Geniza Lab

Recto: Letter or letter draft. There is a poetic introduction in Hebrew, with wide space between the lines. The marginal text is Judaeo-Arabic, filled with deferential phrases of patronage. Verso: Letter or letter draft in Arabic script. Addressed to 'the brother.' Mentions Galen's books on the illnesses of the [body?] in the last 2 lines.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Possibly recorded by a bookseller and, based on one type of coinage in use, the yüzlük ("יוזליס" l.3r), the document dates probably to the late-18th or 19th century (the Ottoman yüzlük was not minted until 1789CE). This dating is feasible as well because on the verso there is a letter cluster that may be alphanumerical indicating the year [5]558AM or roughly 1797-1798CE (l.14v). The heading on the recto relies on the term "teslim/תסלים" or "payment" in a manner that resonates with the general language of Ottoman-era monetary transactions (l.1-2). There are many other Ottoman imperial and international coinage types listed on the recto such as "funduqli" (l.11-12) and "riyalat taqa franji" (l.14), the latter may indicate Austrian thalers or Spanish reales (Raymond, Artisans et Commerçants au Caire au XVIIIe Siècle, 23). The verso offers another heading depicting a transaciton, but many names are listed throughout the remainder of the folio. Some names may be authors of printed books and/or bound manuscripts, among them: Moshe Altaras (l.6-7v) and Reʾuven b. David Bavli (l.21v). MCD.

Recto: Letter in Judaeo-Arabic from "your brother Musa" (Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi) asking the recipent to sell for him the Mishnah and Hilkhot Shehitah and send him the money with the bearer. He also wants to buy the codices of the Torah copied by Abu Sahl the Qaraite that he had seen in the addressee's possession. He sends greetings to one of the women of the family ('al-kabirah'). Verso: the response, from "your brother Yosef b. Hillel." Yosef reports that 32 dirhams were spent on the copies made by Abu Sahl the Qaraite, but he (presumably Abu Sahl) has not yet sold them because he is asking for 60 dirhams. However, Yosef has in his possession 4.5 books (of the Torah? Mishnah?) which fetched 23 dirhams. As for the copies belonging to Moshe, Yosef has not yet been able to sell them for the price that Moshe specified, so he tells him to be patient. ASE.

Letter in Arabic script, in a beautiful hand. Dating: 11th century, based on the reference to the Tustaris. The sender is a professional scribe, probably Jewish (refers to Yom Kippur in v2) and probably a high-placed Qaraite—if the addressee fulfills his request, he will praise him before “the judges, and our elders the government officials (kuttāb), and the Tustarīs” (v9). The addressee might not be Jewish, as a Jew would not have to be told that Yom Kippur is the 10th of Tishrei. The letter contains a detailed update on a court case or some conflict revolving around book copying and book dealing. Mentions an agreement with Abū Isḥāq; liberating some money or goods from "that which they have taken this time," especially two volumes from the owner (or author?) of Dār al-Gharb(?). But the sender has been unsuccessful. Mentions a book called Taṭrīz al-Khiṭāb wa-Sharḥ al-Ṭalab, and refers to a copy in the sender's own hand that occupies five volumes (wa-dhālika awwalan al-nusakh al-mansūkha khams ajzāʾ); the material is parchment, and the value is 15 dinars. Needs further examination. ASE

Letter (possibly) from Moshe b. Yehuda, addressed to a certain Saʿīd. Dated: 23rd of the ʿOmer מטר, i.e., 5249 AM (probably), which is 1489 CE. Mentions that Yiṣḥaq Sholal (not yet the Nagid) arrived in Rashīd on business. The sender previously sent one letter from Rashīd and another with Ṣedaqa Nes. He orders silk garments to be sent with David Sofer and his son Meir. He orders the Zoharand other books. He conveys instructions for what should be given to the wife of the Shamash for his own wife. Also mentions raisins. (Information in part from Avraham David via FGP.) For more on Moshe b. Yehuda, see Arad and Wagner, "Moses ben Judah – a 15th century bibliophile and gourmand" (FOTM June 2016) and Arad, "The Jews of Alexandria in the 15th Century in Light of New Documents" Peʿamim 156 (2018), 167–84 (Heb).

Letter from Abū Yūsuf, unknown location, to Rabbi Elʿazar (body of the letter) who is likely identical with Abū l-Manṣūr b. al-Muʿallima (address), presumably in Fustat. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. Goitein makes much of the addressee's matronymic and also reads the address as kanīsat al-muʿallima, "literally, "the synagogue of the woman teacher" (since school often was held in the synagogue compound, the school itself came to be called synagogue)." But it is also possible that the letter is addressed to the neighborhood of the Hanging Church (Kanīsat al-Muʿallaqa) and that the addressee is Abū l-Manṣūr b. al-Muʿallim, that is, the son of the male teacher. Goitein identifies the addressee with Abū l-Manṣūr b. al-Muʿallima who (according to another document that Goitein summarizes but does not cite) volunteered to send money to Ashqelon that was collected to ransom the Jewish prisoners who been taken and the books that had been looted when Jerusalem was conquered by the Crusaders in July 1099. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 356, 506.) As for the content of this letter: The writer is unemployed and asks for help "in this difficult year." Otherwise, the letter is almost entirely taken up with expressions of preoccupation and urgings to write. Regards to a woman named Qaḍīb, who is sick, as well as several other people. ASE

Letters in Judaeo-Arabic. On a narrow sliver of paper. Recto: Letter addressed to Elʿazar, complaining about the addressee's delay in copying the quires (karārīs). The writer had sent him an ounce of ink as well as Abu l-Faraj with a riding beast, and Elʿazar should send the quires and the parchment with them. The writer has paid Sulaymān's capitation tax for him. As for the quires that were sent with al-Bilbaysī, and likewise the two quires that wre sent with Abū ʿAlī, the writer did not receive them. If the bearers of the goods find a boat to take, they should take it. Verso: The response from Elʿazar. He reports that the ink never arrived, and therefore he has been sitting unemployed, so the addressee should send more ink, two ounces in fact. Someone was sick (perhaps סית is to be read סתי?). It is also possible that Elʿazar's letter came first and the other one is the response.

Letter from Yeshuʿa the bookseller to an unknown addressee. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 13th century, but this is a guess. The writer has been endeavoring to sell the manuscript on behalf of Sayyidnā, but it is impossible to find a buyer. It seems that he has an offer of 120 dirhams, so he writes to ask if he should sell it for that price; if not, he is going to return it, because he has worn himself out. The other manuscripts are also not selling well.

Recto: Business letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dealing with the copying of quires (karārīs) for Sayyidnā al-Nasi. Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān told the writer that the addressee had sent 4.5 dirhams, but the money never arrived. Verso: List in Arabic script. Needs examination.

Possibly a letter from a professional scribe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Very faded. Mentions "finishing all of the sections of..." (istīfāʾ jamīʿ furūʿ), including a Murshid (Guide) and two books of Abū Zakariyyā (al-Rāzī?).

List of accounts from a bookseller, mentioning a number of titles of known works. (Information from Halper, Catalogue)

Letter from Yiṣḥaq (Izak) b. Avraham, in Safed, to a certain Moshe, in Fustat/Cairo. In Hebrew. Dated: 13 Heshvan 5333, which is 1572 CE. The hand is Ashkenazi, which is consistent with the writer's name אייזק. The letter has to do with the book trade. It seems that the writer has sent some books to the addressee and wants him to try to sell them rapidly, because he is in need of the proceeds. Information from Avraham David's edition via FGP. This shelfmark also includes a tiny fragment of another letter.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic to Abū l-Ḥasan in which the writer reminds him to come and bring him the book know as Razim. Verso was not photographed.

Recto: Excerpts from Ecclesiastes. Verso: A list of books that the writer was asked to prepare (or obtain?) for somebody. The Talmud, printed in Salonica "with Venice." The Rif and the Rambam. . . ʿAyn Yaʿaqov. . . Sefer ha-Tapuaḥ. . . Mashal ha-Qadmoni. . . Tiqqunei ha-Zohar with Shaʿarei Orah. . . Yalquṭ with the commentary of Gedalyah. And others.

Recto: Accounts in Arabic. Verso: Probably a bookseller's account, who is selling off the Hebrew books that belonged to R. Yosef ZL, including Halakhot Pesuqot by Yehuday Gaon, two compendia of responsa, and a 'perush.' The customers named are al-Rayyis Abū l-Bahā, Abū l-Manṣūr al-ʿAṭṭār, and Abū l-ʿIzz.

Inventory of books. Dating: Likely 13th century. Mentions a book in the handwriting of al-Shaykh Abū l-ʿIzz, whom Frenkel identifies as possibly identical with Abū l-ʿIzz the brother of Sitt Ghazāl, the wife of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu; possibly identical with the Abu l-ʿIzz who inherited books from Avraham ha-Ḥasid (T-S 20.44); and possibly identical with the physician Abū l-ʿIzz whose books were sold after his death (ENA 1290.16). (Information from CUDL and Allony et al.)

Inventory of books. Only 8 books listed. Not edited by Allony. (Information in part from CUDL)

Recto: The title page with illuminated capitals of Sefer Eliyyah Mizraḥi ʿal ha-Torah, printed by Itzik ben Leib Buchbinder in Fürth, 1763. There is an ownership note by Shelomo Ḥazzan, Fusṭāṭ. Verso: In Shelomo Ḥazzan's hand, alongside other jottings and pen trials, a list of "the commentators on the Re'em (=Eliyyah Mizrahi) ZL that I have, BSD." Almost all the titles are identifiable (and available on hebrewbooks.org). (1) זרע יצחק by Yizhaq Lumbroso (d. 1752), ZL. (2) מזבח אדמה by Refael b. Shemuel Meyuhas (d. 1771). (3) שדה הארץ by Avraham b. Shemuel Meyuhas (brother of #2, d. 1767). (4) בני יאודה ללמוהר״ע, probably Yehuda ʿAyyāsh (d. 1760). (5) פרי האדמה by Refael b. Shemuel Meyuhas (same as #2); (6) לשון ערומים by Barzilay b. Barukh Jabez (d. 1760). (7) קול יעקב by Yaʿaqov Shaul (d. 1758); (8) זרע אברהם by Avraham Katorza (a student of Lumbroso); (9) זכות אבות (author not named); (10) תועפות ראם by Elyaqim b. Yizhaq Gatenio, published in Izmir in 1762; (11) something בלשונות (author not named); (12) בתי כנסיות probably by Avraham b. Hayyim Yedidyah Ibn Ezra (d. 1760); (13) אהלי יצחק by Yizhaq Bonan. Likely early 19th century. ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer asks the addressee to retrieve all of the writer's books that are currently with the 'Rav.' They include parts of Berakhot, the Mishna, Neziqin, and notebooks (karārīs) containing perush. He also asks for a quffa of raisins.

Descriptions of the contents of a collection of books in two different hands: the first, neater block names Yehudah b. Yahya and the text of the Tāj and Bereshit Rabbah and the Torah and the 5 Megillot and Baer Heitev and the Gemara of Hullin and the laws of Shehitah. The second block in rudimentary handwriting is harder to read. It names 'Ayn Ya'aqov, Pesikta ha-Nasi ha-Gadol, Humash ha-Gadol, and Rav Alfas, and "three excerpts of the Rambam." He signs "I am Men[ah?]em b. Yehudah al-Mujhid (?)." Probably late, at least 16th century. ASE.