Geniza Lab

Letter from David b. Daniel to Aaron the cantor

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic (FGP). On verso vocalized piyyut.

Letter to Yosef b. Yaʿaqov, zqan ha-gola, rosh kalla.

Two copies of letters. (1) From Sherira Gaon and his son Hayya to Shemuel b. Yosef ha-Kohen, the Palestinian Gaon. Little of the substance is preserved, but it is interesting that the senders ask for the letter to be read aloud in public (in Ramla or Jerusalem). (2) Letter from Yosef b. Avitur to Shemuel ha-Kohen b. Yosef. This one is not digitized on PGP yet. It was edited by Mann, "Varia on the Gaonic Period (conclusion)," Tarbiz 6, no. 1 (1934), 84–88.

Legal document. A torn deathbed declaration. The will is by a woman, for the terms used are צואתה אשר ציותה קודם מיתותה. Shemuʾel HaKohen and his brother Avraham are mentioned at the top of the deed. Also mentioned is 'Azarya haLaḥ... עזריה הלח[...] According to FGP, the deed is dated 1078 CE, but only the number לט (39) from the year of creation is visible. Interestingly, the document cites another bill from the year [4]734 [= 973], so it is possible that the actual date of the main deathbed declaration is from the 978 CE. However, the paper and the hand do not appear to be from the 10th century. AA

Ketubba (marriage contract). Groom: Yehuda b. ʿAmram. Bride: Sutayt bt. Shemuel Gaʾon, virgin. Location: Jerusalem. Dating: Late 10th century. Doodles in the margins.

Rabbanite responsum or polemical text about the term "aviv."

Letter from Abū l-Ḥayy b. Ḥakīm, in Sicily, to Ḥananya ha-Kohen Av Bet Din. Dating: ca. 1025 (unclear on what basis; Gil says ca. 1020, and Simonsohn says before 1020). Written on parchment. The sender reports that the letter of the Rosh Yeshiva Yoshiyyahu arrived, and it was read aloud in the synagogue. Apparently Yoshiyyahu was soliciting funds for the Jerusalem Yeshiva, and this letter is excusing the congregation for failing to donate anything. The reason is that the capitation tax has been increased to 4 1/3 טריים per head. There may be reference to a specific family (his own?) that owes the tax for four people. He claims that many of the Jews of Sicily have fled "due to fear from the rulers of the land." The community does not like to send a letter to the Rosh Yeshiva without a little money enclosed. The letter was written in Elul, and the sender says he will try to raise some funds in Tishrei. This document was edited by Gil and earlier by Mann (see discussion in Mann, Jews in Egypt and Palestine, I, 73–74).

Two epistles addressed to Ḥasday ibn Shaprut (d. c. 970), the first from a notable of Bari, the second from Yehuda b. Yaʿaqov of Rome. In rhymed Hebrew. These are later copies. The first letter narrates the martyrdom of certain rabbis of Otranto and offers an excuse for a certain Shemuel who was bearing letters and a copy of the book of Yosippon and was robbed by bandits and who rode against the bandits to try to get them back. Ed. Adler, Revue des Etudes Juives LXVII (1914), pp. 42-43, and ed. Mann, Texts & Studies vol. I pp. 23-27. Mentioned briefly in Goitein, Med Soc II, p. 242 n. 2 ("As early as the tenth century we find a physician at the head of the Jewish community of Bari in southern Italy, a town famous for its religious scholars"). Previously known as MS. Adler 2156.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, communal. Extremely ornate greetings addressed to Yosef b. Shemuel. The blessings at the bottom seem to have been outlined in red ink for greater effect.

Letter from [...] b. Ghālib to Yiṣḥaq ha-Melammed ha-Sefaradi b. Yosef. Only the address and a fairly formulaic opening are preserved ('all that delayed (wakhkhara!) my letters to you was fate and its calamities').

Legal document. Fragment of a deed, according to Gil, A history of Palestine, 634-1099, p. 270, from Mahdiyya and is written by the 'Rav'- Judah ha-Kohen b. Yosef b. Eleazar. However, al-Mahdiyya is not mentioned, and it is not his hand, as evident, for example, from T-S G1.5a (+ T-S 12.397 + T-S AS 155.329), where he signed (published by M.A. Friedman, "A Responsum by the 'Rav' Judah b. Yosef ha-Kohen Concerning a Child Bride who Committed Adultery", in: Diné Israel, 20-21 (2001) [Hebrew], pp. 329-351). The name Yosef b. Ya'aqov is corrected from Yahaboy or vice versa. The date is only partially preserved: 'Marheshvan […] thirty two to the date of the Arabs', which can be either 432 Hijri (= 1040) or 532 (= 1137). According to Ashur, ('On Rashi, Maimonides and a lost Talmudic commentator - Joseph ben Yahaboy', Cambridge University Library Fragment of the Month: May 2019) On l. 5: [... ראש ישי]בת גאון יעקב ביר אברהם This Head of the Yeshiva might be Nathan b. Abraham, whose rivalry with Solomon b. Judah took place between 1034-1042, so the year 1040 is more likely. Also signed by Moshe b. Zekharya. Judeo-Arabic. AA

Court record, draft or part, regarding 36 dinars possesed by the wife of tbi Yosef Ya'aqov the brother of Moshe al-Andalusi

List of the objects of the Palestinian synagogue in Fustat, which were given to Efrayim b. Bashad in the year 1075.

Marriage contract (ketubba). Bottom part only. Bride: Ṭova bt. Ḥusayn. Groom: Shelomo b. Yisrael known as Ibn Ṣabāḥ. Nine signatures are preserved on this fragment, including that of Sahlān b. Avraham; other witnesses include Avraham ha-Levi b. Yosef Baqāʾ b. Mevasser; Hillel ha-Levi b. Yiṣḥaq; Aharon ha-Kohen b. Sar Shalom; Nuʿmān b. Binyamin; Furayj b. Ḥusayn. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Letter, draft, by Efraim b. Shemarya to 'the mountain of beauty' Shelomo b. Yehuda.

Legal deed, draft in the hand of Yefet b. David. On verso, draft of legal record in the same hand.

Legal deed, barely readable. Shelomo Hanasi is metioned

Bill of sale for a female slave. Mevorakh and Yekutiel

Legal document. Location: Fustat. Dated: 20 Shevaṭ 1354 Seleucid = 3 February 1043 CE. Written and signed by the cantor Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya. Also signed by Shelomo b. Zakhar. In the document, Yona b. Shelomo and Husn bt. Binyamin agree to take care of Zayn