Geniza Lab

Letter from Shemarya to his brother Yaʿaqov. Written in non-fluent Hebrew (e.g. uses אהיה as a copulative when there is no need; and more). The writer excuses not having written before, because he had suffered a five month illness of נפלות (perhaps to be read נפילות and understood as epilepsy). But God sent him health. He is worried about his brother because he hasn't heard from him in a year and a half. The brother had sent with the wife of Yona a גלילי כיפוכניכו garment (? perhaps this is Greek, and Shemarya is Byzantine. It is vocalized in the document). Shemarya heard that the 3 dinars he had sent his brother never arrived. He mentions R. Mikha'el. Needs further examination.

Legal query addressed to ha-Rav ha-Gadol. Concerning the parnas Yaʿaqov ha-Yerushalmi who died and left behind 4 sons and a daughter. His inheritance included a codex of the ḥumash. Most of the continuation is fragmentary. Also involved in the case (as judges?) are Levi Ibn al-Quḍāʿī; Yehuda al-Dimashqī b. Sibāʿ; and Abū l-Faraj. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card)

See other description under this shelfmark, and see Goitein's index card.

Letter from Yosef b. Avraham b. Bundār, in Aden, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel ha-Levi, in India. Dating: Ca. 1134 CE. Concerning textiles, musk, and pepper imported from India to Aden, and cinnabar, which was shipped in the opposite direction. (Information from India Book 4, Hebrew description below.)

Letter from Yosef ha-Talmud b. Yishay ha-Sar. In Hebrew. Complaining that the addressee has not fulfilled his vow to give Yosef sum of money in gold; Yosef has only received 10 silver coins. "What is my sin, that you have not fulfilled your vow?" He complains about hunger and poverty and asks for the money. In the margin he mentions at least one parnas.

Verso: Informal note, related to business. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 11th century. The sender is waiting on the return of Abū Yaʿqūb Iṣḥaq b. Yūsuf al-Andalusī. He reports on something that צרור/Surūr b. [...] al-Siqillī told him. He excuses the appearance of the letter ("written in a hurry on the road"). (Information in part from Goitein’s index card)

Recto: Letter in Arabic script. Fragment ((bottom only). The sender apologizes profusely for an unspecified failing and goes on at length about his distress over it: فوالله ان كنت الا على النار والله ما اردت الا احرق رأسي كلها بلساني. He says that he is not proud of what he has done and may refer to his mistake as "the head of an ass" (lā aftakhiru aysh ʿamiltu rāʾs ḥamīr), and expresses his willingness to remain in Fustat if the addressee deems fit. An amount of 1000 qiṭʿa (unclear what this means) and the name Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad Ibn al-Kūfī is mentioned. Scrawled ḥasbala in the margin.

Accounting of the Qodesh. Ca. 1222-23.

Letter from Yosef b. Yehuda b. Simḥa (Alexandria) to Abū Zikrī Yaḥyā b. Nissim (Fustat), ca. 1050. The writer mentions a number of deals in beads and pearls. He is worried about owing money to a number of people including Yaḥyā b. Nissim and, although they do not demand payment, is anxious to settle the issue. He also mentions having heard about diseases (amrāḍ) that have spread in Fustat. The address is written in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script. (Information from Gil.)

Letter from Yosef b. Labrāṭ al-Fāsī (Qayrawan) to Yaʿaqov b. Yosef b. ʿAwkal (Fustat). The writer apologizes for a delay in returning a debt of 10 dinars that Yaʿaqov b. Yosef b. ʿAwkal lent him and explains that the delay is due to difficulties that he encountered when selling the merchandise bought with this money. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 291.)

Report or petition. In Arabic script. Wide space between the lines. Fragment (upper right corner). wa-yuḥīṭu īlmahu l-sharīf... anna ahjābanā(?) bi-ḥukmihi(?) wāṣilīn... bi-daʿwa.... On verso there is a Hebrew poem bemoaning the writer's wretched state, mentioning בין בני צרפת and ויד אדום כבדה.

Verso: Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Likely notes for drawing up a will. The testator is a woman [...] bt. Avraham ha-Levi al-Jubaylī, the widow of Abū l-Faḍl al-Dimashqī. She has 5 dinars and 60 dirhams. Her son gets 1 dinar. The burial expenses (nawā'ib) are to come out of the rest. Whatever remains will go to her her daughters. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)

Recto: Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. A woman declares that she has no claims against Rabbenu Yiṣḥaq ha-Rav ha-Gadol nor against her cousin (ibnat khāl) the female servant of the synagogue nor the latter's husband [Yiṣ]ḥaq b. Rajā. Goitein understands this document as a deathbed will and the reason for the release as that she had lived on public charity. What the document says is that "if it were not for God or her, I would have been cast down in the road, and I would have perished." Two lines are crossed out, mentioning an item worth approximately 10 dirhams. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card)

Accounts for the synagogue at Dammūh. "That which Mevorakh al-[...] the khādim of Dammūh collected from Saʿīd b. Mevorakh." (The word דמוה is not written very clearly, but this seems a better reading than the alternative, דמויי.) Most or all of the items listed are connected to the synagogue.

Fragment from a compilation of legal queries. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions R. Yosef (ZL) and Yiṣḥaq ha-Rav (ZL).

Letter from a man, in Fustat, to his brothers Yūsuf and Ibrāhīm, unknown location. He blames his delay on the ״כר״ that belongs to Baqā', who refused to let him use it. The sender had a fight with Baqā' (taḍārabtu) and was seriously injured (inkhabaṭtu) and fell sick again (maraḍtu marḍa jadīda) but is now doing better (qad tawajjahtu li-l-ʿāfiya) so no one need worry about him. He will come on Sunday. If the addressees have gotten their hands on Abū Naṣr's silver, they should send it, because Abū Naṣr has already come to the house asking for it 3 or 4 times "and he doesn't know that I am in Fustat." (Information in part from Goitein’s index card)

Letter from the office of Yehoshua Maimonides (d. 1355) to Fustat against improper competition in the making of cheese. Information from Goitein's index card.

Letter addressed to an important Jew. There are three lines of rhymed Hebrew text at the top, followed by a large space and 5–6 lines of a letter (mainly in Arabic script with some Hebrew), followed by 2 lines in Arabic script in a different hand, perhaps a continuation of the letter or the response. The letter itself reminds the addressee to fulfill a promise he had made involving Rosh ha-Seder.

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. Location: Cairo. A certain Netanel makes a declaration. Small fragment.

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. Tiny fragment.