Geniza Lab

Letter from a son to his father with detailed description of his illness and recovery. Same writer and recipient as T-S 13J21.13 (addressed to Minyat al-Qa'id) and T-S 13J21.14 and Stras. 4110/90 (see tag). His fever finally abated yesterday with the onset of diarrhea (or successful purging?), however a woman in the house is still feverish. He relates the details of the treatment that he received at the hands of Ibn Habib, which, as far as can be determined through the lacunae, involves oxymel mixed with hot water, and timing something for the fifth day and the seventh day but not during the crisis. Khatir has not yet arrived from Alexandria, as he was detained by the wedding of a relative. Join: Alan Elbaum. ASE.

Letter from a man to his sister Umm Bū l-ʿAlāʾ. Sent care of Eliyyahu the Judge. In the hand of a scribe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Early 13th century. The letter contains an extremely vivid account of the imprisonment and tortures to which he and Abū Saʿd were subjected. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 609; III, pp. 43, 432). Discussed in Esther-Miriam Wagner, "‘Only death remains for him’, T-S 10J7.4" (Fragment of the Month, May 2011). Same scribe as ENA NS 48.26 (likewise an account of torture). ASE.

Letter by a father to his son, complaining about the son's failure to visit the family, urging him to visit, and requesting a blanket and a box. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Claim concerning a gift the doctor Abu al-Surur Sasson gave his daughter at the time of her marriage, namely half of a quarter of a large house that was in his and his brother's possession. The gift was to be forever, as long as he did not need to sell it to make a living for himself. The father claimed he did indeed need to sell the house to provide for himself. The daughter and all she possesses resides with the father's brother who has been appointed her trustee.

Legal document. Testimony. Dated: May-June 1149. Testimony around the engagement of Tamīm b. Abū al-Faraj and Fakhr bt. Joseph, imposing a penalty if Tamīm is found to have an impediment to the marriage. This fragment reveals a brief partnership agreement between Khalaf b. Samuel and Barakāt b. Mūsā Ibn Muska, the term of which is to be one full year. Although short on details, this would seem to have been a joint active partnership situated in a single location rather than an investment partnership, since 1.3 dinars of the profit are to be allocated for the partnership to cover joint capital expenses, the balance of which is to be split evenly between the two partners. Although the partners do not describe their relationship as a shirka, mu‘āmala, muḍāraba, or even shutafut, they do use the verb sh-r-k in Form VIII. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 203)

Drafts of documents, made by Mevorakh b. Natan b. Shemuel and other scribes. Dating: 1159 CE. Includes a contract of sale of a Muslim female slave, Ṣayd, for 19 and a half dinars, a contract for a partnership between Khalaf b. Samuel and Barakāt b. Mūsā b. Miska, a will of a dying man asking his brother to let his daughter stay with him and take care of her possessions, betrothal deeds, a list of funeral expenses for Mubārak b. Abū l-Munā al-Dimashqī, etc. Mentions Abū l-Surūr the doctor, Sason ha-Levi, Abū ʿAlī, Abū Saʿīd Ḥalfon b. ʿEli ha-Levi the dyer, Mufaḍḍal b. Abū Saʿd, Tamīm b. Abū l-Faraj, Ḥayya b. Isaac, Efrayim b. Mešullam, Abū Naṣr b. Saʿīd, Elʿazar b. ʿAmram b. Abū l-Faraj, ʿImrān b. Mevorakh, Shela b. Yaaqov, Miska Berakhot b. Avraham al-Ḥaver, Makārim al-Parnas, Abū l-Ḥasan Kohen b. Ṣāliḥ, Abū Saʿd (known as Ibn al-[..]ṭ), Yehuda b. Shelomo and Shelomo ha-Levi b. Shemu’el. Information from CUDL. See also Goitein's note cards.

Recto: Fatimid state document. Report by a government official: "The deceased was an employee in the western caravan. He returned and lost his mind in the course of the year four-hundred and fifty-five and expired. He had not received anything of what was due to him...." (Information from Khan, ALAD, Doc. 112.)

Record of testimony regarding a settlement according to which a debt is to be repaid in six monthly installments, concluded under the authority of Mevorakh b. Saadya, in Alexandria. Dated by Goitein to ca. 1075. This is before Mevorakh's first term as head of the Jews, which began ca. 1078. It further evidences his ties with Alexandria well before his political exile there later on, as ousted head of the Jews and Nagid, ca. 1082 (Mark Cohen) (Information from Goitein's index cards) Nice Arabic script for few lines on verso.

Legal deed concerning Yosef ha-Parnas the physician, who claims to be unable to support his daughter Sittūna, and her little son, after she was divorced by Netanel. Her ex-husband responds that she has assets and can indeed support herself. The text also mentions Avraham (known as Abū Kathīr) b. Shelomo b. [...]. Written by Efrayim b. Shemarya (thus Fusṭāṭ c. 1030s CE). (Information from CUDL)

Letter in Arabic script. Fragment. Includes phrases such as al-kutub bi-l-akhbār al-mutajaddida fī kull yawm . . .ʿiddat kutub . . . al-kitāb al-kabīr.

Detailed instructions for dealing with a feverish condition, written in a good hand and betraying the practice of magic. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter sent to Avraham b. Salhun in Fustat from Masliah b. Moshe b. Salhun, with instructions to be delivered to him at the Market of the Druggists.

Letter by the leader of the Jewish community in a small town to Nagid Mevorakh b. Sadya (1094-1111) complaining about trouble he has had with legal cases brought before him and asking the recipient to assist the bearer of the letter, the slaveboy of the qadi. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 298-299 and Cohen, Self Government, p. 262)

Power of attorney granted in a divorce settlement. Dated to the 11th century (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Fragment of a letter consisting mostly of greetings.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Written on parchment. Dating: No earlier than 1425 CE, based on the mention of the currency ashrafī. Describing a convoluted affair involving the production and sale of books and Torah scrolls. Mentions many place names in Palestine and Syria, such as Gaza, Safed, Kafr Kanna, Kafr ʿAnan, and Damascus.

Business letter from David to Shemuel in Alexandria discussing among other matters the delay in delivery of a deposit sent forth by the addressee. Written in a late script. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Fragment from a power of attorney mentioning Abraham b. Asher. Probably 19th century, from Fusṭāṭ. No witnesses. (Information from CUDL)

Court record. In Judaeo-Arabic. In a Yemeni hand (Worman's handlist desribes it as "Modern Yemenite.") concerning a debt of 2.5 qirsh between Ṣaliḥ b. Mūsā ʿUmīsī and Ḥasan b. Sālim Mūsā Zanār. Several witnesses: Sālim Ḥadī (חדי), Ḥasan al-Dhīb (אלדיב, wolf), Yaḥyā Hārūn (ṣāḥib al-qumʿa(?)), Mūsā Nissīm, and Menaḥem (?). (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter in which Shelomo b. Eliyyahu asks his teacher, the judge R. Hananel, to inform his father Eliyyahu that he is very ill, suffering from weak eyesight, headache, and general weakness. He wishes to come for the holiday to Fustat rather than stay in the small town (Bilbays?) that resembles Sodom and Gomorrah and is devoid of worthy people. VMR; ASE.