Geniza Lab

Draft (probably) of letter or letters in Hebrew (recto) and Judaeo-Arabic (verso), addressing a noble (‘throne of the Negidut’). It refers to the community of Alexandria (‘No Amon’). (Information from CUDL)

Letter written by a woman, introduced by Psalms 41:2, asking for assistance in a legal battle concerning the rights to a house. Both fragments at this classmark are part of the same letter. T-S Ar.18(1).107, T-S 13J13.6, and T-S 10J16.4 are all from the same woman concerning the same protracted dispute (connection noticed by Oded Zinger, "The Use of Social Isolation," footnote 37). (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Berakhot b. Shemarya, in Damietta, to his parents or at least elder relatives or in-laws (ואלדיה). The address is made out to his brother-in-law Abū Saʿid al-Bavli, in Alexandria. Written in vocalized Judaeo-Arabic in a crude hand with rudimentary spellings. Concerned with a number of business issues and future plans of moving to Palestine or Cairo. The writer reports that he is on his way to Acre, and mentions names such as Ibn al-Muqaddasī, Abū Kammūna and Abū Naṣr. Alludes to the dangers of traveling in the Rīf (פאן אלריף כולו חרפה וקלסה) (Information in part from CUDL.) This is a long and detailed letter—merits further examination.

Recto: one side of each fragment contains Hebrew liturgical poems. Verso: letter in Judaeo-Arabic *c This classmark unites three fragments, which all have Hebrew liturgical poems on one side, and remainders of letters in Judaeo-Arabic on the other. F. 2 and f. 3 appear to be in the same hand and perhaps from the same letter, whereas f. 1 is written in a different hand. f. 1 mentions ‘my master, the Av (Bet Din)’ , who apparently sailed off to Tripolis, and ‘our master’ Benjamin, ‘our master’ Mevasser and a certain Jacob, and is concerned with payment of wages and other matters. F. 2 mentions the state of a certain Yeshuʿa he-Ḥaver and letters sent to a certain Abū l-ʿAlā. F. 3 mentions a donkey sent with a certain Ḥasan b. Moses. (Information from CUDL)

Letter sent to Cairo to the house of a ḥaver from the Ibn Qaṭāʾif family, dated Friday, middle of Shevat, describing the writer’s anger over the lack of letters from the addressees. Mentions Khalaf b. al-Nagid (Information from CUDL)

Accounts, dated October 1230 CE, in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu, referring to a cellar (maṭmūra) in his father’s house with 117 jugs of wine. Most of the wines are described as ‘crossbred’ (muwallad), and just 10 are described as ‘real wine’ (khamr). (Information from CUDL.) See also DK 201.2.

Templates of letters, apparently from a booklet of templates, containing various typical epistolary formulae. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Avraham b. Ḥabīb to Abū l-Riḍā b. Abū l-Surūr. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th–13th century. Concerning business matters. The sender reports that Faraḥ, the brother of Hārūn b. Rajā, arrived and reported that his brother Hārūn sold "the stone (al-ḥajar) which we had sent with him." He gives further details about the taxes and duties (maks al-maqāṭiʿ... al-amānāt...). The addressee is to pay the sum it sold for (8 dinars) to Abū Zikrī. Also, only the price fixed by Abū Zikrī (the wakīl) should be paid, as Abū l-Riḍā was only the representative of the seller, but not the proprietor of "the stone." Greetings to Abū l-Wafāʾ Tamīm. (Information in part from CUDL and Goitein's index card.)

Letter from an unknown writer, probably in Alexandria, to Abū l-Khayr (?) b. Yūsuf, in Fustat, care of Abū l-Ḥasan al-Yahūdī al-Ṣā'igh in the market of the goldsmiths. The letter is in Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. The writer is furious that the addressee traveled to Fustat, leaving behind debts in Alexandria and abandoning his wife and children, "may God not reward you," and repeatedly demands that he return immediately. The writer reports that the female slave left for al-Maḥalla 10 days ago, and a terrible rumor reached them that she is either critically ill (marīḍa ʿalā khuṭṭa) or dead. The addressee's wife is also "sick in her knee"; she had a fall, and now cannot sit up or stand up. The writer sends regards to many people including the addressee's sister and her children; Abū Naṣr and his son Salmān (?); and the old woman asks after her daughter. The addressee's other sister, Sitt Riyāḍ, his mother, and everyone in the house ask after the addressee's sister. ASE.

Letter from Musallam, reporting the arrival of a letter from Saʿadya the cantor and mentioning business matters and a certain Barukh, who is coming to Fusṭāṭ together with a certain Majīd the perfumer on the 17th of Av. Also mentions Abū l-Faraj and Rukn al-Dīn who has just arrived from al-Shām (Syria-Palestine). Ca. 13th-14th century. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: court record in the hand of Nathan b. Shemuʾel, ca. 1145 CE, dealing with the case of an oil merchant who had borrowed 20 dinars from a Muslim four years before and had not repaid it. A clothier, who had stood bail for the oil merchant, was given permission by the court to sell two gold bracelets deposited with him by the oil merchant. Verso: Arabic document. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document mentioning Abū Saʿīd, Ibn al-ʿAmm (the ‘paternal cousin’), a letter from the Gaʾon, Ibrahim b. David Ibn Sughmār, Abū l-Ḥasan b. Isḥāq, and Mubārak b. David. Dated: 12 Adar I 1[3]5[.] of the Seleucid Era (= 1039-1049 CE). Signed by Mevorakh b. David, Yiṣḥaq b. […] and Yiṣḥaq b. Khalaf. The list of witnesses provided below is in a hand similar to that of Efrayim b. Shemarya, mentioning Maḥfūẓ b. Yiṣḥaq, Isḥāq b. Khalaf, Shelomo b. […] and [Efrayim] b. Shemarya. (Information from CUDL)

Mercantile letter in Judaeo-Arabic in a crude, large-lettered hand and very unusual spellings Dating: Likely 11th or 12th century. Sent to a certain […] b. Khalaf (who has a brother called Sulaymān), giving various business instructions. Mentions commodities such as lapis lazuli (lāzuward) and musk. Mentions people such as Abū Isḥāq b. Khabūr, Abū Yaʿqūb b. Bahlūl, Adoniyya, and Abū l-Faraj al-Mubārak b. Saʿīd. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter fragment from Daniel b. ʿAzarya (active 1052–62), in Palestine, to a dignitary in Fusṭāṭ. An urgent request to ask the authorities to stop an expected decision about Israel. (Information from CUDL and Gil, Palestine, vol. 2 p. 698--699, #381) VMR

F. 1: various (drafts of) legal documents in the hand of Mevorakh b. Nathan, including a trousseau list, power of attorney and witness statements. (1) The trousseau list is of a marriage between Ḥalfon b. Ḥalfon ha-Kohen and Sitt al-Milāḥ b. Abū Saʿīd, at the top the name Khalaf Abū Saʿīd al-Kohen from Cairo (the bride’s father) is mentioned. (2) A second statement refers to Khalaf Abū Saʿīd who will trade with a sum of money paid to him for the orphan Abū Ḥasan (b. Bayān b. Ḥashīsh?) for a 50% share of the profits, dated Elul 1470 of the Seleucid Era (= 1159 CE). (3) The copy of a power of attorney dated to the first decade of Tammuz 1469 of the Seleucid Era (= 1158 CE) in Damīra under authority of the Nagid Shemuʾel is given by Sitt al-Nuʿm b. Yeshuʿa b. ʿAmram to Joseph ha-Levi b. ʿOvadya concerning dealings with her father’s estate, as well as mentioning names such as Hillel known as al-Abzārī and Damietta. (4) Another witness statement concerning a partnership in a shop and dated Marḥeshvan 1471 of the Seleucid Era (= 1160 CE) is signed by Shemarya b. Abraham, Yefet ha-Levi b. Jacob and Mevorakh b. Nathan he-Ḥaver. F. 2r: legal document dated 29th Tishri 1471 of the Seleucid Era (= 1160 CE) in Fusṭāṭ concerning the betrothal of Yefet b. Isaac and Karam bat Yeshuʿa. Signed by Ṣedaqa b. Elʿazar and […] b. Yeshuʿa. On verso mirrored script in the handwriting of Mevorakh b. Nathan. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Manṣūr b. Sālim, in Alexandria, to his son Abū Najm, who has gone on an adventurous journey or had run away to the army. The father mentions that he has sent to his son twenty letters and then twenty more, but the son never replied. The father states ‘I have never seen a character or religion like yours and never heard of the like’ and closes his letter with an exhortation ‘return to God and bring your mind back to yourself.' Abū Najm's mother perishes on account of his actions, and her vision is fading (alternate readings are possible, but "inḍarra baṣaruhā" seems likely as inḍarra derives from the same root as ḍarīr/maḍrūr, both meaning "blind"). Several other letters by the same man are known, all of them either addressed to Manṣūr's contacts in Fustat, asking them to help him find his son, or directly to his son (like this one). See tag. (Information from CUDL and Mediterranean Society, II, p. 379; V, p. 189.)

Saʿadya’s formulary of legal documents. (Information from CUDL)

Note in Judaeo-Arabic listing Talmudic tractates, perhaps those to be studied, and mentioning a string used to take the measurements of the books. The page is lined with a mastara.

Copy of a letter or responsum on the havdala (Information from CUDL)

Account of the qodesh, ca. 1165. A detailed accounting written in the hand of Judge Mevorakh b. Natan. The first part contains different expenditures for the maintenance of the buildings and various other expenditures, such as gifts to Muslim officials. The second part contains the final part of an accounting of revenue for six months; the sum paid to the parnas as a collection fee is also mentioned. The account is said to have been made in the presence of the head of the yeshiva, Nataniel b. Moshe, and elders. Dated Kislev 1476 of the Seleucid Era (= 1165). (Information from CUDL and Gil, Documents, pp. 300 #67)