Geniza Lab

Letter from Shemuʾel b. Eli gaʾon, in Baghdad, in the hand of Yosef b. Yaʿaqov b. ʿEli Rosh ha-Seder of Irbīl, second half of the 11th century. Deals with just judgment. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #81, and from Amir Ashur and Marina Rustow)

Letter from Shemuel b. Eli Gaʾon in Baghdad to an unknown person. In the hand of his disciple Yosef b. Yaʿaqov Rosh ha-Seder of Irbīl. The sender mentions that the community members do not fulfill their duties towards the yeshiva. Also discusses the problem of girls forced to marry against their will. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 207. See also Goitein index card.)

Beginning of a calligraphic letter in Hebrew rhymed prose by Shemuel ha-Levi b. Eli, the gaʾon ("head of the academy of the diaspora") in Baghdad (1164–93). Gil identified this as his handwriting, but Amir Ashur and Marina Rustow believe this to be the very distinctive hand of his disciple R. Yosef b. Yaʿaqov Rosh ha-Seder of Irbil. (Information from Gil, from Goitein's index cards and from Marina Rustow)

Responsum by the court of the Babylonian Gaʾon Shemuel b. ʿEli. Dated: Ḥeshvan 1478 Seleucid, which is 1166 CE. Concerns inheritance issues between Yosef and Maʿālī and their wives on one side and an orphan on the other. Strongly worded. Copied in the hand of Yosef b. Yaʿaqov rosh ha-seder of Irbīl. (Information from CUDL, Goitein's index card and Amir Ashur.) VMR

Letter from Shemuʾel b. Eli gaʾon in Baghdad. Contains the names Gūlā (גולא) b. Khalaf and Manṣūr b. Kūtā (כותא). Partially written in Aramaic. Gil and CUDL say this is an autograph, but according to Amir Ashur and Marina Rustow, this hand is identical to that of the gaʾon's disciple Yosef b. Yaʿaqov rosh ha-seder of Irbīl. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #79, and from Marina Rustow.) The extant text includes blessings from the opening of the letter and makes a reference to debts. Biblical quotations are introduced by שנא and marked with pairs of supralinear dots. (Information from CUDL)

The address on a letter from Zekharya b. Berakhel to Shemuel b. Eli gaʾon. Seems like this fragment held several letters. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #84) VMR

Legal query addressed to Shemuel b. ʿEli (active ca. 1164–97; identification based on handwriting of the responsum on verso) concerning a man whose son becomes engaged to a woman but calls off the wedding. Can they recoup the early marriage payment that was already paid? On verso is the full responsum in the hand of Shemuel b. ʿEli, answering that whatever was already paid is like a deposit and does not belong to the bride until the wedding, so she must return it. It seems that precisely because of this eventuality, many engagement contracts stipulate that the bride would receive the muqaddam in full or in part if the groom should renege on the promise to marry (and he would get it back if she reneges). Information from Ashur dissertation and FGP description. See also Goitein's note card.

Letter from Shemuel b. Eli gaʾon, Baghdad, addressing community members and asking them to welcome Shemuel b. Shelomo ha-Kohen from Ashkenaz, who was forced to leave his home and needs their help. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #83) VMR

Pastoral letter with widely-spaced lines, from a Nasi, possibly David b. Daniel. Announcing that Meʾir ha-Sar and Yiṣḥaq ha-Dayyan will appoint all ritual slaughterers (טבחים) and guards in the community addressed and look after their religious needs. "Elsewhere in the same letter the writer announces another of the prerogatives he plans to exercise over the community and, at the same time, justifies his authority: 'We shall select ten elders out of your notables and strengthen their arms so that they may lead the people, as it is incumbent on us to appoint elders, judges, and magistrates. This is our inheritance and that of our forefather King Jehosaphat, as it is written in Scripture: 'And he set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah' (II Chronicles 19:5)." Cohen, Jewish Self-Government, 208–09. On the other side, there is an astronomical piyyuṭ. In the bottom and left margins, there is a "narrative of the dreadful calamities that occurred in Lucena (אליסאנה), may God protect it." (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)

Diwan of Anatoly b. Yosef and epistles of Shemuel b. ʿEli. See S. M. Stern, "A Twelfth-century circle of Hebrew poets in Sicily: Anatoli ben Yosef the Judge and his friends," JJS 5 (1954): 60–79 (pp. 62-63, 65) and Simḥa Assaf, "קובץ של אגרות ר' שמואל בן עלי ובני דורו," Tarbiz 1 (1930), p. 112 and 3 (1932) p. 346.

Epistle of the gaon Shemuel b. ʿEli of Baghdad. There is a colophon. This copy was completed Tishrei [1]473 Seleucid, which is 1161 CE. "In it [this copy] there is a shahāda of R. Yaʿaqov ha-Kohen b. Yosef." There is an addendum dated Tammuz 1486(?) Seleucid (which would be 1175 CE if this is the correct reading), added in Aleppo. Joins with T-S 8J2 and ENA 4011.74.