Geniza Lab

Letter from Barhūn b. Yisḥaq al-Tāhirti to Nahray b. Nissim. Dating: 1045–96 CE. The sons of the late Nagid, who are owed favors, have asked Barhūn to help their cousin (ibn khāl) travel to Alexandria. Barhūn wonders if Nahray might take him along when he travels. Barhūn has already asked a certain Abū Isḥāq (apparently another Barhūn) to give the cousin 50 dirhams. Nahray should make sure Abū Isḥāq has done that, and perhaps he can also contribute some money of his own. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, pp. 303-304.)

Letter from Yosef ha-Kohen b. Ḥalfon, al-Maḥalla, to Binyamin b. Yaʿaqov (who has a son named Yaʿaqov as well), Cairo. The writer reports that he spent only a couple days in al-Muʿizziyya (Cairo) and regrets not being able to pay his respects in person before he had to travel. The letter mainly consists of blessings, with a request at the end to forward the writer's question (legal query?) to Abū l-Maʿālī.

Letter from Yeshaʿyahu ha-Kohen b. Khalaf and his son Yaʿaqov (Qifṭ) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat), ca. 1070. Describes the hardships of ship travel from Fustat to Qifṭ. The ship was attacked by pirates near Dahrūṭ and many passengers, including Yeshaʿyahu ha-Kohen and his son Yaʿaqov, were stabbed. The attackers were driven away and the ship reached Qifṭ. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 423. See also Goitein notes linked below.)

Letter from Naḥum b. Yosef al-Baradānī (Qayrawan) to his master Shemuel b. Ḥofni gaon; 7 August 999. The sender, whose family is in Iraq, has been travelling for a long time for an unnamed unpleasant reason. Qayrawan and al-Mahdiyya are among the places that he visited. The writer asks for forgiveness for writing the letter in Arabic (rather than in Hebrew) which was easier for him since he was writing in a hurry. Mentions Shemuel b. Ḥofni’s earlier letter about a difficult situation in Baghdad. Mentions a number of deaths in his family. Asks Shemuel b. Ḥofni to make sure that a certain Abū Manṣūr studies Mishna and Talmud even though he is already burdened with earning a living. The original fragment is lost; shelfmark as in Gil. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol.2, p. 158 and Goldziher, Mélanges Judéo-Arabes, REJ 50 (1905), pp. 182-183. See also Goitein notes, p. 1.) One clue that might help resolve the mystery some day: PGP at one time had a partial transcription listed under T-S 12.822v.

Legal document concerning a husband who wanted to travel to see his mother and relatives and his wife took him to court for it. He reportedly said that he would “go and come back,” to which his wife replied, “I did not believe his words” (lo he ’emanti li-devarav). (Oded Zinger, Women, Gender, and Law, 83) EMS

Letter describing a sea voyage from Tripoli to Sicily (CUDL). “Of another Jew we read in a Hebrew letter that in a large ship, in which thirty-six or -seven Jews and about three hundred Muslims traveled, he was 'the treasurer and commander' (probably fixing the fares and deciding where the goods of the merchants should be stowed). Like Makhlūf, this 'treasurer' was a scholarly person and used the time before the departure of the boat to study with the writer of that Hebrew letter, a rabbi from Christian Europe.” (Goitein, Med. Soc. x, B, 2, 139.) Bibliography: Assaf, Texts, 133.

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Benveniste (possibly from Narbonne, France), Dimyāṭ (Damietta), to Yehoshuaʿ b. Dosa asking for letters of recommendation to the government in order to be able to continue traveling. Mentions the Fatimid vizier al-Malik al-Afḍal (r. 1094–1121), Tripoli, Jabla, and the lands of Ishmael and Edom (possibly Byzantium), to which Yiṣḥaq was hoping to travel. Address in Judaeo-Arabic on verso. (Information from CUDL)

Letter in which relatives of the writer invited him to stay with them in a Christian land but he appears to have declined. Written from Benha, Lower Egypt, on the writer's way to Alexandria. The writer describes how his clothing was stolen on his travels. Dated ca. twelfth century. (Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 4:154, 396). EMS

Letter from Yosef b. Yaʿaqov b. Yahaboy, probably in Amalfi, to a partner, in al-Mahdiyya. Dating: ca. 1040. Describes a long sea voyage that lasted about 70 days on board a Christian ship. The journey probably started in Alexandria and went through Constantinople, Crete and Amalfi. Yosef b. Yaʿaqov b. Yahaboy asks his partner to sell some flax and indigo and instructs him what to do with the money that he will receive. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 390.)

Fragment from guide for pilgrims.

Letter from Mūsā b. Abī al-Ḥay (Tinnīs) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat), ca. 1062. Mūsā reached Tinnīs by land because he was scared to travel by ship while carrying money. The letter contains a detailed account of wares that he sold or bought, especially pellitory (Anacyclus Pyrethrum) and flax. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 509 and Goitein notes linked below.)