Geniza Lab

Letter from an unknown merchant from Alexandria, the beginning of the 11th century. The writer might be from the Tahirtis family, maybe Yishaq b. Barhun. Describes his deep disappointment from the business and it seems that a tragedy happened to his 16 years old son in law. He writes about prices and details about 15 ships that are on their way from the Maghreb to Alexandria. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #139) VMR

Six lines of poetry or rhymed prose in Arabic script, with wide line spacing. Probably the introduction to a formal (state?) letter. Reused for Hebrew piyyuṭ on verso.

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel ha-Sefaradi to Sar Shalom b. Ḥiyya (?). In Judaeo-Arabic. Very deferential. Almost the entirety of the letter consists of greetings and good wishes, and the writer says that he is constantly asking Abū Zikrī about the health of the addressee.

Letter to the community of Ṣahrajt. In Judaeo-Arabic. Appears to be a letter of recommendation for charity for a certain ʿAllūn, to enable him to travel to Fustat with his brother, but it is rather faded and needs further examination.

Guardian deed from the heirs of Israel b. Yosef Januni to Nahray b. Nissim. Around 1065. Marduk and Yosef, the sons of Israel, probably from Mahadiyya, assign Nahray to collect a debt deed that was left by their uncle, Yehuda b. Yosef Januni, to his brother, Israel. Israel passed away, while the changer who held the inheritance money passed away as well. The money is with his son, Yehuda. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #819) VMR

End of a ketubba. Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Legal document. Renewed ketubba after an incomplete divorce. Written and signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi. Dated: Sunday, 5 Elul 1438 Seleucid = 14 August 1127 CE. The husband, Abū Saʿīd Ḥalfon b. Elʿazar al-Zajjāj had already written the geṭ, but it was not delivered. The new ketubba was written specifying a delayed marriage payment (meʾuḥar) of 9 dinars or less, probably 5. His wife agreed to continue to live with his parents and not ask for separation (furqa). Also signed by Natan b. Shelomo ha-Kohen; Aharon b. Avraham ha-Kohen; and [...] b. ʿEzra ha-Gelili. (Information in part from Goitein's note card.)

Report to the chancery of al-Afḍal, probably. In Arabic script. Nine lines from the middle of the report are nearly completely preserved. Sent from a city referred to only al-thaghr al-maḥrūs, possibly Alexandria or Tripoli. The addressee is referred to once as al-majlis al-ʿālī al-muʿaẓẓam (khallada Allāh ayyāmah) and once as mālik al-riqq (khallada Allāh mulkah). Mentions a meeting between a certain Barakāt and Baldwin (probably Baldwin I), may God curse him. Also mentions a man from ʿAkkā (Acre) and refers to Ṣaydā (Sidon). Everyone is in a state of agitation and faintheartedness, because they do not know what Baldwin will do: will he make a truce with ʿAsqalān (Ashqelon/Ascalon)? with Ṣūr (Tyre)? Or will he conquer a certain location and treat his subjects fairly? Reused on verso for Hebrew piyyuṭ. Discovered by Alan Elbaum in July 2022.

Draft of a letter from Yefet b. Shekhanya, from Fustat, to Daniel b. Azarya, around 1053. Daniel did not reply to Yefet's requests to supervise the slaughter in the community. Yefet has heard that a rejection is already included in Daniel's letter to Avraham ha-Masos and feel like people harassing him. The community in Fustat gave Yefet the authority to be the supervisor in the markets. The letter is unfinished. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2 p. 745-746, #401) VMR

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Deferent and filled with patronage idioms. The writer asks the addressee to fulfill a certain promise, the nature of which is not clear.

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat, to Salāma b. Nissim al-Barqī, in Buṣīr. Dating: ca. 1046. Asking him to acquire various items in Buṣīr, and asking him to draw a special symbol on the packages he sends. (Gil.) Also mentions saffron packed in paper. (MR.) NB: This was previously listed on PGP as T-S Ar.25.19.

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card. Same case as T-S NS 321.79.

Verso, with the address on recto: Letter from Madhkūr to Bū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf. In Judaeo-Arabic, with a ḥamdala in Arabic script at the end. He sends enclosed 1 1/8 dirhams as payment for a half raṭl of syrup (sharāb). Half should be [...] and half rose. If Abū l-Karam should arrive, he should hire a riding animal from Malīj. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)

Original use: Fiscal account. Specifying a term of months that ends Shawwāl 503 AH, which is 1110 CE.

Bottom of a letter in Arabic script. The two lines in Hebrew underneath may be part of the same document (אמת אמונה...). The upside down Hebrew script on recto, and the entirety of verso, are from a reuse.

Letter from Simḥa ha-Kohen, probably in Alexandria, to Abū l-Majd, probably in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Early 13th century. After many nice phrases, the body of the letter begins in line 19. Abū l-Rabīʿ al-Segan and Abū l-Munajjā had written to Simḥa regarding the payment of the remainder of the capitation tax and obtaining the barā'a/receipt and sending it quickly. Simḥa apologizes for the delay (there was an untrustworthy messenger, so he did not send it with him), but he has obtained the barā'a and is sending it enclosed with this letter/khidma. Regards to Abū l-Faraj Yeshuʿa ha-Talmid. Regards to Abū l-Maḥāsin al-ʿAṭṭār Iskandarānī. Abū l-Maḥāsin's barā'a has been sent to the shop of Abū l-Riḍā, Simḥa's brother in law, where Abū l-Maḥāsin can pick it up. Addressed (in Arabic script) to the shop of Abū l-Munajjā al-ʿAṭṭār, who is to pass it on to Abū l-Majd. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)

Recto: Unidentified document in Arabic script. Business accounts? Verso: Various jottings in Judaeo-Arabic, including a genealogy (ʿAmram b. Ḥalfon b. [...] b. ʿAmram b. Meʾir ha-Sar b. David ha-Sar) and a list of corrections made to a ketubba, of the kind that normally appears at the bottom of a legal document (groom: David).

Recto is a draft of a poem in praise of Moses Maimonides by Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi.

Legal testimony (marriage permit). Location: Fustat. Dated: Adar 1485 Seleucid, which is 1174 CE. Natan b. Yaḥyā and Shelomo b. Yefet testify that there is no impediment, whether sulṭānī or sharʿī, to the marriage of Dalāl bt. Abū l-Ḥasan. The members of the court sign the qiyyum, although only 2 of the 3 names are preserved: Shemuel ha-Levi b. Seʿadya and Yaʿaqov ha-Kohen b. Yosef. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Beginning of enormous letter addressed to Yiṣḥaq ha-Rav ha-Gadol b. Shemuel. (Goitein: "In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe?") The writer has enclosed a letter to the Nagid. The rest is very fragmentary, something about waladī and something that begin in the time of Sayyidnā. On verso there is a selection of biblical passages. (Information from Goitein's index card.)