Geniza Lab

Recto: family letter, ca. 11th century, from Abraham to his son-in-law Elijah and his daughter אתוכלי, Itwakkilī (Arabic, but unattested as a name). There are many greetings and good wishes from various family members. The writer states that Elijah’s brother wanted to visit him, but had been prevented by the grape harvest (הבציר). He wants the couple to send a letter at the next opportunity. Also mentioned is a debt and ‘the time that the river rises’, probably a reference to the flooding of the Nile. A number of different names are mentioned: Elijah’s sister is Sitt al-Rūmī (שטירומי); also mentioned are Irini (אריני), Leon (לאון) and his wife Sitt al-Bayt (שטילבית), another son-in-law Kalev, a wife Mershini (מרשיני, vocalised) and a son Shemarya. Verso: address and several lines of unrelated Arabic. (Information from CUDL)

Verso: complete letter prefaced by two biblical quotations (Psalms 120:1; 130:1). The writer is commiserating with the addressee’s disgrace, יסמו עינים שיראו קלונך ויחרשו אזנים שישמעו מקצת כלמתך, but puts his faith in divine justice, אבל נקבל דין השם. It is signed by ‘the insulted servant Joseph’ (העבד הנעלב יוסף). Recto: unrelated Arabic text (the Arabic text is incomplete, and thus earlier than the Hebrew letter). (Information from CUDL)

Legal document concerning financial matters, an orphan, and Abū Isḥāq. (Information from CUDL)

Addendum to a letter from Abū l-Ḥasan b. Makhlūf (cf. T-S 10J17.20 and JRL Gaster heb. ms 1860/5), Abū l-Faḍl b. Yaʿaqov, Abū l-Manṣūr b. Abū l-Faraj al-Muqaddasī/al-Maqdisī (cf. ENA 2806.4 and T-S 10J12.28) and his brother Abū l-Surūr, and Abū l-Ḥajjāj b. Abū l-Faraj, to an unknown addressee. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 12th or 13th century. They had written him another letter before this one but had left out their names in the original letter, and that was because of their fear of the people who "tajarradū" (?) not for the sake of heaven. (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE.

Letter fragment to the writer’s mother, possibly from Hiba b. Abū […]. Mentions a ship and travel. In Judaeo-Arabic, with unusual spellings. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter from Madmun b. Ḥasan to Avraham Ibn Yiju: three fragments of two copies. Aden, ca. 1130s.

Recto: letter to the Nasi Shelomo (probably Shelomo b. Jesse, mid-13th century). Verso: accounts with Coptic numerals. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Shelomo ha-Melammed (=Shelomo b. Eliyyahu) to the teacher Abū l-ʿIzz. In Judaeo-Arabic. Concerning money owed. Mentions Abū l-Munā and Ibn al-Dihqān. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter fragment from the lepers of Tiberias to Shelomo b. Eli, probably in Tripoli, Lebanon, approximately 1030. Verso: End of the address.

Fragment of a letter from al-Kabira, probably from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim. Around 1055. Al-Kabira informs Nahray that she sent him silk by the judge’s wife. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #825) VMR

Letter asking for a loan of three dirhams until after the holiday. (Information from CUDL)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (lower part). Mentions the late "Nezer"—if this refers to Natan b. Shemuel, the document dates to after 1153 CE. The remainder of the portion preserved here consists of urging the addressee to come stay with the writer, as they had not spoken in a long time, and there is something important they must discuss that very night. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter from a woman, in an unknown location, to her brother ʿAṭiyya b. Yehuda b. Sulaymān and to her widowed sister’s son Manṣūr b. Avraham, in the square of the perfumers, probably Fustat. (The two addressees—nephew and brother—evidently live together.) In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script. Dating: Perhaps 12th century. She describes her distress—crying, fasting, blind (probably with tears), sitting in the corner, fire in the heart—ever since the nephew departed and she learned he was sick. She exhorts him not to worry or take on mental suffering (hamm), because that would be dangerous in his state. Then she switches to addressing her brother, whom she exhorts “by our upbringing and the breast which we suckled, do not neglect my nephew Manṣūr, for he is the one who protected me... he and his brother. Write me a response to this letter and cool my heart from the severity of its fire, for if you were to see me, you would not recognize me from my worry and distress.... I have sworn not to break my fast until you write me the response to this letter. And peace.” (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely early 13th century. Looks similar to the handwriting of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu, and refers to family members like Zekharya (his brother Abū Zikrī?) and conveys greetings from the sender's wife to the wife of Abū Zikrī. But Zekharya / Abū Zikrī isn't called "my brother," so then again maybe this isn't Shelomo. The letter concerns the purchase of a Torah scroll. The sender says his father won't let him go to Alexandria until something is sorted out. Mentions Tāj al-Dīn. On verso, the letter addresses al-ḥakīm al-ajall (maybe this is a switch to addressing Zekharya / Abū Zikrī, who was greeted at the bottom of recto) and instructs him not to let anyone see this letter (quoting Psalms 25:14). (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter referring to a courtier, ‘the honoured Sar’. Neatly and closely written. Mentions Abū Khayr Efrayim b. Yeshaʿyahu. The letter is written both in the first person plural (the plural of majesty, since it sends greetings ‘from our son’, ומן החמוד שלנו) and singular, and is addressed to the second person singular. It is probably a geonic letter of the mid-11th century. Verso contains Hebrew jottings in a different hand. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: letter from Elʿazar b. [...] addressing someone whose name has not been preserved. The first six lines are poetically-phrased praises, leading up to the naming of the recipient in two indented lines:[...] הוא כבוד גדולת קדושת. Mentions the Rosh ha-Qehilla. The business of the letter is introduced by אודיע לאדונינו ויקירנו כי. The writer refers to people ‘who don't know their right from their left’, and mentions his cousin Yaḥyā. Presumably the writer is asking for help, but the details are not preserved. Probably from the 11th century, but possibly later. Verso: traces of ink. (Information from CUDL)

Part of a legal document dealing with inheritance, mentioning debts and an administrator. Dated 479[.] (= 1030-39 CE). The body of the text mentions Saʿīd b. [...]. Signed by Shelomo [b.] Ṣedaqa, Isaac ha-Kohen and Shelomo he-Ḥaver b. [...]. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from David to the Nasi Shelomo (probably the 13th-century Nasi Shelomo b. Jesse), informing him of an oath a certain Makīn had to take in connection with an unpaid debt and recommending his excommunication. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from the nephew of a Ḥaver (whose eldest son is Abū l-Maʿānī), mentioning the 13th-century judge Anatoli. (Information from CUDL)

Letter to Avraham Maimuni from Yehuda Melammed b. Aharon ha-Rofe.