Geniza Lab

Recto (written later): Legal document written and signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Also signed by Mevorakh b. Natan. Dated: last decade of Tishrei 1428 Seleucid = 1116 CE. Settlement of a dispute over business in Yemen, stating that Abū l-ʿAlāʾ Ṣāʿid aka ʿUlla b. Yosef ha-Levi al-Dimashqī is owed 4 dinars and 1 qirat by Abū l-Afrāḥ ʿArūs b. Yosef al-Urjuwānī. 2 dinars will be paid right away and the remainder by the end of the year. Verso (written earlier): Legal document written by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Signed by Avraham b. Shemaʿya he-Ḥaver, Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel ha-Sefaradi, and a third person with bad handwriting. Dated: Last decade of Tammuz 1427 Seleucid, and the signing was delayed until the first decade of Av 1427 = 1116 CE (two months before recto). In which Abū l-Afrāḥ ʿArūs b. Yosef al-Urjuwānī acknowledges that he owes 2 dinars and 1 qirat to Abū l-ʿAlāʾ Ṣāʿid aka ʿUlla b. Yosef ha-Levi al-Dimashqī.

Letter from Abūn b. Ṣadaqa, in Jerusalem, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: August 28 (Elul 24), 1065 CE, based on Gil's assessment. Abūn conveys blessings for male sons to Nahray. "Al-Kabīra" and Nahray's wife are in Jerusalem, and it is possible that their visit is connected to this matter, that is to say, that they came to pray for a male son. The letter contains various details about the Maghrebis who are in Jerusalem. People are worried about a drought, and the price of wheat is rising. Abūn also mentions his books, which he brought from the West and left with Yeshuʿa ha-Kohen b. Yosef in Alexandria. Abūn reports that he has sold most of the quarter dinars which are mentioned in the other letters, and thus it is possible to deduce the year of this letter. Abūn reports that R. Yiṣḥaq has recovered from his illness (v3–4) and that Nahray's paternal uncle Ibn Sahlān is sick and isolated (v9–10). Information from Gil.

Letter from Shabbetay b. Avraham, the judge of Minyat Zifta, to Yehuda b. Elazar ha-Kohen, the judge of Bilbays. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 1169–78 CE, based on the years of the writer's activity (1135–78) and the mention of a rescript (tawqīʿ) from Saladin (some say ʿIzz al-Dīn) in line 11. The writer complains that the Jews of Bilbays were injuring his position in Minyat Zifta. Information in part from Gottheil-Worrell, p. 13.

End of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Same hand as F 1908.44DD, which is very likely the beginning of the same letter. Dating: No earlier than the 15th century, based on the use of muayyadis (minted by al-Mu'ayyad, 1412–21). and ashrafīs.

Letter from Avraham b. Abī l-Ḥayy, Alexandria, to his brother Mūsā, Fusṭāṭ, around 1075 CE. The writer, whose livelihood depends on payments from the addressee, asks to receive the payments early (r6–9). The letter also discusses the upcoming wedding of their sister Gharba (r21–27) and the family house which is to be sold (rm16–um13). Abū l-Ḥayy, their father, is sick with dry skin (nashāf badn, yubs) and lesions (ḥabba) from his hip to his foot, and Mūsā is to obtain a prescription for him from Sar ha-Sarim, i.e., Mevorakh b. Saadya, the brother of the Nagid Yehuda b. Saadya (v7–10). He concludes with the issue of his debts and the capitation tax (v10–15). Information mostly from Gil. ASE

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic to a certain sayyidnā al-Rayyis. Dating: Probably from the era of Judge Eliyyahu (early 13th century), if he is identical with the judge Abū l-Faraj mentioned in line 4. The letter deals with the settling of accounts with Ibn Ghurāb and the writer's fight with a certain Akram. There are a few words in Arabic script on Information in part from Gottheil-Worrell, p. 25.

Letter from Damascus to Fustat. Same hand as F 1908.44DD, which is very likely the end of the same letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: No earlier than the 15th century, based on the use of muayyadis (minted by al-Mu'ayyad, r. 1412–21). and ashrafīs.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Yaʿaqov Ha-Meʿuttad b. Yosef. Dating: probably end of 1015. The content emphasizes the need of communal leaders and includes biblical citations from Ezra 7.28, Ezekiel 10.11, and Proverbs 16.20.

Letter from Toviyya b. Moshe the Qaraite, to Avraham b. Sahl ha-Tustari, in Fustat. In Hebrew. Dating: ca. 1045 CE. The writer asks Avraham for a letter regarding his capitation tax, so that he will not be imprisoned on his way to his home land, like what already happened to him in Tinnīs. He does not ask for any financial help. Information from Gil.

See join.

Legal testimony dated 1151 CE (1462 Seleucid). Witnessed by Yeshuʿa b. Shemarya, Shela b. Yakhin, and Natan b. Yosef ha-Kohen. Abū l-Maʿālī b. Shemuel b. Yehuda Ibn Asad declares that he has been cheated out of 1000 dinars by Abū l-ʿAlā b. Bū l-Faraj and his partner Ṣadaqa b. Yaʿqūb Ibn al-Qalʿī. They already took Ibn Asad to a Muslim judge, al-Athīr, who evidently ruled againsth. Information from Gottheil-Worrell, p. 33. Should be revisited.

Letter from ʿAllān b. Yaḥyā, in Alexandria, to Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1080 CE. According to Gil, the handwriting is that of Natan b. Nahray. Based on the content of the letter, he suggests that it was written shortly before T-S NS J137, a letter from Natan b. Nahray to Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy. Evidently ʿAllān was a relative of both Natan and Mūsā. This letter deals with the matter of the wheat that ʿAllān is in charge of dispensing to Avraham, Mūsā's brother (the same matter mentioned in multiple letters from Avraham to Mūsā, complaining that ʿAllān is not giving him enough wheat or money). Information from Gil.

Recto: Letter from Daud (identified by his hand. AA) in Qalyūb, to Eliyyahu the Judge, probably in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 1232 CE (1543 Seleucid). The letter gives a complicated tale of a dispute over a house between a brother Abū l-Manṣūr and his sister-in-law Sutayt bt. Avraham. (Abū Thanā' is mentioned, together with R. Yehuda in Cairo, and Surur. AA). Verso: Addenda by other people, one by Tamīm b. Yosef, adding further details to the case described in the letter on recto. (Also few lines are written by Eliyyahu the Judge himself. AA)

Letter from Natan b. Nahray, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1065 CE. It appears that Nahray and his family recently stayed in Alexandria, and Natan has heard that they arrived ome safely. Nahray plans to travel to Malīj, and Natan asks if he should send the female slave (jāriya) there (r13).

Letter from a man in Egypt to his brother or brother-in-law, an India trader in Aden. In Judaeo-Arabic. Frenkel identifies the writer's location as Alexandria, the addressee as Ismāʿīl al-Fāṣid, and the date as 1176 CE, but does not seem to explain her reasoning. The letter recounts an interesting family saga. The addressee's maternal uncle passed away while traveling with the addressee to India. The addressee took care of him before his death. The family has taken great pains to conceal the news of the uncle's death until they receive a detailed account of his will. This long letter repeatedly describes everyone's anxiety waiting for news of the addressee's health and the will. His mother, when she heard of the death of her brother and the news of the addressee's difficulties at sea, fell sick and fasted until news came of the addressee's health. His father stays up all night praying for him. "If you knew how much reward (in Heaven) you receive from every letter you write us, you would do nothing but write us letters." The family congratulates the addressee on his purchase of a male slave (ghulām). Finally, the reason for the anxiety about the will comes to light at the end. The uncle knew or thought that his wife was pregnant when he departed, however, they counted 9 months, and there was no baby. They counted another 9 months, and she had a baby boy. The family evidently wishes to ensure that none of the uncle's inheritance ends up with his wife or son. Even the Muslims say, "We have never heard anything like what this Jewish woman has done. She deserves nothing but hellfire." The widow was able to round up some allies from among the Byzantine Jews, and they managed to gather 10 Jews for the circumcision, but with no cantor or judge present. In the midst of sending everyone's regards in the margin of verso, the writer reports sarcastically that the newborn infant also sends his. Information in part from Frenkel and from Goitein's attached notes. ASE.

Letter from Yisra'el b. Daniel, in one of the towns of the Rīf, to Salāma b. ʿAllūn al-Ṣayrafī, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th century. The writer refers to himself as Ra's al-Kill (Rosh Kalla), probably since he was among the heads of the Babylonian congregation in his town, or in the Maghrib. The letter deals with business in textiles. It is written on a reused piece of paper containing the beginning of an Arabic-script letter to a Qāḍī that was abandoned. Information mostly from Gil

Accounts for the transport of a bale of purple cloth belonging to Abū l-Afrāḥ b. Yosef, from Old Cairo to Sfax. Dating: ca. 1100 CE. This document is particularly instructive, as it contains no less than fifty-eight detials concerning one single shipment. In most of the other accounts preserved in the Geniza only the major expenses and proceeds are listed. Goitein's translation is attached. A full discussion may be found in Med Soc I, pp. 339ff. Recto, line 8, also contains a reference to a [fee for] sealing of the consignment and jahbadha.

Bill of divorce (geṭ). Location: Fustat. Dated: Tammuz 1590 Seleucid = 1279 CE. Written and signed by ʿImmanuel b. Yeḥiel (active ca. 1231–79). Also signed by Shela b. ʿAmram. Husband: [...] b. Nadiv ha-[...], of Fustat. Wife: Sitt al-Dār bt. Yiṣḥaq, of Banhā al-ʿAsl. There is confirmation of receipt on verso, signed by the same two witnesses as on recto.

Letter from Moshe b. Abudarham, probably in Rashid, to an unknown addressee. In Hebrew. Dating: Second half of the 16th century, based on Avraham David's assessment. The writer's son-in-law bought a 'tower' in Alexandria, and the writer plans to move in with him. He wishes to leave Rashid in part because "it is a waystation and people from Fustat are always passing through." Information from Avraham David via FGP.

Letter from Mardūk b. Mūsā, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: January 26, 1048, based on Gil's assessment. The writer confirms receipt of two letters from Nahray and gives directions on business matters, including that when a certain Abu ‘Amr arrives, Nahray should take 16 dinars from him. The writer also requests that Nahray purchase two books with high-quality paper for him, remarking that he has already written to Ḥalfon to buy a cloak (kisā'). Well wishes are sent to Abū Isḥāq Barhūn and Abū ʿAlī Ḥassūn. Information from Gil. EMS.