Geniza Lab

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic, in an elegant hand with tall, flamingo-like lameds. The sender appears to be a well-connected physician or medical student. Dating: Probably 1170s–90s, based on the mention of Qarāqūsh. Some excerpts: "... I have not found a stable position... in Cairo until that thing is fulfilled... in Fustat... I sat... our Rabbi... the head of the physicians (muqaddam al-ṭibb)... a physician and said to me... Cairo, and sometimes with Abū l-Riḍā, and I stay with him two nights a week and learn from him... your excellence, for 30 dinars' brokerage... entered to Qarāqūsh (likely Bahāʾ al-Dīn Qarāqūsh, active in Egypt 1169–1201) and told him the situation, and he fired him. Your excellence should be reassured, because everything is going well for you. Your excellence should kindly send a letter to 'our master' (Sayyidnā) thanking him for his advocacy for you... does not open his door to a Jew... your slave Abū Isḥāq (=the sender?)... and Abū l-Riḍā and his mother kiss your feet... and Abū l-Ṭāhir sends his regards." (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE

Fragment from the end of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. "You have left me to die in this grief. A person would think that there is no more care (iftiqād) between you and me. You have lit an inextinguishable fire in my heart. As for... your shop, he said he won't pay a penny until your letter arrives. As for the turban, it came out to 45 dirhams for Bishāra the ghulām of al-ʿArīf...." (Information in part from CUDL)

Fragment of a business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions logistics regarding boats; someone named [...] al-Fāsī; flax; someone named al-ʿArīf; "Bint al-Sunna" (?) intends to travel; Abū Isḥāq Avraham b. [...]; the writer's cousin (bin ʿammī) Yehuda.

Awaiting description - see Goitein's index card.

Autograph letter by Avraham Maimonides to Moshe b. Peraḥya. It is a recommendation for the bearer, the French rabbi R. Yeḥiel [b. Yiṣḥaq Ẓarfatī], to the community of rabbis (ʿulamā' al-sharīʿa) in Palestine and Jerusalem. Moshe b. Peraḥya served as a judge in the Rīf, including in Minyat Zifta and Minyat Ghamr; he was the brother of Yosef b. Peraḥya. On verso is a donation list with many names, conceivably for a fundraiser on behalf of the bearer of the letter. Information entirely from Mordechai Akiva Friedman's edition and discussion.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic (16th century per FGP) from Yosef b. Adīda (?) to Yefet b. Farḥān regarding flax shipments. People named include ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Maḥlāwī and ʿAbd al-Qadīr. The writer asks the addressee that when he comes from Fusṭāṭ he should bring letters from the children of Yiṣḥaq b. Adīda. He then may give his address: Rubʿ al-Ḥamzāwī, the alley of the Karaites.

Small fragment from the beginning of a Judaeo-Arabic letter mentioning Bū l-Majd, probably the recipient.

Small fragment from the end of a Judaeo-Arabic letter, sending regards to the boy al-Shaykh al-Mufaḍḍal and Abū l-Faraj b. Wafā' and Abū ʿImrān.

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Long letter in Hebrew, very faded. Byzantine script? Needs further examination.

Fragment of a 13th-century letter, probably from the family of the judge Eliyyahu, mentioning Abū l-Barakāt, Sitt Rayḥān and Sitt Jawhar. There is a request to purchase oil for the synagogue at Dammūh. (Information in part from CUDL)

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Fragment of a 16th-century business letter. Faded and damaged, so the contents are difficult to determine. Appears to be a letter from an agent to his employer reporting on his business activities. Mentions Fusṭāṭ and Alexandria (line 7) and Sariel the Judge who owes the writer 84 peraḥim (line 8). Information from Avraham David's edition.

Letter (16th–17th century). (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Yoel to Efrayim. Fragment (upper left corner). The sender is likely identical with Yoel ha-Melammed (see e.g. T-S 20.148), since it is a rare name and their handwriting appears to match. Little of the content is preserved; the sender mentions the bearer of the letter, Yosef, and offers an excuse about why he has not traveled. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Fragment from a legal document or letter. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe? Mentions (Abū l-)Faraj and Dāʾūd, the court of 'our master' (Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon?), and [...] b. Hillel Rosh ha-Qahal. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Probably part of a letter, mentioning ראש הנדיבים סט and ‘the cantor’ and Ibn al-Amʿaṭ. (Information in part from CUDL)

A fragment of a letter. Only a few words are preserved on each side. (Information in part from CUDL)

Fragment of a letter from Mardūk b. Musa from Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. March 8, 1048. Regarding a large shipment of letters from the Maghreb. Marduk sends a large amount of letters to Fustat and asks Nahray to distribute them to the addressees. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #536) VMR

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