Geniza Lab

Letter from Barhūn b. Mūsā b. Barhūn al-Tāhirtī, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1050–60 CE, at the beginning of Nahray's activities in Egypt.

Letter from Natan b. Nahray to Abū ʿImrān Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy. Among other matters, Natan mentions that he has given 1 dinar each to Moshe the Judge and Yeḥezqel the Alexandrian, the two frail old men who wrote T-S 13J28.10 requesting charity from Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy. Natan also mentions a medicinal syrup that he has asked Abū l-Afrāḥ to buy him. ASE.

Letter from Mardūk b. Mūsā, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat(?). Dating: ca. 1045 CE, based on Gil's assessment. The handwriting is that of Yaʿaqov b. Salmān al-Ḥarīrī, and the letter switches to his voice starting in line v2. The letter deals with business in lemon juice, tamarind, and textiles of flax and silk. Nahray is sick (wajīʿ, r4–7, r13–14, v6–7). Both Mardūk and Yaʿaqov wish Nahray a speedy reunion with his mother. Information from Gil. ASE.

Letter from Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy (Alexandria) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat).

Letter from Nissim b. Ḥalfon b. Benaya, in Tinnīs, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: 7 December 1060. Among many other matters, Nissim reveals that he has recovered from his illness and left the house and returned to work today for the first time (r10-11). ASE.

Letter from Nissim b. Avraham to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat). Dating: ca. 1050s. About a consignment of silk that was about to reach Fustat, owned in partnership by the sender and Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tāhirtī. Nahray is requested to sell the silk as quickly as possible and to keep the sale secret. Nissim's travel plans imply that he writes from an important centre in the delta, possibly Būṣīr. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 506-507.)

This is the upper fragment under the shelfmark. Letter from Nissim b. Avraham to Nahray b. Nissim. Needs examination. Gil may have only edited the lower fragment (but confusingly called it ENA 2805.7a).

Letter from Mūsā b. Abī al-Ḥayy, from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1057. Regarding sending goods in leather sacks. Musa returned from the Maghreb. He is planning to travel to Tripoli. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 519). NB: Gil referred to this document as "ENA 2805.8 A."

Fragment of draft of a court document relating to the affairs of Nahray b. Nissim, ca. 1045-1096.

Letter from Yosef b. Shemarya, the dayyan of Barqa, in Alexandria, to “his brother” Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Mentioning his pilgrimage to Jerusalem from Egypt and that he is unable to travel by sea. Written ca. 1060. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:586, 4:242, 439.) EMS. There is a translation into English in Goitein's attached notes.

Letter from Yehosef b. Shemuel Bavli to the judge Anatoli b. Yosef. In Hebrew. He states that he will not hand over a security to Avraham ha-Kohen ha-Maʿaravi without the addressee's signature.

Petition to the Gaʾon Maṣliaḥ ha-Kohen (in office 1127–39). Begins with six lines of Hebrew blessings, and ends with one line of Hebrew blessings. The sender describes himself as a man of more than seventy years who has been afflicted by an illness that makes him unable to work and earn a livelihood. He owes a debt (or rather capitation tax payment?) of 14 qirats and 1 dirham; somehow this is connected to a man named Salāma Ibn al-Maqāniʿiyya and a guarantee. If he is unable to pay, he fears being imprisoned. He states that he is near death and starving, some days eating and some days not. Maṣliaḥ had previously promised to help him pay this sum, so this letter is a reminder. In the margin, mentions a meat shop and someone named Mīkhāʾīl. Verso is filled with Arabic-script jottings and document drafts in a chancery hand, including drafts of a letter or petition to a notable. VMR. EMS. ASE.

Engagement (shiddukhin) contract. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi (active 1100–38). Location: Fustat. Dated: Sunday night, 25 Kislev 1444 Seleucid, which is 1133 CE. Fiancé: Abū Naṣr Elʿazar b. Yefet. Fiancée: Sitt al-Banāt Saʿīda bt. Hillel.

Letter from a woman to Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon containing an update on a lawsuit between her and a male family member (possibly her son). She seems to be submitting this letter in order to postpone the lawsuit until after the end of the period of the man's "ḍamān" (tax farming tenure?). Mentions the death of the man's maternal uncle and his claim that he is not withholding anything that is due to the woman. Also mentions a garden (bustān).

Fragment from the bottom of a legal deed. Location: Alexandria. Dated: Middle third of Sivan 4895 AM, which is 1135 CE, under the authority of Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon. No details preserved. There is a fragment of a signature [...] ha-Levi.

Petition from Avraham al-Qushāshī to Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon. He says that he used to work and earn a living like everyone else [but now he is unable to and needs charity]. The lower part is torn away. On verso, in a different hand, there are eight lines of Hebrew piyyuṭ followed by the beginning of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The sender informs the addressee that he went in to visit (aftaqid) Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon, and "the noble council" (al-majlis al-karīm) was just saying their goodbyes and leaving, so he remained alone with Maṣliaḥ ("Sayyidnā"). The last line is damaged but includes the phrase "I have bestowed favor upon him." Maybe this is Maṣliaḥ speaking, referring to his willingness to help the addressee (=the original petitioner from recto?).

Court record written and signed by Aharon b. Yeshuʿa ha-Rofe. Location: Alexandria. Dated: Middle third of Av 4889 AM, which is July/August 1129 CE, under the authority of Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon. The case concerns half of a ground floor apartment (qāʿa). Also signed by Yiṣḥaq b. Yosef and Ṣedeq b. [...].

Poem in honour of Masliah Gaon.

Petition from Abū l-Manṣūr b. Abū l-Faraj al-Qubaybiyya to Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon. He reports that he has opened a shop in Suwayqat [...] near the shop of Ibn [...]. The continuation is lost. See T-S 10J12.28 (PGPID 2817) for a discussion of his unusual name.

Letter in Hebrew. The writer is asking from the official (maybe the head of the Jews himself) to support Mevaser ha-Parnas, who claimed that he had an inheritence owed to him from his brother Sedaqa ha-Parnas, being held by Mevorakh. At the bottom of the letter is an addendum saying that the letter was delayed. The writer adds greetings to the head of the yeshiva, Shelomo Gaon. ENA 2806.5–7 are copies of letters to Shelomo Gaʾon and his son Maṣliaḥ.