Geniza Lab

Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic, including the sentence, "If he is in Cairo, he will/should work in qirā'a (teaching?)."

Note in rudimentary script and spelling to a certain Ḥaver. Quite faded. "I did not bring with me to this [...] more than this of [...] and myrobalan (halīlaj?)." Then mentions Alexandria and a boat. Needs further examination.

Aggadot to Esther, entitled פתרון ומרדכי ידע (Esther 4:6), with jottings on recto. Information from GRU/FGP.

Letter from Khiyār b. Yaʿaqov to Netanel b. Yefet (aka Abū l-Mufaḍḍal Hibat Allāh b. Ḥusayn). In Judaeo-Arabic. The letter concerns a consignment of mercury (zaybaq), which he was unable to sell in Alexandria, since the price was not yet fixed, while in the bourse of Qāḍī Rajā' (in Fustat) it went for 14 dinars per qintar. No merchandise and no letter in the ship from the Maghrib. In the postscript, mentions traders returning from India and alludes to the concern about the disappearance of Abū l-Faraj Nissim. (Information from Goitein's index card and from India Book)

Letter from Elʿazar b. Avner to Abū l-Rabīʿ Sulaymān b. ʿImrān. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: No later than 1237 CE. The sender chastises the addressee for his inappropriate behavior and speech, somehow concerning Avraham Maimonides and the pietist movement. Verso contains the address and, inverted in relation to recto, a list of names. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Nearly complete letter in Judaeo-Arabic regarding dealings with the government. The writer inquires if Ibn al-Rifʿa is home, and if so, he should take the tawqīʿ (signed decision) and bring it to a certain official named al-Sayfī. Then, people should gather together and call for help (yaghūthū) at al-Sayfī's gate. The remainder is rather obscure and mentions the governor (wālī) of Fustat, who may have refused to talk to anybody until he had personally met with al-Sayfī. Needs further examination. ASE.

Letter from a woman to a female family member. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions: Ibn al-Rayyis Abū l-B[arakāt] (=Shelomo b. Eliyyahu); the addressee's sister; "he does not read and does not pray..."; "I am at a loss..."; someone going up to the dīwān by foot; someone wasting his days in idleness; "yā sittī, here I am stuck with him..."; "the inflamed eye, and I have remained..."; "from al-Rayyis Eliyya (=Eliyyahu the Judge) all that we need..."; "my greatest need... for the cough and the syrup..."; expenses; a blanket; "I found that they had purchased wheat..."; regards to everyone in the family. ASE

Begging letter to a cantor together with the refusal in reply, mentioning Abū l-Faḍāʾil. (Information from CUDL.) (This is not quite clear; it appears that everything here was written by the same scribe, albeit with different pens. The request has to do with prayers rather than money, or at least it is not overtly about money. Needs further examination.)

The beginning of what is probably a petition, written by a boy who was abandoned by his father before he was born. (CUDL description: Letter complaining about a husband leaving his wife and daughter, mentioning precious items, gold and silver.)

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to one of his brothers. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (right side of recto). He previously sent something with Yūsuf b. al-[...] and 1 1/2 raṭls of sugar(?) with Baqāʾ(?). The addressee is to split it into two halves and sell them. Discusses various other business matters. (Information in part from CUDL)

Note in Judaeo-Arabic, very faded, mostly formalities. On verso, in a different hand: "khaṭṭ al-Rayyis Abū Manṣūr שצ."

Draft of a letter from someone to his brother, Abū l-Ḥasan, who stayed home alone during the recent holiday while his children were visiting the writer. The writer alludes numerous times to Abū l-Ḥasan’s distress and says that he ought to come for the upcoming holiday, as Abū l-Ḥasan’s house is empty and burdens are more bearable in the midst of family. Mentions the death of the judge’s 18-year-old son. ASE.

A distressed letter to Abū ʿImrān, in the house of Umm Ḥasana, on the alley of the synagogue, Fustat. The handwriting and spelling are very rudimentary. The letter opens with the usual, "I assure you that I am in full well-being and health, all I lack is the sight of you. Otherwise: we are in terrible distress from the high prices and the lack of a living. We go five days without seeing bread, eating only turnips and fava beans and fresh dates. . . we have no food other than this. Life is worthless to me, and I beat my head from the distress and the killing." The writer desperately awaits a letter from his cousins (awlād ʿammi); perhaps there will be relief in it. He has heard that the addressee is studying to be a tailor and wishes him great success. He sends regards to various members of the addressee's family. The scribe may be the same as in T-S Ar.30.246 and numerous related fragments (books of magic and astrology). ASE.

A letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Alexandria. Mentions Avraham; Ibn ʿAllān; the trade in camphor (upper margin). It is quite faded. Needs further examination. "From the address it is possible to read that the recipient was Isḥāq b. ʿEli al-Majjānī. From the handwriting and the style of the beginning of the letter, it seems like the writer was Yosef b. Shemarya, a relative of Isḥāq b. ʿEli al-Majjānī. See ENA 2805.9." Information from Oded Zinger via FGP.

Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic to someone addressed as "al-majlis" regarding communal issues. May mention people who are violating a ruling of the addressee; mentions Bū l-Faraj the cantor; and someone who is unsuitable for a job.

Recto: Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (lower left corner). Probably recommending a poor man for charity ("[give him] something to nourish himself with"). Mentions 'my master the ḥaver.' Ends with a ḥasbala. Verso: a price-list in Arabic, or maybe accounts of monthly rent payments (اجرة المحرم...) (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter from Shelomo b. Nissim ha-Levi al-Barki, from Alexandria, to Musa b. Abi al-Hayy, Fustat. Around 1080. The writer writes to his brother in law, his sister’s husband. Regarding several services he did for his brother in law: purchasing of wheat and collecting rent for hoses Musa has in Alexandria. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #645) VMR

A letter in Hebrew by Salmon b. Avraham the Ḥaver (? information from Mosseri catalog via FGP). He sends regards to many people including Yosef. . . Avraham the Ḥaver. . . Shemaʿya. . . Hillel the cantor who knows the writer from when he lived in Tyre. . . Ṣedaqa the cantor. . . and Yosef. Needs further examination.

A poem in honor of somebody important, perhaps a groom, since verso also contains (in the same hand) blessings for the bride. In the hand of Nāṣir al-Adīb al-ʿIbrī.

Letter probably from Abū Sahl Levi (d. 1211), in Fustat, to his son Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi (d. 1212), in Qalyūb. In Judaeo-Arabic. (Identification based on handwriting and typical content.) Levi has sent Moshe the materia medica which he had ordered. "If you like them, keep them, and if you don't, send them back." They include sumac, spikenard (sunbul), maḥlab, tutty, and clove. There follows some accounting. Levi reports that 'the girl' (=Moshe's wife) is currently ritually impure and will immerse herself on Sunday, so he should endeavor to come visit on Sunday—and to make sure to come to Fustat directly instead of stopping in Cairo—while she is ritually pure. The language is quite ambiguous here, but the best reading may be that she will intentionally not purify herself if she knows that her husband is coming. There is a mystifying instruction (or just innuendo?) to ride the donkey into town if it is more than 6 handbreadths (6 ashbār = ~1.4 meters), and not to bother if it is less than 6 handbreadths. Levi reports that 'your brother' (=Abū l-Ḥasan Yedutun) bought the requested qatāmīr (pl. of qiṭmīr, apparently a date membrane or an eggplant calyx?) as soon as he returned to Fustat, and Ṣāfī took them to Qalyūb the next day and deposited them with Avraham b. Sulaymān for Moshe to collect at his convenience. (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE