Geniza Lab

Business letter from Yosef b. Avraham, in Aden, to Avraham Ibn Yiju, on the Malabar Coast of India. Dating: ca. 1137–40. The letter goes into detail regarding the various dealings between the two merchants. The letter contains, among the mention of many other copper items, a very detailed description of a copper lamp that Yosef asks Avraham to make for him in his copper workshop in India.

Letter from Avraham Ibn Yiju, in Fustat, to his brother, Yosef, in Mazara, Sicily. Written in September 1152.

Memorandum from Yosef b. Avraham to Abu Nasr al-Halabi. Aden, ca. 1130-50.

Letter from a novice India trader, ʿAydhāb, to his brother, Libya. Dating: 1103. Complains about the hardships of travel from Fustat to ʿAydhāb. He had run into Makhlūf b. Moshe, known as ʿAyn Sarra (Goitein's rendering of the name, "the son of the man with the gladdening eye(s)," missed the interlinear addition; Elbaum and Rustow render it "Happy Eyes"), who told him about how pleasant life was in India, and at least as the writer represents the situation to his brother-in-law — guiltily, as he had left home without saying goodbye — he somewhat spontaneously decided to travel to India. It would be significant if the barriers to entering the Indian Ocean trade were as low as they seem here. Yet he also complains — with puns — about various locations in the Red Sea (ʿAydhāb/ʿadhāb, Dahlak/muhlik, etc), again presumably in order to reassure his brother-in-law that he wasn't actually enjoying himself. On Happy Eyes, Goitein writes that this man had settled in Alexandria, Egypt, where he possessed a valuable house. He also possessed a house in Barqa, eastern Libya. Cf. T-S NS J241. (Goitein, Med. Soc., x, B, 2, 136) On verso, line 1, there is a phrase from Isaiah (25:1), "emuna omen," “steadfast faith,” which seems to be the equivalent of "burn after reading". It appears on 13 other geniza letters, usually at the end of the address, but it's only in this letter that its meaning becomes totally clear: it seems to have served as a code-word indicating a confidential letter, absolutely not to be shared with others. Its other appearances: Bodl. MS Heb. a 2/16, Bodl. MS Heb. b 11/22, Bodl. MS Heb. c 28/56, CUL Or.1080 J38, T-S 10J10.15, T-S 10J16.7, T-S 10J17.9, T-S 10J25.3, T-S 13J27.11, T-S 8J13.13, T-S 8J17.3, T-S 8J20.14 and T-S 8J23.12.

Letter from Maḍmūn b. Ḥasan, in Aden, to Avraham Yijū, on the Mangalore coast of India. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 1130s CE. There are two copies preserved: T-S 6J4.14 + T-S 18J2.7 (India Book II,13 + 14) and JRL Gaster heb. ms 1863/13 + T-S 12.416 (India Book II,15).

List of customs paid in Aydhab by Avraham Ibn Yiju, around 1152. III 40a is the top of the page. III, 40b is the bottom of the page. III, 40c is the verso, a draft of a letter written by Avraham b. Yiju for another man and having nothing to do with the India trade, and therefore not edited in Goitein-Friedman. It is, however, edited in Assaf, Texts, 149-51.

Instructions for manumission of a female slave written by Avraham Ibn Yiju. III 40a is the top of the page. III, 40b is the bottom of the page. III, 40c is the verso, a draft of a letter written by Avraham b. Yiju for another man and having nothing to do with the India trade, and therefore not edited in Goitein-Friedman. It is, however, edited in Assaf, Texts, 149-51.

Legal testimony. In Judaeo-Arabic. Location: Fustat. Dating: ca. 1156 CE. Sitt al-Ahl bt. Sayyid al-Kull, the widow of Hiba b. Abū Saʿd who had drowned near Aden (see PER H 161), declares that she has received from Abū l-Surūr Peraḥya b. Tiqva ha-Levi known as Ibn al-Amʿaṭ, a certain sum from the estate of her late husband. Sitt al-Ahl's father Sayyid al-Kull is also known as the druggist Hillel b. Naḥman. (Information from India Book.)

Legal document detailing how Ṣāfī, the slave (ghulām) and agent of the Jewish Academy in Fustat, insulted a notable in ʿAydhāb, Ibn Jamāhīr, in the presence of Jewish merchants. Ṣāfī accused the man of having a child with a female slave and then disposing of her, in Berbera, on the African coast. Ibn Jamāhīr filed a complaint of slander against the ghulām, although the governor tried to convince him otherwise because of Ṣāfī's special status. Ṣāfī was ordered to be flogged and jailed, although after intervention by a Jewish merchant from the Maghreb, he was set free, although “not without loss of money.” Goitein dates the document to 1141 CE. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:133, 432) EMS

Recto: Legal document. On parchment. In the handwriting of Mevorakh b. Natan. In which Bū Saʿd Moshe b. Yefet the head Parnas leaves to his wife Sitt al-Fakhr bt. Ṭoviyya, their two daughters, and their female slave 25 dinars and 5 irdabbs of wheat for the duration of his absence in Yemen, in addition to the rent of a new house in Qaṣr al-Shamʿ in Fustat (which he has already sold to her, as certified in a separate document in her possession). Verso: Draft of a legal document. In which Sitt al-Fakhr bt. Ṭoviyya testifies that she has received from her husband Bū Saʿd Moshe b. Yefet all that was due to her from her ketubba (dated Av 1468 Seleucid = 1157 CE), including all but 5 dinars from the delayed marriage payment (muʾakhkhar) of 60 dinars and her dowry worth 400 dinars (except for the female slave who "was lost"—ran away?—from the house even before Moshe b. Yefet traveled). Moshe b. Yefet is also known from other documents; he signed PER H 161 in Yemen in 1156 CE. And T-S 8J5.23 (dated 1169 CE) is a conditional bill of divorce which he granted to Sitt al-Fakhr before departing for Yemen (perhaps T-S 8J5.23 and T-S 12.585r were drawn up at the same time, and T-S 12.585v is evidence that the conditional divorce was fulfilled?). There is additional text in the upper margin and beneath the main text block at 90 degrees. (Information in part from Goitein's index card and Ashur and Outhwaite, "Between Egypt and Yemen in the Cairo Genizah" (2014).)

Note on a deposition in court about a sending of oriental goods carried by two merchants killed in the East African port ʿAydhāb. Location: Fustat. Dating: ca. 1104 CE. Hastily written by Rabbi Avraham b. Shemaʿya. See Goitein's attached notes for a translation with extensive commentary. The goods include "a piece of Chinese jasper, a mann of Chinese (petrified) craw-fish, and 3 aprons of asbestos, which are not burnt by fire."

Probably Granada; Summer of 1138 - Spring of 1139 It is possible that the writer Shemuʾel b. Yiṣḥaq is from the b. al-Fakhr family.1 Besides a polite acknowledgment of receipt of Ḥalfon’s letter, he mentioned his sorrow over the recipient's illness, as he learned from there, and wished him a full recovery. He apologized for not being able to write in an eloquent style like Ḥalfon’s: 'I can't walk in these because I haven't tried' (1 Samuel 17:10). This motif repeats in several of the letters from Spain and even the escapees in them. The writer asked for assistance and sent blessings to 'the most glorious rabbi, the greatest genius', that is Rabbi b. Migash, his son Rabbi Meir, his brother's son Rabbi Meir, his 'comrade' Ya’qub, and the rest of the 'brothers'. The writer's brother also blessed Ḥalfon, and it is possible that he is the author of certificate ח43.2 (Information from Goitein and Friedman, India Book IV)

Letter from [...] b. Avraham ha-Kohen to Abū l-ʿAlā' Ṣāʿid b. al-Munajjā al-Ne'eman. In Judaeo-Arabic (recto) and Arabic script (verso; the text block containing 8 lines of Arabic script appears to be a postscript to the previously Judaeo-Arabic letter). Contains a great deal of information about business arrangements. People mention include Abū Muḥam[mad] al-Ḥalabī, Abū l-Māḍī Khalīfa known as אלכאורגֿי al-Ḥalabī the Muslim, Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf al-Raqqī, Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAllān, and Bū l-Ḥasan Zikrī. Concludes with greetings, "written on the 6th of Kislev," and then a postscript about how "the testimony that is between me and her (or: you?) is deposited with Salāma b. Saʿīd." In the Arabic-script postscript on verso, he reports that the wife of Abū Saʿd al-Muqaddasī has begun to recover (qad tawajjahat) [from her illness]. He then mentions Abū l-Najm Hilāl and having sent a gourd/vessel (fuqqāʿa) of oil with somebody to Abū Ṭāhir. There may be Goitein attachments for this document that have yet to be uploaded.

Letter from Yeḥezqel b. Netanel, in Qalyūb, to his brother Ḥalfon b. Netanel, in Alexandria. Dated: Friday, 7 Shevaṭ [4900 AM], which is 29 December 1139 CE. Written on a reused state document in Arabic script. (Information from India Book 4; Hebrew description below.)

Partnership or investment (ʿisqa) agreement. Probably from a court notebook. Between Ḥalfon b. Netanel ha-Levi and Abū Yaʿaqov Yosef b. Shuʿayb/Shaʾul Ibn al-Najera. Location: Fez. Dated: Last decade of Ṭevet 4898 AM, which is January 1138 CE. (Ḥalfon's father Netanel was still alive when this document was written.) No witnesses. The document is written almost entirely as a first-person declaration by Ibn al-Najera. He has contributed 40 murābiṭī mithqāls and Ḥalfon has contributed 60 murābiṭī mithqāls to the partnership. The active partner (the sole partner doing business with the money) is Ibn al-Najera. (Information from India Book IV; Hebrew description below.)

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Addressed to a certain Avraham, c/o the shop of Abū l-Ḥasan al-Ṣā'igh, in Fustat. The sender asks the addressee to send two cubits of malā'is(?) with the muleteer (al-mukārī). It seems that the sender will send the price back with him. “If Ibn ʿAmmār arrives, inquire from him about the news of my paternal uncle. For a man named ʿAṭṭāf b. Maḥmūd Ibn Sākin arrived and reported that my uncle with a group of […] merchants arrived in Java . . . . . from Java to . . the land(s), and [that] they are well, may God reunite us quickly, God willing.” ASE

Egypt, probably Qalyūb; After 22 of Tevet; December 15, 1139 Ezekiel tells Ḥalfon about his actions after his visit to him in Alexandria. The trip on the Nile was difficult and took a long time. A few days after he returned to Cairo, he went to the village of Benha, to market such expensive silk. Abu Ishak was also there, but the writer did not have the opportunity to meet him. After finishing his business, Yeḥezqel returned to Cairo or Qalyūb, his permanent residence. His younger son Abu al-Fakhr stayed with Ḥalfon in Alexandria, and the writer asked his brother to repay him a favor. Towards the end of the letter, news about the imprisonment of Vizier Riḍwān. Yeḥezqel apologized for the hasty writing. Indeed, he omitted boxes and letters and made other mistakes, including a mistake in the date of the letter. Although there is doubt as to which date was meant there, the rest of the dates mentioned in the letter, which were given according to the day of the week and the day of the month - without specifying the year - are accurate, and they correspond to 1139.2 (Information from Goitein and Friedman, India Book IV)

India Book 4 (Hebrew description below; English to come)

Letter from Abū Naṣr b. Avraham, in Alexandria, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel ha-Levi, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 3 Sivan (4901 AM), which is 11 May 1141 CE. This is the second and last page of a large letter. The first page has been lost. This letter was written when Yehuda ha-Levi was on the ship in Alexandria. Abū Naṣr reports on Ibn al-Baṣrī, a Jew who converted to Islam and caused an uproar in Alexandria. India Book 4 (Hebrew description below; full English to come)

Letter from Ibn Barukh, in Almeria, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel. Dating: Probably end of summer 1138 CE. (Information from Goitein and Friedman, India Book 4; full Hebrew description below.)