Geniza Lab

Letter, poetic, contains mostly blessings, ending 'to our fourth (= fourth of the yeshiva) rabbi son [of ...],' that is, Masliah Gaon. ENA 2806.5–7 are copies of letters to Shelomo Gaʾon and his son Maṣliaḥ.

Letter, complete and poetic, written by same hand as ENA 2806.5, contains mostly blessings. ENA 2806.5–7 are copies of letters to Shelomo Gaʾon and his son Maṣliaḥ.

Letter from Natan b. Mevorakh ha-Kohen and Yeshuʿa b. Yefet, in Ashqelon, to Eliyyahu b. Evyatar ha-Kohen. Dated: 13 Ḥeshvan 1424 Seleucid, which is 1112 CE. None of the body of the letter is preserved (only the introduction, conclusion in the upper margin, and address on verso).

Letter from Masliaḥ Gaʾon. Dating: ca. 1120 CE (unclear on what basis). Containing his genealogy at the beginning.

Family or business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (bottom part only). Addresses somebody named Abū l-Riḍā and exhorts him to help somebody, "first because he is of your family, and second because you (pl.) ... on the strangers who come to you." There are further urgings to respond and to act. The letter closes with some praises/blessings in Hebrew.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, in a beautiful hand with wide line-spacing. Quite faded. Approximately 9 lines are preserved from the main text and another 8 lines in the right margin. Dating: Perhaps ~13th century. May be addressed to somebody whose name begins with Zakiyy (...al-mawlawī al-saʿīdī al-shaykh Zakiyy...). The addressee is asked to write a letter to the sender's father with his news. Mentions Alexandria. Reports that Abū l-Ḥasan is in Damascus. Mentions Moshe al-Ḥabashī (the same as in T-S Ar.54.24? That letter looks earlier, though). Regards to various family members and others.

Recto: Business/family letter in Hebrew. Dating: Perhaps 16th century or later. The sender mentions someone named Meʾir סאול . . ., and greets his mother. Verso: List of goods in Hebrew script in a mix of a Romance language (perhaps simply Spanish) and some Arabic; e.g., nuez (walnut), jonjolí (sesame), Persian pepper (filfil ʿajamī), mastic, oregano (אוריגאנו). Merits further examination.

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragmentary. The sender orders good needles (or lead? אבר, cf. DK 232.2) and thanks the addressee for depositing certain goods in the name of the sender's son. He reports that Abū l-Surūr has already traveled.

Legal query regarding an inheritance, draft. The brother of the deceased had apparently not paid anything to the widow. The bulk of the query is in Judaeo-Arabic, with four lines of Arabic script at the bottom. At least the first three lines of the Arabic appear to be related (they twice mention Sayyidnā). On verso there is piyyuṭ.

Dowry list, an addendum to a ketubba

Medical prescription in Arabic script. Some phrases: 'manzūʿ al-ʿajam' (l-4), 'muṣaffā ʿalā'' (l-5), and fī niṣf mithqāl' (l-6). Diet: chicken. Verso is blank.

A legal query. In Judaeo-Arabic. (Goitein, Palestinian Jewry, 309-311, suggested that it might be addressed to R. Isaac the Spaniard). Concerning an adopted girl who fled her marriage to a foster brother and was driven out of her house by her foster siblings. A woman, mother of 3 girls and 2 boys, took a captive girl into her house, regarding her bringing up as a 'thawāb' (mitzva). After 4-5 years, the girl matured and one of the boys of the woman wished to marry her. After 4 (months?) she returned to the house of her foster mother and declared she would not remain with him. Dating: Goitein dates this document to the Crusader period, but see Goldman, "Arabic-Speaking Jews in Crusader Syria" (diss.), p. 37, "Many undated Geniza documents have been ascribed to the period of the Crusades simply because they relate to warfare, ransoming, refugees, and/or massacres." (some data added by AA)

Letter fragment addressed to a certain Abū l-Faraj. On verso there is a letter in a different hand, probably the response.

Letter from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, in Qalyūb, to his family, in Fustat. Moshe congratulates his brother Bū Isḥāq on the fertility of his livestock but wants him to prepare the honey and flour and prepare a cake named ʿaṣīda that Moshe will enjoy when he comes on Sunday. Al-Shaykh al-Yesod also congratulates Bū Isḥāq and adds, cryptically, "May the end turn out well, and God willing we will see from it what was seen from the female donkey of our master al-Ḥāfiẓ." Moshe mentions the silver belonging (or owed) to Farrūj. He invites his brother Abū l-Ḥasan (Yedutun) to come out and spend Shabbat with him in Qalyūb, and they will return together to Fustat on Sunday. He also mentions silver, a donkey that has given birth, and a turban (radda). He asks the addressee to obtain the response to a fatwā that Moshe had previously sent. ASE.

Recto: Letter from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to his father Eliyyahu the Judge. In Judaeo-Arabic. Recommending the bearer, Dā'ūd of Banhā, who is chronically in arrears for the capitation tax (ʿalayhi jawālī muzmina). Rabbenu Menaḥem has already helped him by writing a recommendation for him to the Nagid Avraham. At the end of this letter, Shelomo asks for copies of certain books from the Mishneh Torah. Verso: Shelomo continues, now writing on his own behalf. He asks his father to try to make sure that Shelomo is not sent to a place that is far away, because Shelomo is in a terrible state of isolation and ghurba and he could die any day, and then his father would regret having let him be sent away. ASE.

Business letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. "I had a few durayhims, hardly worth mentioning, and I tried to purchase yarn with them, but I could not. For I want someone who will buy from the silk weavers (al-qazzāzīn), and if a silk weaver comes into possession of something that cannot be believed, he will purchase it for himself." Somewhat cryptic; needs further examination.

Letter addressed to Najm the brother of Sibāʿ al-Muʿallim, who used to teach in the Iraqi synagogue. In Judaeo-Arabic. The same writer also wrote T-S 13J16.10, a letter to his mother.

Business letter from Yehuda Castro to Binyamin Castro. In Hebrew. Dating: 16th century. The sender reports on business developments in crops, fruits, and vegetables, and emphasizes his trade with Venice (l. 11). A piece of Binyamin's response is preserved at the bottom of verso. He asks Avraham to speak to the דפטדאר (=defterdar?). (Information from Avraham David via FGP.)

Legal query, might be sent to Avraham Maimuni regarding two partners who had quarrelled regarding a certain commodity. The question is about the status of the partnership, whether Shimon is rafiq or sharik, companion or partner.

Letter from Avraham Maimonides (autograph) to Fakhr al-Dawla al-Kohen. In Judaeo-Arabic. He has heard that Fakhr al-Dawla is upset at him, and he is shocked and dismayed and tells him that there is no reason to be upset. Also mentions the Nasi Shelomo.