Geniza Lab

Two different fragments. First fragment: An abridgement of some of the dietary and lifestyle advice from Chapter 4 of the Hebrew plague treatise "Moshiaʿ Ḥosim" (Venice, 1587) by Avraham Yagel (a.k.a. Gallico). This page dates from after 1623, since זלהה is written after Galiko's name. The advice includes: boiling all water before drinking it or mixing it with wine; cooking all produce to "remove the disease from it"; or to pick wild herbs growing in desolate locations; to dwell in spacious, airy, and beautifully decorated houses; and not to eat too much, not to sleep too much, not to eat excessively warming foods, not to wear excessively warming clothes. On Yagel/Gallico, see Ruderman, Kabbalah, Magic and Science The Cultural Universe of a Sixteenth-Century Jewish Physician, HUP 1988. Second fragment: This is labeled as "Image 2" and contains one line of Arabic script. However, the shape of the paper and the location of holes do not correspond to Image 1, suggesting that we are missing two images (verso of both Image 1 and Image 2).

Recto: The main text is a Judaeo-Arabic sermon/exhortation that in order to avert the evil decrees and the plague and the economic depression, all members of the community must repent of their sins. There is to be a series of three fasts incumbent on all except pregnant and nursing women. All members of the community who are not otherwise occupied are to attend minḥa at either the synagogue of the Turks or the synagogue of the Egyptians. Every individual is also to give pidyon (redemption) money, including for babies in their mothers' wombs, 18 silver coins per person. The language is heavily colloquial, essentially modern. There are two additional blocks of text in harder-to-read handwriting. Needs further examination. Verso: The back of the original document was reused for documents of betrothal.

Letter from an older Maghribī traveler, in Alexandria, to his cousin, somewhere in the Maghrib. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1100 CE. Evidently this letter was never sent. The writer has spent the last five years in Egypt attempting to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He describes the various disasters of the years 1095–1100 to justify both why he has failed to reach Jerusalem and why too he has remained in Egypt instead of returning to his family and waṭan. First, he describes the chaos in Palestine under the Seljuq occupation ("many armed bands made their appearance in Palestine"). He next describes the 1095 siege of Alexandria in which the vizier al-Afḍal deposed Nizār and secured the caliphate for al-Mustaʿlī ("the city was ruined. . . the Sultan conquered the city and caused justice to abound"). He again prepared for travel "when God conquered Jerusalem at his [the caliph's] hands," i.e., in 1098, only to be foiled by the appearance of the Franks, who "killed everyone in the city, whether Jew or Muslim." The writer is confident that the Fatimids will retake Jerusalem this very year, so he intends to remain in Egypt until he sees Jerusalem or gives up all hope. The letter ends with the writer's protracted illnesses. Throughout these years, the land has been filled with epidemic diseases (wabā', aʿlāl, amrāḍ, dever). The wealthy became impoverished, "most people died," entire families were destroyed. The writer himself developed a grave illness (maraḍ ṣaʿb), which lasted one year, and was shortly followed by another grave illness, which has lasted four years and perhaps continues to the present day. "Indeed [true is] what the Scripture has said of the dreadful disease of Egypt (Deut. 7:15). . . . He who hiccups (yastanshiq) will not escape from it. . . . ailments and will die from them. . . . Otherwise, he will remain alive." Note that "yastanshiq" typically means "inhale" or "snuff" (e.g., water for ritual ablutions) rather than "hiccup." Information largely from Goitein's attached translation and notes, and Goldman, "Arabic-Speaking Jews in Crusader Syria" (diss.), pp. 38–42, where there is a thorough analysis of the letter's context and a discussion of the writer's penchant for hyperbole.

Family letter from Natan b. Yehuda (Alexandria, ca. 1160) to Moshe b. Ṣemaḥ and his brother (Fustat), the writer’s cousins-in-law. Natan b. Yehuda reports that everyone in the house was ill because of a great epidemic of sweating sickness (wakham) in Alexandria. He praises the brothers for their munificence but also politely reminds them that it was time for them to marry and wishes that their mother may see their “joy”. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below and from Goitein, MedSoc, Vol. 3, p. 61 and p. 440n61 and Vol. 5, p. 113.)

Letter from Ṭoviya b. ʿEli ha-Kohen, in Fustat, to his father ʿEli b. Avraham ha-Kohen, in Banyas/Dan. Dating: May 28, 1112. The son and father had parted ways in Tyre. After a difficult sea voyage, Ṭoviya arrived in Fustat, where he found an epidemic (wabā'). The judge Avraham b. Natan Av became ill and narrowly escaped ("reached the gates of") death, while the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saadya succumbed. He died on Saturday, the new moon of Tevet, December 2, 1111. (See Cohen, Self-Government, p. 147, where Islamic sources describing the same epidemic are cited as well.) Ṭoviya had received a letter from the Nagid Mevorakh before his death and took it with him to the Rīf, where he stayed for five months. Ṭoviya reports that one of the dignitaries in Fustat—possibly Avraham b. Natan Av—is even more noble and pious than his father had told him. Ṭoviya tells his father to be assiduous in praying for him over Torah scrolls, perhaps because Avraham has not completely recovered from the illness. He also tells him to pray for Moshe Nagid b. Mevorakh. Ṭoviya writes, "Buy me an Aleppo izār (a large wrap or coat) in which I can pray all the time," probably referring to an inexpensive piece of Syrian cotton (Med Soc I, 196). He encourages his father and a certain Natan to join him in Fustat. He sends regards to his brothers Yaḥya and Meir, and to Avraham Pe'er ha-Qahal, and to Mevasser b. Ghālib, and to Yeshuʿa b. Ṣedaqa, and to Yehuda ha-Parnas, and to Y{ū}suf b. Namir. ASE.

Calendar (astronomical/agricultural) for Eygpt for four of the Coptic months (Hātūr, Kiyāk, Ṭūba, and Amshīr), also giving the names of the corresponding Gregorian months (in Arabic). At the top of the one page the year 1090, presumably Hijri, is named (1679/80 CE). (To read this as the Coptic year would yield an implausible date in the 14th century CE.) At the top of the other page, someone named Riḍwān Effendi is named. Most of the entries seem to be recurring events: "wheat is planted," "the south winds blow," "the planting of the poppy," "the beginning of the lawāqiḥ," etc., but one of them (the first entry under Ṭūba) reads, "the lifting of the plague (wabā') in Miṣr."

Letter sent from Jerusalem in later medieval times by a woman named Jamila, the widow of Yehuda, addressing two brothers-in-law in Cairo, explaining that she could not come with the last caravan since she had visitors from Damascus who had fled from the plague, but promising she would come with the next caravan. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, p. 115)

Letter from Madmun b. Ḥasan to Avraham Ibn Yiju: safe conduct and assistance for brother. Aden, ca. 1145. (8) [I shall take care of] sending it, if someone departs this [year for] (9) Egypt, since no one arrived last year or [so far this year] (10) from Egypt, because of the [death?] (11) and epidemic prevailing there, for two years in a row.

Letter from Mūsā b. Yiṣḥaq b. Nissim, in al-Mahdiyya, to Ismāʿīl b. Barhūn al-Tāhirti. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1030. The writer is looking forward to the addressee's intended visit to al-Mahdiyya. He describes the situation in the Maghreb, and he mentions silk business and a large transfer of money to a yeshiva. "In a letter sent from Fustat to Qayrawan, Tunisia, we read this: 'A wakham like this I have not seen since I have come to Fustat. I was ill for a full four months with fever and fits of cold, which attacked me day and night. But God, for the sake of his name, not because of my merits, decreed that the illness leave me; I am now restored to complete health. The wakham has ceased, and all our friends [meaning the compatriots from Tunisia] are well." (Goitein, Med Soc V, 113.) ASE.

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. David b. Sughmār, Fustat, to his partner Makhlūf b. ʿAzarya, Jerusalem. (DK XV, ed. Gil, Palestine, Pt. 3, pp. 178-183.) The market was at a standstill because of an epidemic (amrāḍ). ASE.

Business letter from Shelomo b. Avraham [. . .] Ruqqī to Abū l-Faraj Nissim b. Shelomo Ruqqī. "Abū l-Faraj Nissim, the recipient of this letter, was an India trader, against whom, while in India selling precious Western textiles and mercury, a power of attorney was issued in Fustat. The date of that document is not preserved, but the names of the signatories, known from other sources, put it around 1090. [Goitein notes elsewhere, Med Soc I, 379, that the names of the sender and recipient also both occur in a document dated 1079.] The sender of the letter shared with him the family name, and since he writes in a style possible only among close relatives, he was most probably his nephew. Both clearly were Maghrebis; therefore, their family name must be read as al-Ruqql, derived from a little town in Tunisia named Ruqqa, and not al-Raqqi, from Raqqa, the ancient city on the Euphrates in northern Mesopotamia. The letter was sent from Fustat to Alexandria, for the writer refers to goods brought by him from North Africa ("the West"), but still remaining in the town of the receiver of the letter (sec. D). Many other details in this letter tally with this assumption. The writer most probably left Alexandria on a Thursday and passed the Sabbath in Fuwwa, where he embarked on a Nile boat; or he could have made the whole journey on a boat, using the KhalIj canal, which connected Alexandria with the Nile. See Med. Soc., i, 298-299." Goitein, Letters, 239–40. “People occasionally explain why they had not done something that was expected of them by their frame of mind, their mood, or their lack of nahda, energy, verve, bounce, pep.” Cf. the word ruḥiyya in this letter, and Med Soc V, x, B, 2, no. 111. From the letter: "Business here is slow and practically at a standstill. For there is much confusion in the rate of exchange and, at the present time, 50 dirhems are to be had for 1 dinar, more [or less]. An epidemic is raging in the environs of the town, and because of this, the flow of good dirhems has been cut off so that everyone is having difficulties with his business." Med Soc I, 379, no. 41. The word for epidemic here is بئة, a derivative of وباء, see Lane and Blau.

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 Moshe b. Elʿazar the teacher (ha-Melammed) to Elʿazar the scholar (ha-Talmid). In Hebrew (for the introduction and address) and Judaeo-Arabic (for the body). The writer excuses himself for not having written earlier because of illnesses. Probably there is an epidemic: amrāḍ wa-awjāʿ wa-mawt. He reports that al-Ḥamishi ('the Fifth') died, but the addressee's family is well. They have moved to a new location. Abū l-Maʿānī al-Kohen sends regards. The writer begs indulgence "for the magnitude of my ignorance, for I wrote this (letter) after drinking the medicine. I am sick. I did not know what/how to write [...]. I know that you will not blame me for this." It is not completely clear what lapse he is referring to. Perhaps the lapse of having written God's name incorrectly (פאללל) and crossing it out in the previous line. Information in part from Goitein's index cards. ASE.

Letter from חצרייה(?) and her mother to פוצילא. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably no earlier than 14th century. The writers report on the condition of the neighborhood, which is stricken with an epidemic (magefa) and, barukh ha-shem, various people in the addressee's family have been stricken (inḍarabū). No one is left in the house except for the writer, the daughters (באנת = בנאת?) and the female slave. There is a postscript, "Do not blame your mother, because your mother has no sense. This is Shuml (=Shemuel?)." Needs further examination.

Responsum (FGP). Dating: 17th century. There is a detailed description and edition on FGP.

Letter from an unknown writer, in Rashīd, to the sage R. Badosa, in Fustat/Cairo. In Hebrew. Dating: Second half of the 16th century. The writer describes the fear in Rashīd that an epidemic will break out. In the continuation it becomes apparent that the epidemic is already in Fustat/Cairo. The writer heard from Yiṣḥaq Ashkenazi and from Yeshuʿa Zimati(?) that for five days there has been no new case (in Fustat/Cairo). The writer is about to embark on a journey to flee the epidemic. He has hired passage to an unnamed location on a ship from Damietta (? דמאת) together with Yosef Ṭaffār and some other "good Jews." They plan to leave on Friday. If the addressee should wish to come to Rashīd, he should not carry any money with him, because the roads are dangerous. The writer's sister will remain Rashīd until the addressee arrives; in the meantime, the writer has made all necessary provisions for her. Information in part from FGP. ASE

Letter draft from an anonymous shaliaḥ, in Fustat/Cairo, to an unknown addressee, in Jerusalem. In Hebrew. Dated: Monday, 22 Raḥamim, 5595 AM, which is 1835 CE. There is some ambiguity about the specific day. If Raḥamim is Elul, the 22nd should have been a Wednesday. But perhaps Raḥamim here means Av, when the 22nd did fall on a Monday. The letter conveys a remarkable tale of the writer's fortunes ever since he left Jerusalem on a fundraising mission on behalf of a certain Kollel. He first went to Gaza (not Giza as his spelling might suggest), where he bought passage to Suez with some gentiles from Bethlehem. In Suez (or before arriving there?), he came down with a terrible fever for ~24 days. He paid a Muslim woman a qirsh a day to wash his soiled clothing in the sea. When he entered the city, he found an epidemic (cholera?). All the gentiles were trying to flee in boats to Jedda. The writer too tried to flee, but a certain officer came and commandeered the boat, kicking him and a group of Damascenes off of the boat. The writer then had a second bout of fever ("my whole body burnt, and my tongue cleaved to my palate, and I went to the doctor, who treated/cured me a second time"). By this point all his money had run out. Shortly thereafter he developed an eye disease. There follows a long tale of how he relied on the hospitality and charity of various strangers, mentioning various "polisas" (securities), various letters proving his status as a shaliaḥ that he had to present, and various people--Jews and gentiles--whom he turned to for help. Relatively early on he made his way to Fustat/Cairo, where he had little success raising money or gaining allies. The capitation tax collector (baʿal ha-kharāj) apprehended him for failing to pay for 'the third year' (he had only paid for the years '50 and '51) and he spent three days in prison, where he fell ill again for the fourth time. He got out of prison through the intercession of Muʿallim Bekhor. His subsequent luck raising money was no more successful than before. He mentions going to the Beit Midrash to sleep there, because he had nowhere else to turn. The end of this letter is a plea for the addressee to send him money. The letter ends mid-sentence, and there is no address, suggesting that it was never sent (and thus could find its way into the Geniza). ASE.

Business letter from Avraham Kolon (קולון) to Yosef Ardiʿa (ארדיעה). In Hebrew. Dating: Monday, 5 Adar [5318 AM], which is 1558 CE (see A. David's article for explanation of the date). The sender was delayed 8 days in Rashīd, as he could not find any camels/cameldrivers to hire, so he sent his perfumes/spices by Nile barge (גרמי). He and R. Yosef have found no buyers for the (ostrich) feather or for the ginger, but he has managed to sell some of the addressee's indigo (אנייר = añir = añil, originally from Arabic al-nīl). If there is a difficult epidemic in Fustat/Cairo, the addressee should put all the goods of Yaʿaqov לוחמית and Yiṣḥaq פורדוניל in storage (? באוצר), as this is not the time to leave any goods with any person. (Information from Avraham David's edition.)

Letter of recommendation sent from Ramla, presumably to Fustat. In Hebrew. On behalf of Moshe b. Shemuel. His father Shemuel died this winter, as there was a great epidemic (dever) in Ramla this winter, in which many died 'of our Jewish brethren.' Shemuel left a widow, his son Moshe, and a 7-year-old daughter.

Letter from Moshe b. Binyamin Ashkenazi, probably in Fustat/Cairo, to Avraham Castro, probably in Alexandria or Jerusalem. Dating: 16th century. The sender describes how "from the other week we have been shut in, because the epidemic began (כי החל הנגף). Most of those who were stricken have recovered, "except for 2 or 3 infants," but the epidemic continues in Cairo. (Information from A. David's edition.)