Geniza Lab

Fragment from the beginning of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic, mentioning that the addressee recovered (naqahtu) from an illness. Also mentions Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm [al-Q?]ābisī.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions an illness (maraḍ) and aṣḥābunā.

Calligraphic letter sent to a notable, possibly the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saadya, asking him to help Natan ha-Kohen, the legal representative of the writer's family, to obtain a favorable settlement in court for a widow and her children. She is owed 10 months' worth of maintenance payments, including for the price of the treatment of her ophthalmia. (Information from Goitein's index cards and from Goitein's hand list)

Recto: part of a large letter to the courtier Avraham b. Yashar (Abraham b. Sahl Tustari). The writer wishes him recovery from his illness, and has been praying for his health. He sends greetings to Avraham’s son Yefet (Abu 'Ali al-Ḥasan), who is to be married soon. The date is unknown but must be earlier than Avraham's death in 1047 CE. Biblical quotations are vocalised. The writer had sent a previous letter with illness-related quotations from the sages, and this letter presents illness-related verses from the Bible. The theme is that God sends illness as a trial only to the most righteous. Verso: a calligraphic Karaite legal document (engagement deed or ketubba?). Dated Sunday, the 11th of Nisan xxx4, from somewhere on the Nile (Pishon), probably Fustat. The groom is the Nasi David Yedidyah b. Yoshiyahu b. Shelomo b. [Da]vid b. Bo'az b. Yeshoshafat b. Yoshiyahu b. Sha'ul b. 'Anan. The bride is Bahiyyah bt. Shelomo b. Se'adyah. Information in part from the Cambridge University Digital Library. ASE.

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat, probably to Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tahirtī in Būsīr, ca. 1053. Nahray sends details of various sales in Fustat and of related payments. A man arrived in Fustat, who fell ill and died within 15 days. During his illness he prepared a will, leaving 10 dinars for charity in Fustat. Some of this money was given to the son of raʾs al-galut instead, whom Gil identifies as David b. Ḥezekiya. The receiver of the letter was appointed as one of the executors of the will. On verso there are illegible accounts in the hand of Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tahirtī. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 744.)

Letter from Hillel b. Yeshuʿa ha-Ḥazzan, in Tiberias, to Efrayim b. Shemarya, in Fustat. Dating: End of 1034 CE, per Gil. Soliciting funds on behalf of the community of people with skin diseases. Mentions a previous emissary Khalaf the Aleppan (כלף הצובי) who has since died. L-G Misc. 25 and T-S 10J12.22 are two copies of the same letter.

Letter from a Jewish woman, in or near Tripoli (Lebanon), to her brother-in-law, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. She is a refugee from Jerusalem who has suffered at the hands of the invading Seljuk Turks in the 1070s CE. She had to flee from Jerusalem to Tripoli, where she reports on the carnage she witnessed: ‘I was with him on the day I saw them killed in terrible fashion... I am an ill woman on the brink of insanity, on top of the hunger of my family and the little girl who are all with me, and the horrid news I heard about my son.’ She suggests it would be better to be captured since those in captivity ‘find someone who gives them food and drink’, whereas uncaptured, she and her children are starving. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter from Yehuda b. Sahl, probably in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat, ca. 1050. Mentions the sale of a house that may have belonged to Nahray. Also mentions flax and the copper trade. Yehuda b. Sahl’s wife (a relative of Nahray?) sends him regards for the holidays and prays all the time for his health. She was sick (tawajjaʿat), then Yehuda became sick, then he got better, then he relapsed, and also their daughter was sick (r14–18). His wife asks Nahray b. Nissim to send them an order of payment (suftaja) for 10 dinars (r22–23). The letter mentions Abū l-Surūr and Abū Iṣḥāq Barhūn. (Information from Gil.) ASE.

Letter of condolence from a certain Yaʿaqov to Eliyyahu the Judge ("wherever he is"). Dating: Early 13th century. In Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew. The orthography, including of biblical quotations, is phonetic and idiosyncratic. It is not clear who died. The main text consists almost entirely of condolences and exhortations to have patience (ṣabr). Four lines from the bottom, Yaʿaqov writes, "As for Abū Zikrī, the world very nearly departed him. But he is still wretched. He had patience and was consoled. He was hardly able to write to you after the terrible blow, had we not made him him write to you. . . . He lay sick in bed for a period of three months. [. . .] took up his treatment . . . until God saw fit take to His trust." (For the strange-seeming phrase "lahu marīḍ," see also ENA 2738.37.) The context is unfortunately quite difficult to decipher. It is possible that Abū Zikrī died, or, perhaps more likely, the 'taking of the trust' refers to the same person whose death provided the occasion for this letter. There is no way to know for sure, but it is plausible that this letter is connected to T-S 24.72, a letter of condolence from Abū Zikrī to his father Eliyyahu in which he describes the terrible illnesses that afflicted him after he learned of the death of his brother. ASE.

One of two drafts (the other is T-S G1.26) of a curious and obsequious letter from a man whose handwriting is known, apparently to a man named Yahya b. Khalid who has a son named Abu l-Mahasin. In this version: he describes how he saw the recipient in the kitchen on Sunday and an idea occurred to him that the recipient approved of (possibly to travel to somewhere other than Bilbays?). However, the writer decided it would be better for him to travel to Bilbays. He has not traveled yet, because it is unthinkable to travel when the doors of the house are still in their sorry state: the main door needs to be fixed, and the door of the upper floor/apartment needs to be replaced completely. He alludes to his illness. He then gives his excuse for not having come to attend the recipient (before he traveled?) as requested. He has had a fever since Friday. When he heard that his presence was requested, he was in the middle of Musaf, having just reached Ashrei, and he rushed to fulfill the command but found only the boy Abu l-Mahasin, to whom he explained the matter. He concludes with blessings. Other letters that may be in his handwriting (distinctive in part for including Arabic diacritics over Hebrew letters, e.g. two dots for "t" and three dots for "th"): T-S 12.346, T-S 8J15.20, T-S 12.652 (dated after 1165/6), and T-S AS 151.22. ASE.

Fragment of a family letter, same writer and addressee as T-S NS 338.71, mainly rebuking the addressee for the lack of letters. "Your mother and sister send you regards and adjure you by God to not cut off your letters from us more than this, for you have burned our hearts with fires, especially when we see on this blessed [holiday]. . . everyone in health. And Muslim got sick and suffered hardship and, thanks to God, returned to health. You should send regards to him and congratulate him on his health, even if you do not see fit to write to any of us. . ." ASE.

Fragment of a business letter, probably sent from Qūṣ (between lines 1 and 2). Mentions "the 8th of Shuwwāl, which is Shevat"; the writer's preoccupation on behalf of the recipient's illness; al-Shaykh ʿAllān; a rubāʿī (quarter-dinar?).

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

Letter from Saʿdān to ʿEli. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. The sender reports that he is prostrated in his house (maṭrūḥ fī l-bayt) and the doctor comes twice a day and "cuts his flesh with scissors" (wa-yaqṣuṣ laḥmahu bi-l-miqaṣṣ). Even worse is the poverty. The sender seems to be asking for money -- perhaps some of the money owed him by Abū Saʿīd -- in order to pay the doctor's fees. ASE

Letter from Yaʿaqov b. Salmān al-Ḥarīrī, in Alexandria, to his mother and father, in Qayrawān. Dating: ca. 1050 CE. The address bears the name of the writer's father Salmān b. Ibrāhīm, whom Yaʿaqov addresses at the end of the letter, but he addresses his mother for the bulk of the letter. The writer expresses his disappointment in the Maghrebis in Egypt, who did not assist him as he expected when he was newly arrived in Fustat and very ill for one month. He recovered and is now healthier than ever. When he returned to Abū l-Faraj Ibn ʿAllān who had previously promised to employ him, he found that Abū l-Faraj had lost his mother and his sister, "and was too preoccupied for me" (ishtaghala ʿannī). Yaʿaqov set out on his own and started to trade flaxes. He is planning to travel to the north, perhaps to al-Lādhiqiyya (a plan he carried out: see CUL Or.1080 J17, which he wrote from Tripoli, and T-S 8J19.27, which he wrote from Ramla). But he will wait in Alexandria until he learns what his family thinks of this plan, and he will follow their counsel. The end of the letter has the curious line, "Abū Yaḥyā is well, in complete health, and aṣḥābunā are in complete health, no one died except Abū l-Khayr b. Barukh in Tinnīs" (verso, lines 22–23)—which, along with the illness of Yaʿaqov and the deaths in Abū l-Faraj's family, suggests that there was then an epidemic. Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #661. See also ENA 2738.34, a very similar letter which Yaʿaqov wrote at the same time and addressed to his sister. VMR. ASE.

Recto: Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions a sick woman. Verso: A few words in Arabic script.

Letter of appeal for charity addressed to Rabbenu Ḥananel. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. The writer has been paralyzed (marīḍ bi-l-fālij) for two and a half years. On verso is another note in Judaeo-Arabic mentioning ha-Zaqen ha-Yaqar, but too faded to read much else.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions a serious illness (marḍa shadīda).

Letter from She'erit to Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm al-Talmid. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer heard from Abū l-Barakāt that the addressee is sick (ḍaʿīf) and is very preoccupied and hopes for a letter with news of his recovery. Abū l-Munā is also anxious for news of the addressee and his wife. The bearer of the letter, Yūsuf, is a friend of the writer, and the addressee is to help him sell the items he has with him. Regards are sent to Abū l-Faraj. ASE.

Letter from Saʿīd, probably in Alexandria, to his brother Bū l-Majd Meir b. Yakhin, probably in Fustat. Dating: early 13th century. In Judaeo-Arabic. Rudimentary handwriting and spellings. The main purpose of the letter is for the writer to convey his distress when he heard that Meir was sick (tawajjaʿta). ASE