Geniza Lab

Letter from Yosef b. Musa al-Tahirti from Mahdiyya, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1058. Mentions several goods including silk, copper, and seashells. Mentions family matters. The writer is concerned about family members and especially about girls that became orphans. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, vol. 3, pp. 215-224, #367). VMR

Bill of release, dated 1066 in Fusṭāṭ (29 Kislev 1377), in which Natan ha-Kohen b. Yeshuʿa gives a bill of divorce to his fiancée Sittān bat Yaḥyā, and she releases him from any claim. The release is given to Yefet who serves as a proxy to take the document to Tyre. Signed by Shemuel b. Yizhaq, Ḥayyim b. ʿAmmār, Faraḥ b. Yosef, […] b. Naʿm, Moshe ha-Levi b. Shela, Elʿazar Ibn ha-Shofeṭ, […] ha-Levi b. Ḥalfon, and Yehuda b. […]. Information from GRU catalog via FGP.

Power of attorney from Yisrael b. Yosef Januni to Nahray b. Nissim to collect the debt owed by Menashshe b. David, Qayrawan, ca. 1055 CE. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Shelomo Ha-Kohen Gaon b. Yehosef to a notable in Fustat and to its Jewish communities. This is the second leaf of a longer letter, which was pasted onto the (now lost) upper leaf. In Hebrew. Dating: 1025 CE. In particular, the letter is written to Yefet b. Toviyya (known as al-Nīlī, the indigo merchant), David b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Nasi, and Shelomo b. Ḥakīm al-Fāsī, and also to the heads of the congregations, the elders of the Jerusalemite and Babylonian communities, in which the Gaʾon asks that the recipients hasten to obtain, on his behalf, an overdue letter confirming his office from the caliph in Egypt (specifically al-Ẓāhir (r. 1021–35 CE)). It mentions the noble ḥaver Toviyya, who has come from Jerusalem, and refers to the Jerusalem Talmud. The Gaʾon complains about intercommunal strife, particularly in respect of Muḥsin b. Ḥusayn, who is praying at home rather than at the synagogue. (Information from CUDL and Goitein.)

Letter from one of the followers of Natan b. Avraham. Dating: probably 1042 CE. On verso there are astronomical calculations regarding the position of the moon. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Yeshua ha-Ḥaver b. Zabaga, who moved from Jerusalem to Fustat with his family, asking for help from the community in Fustat. He wote a few letters and left space to write the addressees. In this letter, he wrote "Avraham ha-Kohen b. Yosef". Around 1030. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2 p. 621, #338) VMR

Letter from the people of the Palestine Yeshiva to the community (qahal) of Fustat, probably approximately 1080.

Letter fragment from the lepers of Tiberias to Shelomo b. Eli, probably in Tripoli, Lebanon, approximately 1030. Verso: End of the address.

Letter fragment from Yisrael b. Natan, in Jerusalem, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat, ca. 1060, the 17th of Tamuz. Mentions Ramla. (Information from Ed. Gil, Palestine, vol. 3, pp. 158-159, #478) VMR

Letter from Eliyyahu Ha-Kohen b. Shelomo Gaon to David Nasi b. Hizqiyyahu. Ca. mid-11th century.

Letter from a Damascene Karaite to a Karaite leader in Fustat, approximately 1040.

Colophon to R. Saadya Gaon's commentary to one of the prayers (תפילת שמונה עשרה), written in Ashkelon in 1061. Verso: the beginning of R. Saadya Gaon's Arabic commentary to the same prayer. (Gil, Palestine, vol. 3, 327, Doc. #528). VMR

Incomplete letter from Abun b. Sadaqah, Jerusalem, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. October 1065 according to Gil. Deals with the sale of quarter dinars. Two dinars went to Nahray's uncle Surur b. Sahlan. Describes a flood: "All the people living above and below it were scared. The reservoir (?) overflowed into the cellars (?), and the residents cried out, and I went to the house and witnessed terrible things...." ASE.

Letter from Natan b. Avraham, probably Fustat, to Mevorakh b. David in Qayrawan, approximately 1037.

Letter from Yeshu'a ha-Kohen b. Avraham ha-Kohen ha-Glili to Yosef b. Yeshu'a, approximately 1010.

Legal document, testimony from a woman concerning her debt and her husband's inheritance. In the hand of Yefet b. David, the scribe of Efrayim b. Shemarya’s court in Egypt, second quarter of the eleventh century. Refers to Yiṣḥaq ha-Kohen (probably b. Furat).

Letter from Jerusalem written on recto and verso to someone addressed as 'my son and master' (probably Avraham ha-Kohen b. Yiṣḥaq b. Furat). First half of the eleventh century.

Deed of compensation from the court of Efrayim b. Shemarya and in his handwriting. Concerning people from Tyre and a partnership, starting with an Arabic basmala.. (Information from E. Bareket, "The leaders of the Jews in Fustat", vol. 1 pp. 71-72, vol. 2, pp. 290, 380). VMR

Account of the Qodesh: building expenditures, ca. 1044 SH [11-12-86] Fragment of a leaf written by Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya, torn at its upper and right edges. Materials for carpentry work are mentioned, acacia and sesbania, nails, locks, and doors. The grapes bought for the sum of one dinar were apparently for the synagogue, where they were probably made into wine to be used in the synagogue services, and stored in jugs. August, the month in which this took place, was the vintage month in Egypt. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 207 #29)

Letter fragment from the lepers of Tiberias, approximately 1030. There are only traces of text on verso.