Geniza Lab

Letter from Meir b. al-Hamadani to the judge Eliyyahu, asking that he provide a person the writer had met with certain supplies. Dated to the early 13th century. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 577, and Goitein's index cards)

Letter. Second leaf of a long letter relating what happened to the writer's brother, Abū Naṣr, on an adventurous business voyage on the Nile. Abu Nasr had been travelling, alongside others on a ship belonging to Abū Zikrī. The writer calls himself ʿabd, which probably denotes an actual slave. The letter also conveys business requests and greetings. (Information from Goitein's index cards and CUDL)

Letter in which a physician, probably named Abū l-Baqā', writes from somewhere outside of the capital to his son-in-law (?) Abū ʿImrān, probably in Fustat, who shared living quarters with him (?), complaining that a Christian physician is ruining his livelihood, writing: 'he behaves like a charlatan.' The letter also touches on several small business matters. The letter starts with two biblical quotations (line 2, Prov. 3:26, line 3, Dt. 7:15). (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 164, 462, Goitein's index cards, and CUDL.) Further interesting elements: The writer is upset about the lack of letters ("is this anger? why this great hostility?"). He supplies the addressee with a potential excuse by saying that he is very worried on account of his eye illness, and became still more worried when the messenger Raḥmān b. Ḥaydara returned with no news. "He who is absent imagines the worst. . . . If only the lady of the house [my wife] were with you. She is in the most dreadful state, fasting and weeping day and night. After describing the charlatanry of the new Christian physician, he asks the addressee to find out if the head physicians in Fusṭāṭ will do anything about it: "Go to al-Shaykh al-Sadīd al-Ṭabīb. . . so that he will tell our lord ʿAlam al-Dīn, who will not approve of this, for he is against their (charlatans'?) purposes. If you hear anything from our lord ʿAlam al-Dīn, write to me." Apparently moving on to the matter of grain that has yet to be "released" (already mentioned earlier in the letter), "The judge Jalāl al-Dīn, the fiscal adminstrator (ṣāḥib al-dīwān), has arrived and seen the situation for himself. I have explained this matter to him, and al-Faqīh al-Mudarris has also met with him regarding this. He wished to release the grain, but had to travel suddenly. May God make the end good." Umm Sulaymān sends her regards and rebukes. The writer sends regards to Sitt Misk and inquires about her daughter and about R. Menaḥem. Goitein does not explain why he identifies the addressee as the writer's son-in-law or when/where they would have shared living quarters. It also seems possible that this is his actual son, particularly with the description of his wife's heartsickness on account of what they fear about the addressee's illness. ASE.

Letter from Abū l-Manṣūr b. Abū l-Faraj al-Qubaybiyya(!) to his mother in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. He apologizes for not visiting the house while he has been away on a business trip, probably from Fustat to the Ṣaʿīd (upper Egypt). He also writes that his business trip was successful, despite some difficulties, and that she should not worry. (In a postscript: "If you are thinking of my journey the time I visited you in Dalāṣ(?) with the camel(?) with its tail cut off—this journey was not like that journey"). He conveys greetings also to his own wife whom he calls ṣāḥibat al-bayt. Goitein reasonably assumed that the word Qubaybiyya referred to the mother, and he noted that two villages in the Aṭfīḥ district are called Qubaybāt. However, the word appears with Abū l-Manṣūr's name rather than his mother's, and the word is unambiguously part of his own name in ENA 2806.4, his petition to Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon. It may be a toponym referring to one of the villages called Qubayba near Jerusalem, especially if this is the same man called al-Muqaddasī/al-Maqdisī in T-S 6J4.12. The feminine ending remains unexplained; maybe it is actually a plural (equivalent to al-Qubaybiyyīn) indicating both his father's origin and his own origin? (Information in part from Goitein's index cards.) ASE

Letter concerning several business matters. Contains details about prices of grain. The writer also mentions the local wali (chief of police) and 'amil (finance official). (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 435, and Goitein's index cards)

Letter concerning business matters. Deals with the forwarding of 15 dinars and an order for three ounces of ink and other smaller items. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Meʾir ben Naʿim, mentioning business matters and the name Abraham Ashkenazi. End of 18th century. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from David ben Naʿim to Moses ben Naʿim concerning business matters, dated 188 (5588 of the Era of Creation = 1827 CE). Mentions people including Shelomo Azulay and ישעייה עאניז (Isaiah Aniz ?). (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Avraham Haman and Gavriel Hefez to Karo y Frances concerning business matters. Dated 168 (5568 of the Era of Creation = 1807 CE), and mentioning people including Nissim Minyani (מנייני). (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Letter sent to al-Mahalla concerning various business matters and dealing with the sale of sugar, chewing gum (mastaka) and rice. Dated 1165. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 605-606, and Goitein's index cards). Verso: Recipes in Arabic script. (Information from CUDL).

Letter from Zikri b. Abu al-Rida, the perfume seller, to Abu al-Mahasin, a tailor and weaver, dealing with financial business and referring to several textiles. The letter ends with an announcement of a wedding: 'the little one will enter her house by the end of this month. (verso lines 7-8) (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 115)

Letter concerning business matters containing many greetings. The sender writes that pieces of parchment have arrived from North Africa. The rest of the parchments will be sent to the recipient with Ishaq b. Abu Munajja.

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. Memorandum from Abu Zikri Kohen to Mahruz. Alexandria, ca. 1136-1149.

Letter. Commercial letter from Murjī to his son, Meʾir b. Murjī, listing repayments from various individuals, including Moses [...] and David [...]. Address on verso. (Information from CUDL)

Letter of business from Avraham Haman and Gavriel Ḥefez (חפז) to Merkado Karo and Shim'on Frances, dated 1797 CE. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi (active 1190s–1212 CE), in Qalyūb, to a family member in Fustat. Moshe requests a silver mirwad (stick for applying kohl) that is in the possession of Ibn Yaʿaqov, and he will send the price. He had sent with the bearer a load of lāsīn silk for Abū l-Riḍā the son of Sitt Ziyāda, who is to pay 2.5 dirhams. He wants to know if they have received the silver from Saʿāda the female slave of Ṭāḥir b. al-Ghuzzī and to purchase with it all the goods that Moshe had already told his mother about, viz., polypodium (? אשתיואן); Iraqi incense; frankincense; white mastic. He has sent another letter with the bearer of the letter for Ibn al-Ṭaffāl. He mentions Ibn al-Nuʿmān in the last couple lines. On recto there is a taqbīl clause and three lines of Arabic script in a chancery hand from a presumably Ayyubid government report (see separate entry). ASE.

Letter from Yosef b. Nadiv the cantor, in Bilbays, to Eliyyahu b. Zekharya the Judge in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mostly about business in wheat. The sender explains that he did not travel to Fustat in person on account of his capitation tax and that of his son Makārim. However, if 'Rabbenu' wishes him to sit around unemployed, he will come to Fustat and do so and will study under him Ḥullin and Qiddushin and Giṭṭin. The sender prays for the Nagid Avraham Maimonides every Shabbat when he lifts up the the Torah scroll. Greetings to Berakhot (=probably Shelomo, Eliyyahu's son) and various other people.

Verso: Autograph letter from Moshe Maimonides to al-Shaykh al-Wathīq, i.e. Avraham b. Yaḥyā al-Najib, the tenant of a parcel of land near Dammūh belonging to the qodesh. Regarding both business and personal matters. Dating: ca. 1180 CE. The letter is written in a familiar style which indicates a close relationship between the two. Apparently, al-Wathīq, being on the spot, had to take care of the synagogue (removal of garbage and repairs are mentioned here), and of some other piece of land, apparently also adjacent to the synagogue. That land is farmed by a Muslim, whom Maimonides trusts. In his role of physician, Maimonides had apparently advised al-Wathīq to drink milk regularly, for which the latter rented a cow; he now advises him to give the cow up, since two cups a day are enough. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 321, #76.)

Letter to 'al-haver al-Me'ulle Hakkam ha-Yeshiva' (the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saadya, 1095-1112) regarding business matters. Verso: Petition to a caliph.