Geniza Lab

Letter from Yehuda ha-Levi in Toledo to Ḥalfon b. Netanel regarding a collection in the cities of Spain for the ransom of a captive woman. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Natan b. Avraham to ʿAmram b. Yefet, reporting that the letter of Mevorakh arrived, and the community is thankful for their kindnesses (financial contributions?) and will pray for them on every Shabbat and holiday. Dated Tammuz 1039 CE.

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat to Abu al-Faraj Daniel b. Allan ha-Kohen in Alexandria, discussing the problem of the ransom of captives and noting that owing to the lack of funds prisoners have to be redeemed one by one, ca. 1045-1096.

Letter from Yisrael b. Natan from Jerusalem to Ismail b. Yitzhak al-Andalusi from Fustat. Yisrael b. Natan expresses his worries because of the absence in letters from Ismail. Cc. 1065. VMR

Mercantile letter. Dating: Probably 11th century. The sender's hand may be known. His relationship with the addressee is very strained. He complains of his bad situation and lack of money. He cites Bereshit Rabba 84 on Job 3:26 ("I had no repose - from Esau; no quiet - from Laban; no rest - from Dina") and rephrases it for his own situation: "I had no repose - from Fustat; no quiet - from Cairo; no rest - from travel." He also mentions, "Ever since I met you in Bijaya, your love was bound up in my heart, and our souls mingled, and our limbs joined." But now, "the situation is such that I pray to God that I not encounter you, and if I see you coming, I take a different path to avoid you." Merits further examination. ASE

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim in Alexandria to Abu Ishaq Avraham b. Hananel, known as Awad, in Fustat, in which the writer asks for information about prices of goods in Fustat, ca. 1045-1096.

Letter from Isma’il b. Farah, Alexandria, to his son Farah, Fustat. Dating: November 1056. The writer describes the terrible famine in Egypt, which even leads to cases of eating people. The writer also describes the epidemic in the area. Despite all that, business continues. He writes about pepper, linen, and oil. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #495) VMR. The part about the epidemic begins in line 14 of recto. "There is a great epidemic (wabā') in the cities of the coast. As for Qayrawān, no one remains there [alive? or who has not fled?]—may God preserve you in health. Do not go roaming about the villages, for these are difficult times. [Or, if you read mā instead of lā, "Difficult times have recurred in the villages."] By God, by God, be vigilant for yourself. 'Who is called wise? He who sees the consequences' [Tamid 32a]. Be vigilant in all things before you enter into them." The next sentence is difficult; Gil marks his translation as doubtful and suggests that Ismāʿīl is exhorting his son to be careful about whom he puts his trust in. But perhaps it reads instead, "wa-lā taṭam'an man yabqa li-yabqa wa-lā lī hūwa waqt yūjibuhu bihi lā ḥīla," meaning "do not trust in [the belief that] 'he who [is destined to] survive, will survive,' for in my view this time does not call for a 'nothing can be done.'" This would be an unusual use of "lā ḥīla," since usually the writer means to say, "nothing can be done [except trust in God]." But it would fit the preceding exhortation to be exceedingly vigilant and to consider the consequences of his actions instead of simply trusting in God. ASE. On verso in line 2, he mentions the arrival of some letters ḍabāratan, in a bundle or a file, possibly one pierced and loosely bound with string (on which see this short lecture by Marina Rustow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1nMtoEDbmc).

Letter (communal) in the hand of Yosef b. Yoshiyyahu, writing on behalf of the community of Alexandria. Only the elegant rhymed prose opening of the letter has survived. Neither the recipient nor the context is known. (Information from Frenkel.)

Letter (petition) asking for help to free the writer’s brother who apparently had been incarcerated for failing to pay the capitation tax (here, called kharāj). Dating: 11th century. The spelling is phonetic and possibly somewhat archaic: the definite article lacks lām before sun-letters, and many of the short vowels are written plene. (Information from CUDL and Goitein's index cards)

Letter. Appeal written from prison by the son of Avraham to Yosef, Yiṣḥaq and Yehuda, sons of Menahem, in Hebrew. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter in Hebrew from Yusuf, a scholar with minimal assets and now in a perilous situation because of debts, dependents, and sureties on his behalf. He requests a donation and prays for his would-be benefactor with the expression, “May you never be ashamed in your life.” (Mark Cohen, Voices of the Poor, 74) EMS

Letter from Yisrael B. Natan, Jerusalem, to Nahray B. Nissim, Fustat. Includes details about the agreement between Daniel B. Azarya and the brothers Yosef and Eliya the Cohanim, sons of Shelomo Gaon. December 20, 1051. VMR

Letter from a member of the Ibn Muhājir family, probably in Seville, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1128 CE. There are many expressions of longing. The substance of the letter deals with business matters. Ḥalfon had sent a letter with Yiṣḥaq b. ʿOvadya and asked the addressee to hand over the money which Avraham al-Qalʿī (apparently also of Seville) owed to Ḥalfon. Ibn Muhājir reports that he fulfilled the request and handed over 10 'ṭari' mithqāls. The sender excuses his delay by explaining that he had to go to Labla (=Niebla) and apparently obtain some of the money owed from there. (Information from India Book IV; Hebrew description below.)

Letter fragment with quotes from Psalms 56:11 and 101:1. Between the first and fourth lines, another seven lines have been inserted by another hand in an untidy manner with a number of crossings out. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Daniel b. Aharon in Jerusalem to Shemuʾel (Shemuel) b. Aharon, 11th century.

Legal document. Acknowledgement of debt, mentioning Mūsā al-Nufūsī and Abū Saʿīd Ḵalaf b. Isaac. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dating: Shortly after 511 AH, which is 1117/18 CE. (This is in line 3.) Mentions three burniyyas of civet perfume (written as zabad and zabada; cf. India Book III, doc. 29, ll. 8,10 and III, doc. 2, verso, l. 2). People include: Mūsā al-Nafūsī, al-Faqīh al-Siqillī, and Abū Saʿīd Khalaf b. Yiṣḥaq (Rosh ha-Qehillot). Sums of money listed are in the tens of dinars.

Letter from a husband to his wife after she bore him a daughter while he temporarily left her, waiting until her father gave the couple the twenty dinars he had promised them. The sender expresses his joy and his gratitude to God for the safe delivery by his wife. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 218-219 and partial translation in Mediterranean Society, III, p. 228)

Recto: Letter in Judeao-Arabic. Complaint to a Nagid about utterances made in public, it seems by Abu al-Barakat, which even women were able to hear. Verso: Document concerning financial issues in Arabic script. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat, to Abu al-Faraj Yeshu'a b. Ismail, Upper Egypt. The recipient is buying goods. Nahray writes with the news of Abu Imran's death, to confirm that Abu al-Faraj has the money from previous trades, and to discuss future ones.