Geniza Lab

Letter from Walad al-Nezer (i.e. Mevorakh b. Nathan b. Shemuel) to the notable Netanel b. Avraham, a physician living in the Rif (and muqaddam of al-Mahallah, see 10J20.21), recommending ha-Hazzan Abu l-Bayan Moshe b. ha-Hazzan al-Ahuv who traveled to the Rif in order to collect money for his capitation tax. The young man is recommended as one growing up among the hazzanim in the time of Sar Shalom - may his name live forever - and in our own time. Information from Goitein's note card and S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:389-90, 612. EMS. ASE.

Letter in which the writer complains of things that have been worrying him, saying he didn't know they would continue as they did.

Letter from a family member to Abū l-Ḥasan b. Makhlūf, in Fustat (c/o the shop of the dayyān). In Judaeo-Arabic. Discussing money problems and an inability to pay the capitation tax. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 390, 612, and Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Awad b. Hanan'el in Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat, in which the writer complains of hardships he has endured, and asks for details about prices of goods in Fustat, ca. 1045-1096.

Letter from a man of high standing to the Nagid Shemuel (in office 1140-1159), dealing with a case of clothing, and a man who had been forced to sell his female slave. She was now living with the man's sister, and he continued to spend most of his time with her. Verso: Account fragment in Arabic script with Coptic numerals.

Letter from Abū Zikrī (b. Eliyyahu) to someone he addresses as "father." In rhymed, Judaeo-Arabic prose. Abū Zikrī is sick and hopes that God will send a swift recovery so that he can see the addressee in person. He complains that the addressee has not written and asks for an autograph response. The letter was sent with al-Shaykh al-Kohen Abū l-Fakhr. (Information from Goitein's index cards; Goitein did not think the recipient was actually his father but does not explain why.)

Letter in Arabic script conveying a request not to keep back a man who is 'one of the peasants of my brother' (wa-huwa min fallāḥīn akhī), who was was dāmin al-dukkān, and wanted to travel to his place, Kalabshā (in Nubia, near Aswān). (Information from Goitein's index card and Marina Rustow.)

Letter of business from 'Ayyash b. Sadaqa probably in Fustat to Nahray b. Nissim, probably in Busir. Mentions flax. The letter is poorly preserved. (Information from Gil)

Letter from Ṭoviyya ha-Kohen b. Judah b. Ṭoviyyahu, a recently appointed judge in al-Mahalla and Sammanūd, to Shemuel the cantor, praising the community for their regular attendance at the synagogue service and for coming to him rather than going to the Muslim court to solve their legal problems. (See also Mediterranean Society, II, 193, 203, 401, 563, 401, and V, 603, and Goitein's index cards)

Letter of condolence from David b. Daniel to Abu'l Muna.

Medical prescription with the order of what to do after the medicine has worked: sweet rose water, cold water, and a boiled chicken. (information from Goitein's index card). VMR

Letter draft. In Hebrew. Abandoned after the introduction. Addressed to Aharon (identified by Scheiber as Aharon b. Yeshuʿa Ibn al-ʿAmmānī) and conveying blessings to his father and his son. Congratulations on his new book (sefer/dīwān) of poems. (Information from Scheiber and Goitein's index card) VMR

Letter addressed to Yosef ha-Kohen Segan ha-Kohanim. In Hebrew. Containing greetings and an apparent request for charity. The letter is written in the same hand as T-S 10J17.27 and T-S 10J17.29–30. (Information from Gotein's index cards.) Join: Oded Zinger.

Letter addressed to Yosef ha-Kohen. Contains initial greetings, a request for assistance, a congratulations on recovering from an illness, and wishes for the forthcoming high holidays. This letter is written in the same hand as T-S 10 J17 fs. 27-28 and T-S 10 J17 f. 30 (Goitein). (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi (active 1190s–1212 CE), in Qalyūb, to a family member in Fustat. Moshe requests a silver mirwad (stick for applying kohl) that is in the possession of Ibn Yaʿaqov, and he will send the price. He had sent with the bearer a load of lāsīn silk for Abū l-Riḍā the son of Sitt Ziyāda, who is to pay 2.5 dirhams. He wants to know if they have received the silver from Saʿāda the female slave of Ṭāḥir b. al-Ghuzzī and to purchase with it all the goods that Moshe had already told his mother about, viz., polypodium (? אשתיואן); Iraqi incense; frankincense; white mastic. He has sent another letter with the bearer of the letter for Ibn al-Ṭaffāl. He mentions Ibn al-Nuʿmān in the last couple lines. On recto there is a taqbīl clause and three lines of Arabic script in a chancery hand from a presumably Ayyubid government report (see separate entry). ASE.

Petition. Report fragment, probably early Ayyubid period (taqbīl clause + paleography + reused by Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, whose documents cluster ca. 1190–1210; see description of verso of this document). Difficult to decipher. Contains a registration mark in faded (iron gall?) ink.

Letter requesting an invitation to meet the addressee in person. This letter is written in a similar hand and style as 10 J17 fs. 27-29 (Goitein). (Information from Goitein's index cards) Verso: Writing exercises. Some of the lines are rhymed poetry. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Yahya b. Ya'ish to Avraham b. Ḥasan Sa'd addressing three brothers and asking for a favor for someone. Written on the third day of Kislev in the year xx32 (perhaps 1632/1320-21 or 5632/1871 CE). Beautifully written. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter in which the writer asks his uncle to send a certain document. Refers to different business activities including trade in wheat. (Information from Goitein's index cards and CUDL)

Recto: Letter from Abraham Sagis (סאגיש) in Safed to an individual in Egypt who had previously studied with the sage Moses di Trani in Safed. Abraham complains about an outstanding debt owed by the recipient, and the recipient’s stinginess toward the descendants of his former teacher. Signed Abraham Sagis. Verso: Part of an address. C. late 16th century. (Information from CUDL)