Geniza Lab

Fragment of a business letter. Rabbi Ishaq is mentioned throughout. Also mentioned a letter from Abu al-Fadl and from Abu Ali. AA

Fragment of a letter. Opening lines in poetic Hebrew. On the top margins the end of the letter in Judeao Arabic with regards sent to הדרתו הקדושה 'His esteemed holiness'.

Letter from Eli Ha-Mumhe b. Avraham, Jerusalem, to Efrayim Ha-Ḥaver b. Shemarya, Fustat, approximately 1045.

Letter from a father who has traveled away to his son at home. In Judaeo-Arabic and some Hebrew. Rudimentary hand and orthography, with many colloquialisms. The sender is worried about Abū Isḥāq. He gives detailed instructions about business transactions involving wheat, gallnuts, and perhaps a fruit harvest (qiṭf, last line of recto). The instructions involve Ibn al-Tājir and Nuṣayr. The sender has been stuck in al-Minya for 8 days; it seems that the boat is stuck in the mud. Regards to al-Shaykh al-Neʾeman, Elʿazar(?), and his cousin (ibn ʿamm) and his female cousin (bint ʿamm) Zahra. He adds in a postscript: “I ran into the son of Wazīra(?) in a boat (not my boat). I said, “Where to?” He said, “Running away from my father and mother.” I said, “Go back!” He said, “Leave me alone(?). I will not ‘drown myself’ (by returning?). He said, “They don’t let me have anything (as long as) I am near/with them. (Or maybe: I am in debt to them?)” I kept trying to turn him back, but I couldn’t… I gave him a rebuke (ʿiẓa), and he didn’t respond(?) and went to Bahnasa to stay with Abū Saʿid. He is in good health, so reassure [his father] about him.” ASE

List of commodities and their prices

List of names followed by Greek/Coptic numerals. Contributors list?

Fragmentary letter. The writer informs that his cousin has arrived. He is complaining for having an eye infection (רמד). On verso fragment from a letter written by another hand. AA

Fragmentary letter mostly with personal matters but also some business issues. The letter is probably sent to the writer's brother, and he reminds him to collect the rent from Umm Tamim. He also is also asking him about the house he is living in. al-Sheikh Abu 'Ali is mentioned. AA

Fragment of a ketubah. The immersion clause is partily preserved, so we can date it accordingly to 1178 onwards, when Maimonides' enactment on this subject was published. AA

A tadhkira- memorandum and summary of accounts. AA

End of a partnership agreement signed by Tamim. AA

Fragment from a legal deed, written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi (Date: 1100-1138)

Fragment from the bottom part of a bill of guarantee of Ishaq ha-Levi b. Netanel (see India Book IV/A p. 26n43) written by Halfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi (dated documents: 1100-1138)

On recto list of names and amounts. On verso an Arabic text might be in connection with recto- needs examination

Judaeo-Arabic personal letter (recto); Arabic list on verso- needs examination

Legal document dealing with a loan granted by Abū Naṣr Elʿazar b. Karmī Ibn Shabīb to Abū Manṣūr Elʿazar Ibn Zabqala. Dated: Tammuz 1543 Seleucid, which is 1232 CE. Same case as T-S Misc.25.2. Goitein originally described the borrower as a communal official and described the occasion of the loan as public expenses such as dues on the import of myrtles into Fustat. He later wrote, "The 62 Kāmilī fulūs were dirhems and not copper coins and were regarded as an equivalent of 9 Nāṣirī dirhems plus customs dues paid to the makkāsīn Miṣr, the customs officials of Fusṭāṭ. (I had read instead of mksyn - mrsyn, and translated consequently "myrtles"!). Thus, 62 Kāmilī fulūs do not correspond exactly to 9 Nāṣirī dirhems, but to a somewhat higher amount. The customs dues were paid for... anbāq ḥashīsha. Should we assume that in those days not only the leaves and stalks of the hemp, but also its berries were used as drugs?" (Information from Goitein's index cards, Mediterranean Society, I, p. 385, and S. D. Goitein, “Erratum to JESHO 8 [1965] on The Exchange Rate of Gold and Silver Money in Fatimid and Ayyubid Times,” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, vol. 12, no. 1 (January 1969), 112.) VMR. ASE. Join: Alan Elbaum.

Abū Zikrī Kohen settles accounts with his banker Khiyār b. Nissim. Dated: 1134 CE. See Goitein's translation (attached).

Accounts in the hand of Nahray b. Nissim from Palermo, Sicily, for the year 443 AH = 1051/52 CE. Refers several times to 'the large ledger' (al-daftar al-kabīr). Accounts for Abū l-Khayr (=b. Barhūn Tāhirtī?). (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Late account

See PGP 20645