Geniza Lab

Letter from Ezra b. Hillel to Nahray b. Nissim instructing him to exchange the 50 dinars sent to him by the writer, which are “out of use here in Alexandria, but are excellent and first class in Fustat. Please exchange them for Damascus [or: Syria] dinars whose legends are arranged in lines, good ones, as I know you are accustomed to procure.” The commission for Nahray, per an agreement his brother-in-law made with writer, will be “one dinar for a hundred [changed],” and the writer further instructs him to execute the order immediately. Alexandria, ca. 1060-1080 C.E. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:238, 378, 459) EMS

Letter from Yahya b. ‘Ammar (basis for identification unclear), who had reached Jerusalem with the help of a benefactor in Fustat, petitioning for assistance so that he may remain in Jerusalem (“Har-El”(?)). The letter, written by a scribe, utilizes the biblical phrase from Psalm 61:5, that God may cover his would-be benefactor “with the cover (be-seter) of His wings.” The verso contains a line from Psalm 119:165 and notes that the letter was dictated by Saadya b. Futuh. (Mark Cohen, Voices of the Poor, 23; and S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 5:35, 514) EMS

Letter from Alexandria expressing the deep gratitude of the community after the appointment of an inspired teacher and judge. The letter was sent to Fustat to the caravanserai of al-Mahalli (‘funduq al-Mahalli’), a well-known compound, large enough to accommodate a mosque. The note is likely from the early thirteenth century; the writer refers to Avraham Maimonides as Nagid, a title he bore from 1213 to 1237. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:349, 490; 2:193, 561) EMS

See PGPID 9075 for description.

Letter previously thought to be from Abū Yaʿqūb Ibn al-Najera, somewhere in Spain, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel, likely in Lucena. Dating: likely August 1138 CE. Identifications and datings are based on comparison with the preceding document, T-S 12.285. [However, T-S AS 149.119 is a letter from Ibn al-Najera and does not resemble this one.] This letter recounts the writer's visit to a woman who owed him 10 mithqāls, but he found her sick. He now asks Ḥalfon to advance him a certain sum, probably the same 10 mithqāls, for the purpose of his travel to Almeria. Information from Goitein and Friedman, India Book 4 (Hebrew description below) = Goitein and Friedman, Ḥalfon the Traveling Merchant Scholar (India Book 4), pp: 182-183. VMR. ASE.

Lower part of a legal document in Arabic script. These appear to be 3 witness clauses. The document itself is lost.

Letter from Yeshu‘a b. Ismāʿīl, in Malīj, to Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf b. ʿAlī ha-Kohen. Dating: 11th century. Concerning business matters. The sender delivered something on behalf of the addressee to Abū l-Manṣūr b. Shuʿayb, who showed it to Ibn al-Aʿraj, who refused to buy it. Abū l-Manṣūr now awaits instructions. The sender conveys regards to and from various people. Mentions Isḥāq, who had just arrived and settled the addressee’s debt. (Information in part from CUDL and Goitein's index cards.) EMS Written on the back of a document in Arabic script.

Letter from Avraham b. Seʿadya he-Ḥaver the Hebronite to (his son-in-law?) Moshe b. Ghulayb in Cairo. Dating: beginning of the twelfth century. Avraham orders the addressee to look after the children so that they don't hurt themselves on the staircases. Mentions Abū l-Surūr and Moshe ha-Kohen, his son Bayān, his sister Sitt al-[...] and Umm Abū l-Bayān. (Information from CUDL and Goitein, Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 74.) Join: Oded Zinger.

Letter from Nissim b. Ḥalfon b. Benaya, in Tinnīs, to Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tāhirtī al-Maghribi, in Fustat, both prominent in the Geniza correspondence of the eleventh century. The writer mentions merchants from the Maghreb, Syria, and Iraq doing business in the busy Mediterranean seaport. He probably alludes to his illnesses in lines r3–6: "You tasked me with buying ladies' caps (maʿājir), but you know what a 'pain' (wajaʿ) it is, especially selling clothing in Tinnīs, from morning to evening. I relapsed only twice due to the burdens I take upon myself (mimmā najūr ʿalā nafsī). But today, praise be to God, I am in every state of well-being." In lines v4–5, Nissim invokes the common trope of assuming a business partner (here Ibn Juhā) is ill if one has not heard from him in a longer-than-usual time. Information from Gil, Kingdom, III, #597, and Goitein, Med Soc, II, p. 520; IV, pp. 176, 406, and V, pp. 110, 536. EMS. ASE.

Letter from Shelomo b. Maymūn, in Spain, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel. Consists almost entirely of polite expressions of longing and flattery. Dating: Probably 1138–39 CE. (Information from India Book 4; Hebrew description below.)

Spain; Probably Toledo; August 1138 This short letter from Yehuda ha-Levi to Ḥalfon deals mostly with the cooperation between these individuals in collecting thirty-two mitkal (= a full dinar) and two-thirds, in order to redeem a Jewish girl who was imprisoned, a mitzva that Yehuda ha-Levi succeeded in doing. The 'accuser' possessed the girl, and it is likely that she was in prison in Toledo, and Yehuda Halevi probably lived there or in her vicinity (see Certificate ח36, ע"ב, line 2). (Information from Goitein and Friedman, India Book IV)

Letter from Yehuda ha-Levi to Ḥalfon b. Netanel concerning the ransom of a captive woman in Toledo, Spain. The amount of money that is needed is 32 2/3 dinars, after Yehuda ha-Levi gave 2/3 dinars (and the total amount that was common for captives is 33 1/3). Yehuda ha-Levi asks Ḥalfon to welcome the woman's father, that came to Lucena, in order to collect the money with Ḥalfon. The writer mentions an evil woman that refuses to send the woman free. The woman is probably the queen Dunya Urraca, queen of Toledo between 1109-1126. (Information from Goitein, "Autographs of Yehuda ha-Levi," Tarbiz 25 (1956), pp. 393-412). VMR

Spain; Probably 1138-1139 A short letter of longing for Ḥalfon and greetings of peace to him. The writer Yiṣḥaq b. Shabbā compares separation from the recipient to separation from life and he adds two stanzas to express his grief for this. He compares them to the fading of the sun and the light that has gone away, and with them, the joy of life, which is likened to perfume and myrrh, is nullified. Demands of peace were also sent to Yiṣḥaq b. ʿOvadya and Abū ʿAmr b. Barukh. (Information from Goitein and Friedman, India Book IV)

Spain The beginning of the letter is missing, including the beginning of the lines written in the margin, but most of the text is preserved in this section. It is possible that the names of the writer and recipient were written at the beginning of ע"א or ע"ב, but these are now missing. Apart from the request to know the recipient's travel plans, the letter contains only the usual polite words in such correspondence, namely confirmation of receipt of a letter, description of the praises the writer heaps on the recipient, the longing for him and the hope that God will bring the meeting with him again soon, a request for a response and blessings for peace. (Information from Goitein and Friedman, India Book IV)

Letter, mostly formulaic. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Avraham b. David b. Sughmār, probably in Alexandria, to his son, David, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1055 CE. The father rebukes his son for losing money. He mentions several negative events that happened probably in the Maghreb. Also describes how his son lost trading goods as silk. He also complains about his illness (r6). Information from Gil, Kingdom, vol. 4, pp. 1-4, #609. VMR. ASE.

Document containing mostly signatures, above a few lines of faded text. Signed by Ezekiel b. Avraham, Shemarya b. Shelomo, Shelomo b. Thabit, Avraham b. Farrah, Sedaqa b. Yosef, Yehuda b. Yiṣḥaq, She’erit b. Avraham b. Habib, Shalom b. Daniel al-Kohen, Ezra b. Aharon, Yosef b. Farrah, Nahman b. Sedaqa, 'Ammar b. Yeshu'a, Yaʿaqov b. Shalom, Mattan ha-Kohen b. Yaʿaqov ha-Kohen, Yaʿaqov b. Ezra, Yaʿaqov b. Da'ud and Menuha ha-Kohen b. Yosef. EMS

Letter from Yūsuf b. Mūsā al-Tahirtī in Būṣīr to Yehoshuaʿ b. Natan ha-Andalūsī (c. 1061 CE).

Letter of recommendation from Daniel b. Azarya to Avraham ha-Kohen b. Yitzhak b. Furat. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2 p. 672, #360). VMR

Letter from Nissim b. Ḥalfon, from Tatai, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1065. The writer regrets that he does not have lacquer with his because there is a demand for it in Tetai. Also writes about collecting debts and a shipment of “lasin”. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #599) VMR