letter from Abū Zikrī Kohen in Fustat, to Abū Zikrī Yaḥyā b. Sulaymān b. al-Shāmī, in ʿAydhāb. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: December 1140 or January 1141 CE. Deals with business matters, mentioniong commodities such as camphor, brazilwood, and frankincense. Information from Goitein's attached edition.

Letter from the scribe of the yeshiva to Yosef b. Avraham b. Bundar. Cairo, ca. 1128-39.

Beginning of a court record dated Shevat 1411/ February 1100. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Poetic phrases in Hebrew, Conceivably from a letter, but more likely simply piyyut.

Fragment of a dowry receipt of Sitt al-Kamal, written by Emmanuel b. Yehiel (ca. 1231-1279), containing details about a trousseau. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 453, and from Goitein's index cards)

Remarriage contract of a bride who had been both widowed and divorced in which she receives a house, but no trousseau. Dated 1180-1191. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 101, 409)

Fragment of a marriage contract concerning the remarriage of Moshe b. Yiṣḥaq and his wife Sittat, containing details about the dowry. Dated 1378/ 1066-1067. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, 391, and from Goitein's index cards)

Fragment of a letter of condolence and containing an excuse for being late. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter about Moshe b. Maimon b. Yosef b. Ovadya (Moses Maimonides) and an epistle he had sent to the Nasi? (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Legal document. Partnership. Dating: 1100-1138. Location: Fustat. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. This undated fragment concerns a partnership in money-changing; the active partner was Abū al-Surūr Peraḥya b. Menashshe, brother of Ḥalfōn b. Menashshe. The woman Nasab, mentioned on lines 10 and 13, is Peraḥya’s (and Ḥalfōn’s) mother. Peraḥya handed over some amount to his mother, which she acknowledged and recorded as a debt. These funds seem to have been a loan out of partnership capital, indicated by the mention of “the funds in his hands”. On the other hand, no description of the partnership itself is preserved here. The name of Peraḥya’s partner is also not preserved, though it may have been Ḥasan Eli b. Maṣliaḥ (mentioned in line13). It is unclear what role Eli played in the transaction. The signatories are not preserved. But the title "Mordecai of his time" (see line 1) is applied to Moshe b. Mevorakh alone; thus, although his name is not preserved, this document may refer to Mevorakh b. Saadiah and his son Moshe. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 277-278)

Informal note from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to Peraḥya the judge. Perhaps abandoned partway through. What remains consists of formulaic respectful greetings.

Page of the account book of ʿArūs b. Yosef, containing accounts and a note about the beginning of a pregnancy, birth and weaning. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 230, 233)

Fragment of a marriage contract. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Calendrical calculation. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Moshe Castro, in Jerusalem, to Avraham Ibn Shānjī, in Fustat/Cairo. Written in Hebrew. Dating: 1513/14 CE, based on the assessment of Avraham David. The writer requests for donations for the benefit of the Jerusalem community such as for building expenses (ll.21–31) and for needy individuals (ll.4–9). Mentions an "azul" (blue) garment. Information from FGP.

Letter in Ladino, written probably in the first half of the 16h century. It mentions R. Abraham ibn Shoshan, whom Sambari lists amongst the exiles from Spain and is addressed to her brother by a certain Miriam. She had received her brother's letter after four or five days. Her brother had complained about her silence: "de lo ke me enviais a kulpar ke non vos eskrivo lo ke fallais mucho extrano presando de korason para deskuvrir mis sekretos ke non . . . verdadero sinon el mio y el vuestro ke de lo ajeno non toma la presona mas de lo ke kiere su dueiio. . . ." She continues to tell her brother about her disappointement at his absence in Passover: "erev Pesah mi senora enviome a dezir ke su venida non era por agora. El dio lo save la Paskua ke me dio, saviendo vos hermano ke vuestra letra son mis konsules (konsuelos?), por la palabra enviada a dezir fue demas, sabiendo vuestro corason, porke si fasta agora tenia senzillo el kuidado agora lo tiene doblado de vuestro deseo. Sabiendo vos komo estava los ojos al kamino, esperando ke su respuesta seria su vista. Agora faziendose otra manera, mira vos lo ke sentia. . . ." Information from Eleazar Gutwirth, "The Family in Judeo-Spanish Genizah Letters," 212. ASE.

Letter fragment, written in poetical phrases, in which the writer asks Yehuda and his brother Meshullam for help. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter fragments. Six small pieces of a letter from [...] ha-Yerushalmi b. Ḥalfon ha-Ḥazzan, in Jerusalem. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Information from Goitein's note card.