Geniza Lab

Letter from Farah b. Avraham, probably from Qayrawan, to Yosef b. Ya’aqov b. Awkal. Regarding b. Awkal’s merchandise that arrived in Qayrawan and the writer's dealings with selling them and sending their payment to Fustat. Also lists the prices. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #222) VMR

Letter from Benaya b. Mūsā, from Tinnis, to Nissim b. Ḥalfon, Fustat. Around 1060. Regarding a shipment of scarlet for the Byzantines that was sold to local Jews. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #604) VMR

Letter from Eliyya b. Yehuda b. Yahya from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1050. The writer is on a ship that is about to sail in the morning to al-Lādhiqiyya (Latakia). He expresses concern about a qunbār that was forced to stop at the shore. He also mentions two ships of Abū ʿAbdallah (Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ), a qārib of Bū ʿAlī al-Shāmī and three ships from the Shām. Also mentions a shipment of camphor and the account of Yehuda b. Moshe b. Sughmar. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #706) VMR

Writ of release signed by three witnesses and dated end of Av 1404/August 1093.

Beginning of a letter, sent by Rav Sherira Gaon to Qayrawan. Dated ca. 970. (Information from Gil)

Letter sent by ʿAṭā' b. Zikri from Alexandria to Mevorakh b. Israel Januni in Fustat, containing a legal question to Nahray b. Nissim about the writer's rights to collect his deceased brother's and his own shares in a transaction with Yiṣḥaq b. Khalaf. Dated ca. 1060. (Information from Gil)

Letter from Yūsuf b. Faraḥ al-Qābisī, in Alexandria, to his nephew Abū l-Surūr Faraḥ b. Ismāʿīl b. Faraḥ, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: September 6, 1056 CE, based on Gil's assessment. The letter contains a wide array of news and business matters. Yūsuf describes an attack by Ibn al-Thumna's soldiers on merchant ships and the requisitioning of merchandise (r10–12). He passes on the news (r14–15) that the addressee's uncle (ʿamm) Sulaymān was seriously ill in Sūsa but recovered (פק, to be read fāq); that Yaḥyā b. Mūsā al-Majjānī died (r16–17); that the writer's own cousin (ibn khālat{ī}) Abū l-Faḍl is critically ill (ʿalā khuṭṭa) in al-Mahdiyya (r17–18); that the customs tax (ʿushr) has become more stringent (r18); and that Yosef b. Shabbetay al-Ḥazzān converted to Islam in Palermo, a grievous day (r19–20). Amidst the bad news, and a business partner's complaint that his goods never reached him, Yūsuf complains, "My boy, by God, before this trip I was very strong, but now it is the opposite, by God, my spirit is weaker than a thread of silk" (r21–22). He continues with news of Qayrawān, al-Mahdiyya, and Sfax (v1–4); instructions regarding the purchase of flax in Būṣīr (v8–11); and information on the movements of ships. (Information in part from Gil.) ASE.

Letter from Mardūk b. Mūsā, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1060 CE, based on Gil's assessment. The letter was written by Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy, and it switches to his voice from line v1 onward. Mardūk reports that he has recovered from his illness: he entered the baths and ate pullets (r4–5), but some of his family members are still sick (r16). The rest of the letter is entirely business matters. (Information in part from Gil.) ASE.

Letter from Ḥayyim He-Ḥaver b. Shelomo, Jerusalem, to Yitzhak b. Ya'akov He-Ḥaver, Fustat, mentioning enormous sums deposited with various people, around the middle of the 11th century.

Recto: Upper part of an eloquent Hebrew letter to a distinguished person. The first half consists of hyperbolic, rhyming praises for "Sar Tzeva ha-El, Rosh Yeshivat Ga'on Yisrael" including the curious phrase "I thought that in order to know, to take from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, I should go and [take it?] and learn from it, for it is the source of Life." After kissing the dust of the addressee's feet, he describes how the addressee asked him a question regarding the things that disqualify shehitah, he was too ashamed to answer him, because of his glory and because of the women with him. Now he begs leave to respond in writing and starts on a list of the factors that disqualify shehitah. Verso: There are jottings all over the page, including a crossed-out paragraph from rabbinic literature about wheat and barley, and also the name "Miryam bat Tata." ASE.

Letter fragment (lower right corner) in Judaeo-Arabic, dated Nissan 14[26?] Seleucid = 1115 CE; the last two digits of the year are not completely clear. Very little of the subject matter is discernible. The first few lines seem to be formulaic praises about yearning for the recipient. Later on: "your hands, regarding what you take out"; and "from weakness, strength"; and "God will open unto thee His good treasure." ASE.

Letter from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, in Qalyub, to family members in Fustat. He inquires briefly about commercial dealings before insisting that there is no need for his mother to trouble herself with coming to visit. If she wishes to give him the fabric, they can simply send it with Safi, and if she wishes to tell him in person about the illness of his sister, then she should simply write the news in a letter: “There is no shame in that; people are accustomed to writing the secrets of people in letters and sending them.” He mentions that the Amir Sajja‘a al-Din has arrived in Qalyub and is asking about Moshe’s brother Abu l-Ḥasan. In a postscript, he apologizes for the many errors. ASE.

Shipment record of goods that were shipped in the ship “Ben Daysur”. Around 1045. Different merchants recorded their shipments, probably from Mahdiyya to Alexandria. Mentions fabrics, cloths from Qayrawan, silk, tin, and oil. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #361) VMR

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim to a person in Alexandria. Mentions merchandise and textiles, along with books and various texts that someone is copying for Nahray. Circa 1050 (Gil estimate). VMR

Letter, copy, to Yehuda ha-Nasi (possibly the exilarch Yehuda b. David b. Yehuda), consisting solely of extensive praises. (Information from CUDL.)

Letter in Arabic script. The Arabic document is the first page of a letter. The formulaic greetings extend to three lines from the bottom, where the writer begins to excuse himself for not appearing in person to kiss the addressee's feet. What prevented him was his illness and the fact that Cairo is "qalīlat al-khāṭir (or ḥāẓir?)"—a somewhat cryptic statement. ASE

Letter from Musa b. Abi al-Hayy from Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1065. Details about goods that Nahray ordered in Alexandria, probably materials to use for copying books. Mentions a person that came from Sicily and brought lead, oil, and cloths. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, vol. 3, pp. 515-519, #453). VMR

Responsum regarding the scoring of parchment (שירטוט) for Torah scrolls and mezuzot.

Letter from Shemuel Sidi to Moshe ha-Levi. Written on Friday, 1 Heshvan. The letter's origin and destination are unclear. See T-S 12.318 for another letter from the same Shemuel Sidi (sent from Damietta), also with a responsum on the other side. Shemuel reports that he is sending money to Moshe both with Aliko (?), the factotum (taking "muchacho" as the equivalent of "ghulam") of Hajji Amir איל נאמראגואי, and with his own slave איל מוטי. The remainder has to do with a debt to R. Yosef Burgos (?), which he is unable to pay right now. He asks Moshe to speak with him, and Shemuel hopes to pay him later when he travels to Salonica. There is also a note about the bearer of the letter in the margin. He concludes by saying he could not manage to send the purple קוסאקיס (?). ASE.

Letter from a man, probably in Alexandria, to his 'brother,' probably in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer's maternal uncle has recently died. The bulk of the letter deals with a dispute whose details are difficult to reconstruct. Much of it seems to be reported speech between the writer and a woman. The writer also complains of difficult economic circumstances and the high price of flax and yarn. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.) ASE