Geniza Lab

Letter from Eliyyahu Ha-Kohen b. Shelomo Gaon to David Nasi b. Hizqiyyahu. Ca. mid-11th century.

Recto: short letter or note to Yosef ha-Sar the doctor. The writer had tried to visit Yosef several times but didn’t find him in and hasn’t heard from him. He has heard that Joseph is due to go traveling (spelled ללך). If he intends to travel to Shoresh (near Jerusalem), then the writer would like to go with him. Verso: three names are written, in the same hand: Yishay(?) Nostimos (? נושטימוש); Ḥananel Eliyya(?)ha-Kohen; and Yehuda S[…]n the elder. (Information in part from CUDL)

Recto: note in the hand of Shelomo b. Elijah to Abū Saʿīd, asking to be sent sums of money paid by Abū l-Ḥasan. Verso: list of month names, in Hebrew and Arabic. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Hilāl to his brother Abū l-Majd (aka Meʾir b. Yakhin). In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably early 13th century, as these figures are known from other documents from that time. Sent to Fusṭāṭ, to the caravanserai of al-Maḥallī, to be given to Abū Isḥāq b. Yaʿaqov, who will forward it to Abu l-Majd. Written by Abū l-Munā who also sends greetings. The writer sends condolences on the death of a child (ṭufayyil), with the description of the pain that an elderly female relative went through after hearing the news. "She remembered the grief for all who have passed away, and bore it on her heart, and she cries day and night on account of the preoccupation of your heart." Greetings are sent to and from various family members and to the teacher Yiṣḥaq. Also mentions a Ḥaver and Ibn Daʾūd, and that the silk the writer had sent arrived at Maḥāsin’s. (Information in part from CUDL.) Join by Oded Zinger. ASE.

Letter, top and bottom missing, referring to a dispute between Jews and Muslims, the synagogue, a certain Binyamin, and two physicians, one of them called Yosef. No bibliography; merits further examination. (Information from CUDL and from Marina Rustow)

Letter to Mishaʾel ha-Sar from Hiba Ibn Zaʿafrān, a poor inhabitant of Fusṭāṭ. Hiba asks for assistance paying the capitation tax, and has already been arrested and beaten for not paying it. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from a father and his family to his son, with holiday greetings to Abū l-Faraj, Khalaf, and his son. (Information from CUDL)

Letter to Abī Sālim (?) b. Efrayim and Yaḥyā b. Efrayim, replying to previous correspondence, explaining the writer’s bad situation and asking for support. In a crude hand. (Information from CUDL)

Partially preserved 11th century copy of one of three letters written by Saadya in the course of the 921-922 calendar controversy between Palestinians and Babylonians. There is an address in Arabic script. The letters are addressed to Saadya’s disciples Shelomo, Ezra and ʿEli in Fustat and recount the events of the Palestinian calendar declaration by Ben Meir and the Babylonian’s reaction to it. Saadya urges his addressees to uphold the dates of the Babylonians, and ensure that Jews do not eat leaven on Passover and desecrate the Day of Atonement. (Information from Rustow, Stern, The Jewish Calendar Controversy of 921-22, in Stern, S and Burnett, C, (eds.) Time, Astronomy, and Calendars in the Jewish Tradition. (pp. 79-95). Brill: Leiden, 2013. See also Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 17 and Goitein notes linked below, and the Penn Catalog.)

Two double pages. Copy of a letter from Se’adya b. Yosef to Eli b. Tavnai’s sons in Fustat. Original letter was written in January 3, 923. Se’adya asks the addresses to act against Aaron b. Meir’s directions regarding the calendar. (Information from Gil, Kingdom. Vol. 2, #7). VMR

Partially preserved 11th century copy of second of three letters written by Saadya in the course of the 921-922 calendar controversy between Palestinians and Babylonians. There is an address in Arabic script. The letters are addressed to Saadya’s disciples Shelomo, Ezra and ʿEli in Fustat and recount the events of the Palestinian calendar declaration by Ben Meir and the Babylonian’s reaction to it. Saadya urges his addressees to uphold the dates of the Babylonians, and ensure that Jews do not eat leaven on Passover and desecrate the Day of Atonement. (Information from Rustow, Stern, The Jewish Calendar Controversy of 921-22, in Stern, S and Burnett, C, (eds.) Time, Astronomy, and Calendars in the Jewish Tradition. (pp. 79-95). Brill: Leiden, 2013. See also Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 17 and Goitein notes linked below, and the Penn Catalog.)

Liturgy for the marriage ceremony, along with part of a copy of a Karaite ketubba for Muʾammala bat Ḥayyim. Dated: 1324 Sel. (= 1002 CE). Witnessed by Bahlūl b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Kohen, Yiṣḥaq b. Eliyyahu ha-Kohen, Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuʾel ha-Farā, ʿEli b. Muʿammar, Yosef b. Yaʿaqov, Yiṣḥaq b. Yaʿaqov, Saʿadya b. Yosef, Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq, David b. Shelomo, Hiba b. Khalaf al-Shīnīzī, Yosef b. Yiṣḥaq, and Yaʿaqov b. Yiṣḥaq. Written by the scribe Menashshe b. Mahūb from ʿAkkā (Acre). (Information from CUDL)

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. Possibly two different documents in two different hands. Dated: Before Elul 1411 Seleucid (1100 CE). People named: Avraham b. Yosef, Shelomo b. Seʿadya al-Ṣurī, Ḥalfon b. Avraham, Netan'el b. [...], Elʿazar b. Avraham. Involves a payment in installments over a period of 13 months starting in Elul 1411 Seleucid. Sums mentioned: 9 1/4 dinars [...], 15 dinars minus one qirāṭ. ASE.

Calligraphic letter sent to the judge Efrayim by a scribe requesting high-quality ink so that he can finish a certain project.

Literary treatise in Judaeo-Arabic on the laws of mourning in various special cases. when the deceased is the father of a bride; if he was executed by the court; if he committed suicide; if he rejected rabbinic authority (al-madhhab al-rabbānīyya, sunanuhum) (in this case there is no mourning, but rather celebration); if he has no one to mourn for him; and how there is no mourning on shabbat (verso). Also on verso are several lines in Judaeo-Arabic giving formulaic opening phrases for a letter. ASE.

Part of a ketubba for Abū l-Munā Ṭiqva b. Berakhot (groom), who is remarrying his divorcee. Dated 14[..] (12th century CE) in Fusṭāṭ, invoking the authority of the Nagid [Sam]uel (b. Ḥananya, 1140-59 CE). (Information from CUDL)

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Part of a ketubba for Sitt al-Ḥasab (bride). Most of the text is too badly faded to read. (Information from CUDL)

Abu al-Munajja Shelomo b. Saadya leaves to each of his three minor daughters 100 dinars for their bridal outfits. He arranges to have his two sons be the heirs of the balance of his property, and he orders that his wife, whose father was still alive, function as executor for all his children. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 253, 482)