Geniza Lab

Mercantile letter. Dating: Probably 11th century. The sender's hand may be known. His relationship with the addressee is very strained. He complains of his bad situation and lack of money. He cites Bereshit Rabba 84 on Job 3:26 ("I had no repose - from Esau; no quiet - from Laban; no rest - from Dina") and rephrases it for his own situation: "I had no repose - from Fustat; no quiet - from Cairo; no rest - from travel." He also mentions, "Ever since I met you in Bijaya, your love was bound up in my heart, and our souls mingled, and our limbs joined." But now, "the situation is such that I pray to God that I not encounter you, and if I see you coming, I take a different path to avoid you." Merits further examination. ASE

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim in Alexandria to Abu Ishaq Avraham b. Hananel, known as Awad, in Fustat, in which the writer asks for information about prices of goods in Fustat, ca. 1045-1096.

Letter from Yisrael B. Natan, Jerusalem, to Nahray B. Nissim, Fustat. Includes details about the agreement between Daniel B. Azarya and the brothers Yosef and Eliya the Cohanim, sons of Shelomo Gaon. December 20, 1051. VMR

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat, to Abu al-Faraj Yeshu'a b. Ismail, Upper Egypt. The recipient is buying goods. Nahray writes with the news of Abu Imran's death, to confirm that Abu al-Faraj has the money from previous trades, and to discuss future ones.

Letter from Isma’il b. Farah, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. September 23, 1056. The letter contains details about shipments of money and goods, and several requests to send letters, as well as requests related to buying goods (mainly sugar) and selling goods (mainly silk) in Fustat. Also mentions a large shipment of wax that was sent to the government. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #490) VMR

Letter from Yosef b. Sahl ha-Bardani in Tripoli, Lebanon, to Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat, ca. 1060.

Letter from Yisrael B. Natan, Jerusalem, to Nahray B. Nissim, Fustat. Israel suggests Nahariya to get out of a deal he made and asks for money to buy clothes. The letter includes the news that the "Rosh" - Daniel B. Azarya is coming to Jerusalem, via Nablus, and about his meeting with Eliya HaCohen, son of Shelomo Gaon. August 24, 1052. VMR

Letter from Avraham b. Yitzhak al-Andalusi, Jerusalem, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat, ca. 1065.

Letter from Natan b. Nahray, Alexandria, to his father, Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat, concerning the arrival of ships, ca. 1045-1096.

Letter from Natan b. Nissim in Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat, from 1080s. Natan sends his regards to Avraham b. R. Yaʿaqov Darʿi. (Information from Frenkel)

Letter from Awad b. Hanan'el in Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat, in which the writer complains of hardships he has endured, and asks for details about prices of goods in Fustat, ca. 1045-1096.

Letter of business from 'Ayyash b. Sadaqa probably in Fustat to Nahray b. Nissim, probably in Busir. Mentions flax. The letter is poorly preserved. (Information from Gil)

Letter in which the writer asks his uncle to send a certain document. Refers to different business activities including trade in wheat. (Information from Goitein's index cards and CUDL)

Letter of business in which the writer requests the recipient purchase for him a measure of oil, two ‘futa’ (sari-like cloth), and two dinars of dried fruit (‘zabib’). Abu Imran, Abu al-Rida, and the town of Qus are mentioned, and the writer sends greeting to Abu al-Faraj and Yishaq. EMS (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter fragment (right half of recto, left half of verso) from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, Qalyub, to a family member in Fustat. It is primarily concerned with the commodities of saffron and safflower (specifically that the miller doesn't cheat them out of the right amount of saffron or dilute it with safflower), along with a report of products ground by the miller by request. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 270-272, 585.) There are Hebrew alphabet and Arabic jottings in the margins. Moshe mentions someone named al-Siqilli; a young donkey (jahsh); three children who have been sickened; dragon's blood (dam akhawayn); EMS. ASE.

Verso (original use): Left half of an Arabic-script letter with wide line-spacing. Refers to the wages owed for transport of wheat. Reused for a letter from ʿIwaḍ b. Ḥananel to Nahray b. Nissim (see separate entry).

Secondary use: Letter from ʿIwāḍ b. Ḥananʾel to Nahray b. Nissim. Dating: 1045–96. Dealing with numerous business matters. He reports that Shemuel dropped a vessel or gourd (fuqqāʿa) full of honey into the Nile.

Fragment of a letter from Amr b. Ibrahim to Cairo dealing with commercial matters. The sender mentions that he delivered some of the addressee's letters to a third person.

Letter from a father to a son, containing detailed instructions concerning items that the sender sent and that the addressee should purchase. Gives specific quantities together with or underneath each item. Verso contains what is presumably the reply from the son to the father, but without information about commodities, only a report on the sender's dire gastrointestinal illness. "Do not ask what happened to me on Sunday when I (or: you) traveled. There came over me [...] from 20 directions, diarrhea and vomiting and more (ishāl wa-istifrāgh wa-akthar). No one thought I would live, but thank God that everything ended well, and I am doing well, thank God." There are also a couple lines of accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. ASE

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragmentary. Dating: 11th century. The sender has sent a purse containing 8 dinars to be given to his family members; mentions Fuwwa and Abū l-Faraj the tax farmer; 10 dinars; flax; someone arriving in Dahrūṭ; and asks the addressee to collect the money owed to the sender in the Rīf.