Geniza Lab

Fragment (bottom half) of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic regarding a communal dispute over slaughtering. A certain person, likely a rival of the writer, came to the synagogue, took out the Torah scroll, and declared a ban against any Jew who slaughters in his place or anyone who eats the meat slaughtered by another person. Someone, perhaps the same person, believed that the entire congregation fell under this ban and required a release (hatara) from him. The writer is waiting for a letter from the addressee that will resolve the matter. They have also tried writing to R. Yiṣḥaq several times. In the meantime, the rival parades through the markets with "that which is in his hand" saying that so-and-so has been ruled against (? fulān maḥkūm) and the "slave of our master" (presumably the writer) deceived the people and let them eat unkosher meat and follow their inclinations and whims. Needs further examination.

Small fragment from the opening of a letter to a Nagid.

Letter in Hebrew written on an irregular piece of vellum from prison. David appeals to Avraham ha-Sar to try to bring about his release from prison. David admits that he is not treated harshly by the jailers ("ha-goyim") but complains that his freedom of movement is restricted and that his diet is meager. The language is in an elevated register and full of learned references. Information from Mann, who suggests that the letter is no later than the 13th century and more likely the 12th.

Fragment of a letter from someone to his 'father', sending regards for the holidays and inquiring about small transactions in garments. The writer sends regards to Abū l-Ḥasan and his mother and sister, and to Sitt al-Gharb and her children. On verso he asks the addressee to give to Abū Saʿīd Ibn al-Qaṭāʾif (=Ḥalfon b. Menashshe) the cotton thawb and the fur garment (farw) that he had requested to be sent to him on recto. T-S NS J533 and Moss. II,176.2 appear to be in the same hand and to be related: each includes the identical phrase "אלתוב אלקטן ואלפרו מע."

A letter of recommendation from the office of the Nagid Yehoshua Maimonides, for a poor man Shelomo to be read in the synagogue in Fustat. It is very similar to his letter T-S NS J258 for a poor man Moshe. There is an interesting marginal note in which the writer seems to admit that he has not actually met Shelomo. There is a header added after the letter was complete, similar to those found in T-S Misc.8.18, T-S NS J201, and Bodl. MS heb. b 13/44, of which the second word is probably אמת.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, quite faded, in which Ibrāhīm tells his son Abū l-ʿAlā' how much he misses him and how difficult conditions are.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer asks the addressee to retrieve all of the writer's books that are currently with the 'Rav.' They include parts of Berakhot, the Mishna, Neziqin, and notebooks (karārīs) containing perush. He also asks for a quffa of raisins.

Mercantile letter in Judaeo-Arabic, dealing in corals and pearls among other items. Probably 11th-century.

Letter from Shemuel he-Ḥaver b. Moshe, Tyre, to Yaʿaqov he-Ḥaver b. Yosef, Aleppo, ca. 1025.

Interesting fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew, with wide space between the lines, addressing al-Mukhtār Muntajab al-Dawla Badr. There is a date and location at the bottom: Adar II 14[.]2, Fustat (צוען מצרים). Most likely is 1442 = 1131 CE (per the catalog), in part because most of the other plausible years were not leap years. The catalog also says that this letter is in the name of Maṣliaḥ Gaon.

Recto: A Hebrew letter begging for charity on Purim, invoking the tropes of hunger and nakedness. The writer suggests that the addressee himself 'or one of the gabbais' bring him the money. He sends wishes for the addressee's recovery from an illness. Verso: Another letter, in Judaeo-Arabic and in a different hand and extremely faded.

Short note from Abū l-ʿAlā' al-Muʿallim to Abū Saʿīd urging him to send the money quickly because the writer urgently needs to pay the capitation tax.

Fragment of a business letter, probably 11th-century, as it mentions Barhūn and Nahray. Difficult to read due to ink smudging; needs further examination.

Order of payment for the Melammed Ḥasan to pay the bearer, al-Shaykh Manṣūr, three dirhams.

Recto: Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic to Rabbenu Meshullam, congratulating him on the holidays, and it seems begging for help with travel expenses. The writer alludes to his bereavement. Verso: Drafts of the opening of a letter to a distinguished person.

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim from Busir to Farah b. Isma’il, Busir. Around 1053. Farah is in Busir, probably was sent there by Nahray, and purchases and packs the shipments there. The letter mentions details about shipping dinars for the purchase. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #256) VMR

Letter of Nahray b. Nissim to Abū l-Surūr Faraḥ b. Ismaʿīl al-Qābisī (ca. 1053), continued on verso with the address in Arabic and, inverted, Judaeo-Arabic. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: business letter (c. 1100 CE) from Ibn al-Ḥasan b. Hūlayf Iskanderānī to the prominent purple-cloth merchant Abū l-Afrāḥ ʿArūs b. Joseph al-Mahdawī in Fusṭāṭ. Verso: Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic address of the letter; accounts by ʿArūs. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Natan b. Nahray, from Alexandria, to Musa b. Abi al-Hayy, Fustat. Around the spring of 1080. Musa is traveling and asks the writer to take care of his family in his absence. The writer brought them food (wheat and butter) and money for their expenses. Mentions the Nagid, Mevorakh b. Se’adya. The writer sends him his greetings for his marriage. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #439) VMR

Letter from Yehuda b. Moshe b. Sugmar, probably from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1070. Nahray is called “Our Rabbi, the head of the Yeshiva”. The letter deals with a delivery of beads that Yehuda received and is sending to Fustat, to the house of b. Sha’aya, and asks Nahray to take care of its selling, even though the price he received for a previous delivery did not satisfy him. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #620) VMR