Geniza Lab

Informal note addressed to al-mawlā R. Moshe asking him to help procure half a wayba of wheat as charity, perhaps for the bearer.

Informal note in Judaeo-Arabic. "R. Natan ha-Kohen b. Shelomo spoke with asked Rab[benu?] ha-Meʿule, and he said to him, 'I heard that Abū l-Faraj al-Jab[īlī?] divorced his wife with a get.' Inquire about this for me." Abū l-Faraj al-Jabīlī (or al-Jubaylī?) appears in several other documents from the mid-12th century.

Informal note to a certain Abū l-Ḥasan. The writer was forced to go up to Cairo, so he informs the addressee that he is sending him the quarter-dinar (rubāʿī) that he had obtained (?) while in Fustat. He asks that the addressee send him 'the note' (al-ruqʿa) in return.

Informal note from the cantor Abū Sahl Levi to his son Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi (identification based on handwriting and typical content). In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Prior to 1211 CE. The writer gives repeated assurances that Moshe's brother Abū l-Ḥasan (Yedutun) is doing well. Abū l-Ḥasan even asked to write this letter in his own hand, but the writer feared this would tax him and make him weak. Abū l-Ḥasan is administering his own medicine. Another note on the same topic: ENA NS 32.14, in which the recipient is identified as Moshe and Abū l-Ḥasan is identified his brother. ASE.

Money order. In Arabic script with a Hebrew 'emet' at the top. Abū l-Faraj is asked to pay 2.5 dirhams to the bearer Sayyid Muḥammad (or Bū Majd?). Information from Goitein's note card.

Memorandum from Yosef b. Avraham to Ishaq Nafusi. Aden, 1130s.

Memorandum by Khalfa b. Ishaq b. Menahem from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1045. Regarding a large deal of beads. The writer addresses Nahray’s sense of responsibility, because of the writer’ special connections with Nahray’s cousin, Barhun b. Ishaq al-Tahirti, and because of the fact that he “raised” Nahray. He asks to inform Hesed b. Yashar ha-Tustari with the deal’s details. One of Nahray’s assistants added several details about the shipment in the bottom of the letter. Nahray wrote on the other side account details regarding Khalfa b. Ishaq. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #560) VMR

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer gives instructions to obtain various sums of money from various people: 3 3/4 dirham from [...] al-Sharābī, 10 dirhams from Abū l-Faraj b. Nabīqa, 4 dirhams from Sulaymān b. Dā'ūd. On verso he sends regards to his mother, his paternal uncle, the addressee's wife Sitt Kāfūr, and the addressee's brother Abū l-Faḍl. There are also some mysterious jottings around the margins.

Informal note in Judaeo-Arabic, with a few jottings in Arabic script. The writer asks the addressee (al-Muʿallim) to go to Abū l-Ḥasan, because the writer needs him to do something for him.

Letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer seem to explain why he had not paid anything to the addressee. He has also sent him some money to make purchases, including of olives(?), seeds, sumac(?), and salt.

Informal note. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer asks Abū Isḥāq to obtain for (?bi-rasm) Abū l-ʿAlā' a piece of fabric of high quality (jayyid rafīʿ) and close weave (ṣafīq) with the pattern (?ṭarḥ) of a grid, which he draws in the margin.

Note from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to Abū l-ʿAlā'. In Judaeo-Arabic. He asks Abū l-ʿAla' him to come together with Abū l-Barakāt in order to cut and tailor a piece of fabric for him.

Informal note. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer wants the addressee to obtain a letter confirming the receipt of the 2 1/6 dinars from Manṣūr b. Dā'ūd, and to inform al-Shaykh al-Sadīd that the writer has written him several letters and not received a response, and to obtain the six [...] from him.

Informal note in Judaeo-Arabic. "The slave did what the master ordered, and my delay pains me."

Recto: Remnants of an Arabic-script document. Verso: Informal note in Judaeo-Arabic asking the addressee to do something because the writer cannot.

Informal notes in Judaeo-Arabic, one on each side. Neither note seems complete. Recto: inviting al-Shaykh al-Nafīs to "come out (perhaps from Fustat to the Rif) and enjoy yourself." Verso: Asking the writer's father to kindly obtain for him an ounce and a half of raw quince syrup.

Short note instructing the addressee to investigate the inheritance left by Abu Nasr b. Banin, who died in Minya. In the hand of Avraham Maimonides.

In a short note, a letter brought by Tiqva b. 'Amram from Farah b. 'Ayyash is presented to the court in Cairo. The letter was studied by Ezekiel ha-Kohen he-Ḥaver b. Eli. Dated Sivan 1416/May 1105. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, 213, and from Goitein's index cards.) CUDL description: Testimony by Ezekiel ha-Kohen he-Ḥaver b. ʿEli he-Ḥaver, dated 9th Sivan 1416 (= 1105 CE), and referring to Faraḥ b. ʿAyyāsh and Tiqva b. ʿAmram. Written and signed by Abraham b. Nathan Av Bet Din; witnessed by Shela ha-Levi b. Moses the teacher, [...] b. Shemarya and [...] b. Jacob. (Information from CUDL)

Informal notes (or formularies?) in Judaeo-Arabic (labeled א and ב). Needs examination.

Letter. Memorandum from Abu Zikri Kohen to Mahruz. Alexandria, ca. 1136-1149.