Geniza Lab

Deed of quittance. The firstborn Barakāt b. Salmān b. Avraham releases his brother Faraj and stepbrother ʿAbdallāh and the latter's father Abū ʿAbdallāh from any claim after he, Barakāt, had received his share in his father's inheritance. Dated: Wednesday, 28 Tishrei 1406 Seleucid, which is 1094 CE. Signed by: Yosef ha-Kohen b. Ḥal[fon] and Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Talmid; the teacher Yiṣḥaq b. Ḥayyim Nafūsī; Nissim b. Nahray; and ʿEli b. Yaḥyā ha-Kohen. (Information from Goitein's attached notes.)

Letter from Yeshuʿa b. Ismāʿīl al-Makhmūrī to Nahray b. Nissim, ca. 1045-1096. Contains details regarding flax shipments that were arranged in partnership with Nahray. The author has avoided working with Ibn Qays, seemingly a shipowner, because of his character. Multiple payments are recounted. He passes on the news that Faraj fainted on Thursday in the bathhouse (subita fī l-ḥammām).

Letter to Abu Sa'd Nissim b. Nahray from Ibrahim b. Abi al-Hayy Khalila. Ca.1100. Written after the death of Nahray, hence the estimated dating, concerning the withdrawal of funds from an unspecified business. “Avon” is mentioned; this is probably Avon b. Zedaka, who lived for many years in Jerusalem and, according to this author, has recently arrived in Alexandria.

Letter from Salāmah b. Ibrahīm (Būṣīr) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat). Ca. 1053. The writer is preparing flax to be loaded onto ships for Nahray b. Nissim and his relatives Isaac b. Barhūn al-Taherti and Moses b. Barhūn al-Taherti. The writer also mentions rice, olives, and honey. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #765.)

Letter from Ibrahīm b. Farrāḥ al-Iskandrānī (Alexandria) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat). Ca. 1055, apparently the beginning of the summer. Ibrahīm mentions ships arriving from the west, one which took 20 days from Sicily and one which took 45 days from Lamṭah (near al-Mahdiyya). He asks Nahray to get him oysters and pearls and send them urgently. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #551.)

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Yaʿaqov b. Lanjū (al-Mahdiyya) to Nahray b. Nissim (Alexandria). Ca. 1062. Discusses the trade in carnelian, coral, pearls, walnuts, and flax. Mentions Abū Sa‘īd (Joseph b. Mūsā al-Taherti), al-Kohen (Joseph b. ‘Eli ha-Kohen Fasi), and Ibrahīm b. al-Iskandrānī (Avraham b. Farrāḥ). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #737.)

Letter from Da'ud b. Ammar (Alexandria) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat), ca. 1065. Deals mainly with the silk trade and the events happening in Sicily. Information from Gil.

Letter from Barhun b. Yiṣḥaq (Tripoli al-Gharb) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat), August 1051. Written a short time after the sinking of the ship of Waḥlān (also mentioned in T-S 10J19.9, a letter from Barhun's brother Nissim, Gil #393). Conveys various instructions regarding the property and merchandise that Barhun's father, Yishaq b. Barhun ha-Taherti, left behind. Information from Gil.

Lower fragment: Letter to Nahray b. Nissim, ca. 1045-1096.

Previous description for ENA 2805.2 (upper fragment): Letter from Shela b. Mevasser, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1065 CE. The sender, the judge of Alexandria, has the name “ḥaver” from the yeshiva in Palestine. He writes about wills of people who passed away and taking care of the widows. He specifically mentions a youth named Manṣūr who made a will while suffering the remnants of an illness (line 15). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #790) VMR Another letter to Nahray, in a different hand, is bound together under the same shelf-mark. Previous description for ENA 2740.3 (PGPID 5263): Letter from Shela b. Mevasser to Mevorakh b. Saadya, written after 1094. Shela reports on how he handled an inheritance dispute in Alexandria that ended up in a qāḍī court. (Information from Frenkel.) Join: Oded Zinger.

Fragment of a letter from Nahray b. Nissim, Alexandria. Mentions silk and business concerning dresses. The addressee is unknown although it seems his father’s name is Yahya. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #266) VMR

Letter from Marduk b. Musa in Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat; June 22, 1046 (per Gil). Conveys some information about the movements of ships carrying merchandise for Nahray and his circle. Mentions a serious accident on one of the ships. Barukh b. al-Shamah adds a message at the end of the letter. Information from Gil.

Letter from Amram b. Yosef to Nahray b. Nissim requesting to forward a letter to Hassan b. Bundar. Location: Alexandria. Dating: 1094–97 CE. ʿAmram congratulates Nissim (Nahray's son) on his recovery (r4–8). He gives Nahray advice about taking good care of his son following his recovery, because "the relapse is worse than the illness" (r25–30).

Letter from Yeshu'a b. Ismāʿīl al-Mahmuri, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Mentions the safe arrival of (probably) relatives to Fustat; a female slave who was sold in Alexandria, and instructions for the coming winter dealing mostly with wheat and oil. Ca. 1060 (Gil estimate). VMR

Letter from Ishaq b. Yusuf al-Andalusi to Nahray b. Nissim. Dated 1050.

Note from Yeshu'a b. Isma'il to Nahray b. Nissim. ca. 1065

Letter from Yeshu'a b. Isma'il to Nahray b. Nissim.

Letter from Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy Khalila in Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat, ca. 1060-1075 (Udovitch) or ca. 1050 (Gil). Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy had been in Buḥayra buying grain; he mentions the movement of ships from Alexandria to the Maghrib, and trade with the east, presumably Shām and possibly Iraq; also mentions other commodities, including silk, wax and alkali; Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ is mentioned in the margin.

Letter from Fadl b. Sahlun to Nahray b. Nissim. Another letter, unconnected to the other one, is bound at the same number. This is a letter from a woman, Umm Nissim, to her relative Abu Sa'd.

Letter from Ismāʿīl b. Faraḥ to Nahray b. Nissim.