Geniza Lab

Letter to a Gaon, according to Goitein, perhaps from the time of Nethanel Gaon (1160), congratulating him on his son's recovery from illness, and complaining about the cessation of correspondence. It is also a letter of recommendation for the bearer. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 294, 295, and from Goitein's index cards)

18 lines of Hebrew praises for a great dignitary (ha-Patish ha-Ḥazaq, Mordekhai ha-Zeman, etc.). The only name that appears to be preserved (possibly that of the writer) is [Y]osef b. ha-Rav Aharon. ASE.

Business letter addressed to Arus b Yosef including greetings to his brothers-in-law. Dated to the late 11th/early 12th century. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 25. 252, 482)

Mercantile letter addressed to Abū l-Afrāḥ ʿArūs b. Yosef. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address partially in Arabic script. ʿArūs had bought brazilwood and pepper for the sender, who highly praises the addressee. The sender was slandered but overcame his adversary. Reports arrival of Raḥamim and Ibn Samḥūn. A ship from al-Mahdiyya brought khiyār (=khiyār shanbar = cassia fistula?). Ships from the mīna(?) of Bijāya were reported lost with Jews in them. Greetings to the addressee's brothers-in-law and the sender's cousin (ibn khāla) Abū ʿImrān and two people called al-ḥakīm. Reused for accounts by ʿArūs, which mention al-ʿAfṣī and Ibn Nuṣayr. (Information from Goitein's notes and index card linked below.)

Letter fragment from Eli Ha-Mumhe b. Avraham, approximately 1050.

Letter to Shelomo b. Yishay, a nasi originating from Mosul but residing in Egypt. Dating: ca. 1237. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, 19)

Letter fragment: difficult to read, faded, long, in Judaeo-Arabic. The recipient is addressed as מעלתך. Legible sections include a discussion of "sarei alafim, sari asarot, and sar ha-elef" on recto, and a little bit later, "qālū raboteinu ZL, afilu..." The writer mentions "al-Rayyis." On verso he says, "As for what Sayyidnā said regarding [.....] they wait for me, I will nevertheless [? li-'umri] come, for I am right and they are not, and I have their scripts/signatures...." Toward the bottom he mentions al-sharīʿa and someone getting lashes [yuḍrab malqot]. ASE.

Letter from X b. Menahem to Elazar ha-Kohen b. Meshullam asking for assistance after losing 350 nasiri and 25 dinars at sea. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Memorandum from Yosef b. Avraham to Abu Nasr al-Halabi. Aden, ca. 1130-50.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic (right side of recto and verso) from [Ya'qu?]b b. Bū l-Faraj, probably in Alexandria, to Abū l-M[unā?] al-[ʿAṭṭār?], probably in Fustat. The writer is in difficult straits and has nothing left to sell except some drugs (ʿaqāqir), and requests the recipient's help. He also mentions the son of the deaf man (Ibn al-Ḥeresh Abū Ib[rahim?]) and Abū l-Makārim b. al-Amshāṭī. ASE.

Letter in which a son acknowledges receipt of a shipment sent by his father, along with the statement, “And paid the dinar for the capitation tax with the money earned by my own hard work.” (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 5:329, 596) EMS

Poetical letter of greetings in Aramaic addressed to Rabbi Shemuel and mentioning the 'Nasi and Gaon of Tiberias.' On verso a poem is written in a different hand above the continuation of the letter from recto. (Information from Shaked, Attentative Bibliography of Geniza Documents, p. 58; Mann, Jews in Egypt, vol. I, p. 55 note 1; and Goitein, Palestinian Jewry, p. 172, notes 114-115)

Letter in which Abu al-Majd Uzziel of Damira informs the judge Moshe b. Perahya that he would take up the post of teacher in Minyat Zifta only after Rabbi Nehemiah definitely left the town and when the community would have made him a definite proposal. Verso contains an unrelated text. Dated to the 13th century. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 49, 533, 187, and from Goitein's index cards)

Legal documents, drafts. In the margins of a literary text containing blessings.

Letter from Avraham Ibn Miṣbāḥ, in Alexandria to Eliyyahu the Judge, in Fustat. Written in the hand of Avraham ha-Melammed b. Yefet. "I arrived in Alexandria with Manṣūr b. Simḥa ha-Kohen and found all the {orphan} children sick (marḍā tālifīn). They had taken on my account one dinar (?), and Manṣūr paid me 5 dinars." For some reason the money for the orphans has come out of the writer's account. The writer himself is in difficult straits; a judge wept when he heard the tale. He brought with him a letter of recommendation to show to Abū Surūr al-Kohen and somebody else, but they did not give him a response to the letter. Avraham reports that the orphans are praying on behalf of Eliyyahu that he will be rewarded for his good deeds with them. He does not have anything left of the 5 dinars, because he bought two thawbs and a blanket and the rest went to syrups (probably for the sick orphans). Eliyyahu is his patron; he repeatedly praises his generosity and reports how he praised him to various people in Alexandria. The writer has been waiting around in Alexandria for various officials to help him, and in the interim receives bread from the public distribution. He wants Eliyyahu to read this very letter to somebody else who will hopefully come to his aid. Some parts of the letter are quite difficult; merits further examination. Join: Oded Zinger. ASE.

Letter from Yisrael b. Natan, from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Qayrawan. Around 1045. The writer is still in Egypt (before he moved to Byzantium) and his cousin, Nahray, did not leave the Maghreb yet. Yisrael writes information for Nahray about purchases he made in Egypt. He bought goods from Abu Nasr, who is Hesed b. Yashar al-Tustari. Mentions details about several people and trades, mainly of pearls and beads. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #408) VMR

Letter from ʿIwāḍ b. Isḥāq b. al-Zayyāt to the family of Abū l-Khayr b. Isḥāq b. al-Zayyāt (presumably his brother). It mainly has to do with family news. "You requested news of my brother and the baby." The requested update is somewhat obscure: ואלגמיע ענדנא מפקודין לעמרי לם יקף אחד עלי גירה. Maybe he means that everyone is saddened because they heard that the recipient is sick (אללה תע יחסן לך אלעאקבה). He sends regards to Abū l-Faḍl al-Ḥaver. There are several unrelated lines in a different hand on verso, including one formulaic phrase from a legal document. ASE.

Letter from Yisrael b. Natan (Isrā'īl b. Sahlūn), in Jerusalem, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 31 December 1061 CE, according to Gil. Yisrael mentions letters intended for the Maghrib that he had previously sent, in particular one for a certain Labrāṭ. He asks Nahray to send him the garment that arrived from Tripoli and the medicines (ʿaqāqīr) and the bitumen (qifār) with Abū ʿAlī Ismāʿīl b. Ruʿbūb. Umm Sha'ul, the wife of Nahray, is in Jerusalem, and Yisrael conveys news of her and other contacts. There is a famine in Jerusalem. Yisrael conveys the good news that Abūn b. Ṣadaqa and his daughter have recovered from illness—but Yisrael is sick of Abūn. ASE

Letter noting that the Rayyis, or ‘head’, is referred to by his nickname “The Tail” in letters going to “all countries East and West.” A note on the right margin mentions Wuhsha’s will and its provision that 25 dinars should be paid to the cave, meaning the Jerusalem synagogue. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:64, 536; and Moshe Gil, “The Jewish Quarters of Jerusalem (A. D. 638-1099) According to Cairo Geniza Documents and Other Sources,” JNES, vol. 41, no. 4 (1982), 172) EMS

Letter sent by Nahray b. Nissim (according to Gil) or by Barhun b. Yiṣḥaq al-Tahirti (according to Ben-Sasson) to Barhun b. Musa al-Tahirti in Fustat, containing prices of goods and information about the movements of ships. Dated 1053. (Information from Gil)