Geniza Lab

Recto and beginning of verso: Letter from a sick man to a physician. In Judaeo-Arabic. He reports that he has collected the prescription that the physician gave him and that he used it earlier in the day, but it had no effect. He is still in great and unmentionable distress whenever he leaves the toilet (murtafaq). He has sent the (substantial amount of) 109.5 dirhams that the physician charged him. He asks for further instructions, because he is in great distress. He is unable to leave the house but cannot bear sitting in in the house. Lower part of verso: The physician responds that the medicine has [not had enough time to] work, and that he should take another dose. There is then a cryptic instruction about doing something first that should be done first, "from whichever hand possible," for that is the greatest requirement for this illness. ASE.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Dealing with business matters and goods on a boat. The writer sends greetings to the addressee's son Abū ʿAlī and his brother-in-law Abū l-Ḥasan; also sends regards to Ḥasan and his maternal aunt.

Letter from Ḥassūn b. Daniel (? looks like حسون بن دانييل) to a certain Abū l-Ṭayyib. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. The Judaeo-Arabic is written with a rudimentary hand and spellings. Needs further examination.

Abū l-Majd, in Alexandria writes to his cousin Judge Elijah, in Damascus (?) on a business trip. See Goitein Nachlass material. Judge Elijah may in fact be in Fustat. Abū l-Majd writes, that a certain mawlā (his father?) wrote to him from Damascus telling him to come join him. "I was shocked; I don't know what to do. He said that he is blind in his eyes. I am making up my mind to go. I want to consult you about the trip. . . the news of the country, whether caravans are going. . . ." Abū l-Majd also writes, "I have sent you many letters on this matter and not received a response." AIU VII.E.38 seems to be one of those letters. ASE.

Legal fragment in Hebrew. Late. Needs examination.

Letter from Abū al-Riḍa, in Qūṣ, to Abū Zikrī, in Fustat, c/o the sugar factory (maṭbakh) of Abū al-Maʿānī. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. (Goitein's index card identifies the addressee as Eliyyahu the Judge, who did have a son named (Abū) Zikrī.) Dating: Probably early 13th century. The addressee is asked to give a responsum (fatwā) with regard to a certain Maḥāsin who wanted to marry his wife's sister. Maḥāsin had denied a charge in connection with this engagement before a Muslim court and confessed it in a Jewish court. The issue involves the wife (bayt) of Ibn Qasāsa and Abū Saʿd al-ʿAṭṭār, who calls himself Shaykh al-Yahūd. The sender complains several times about his illness and poverty (and therefore his inability to resolve the issue). He tells the addressee not to send letters to the shop of Abū Saʿd, because Abū Saʿd always reads them before passing them on to the addressee. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.)

Affidavit of a loan by Berakhot b. Yosef to Perahyah b. Adahay signed by Judge Eliyyahu in 1220-- see Goitein Nachlass material

Letter from ʿAmram b. Yiṣḥaq, in Alexandria, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel ha-Levi, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Middle of Adar (1451 Seleucid) = February 1141 CE. The letter deals with the illness of ʿAmram's wife (evidently a familly member of Ḥalfon's) and the way she was treated. She had been suffering lethargy, palpitations, and fainting spells for over a year and a half. She was treated for “the obstruction of the heart (inqifāl al-qalb) mentioned by al-Rāzī in the Manṣūrī,” but the medicine only made matters worse. Midwives were summoned to treat her for "the illness of women”—hysteria—by the application of oils and fats. When this, too, failed, she was overwhelmed by black bile (melancholia), rendering her “a piece of flesh, yearning for death but unable to attain it.” ʿAmram asks Ḥalfon to convey his wife’s medical history to the physicians of the capital, so that “perhaps she will attain relief.” (Information in part from Frenkel, and Goitein and Friedman, India Book IV—Hebrew description below.)

Letter Fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic, calligraphically written. Refers to someone's mother; the daughters of Ibn al-ʿArīsḥī; the sender and another man falling sick; and trebuchet stones (גנק/junuq) which were sold to Nissim b. [...] for the astronomical sum of 4,000 dinars. "Junuq" is a very rare word and seems to be the only plausble reading of גנק, but it may not be correct. It is also not clear how much of the paper is torn away from the right side of the letter (probably ~2 words per line), which means the 4,000 dinars may refer to something other than the גנק. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.)

Legal document mentioning [...] b. Ḥayyim Nafūsī. Scribed and signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Also signed by Avraham b. Shemaʿya and Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel ha-Sefaradi and ʿEli ha-Kohen ha-[...].

Query about niddah submitted to Abraham Maimuni by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu-- see Goitein Nachlass material

Letter in Hebrew. Fragment: right side only. Dating: Likely 16th century. Involves trade in barrels of wine (ḥaviyot and "barilas").

Letter from an unidentified man, in Jerusalem, to the Nagid Natan Sholal, in Fustat/Cairo. In Hebrew. Dating: Late 15th century. The sender reports that he is writing with great effort, because he has been sick ever since his marriage. He has not recovered his full strength, his joints are weak and painful, and he cannot turn his face from side to side ever since he fell off of a mule en route to Jerusalem. The main purpose of the letter is to conciliate Natan, who is upset about the marriage of his daughter to the sender's son, which evidently took place behind his back in Jerusalem. There is also discussion of Natan's property in Jerusalem and a report on the books that he left behind him in 1481 CE. The sender managed to find 4 of Natan's books, including the Gemara of Ketubbot, an Arabic commentary on Psalms(?), and Israel Israeli's Arabic commentary on Avot. (Information in part from Avraham David's edition on FGP.) ASE

Formulary or draft of a get-well-soon card. In Hebrew. Dating: Late, perhaps 15th–17th century. Very florid.

Letter from Musa and Salah and Ishaq al-Taharti to Yosef b. Awkal and to his sons Hillel and Binyamin (probably in the year 1011).

Formulary for a legal document of ḥaliẓa (rejection of levirate marriage). On vellum.

Family letter addressed to a place north of Qus in upper Egypt, beginning with two Hebrew verses from a poem, in which a woman with a child asks her sister and mother to take more interest in her because of her condition. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 172, 221, and from Goitein's index cards.) Same sender and addressee as L-G Ar. II.129 and T-S 8J24.4. In fact, this is probably addressed to Fustat (based on L-G Ar. II.129), though the family has business dealings in Qūṣ.

Accounts written by ʿArūs b. Yūsuf. Incomplete. (Information from Goitein's index card)

Letter from a son to his father. He complains about difficult circumstances and reports that ʿIwāḍ al-Bazzāz (the clothier) died. ʿIwāḍ may have owed the sender some money. The lower part of the letter is missing. On verso there are a couple words in Arabic script, including "dirham."

Recto: Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Only the right margin of the original letter is preserved. Dealing with business matters. Verso: Letter fragment or account in Judaeo-Arabic.