Geniza Lab

Letter of complaint to Maimonides regarding funds for the Qodesh. Written in the hand of Meʾir b. Hillel b. Ṣadoq Av. The plaintiff asks why arrangements made for him by the mutawallī Isaiah ha-Levi b. Mišaʾel have become void; and if they are void for him, why should not the other leases and deeds of rent of ruined lots be discontinued as well. The complaint was probably submitted in 1171 or somewhat later and it emerges that the agreement made with Isaiah stipulated that the plaintiff was to rebuild a ruin of the qodesh and live in it until his investment in repairs was balanced out by a hypothetical rent, in the meantime paying only the ground rent (ḥikr) to the government. Maimonides was apparently opposed to this agreement, possibly because of legal principles regarding permission to make deals with properties of the qodesh. In the second part of the letter, the writer requests Maimonides to answer various questions on the study of the Law which he had previously asked him, and to which he now adds a question on the attitude to astronomy. He also asks him for some of his books, to be copied for him, the cost to be paid from the money due to him, if the debt is recognized. Below on verso are rhymed Hebrew wedding verses in a crude hand. (Information from CUDL and Gil, Documents, pp. 363 #94)

Letter from Avraham b. Ya'akov in Jerusalem to his son in Fustat. Around 1040, in the handwriting of Moshe b. Yitzhak from the Karaite community. (Probably the father and son belong to the Karaite community as well). The father describes his difficult situation after the death of another son and because of his illness and his need for money and asks his son for help. (Information from Gil, Palestine corrections, Mehkarim be-Mada'e ha-Yahadut, Te'udah 7, pp. 326-327). VMR

Lower part of a letter, following a complete letter. The writer, in Damira, sends 18 dirhams because the recipient, a relative in Fustat, had sold to him for less than he usually did. The letter discusses business matters, including a torn silk garment. (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS Verso: Piyyut, starting על מה יציר תיגע עצמך. (Information from CUDL)

Letter of appeal for charity. Addressed to Efrayim he-Ḥaver ha-Meʿulle. EMS

Letter conveying holiday greetings to Elazar, who is given five titles. Other side (PGPID 1937): Prescription for pills against coughing.

Prescription for pills against coughing; ingredients include red gum tragacanth, almond resin, licorice robe, and “bottled gourd seeds and quince mucilage, of each one mithqal.” (Efrayim Lev and Leigh Chipman, Medical Prescriptions in the Cairo Geniza Collections, Brill, 2012, 49-50) EMS. Written by Berakhot b. Shmuel. AA

Letter, unfinished, or blessings addressed to Shemuel ‘ha-Sar ha-gadol in Israel'. It is headed by בשמ״ רח, and breaks off halfway down the page. It consists of elaborate blessings, rhymed in ים-. (Information from the Cambridge Genizah Research Unit via FGP).

Verso: Reshut, beginning ויהי הכול, in a different hand from the recto. (Information from the Cambridge Genizah Research Unit via FGP). Probably in honour of Shmuel b, Hananya Hangid. AA

Letter to the mother of Abū Zikrī, Umm Abū Zikrī (אם אבו זכרי), who is also mother of the referenced Abū al-Barakat and wife of the judge Eliyyahu (per the address), in which the writer expresses thanks for the information she provided about the writer’s wife and children. The letter also mentions that Abū Zikrī came during the holiday of Purim and Abū al-Barakat read the scroll of Esther for the holiday. (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS and VMR

Letter addressed to Maṣliaḥ Gaon with fourteen lines of poetry in the hand of Natan b. Shemuel ha-haver written on the back . (Information from Goitein's index card). VMR

Document containing a lines of poetry in the hand of the judge Natan b. Shemuel. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:235, 574) EMS

Letter from Mukhtar b. Yaʿaqov to Sa'id b. Naja describing Ḥasan b. Bundar's assistance. Aden, ca. 1100.

Recto: letter from Binyām to Abū Saʿīd al-ʿAfṣī concerning business matters regarding commodities such as tamarind (tamar hindī) and pomegranate flowers (jullanār). Mentions people including Musallam b. Ayyūb. Verso: address to Abū Saʿīd and jottings in Arabic script. (Information in part from CUDL.) For the same sender and addressee, see: DK 232.2, T-S 8J21.15, T-S NS 321.60.

Letter of invitation from David b. Daniel probably to a personality in Fustat, late 11th century.

Memorial list, or a dirge, not mentioning the dead by name, but by title or profession, e.g. ‘the Damascene doctor' or ‘the Babylonian baker'. Included is a notable, ‘the honoured haver in the Great Sanhedrin', and the Nasi, who was forced to announce a ban for the sake of ‘the proselyte' (in Judaeo-Arabic, אלגר) and his own position (ונשיאותו).

Letter from an Alexandrian trader who is on a journey, possibly in the Persian Gulf, to a family member. The writer wants to visit Baghdad and Ezekiel’s tomb before returning home, and mentions people including Manṣūr and Sālim. The letter continues onto verso, where there is also an astrological table in Arabic script. (Information from CUDL.) See also Goitein's attached notes.

Letter to Yehuda Daud in which the writer references previous correspondence with the addressee and mentions exile (גולה). EMS From ʿEli Sanbakro (סנבקרו), c. 16th century. (Information from CUDL)

Petition of a cantor, son of a judge, who is sick and poor, asking God and a Nasi for help (the Nagid Mevorakh per Goitein's identification of the writer). See Oded Zinger, Women, Gender, and Law, 83, 324; S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society 2:109. EMS. "I have become chronically ill. I cannot move from my place more than a span without pains and screams. As God is my witness, I cannot even stand to pray. I have entered serious straits because of my illness and poverty. By Moses and Aaron, I have no silver except what I receive from the synagogue on Mondays. My illness requires a lot of money. I beseech you to aid me and address my situation, like you address the situation of strangers and converts and captives. If you delay, I will perish and die, lost." ASE.

Letter dated 1560 CE, from Abraham Sholel in Jerusalem, to his brother-in-law in Egypt. (Information from CUDL)

The end of a late letter, signed with elaborate sigla (c. 16th century). (Information from CUDL)