Geniza Lab

Letter from Mufaḍḍal b. al-Ḥaver (?) to Abū l-Maḥāsin (?). In Judaeo-Arabic. The whole letter is preserved, but the text is extremely faded.

Hebrew letter, likely a draft, from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi to a distinguished physician (but probably not Maimonides: Moshe b. Levi blesses his "sons" rather than "son"). The writer just spent a week in the household of Dr. Moshe, hoping to gain a livelihood of 10 dirhams a week, as he had been struggling to support himself during this drought. However, Moshe b. Levi became embarrassed by all the trouble Maimonides went to on his behalf, so he ran away. He also complains that he could not find any water with which to wash his hands. He now writes this letter begging Dr. Moshe to judge him favorably and to continue bestowing his favor on him. He reminds Dr. Moshe that he still owes him half of a dirham from the book sale for tractates Yoma, Sukkah, and Yom Tov (Beitzah) and half of a dirham for Sefer Kinyan. T-S 6J10.9 is an earlier draft of the same letter without the opening blessings or signature. ENA 1810.2 and 1810.3, also written by Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi contain drafts of poetry in praise of Maimonides, several phrases of which are recycled in the present letter.

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe, involving Berakhot and Yosef b. Yeshuʿa.

Letter from Me'ir Saragos, in Fustat/Cairo, to Yaʿaqov Mar Ḥayyim, probably somewhere in the Levant. The writer was a judge active in Cairo in the second decade of the 16th century. The name of the addressee appears in other documents from 1509 and 1511 CE. The letter is in Hebrew with several Turkish words mixed in. The beginning of the letter deals with the 'sürgün,' an Ottoman policy of forced population transfers. Thus the letter was presumably written some time after the Ottoman conquests of 1517 CE, if such a policy was already in effect. The continuation of the letter deals with business matters, and then a complaint about Yaʿaqov b. Shanjū, who has persisted in "playing" (i.e., gambling) and lost a great deal of money. Information largely from Avraham David's edition (via FGP).

Palimpsest. Original text: Leaf from an Arabic diwan on vellum in elegant calligraphy. Poets named include Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. [...] and Ibrāhīm al-Shāmī (neither seems readily identifiable, unless someone can decipher the poems or the name of Muḥammad's father). The text is faded and damaged but merits further examination. The most legible (but unattributed) poem includes two lines that continue to circulate in anthologies of zuhdiyyāt (sometimes credited to the mourners of ʿAbdallāh b. ʿAmr al-ʿĀṣ): لِلْمَوْتِ فَاعْمَلْ بِجِدٍ أَيُّهَا الرَّجُلُ ... واعْلَمْ بِأنَّكَ مِنْ دُنْيَاكَ مُرْتَحِلُكَأَنَّنِي بِكَ يَاذَا الشَّيْبِ فِي كُرَبٍ ... بَيْنَ الأحِبَّةِ قَدْ أوْدَى بِكَ الأَجَلُ

Later text: Brief note from Hillel b. Eli to Mevorakh b. Saadya saying that he has sent him Levantine parchment. Goitein's note card contains a full transcription.

Letter to Ḥalfon b. Berakhot (?). In a mixture of Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. The letter is very long, but the substance seems quite short, occupying the last few lines of recto and the first few lines of verso. The writer recounts a story that took place in his small town, involving a Gentile and the addressee's friend Abū l-Munā.

Letter to Peraḥya. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment. Dating: after 1088 CE. The letter discusses business in flax in the Levant, especially in Damascus. Needs examination

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment. Mentions R. Nahray, R. ʿEli ha-Ḥaver, and the Qaraites.

Business letter to Mevorakh b. Avraham Ibn Sabra. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions pepper and ammonium chloride (nushādir). Mentions Abū Yiṣḥaq Avraham b. Yaʿaqov. Needs examination.

Legal document dated 1026 CE (Adar I, 1337 Seleucid), it seems settling a dispute between Muḥsin b. Yefet the son of the daughter of Shamʿān and a certain Ṣedaqa. David ha-Levi b. Aharon and Efrayim b. Shemarya are mentioned six lines from the bottom.

Recto: Fatimid state document. Maybe a petition or report. In Arabic script. 5 lines are preserved. Refers to somebody who rejects benefaction (munākarat al-naʿīm) and who is addicted to drink and childish games (muʿāqarat al-sharāb... wa-liʿāb al-shabāb). Someone or somebody (presumably an act of the addressee or the addressee himself) was "like happiness after sickness and light after darkness" to the sender. "If adab were a body, you/he would be its soul; if an eye its sun."

Recto and verso: Letter recounting how a storeroom in Alexandria belonging to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat, was opened and it was discovered that the grain was spoiled (talaf); the writer asks for instructions on what to do with it. (Nahray 116; S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society 4:435) EMS

Recto: Remnants of three words in enormous calligraphic Arabic script, one of which is "maṣāliḥ." Verso: Draft of a legal document involving Yeshuʿa ha-Zaqen b. Shelomo.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Late. Addressed to Natan b. Avraham ha-Kohen Sholal (?). The writer expresses his longing for the addressee (r1–4). He gives news of family members such as the addressee's maternal uncle Moshe (doing well), news of the addressee's father ('sayyidak,' the next phrase is unclear), and news of business in his location (doing poorly: al-bilād fasadat) (r4–8). In the remainder of the letter he gives his own news (traveling to the 'west') (r9). Two people have died (r13) in addition to the writer's own wife (r14). He gives the addressee advice in case he enters Egypt/Fustat (r17), involving al-Ḥajj Qasim b. Tammām. Merits further examination ASE.

Business letter in Hebrew. Late. Dating: Second half of the 16th century, based on Avraham David's assessment. Mentions currencies such as coronas and peraḥim. Most of the letter consists of detailed business accounts.

Fol. 2v: beginning of a draft petition to the caliph al-Mustanṣir from a man seeking employment in the caliph’s service. Dating: ca. 427-487 AH (= 1036-1094 CE). On the other pages, a portion of a masoretic treatise discussing qere-ketiv and mappiq in final he. (Information from CUDL and Khan.)

Letter from Yeḥezqel b. Eli ha-Kohen (identification based on comparison with DK 233.2), evidently in Jerusalem, to Abū ʿAlī Ḥasan b. Isḥāq al-Ṣārifī (!), in Fustat. The letter is in Judaeo-Arabic and the address is in Arabic. Dating: second half of the 11th century. Apart from the handwriting comparison, there are at least two other reasons to identify the writer as Yeḥezqel b. Eli: (1) the suftaja (money order) of the rayyis is mentioned in line 17 of this document and line 19 of DK 233.2, and (2) the same bearer is listed underneath the address, ʿUmar b. Yūsuf and his son. Whereas DK 233.2 is dated 21 Adar II, this letter does not bear a date, but mentions a letter from the addressee that arrived on 22 Heshvan. Probably DK 233.2 and T-S Misc.28.171 were not sent together. The writer reports on the epidemic (dever) raging in Jerusalem. The first letter of the word דבר is mostly missing, and it bears the wrong vowel, but the context supports the reading of דבר. It is only Wednesday, and already there have been five funerals this week. The writer mentions children, women, and his paternal uncle "in their number" (the sick? the dead?). He adds, "Many people are ʿalā l-qibla." This phrase does not appear in the Judaeo-Arabic dictionaries. Perhaps it means "praying," or specifically praying in the area of the Temple. The writer touches on various things that he wants the addressee to do for him in Fustat (one of them is reminding the Rayyis Abū l-Ṭayyib about the money order), sends regards to Umm Wahbān, reports that he received the medicine (dawā') sent with ʿAmmār, and reports that he has sent the amulet (? this word looks very much like קמיע but the reading is not certain) of Ibn al-Kohen to the addressee, along with a sealed letter from him. ASE.

Letter of appeal for public charity. In calligraphic Hebrew. The writer is a foreigner who wishes to return to his land, but has no money for the trip. The letter ends, curiously, with a string of six שs.

Legal document. In Hebrew and Aramaic. Dating: No later than 1034 CE ([4]7[.]4 AM). It is also possible that the 'ארבע' is 'ארבעין', in which case this would date from 979–89 CE.