Geniza Lab

Letter sent to ha-Talmid ha-Baḥur Nissim Agostaro (אגושתארו) in Alexandria from his father Shelomo Agostaro, including a warning that he should not come to Cairo before the epidemic has finished, because every day one or two people die. There are greetings to many people, among them Mordechai, Esther, Shabbetay and Shemuʾel. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Yaʿaqov b. Salmān al-Ḥarīrī, in Alexandria, to his mother and father, in Qayrawān. Dating: ca. 1050 CE. The address bears the name of the writer's father Salmān b. Ibrāhīm, whom Yaʿaqov addresses at the end of the letter, but he addresses his mother for the bulk of the letter. The writer expresses his disappointment in the Maghrebis in Egypt, who did not assist him as he expected when he was newly arrived in Fustat and very ill for one month. He recovered and is now healthier than ever. When he returned to Abū l-Faraj Ibn ʿAllān who had previously promised to employ him, he found that Abū l-Faraj had lost his mother and his sister, "and was too preoccupied for me" (ishtaghala ʿannī). Yaʿaqov set out on his own and started to trade flaxes. He is planning to travel to the north, perhaps to al-Lādhiqiyya (a plan he carried out: see CUL Or.1080 J17, which he wrote from Tripoli, and T-S 8J19.27, which he wrote from Ramla). But he will wait in Alexandria until he learns what his family thinks of this plan, and he will follow their counsel. The end of the letter has the curious line, "Abū Yaḥyā is well, in complete health, and aṣḥābunā are in complete health, no one died except Abū l-Khayr b. Barukh in Tinnīs" (verso, lines 22–23)—which, along with the illness of Yaʿaqov and the deaths in Abū l-Faraj's family, suggests that there was then an epidemic. Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #661. See also ENA 2738.34, a very similar letter which Yaʿaqov wrote at the same time and addressed to his sister. VMR. ASE.

Letter fragment from Ḥalfon b. Menashshe's wife, in Fustat, to her brother Abū l-Ḥasan ʿEli b. Hillel, probably in Bahnasa (based on T-S 13J21.18). In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 1100–38. The writer thanks the addressee for a gift of 12 dirhams (r9). She urges him to come together with his son Yisrael to her, in a hurry, it seems to escape from the smallpox (judarī) about which everyone is anxious (r10–24). Without the join, the part about the smallpox remains ambiguous: someone in the writer's location is "in a difficult state from it" (r14), but this could either mean that they have smallpox or that they are worried about the outbreak in the addressee's location. Turfa and her husband send their regards (r28–29). (Information from Goitein, Mediterranean Society, III, p. 22, and Goitein's note card.) ASE.

Letter from Manṣūr b. Sālim, in Alexandria, to Eliyyahu the Judge (Abū l-Faraj b. al-Rayyis), in Fustat. Manṣūr asks Eliyyahu to help find his son, who had run away, perhaps to the army, perhaps to Cairo or Damascus. Manṣūr asks Eliyyahu to urge his son to come home, reminding him of his obligations towards his mother, who is very sick on account of her son's actions. The son had taken several objects with him on his flight without the father knowing it(?). The sender requests a quick reply to his letter. See also T-S 10J14.12 and T-S Ar.18(1).137, letters by the same sender concerning the same matter. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 274, 468; II, pp. 379, 479, 610)

Recto: Letter from (or written on behalf of) a woman to her son Avraham ('Rabbenu'). In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably no earlier than 14th century, and conceivably much later, based on script and vocabulary. Mentions an area called ḥawsh al-maghāriba in Fustat, where Avraham's sister lives. The letter contains cryptic exhortations about associating with Gentiles, directed at Avraham as well as a certain Raḥel (his wife?). The letter also informs him that his sister's daughter Ḥabība is "stricken" (maḍrūba) and is on the verge of death. "Every day brides and grooms go forth from the neighborhood. I do not wish to confound you by telling you who they are nor how many there are. My son, by God, by God, do not enter the neighborhood until God lifts this affliction from Israel." Is she referring obliquely to an epidemic, and to the victims as "brides and grooms"? Verso: Avraham's response to his mother. He expresses his distress at the death of his sister's husband Yaʿaqov and at the news of Ḥabība's condition. He also mentions the harrowing night he spent on a Nile boat after leaving Ḥayyim's house, which he thought he would not survive. Even in the morning, he [vomited?] from time to time and could not hold any food down until God had mercy. The particular words used to describe his symptoms are obscure, possibly as they are late colloquial Judaeo-Arabic. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 242, 479; IV, pp. 228, 431, and from Goitein's index cards.) It is possible that Avraham's letter came first and his mother's letter is the response. ASE.

Letter from Isma’il b. Farah, Alexandria, to his son Farah, Fustat. Dating: November 1056. The writer describes the terrible famine in Egypt, which even leads to cases of eating people. The writer also describes the epidemic in the area. Despite all that, business continues. He writes about pepper, linen, and oil. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #495) VMR. The part about the epidemic begins in line 14 of recto. "There is a great epidemic (wabā') in the cities of the coast. As for Qayrawān, no one remains there [alive? or who has not fled?]—may God preserve you in health. Do not go roaming about the villages, for these are difficult times. [Or, if you read mā instead of lā, "Difficult times have recurred in the villages."] By God, by God, be vigilant for yourself. 'Who is called wise? He who sees the consequences' [Tamid 32a]. Be vigilant in all things before you enter into them." The next sentence is difficult; Gil marks his translation as doubtful and suggests that Ismāʿīl is exhorting his son to be careful about whom he puts his trust in. But perhaps it reads instead, "wa-lā taṭam'an man yabqa li-yabqa wa-lā lī hūwa waqt yūjibuhu bihi lā ḥīla," meaning "do not trust in [the belief that] 'he who [is destined to] survive, will survive,' for in my view this time does not call for a 'nothing can be done.'" This would be an unusual use of "lā ḥīla," since usually the writer means to say, "nothing can be done [except trust in God]." But it would fit the preceding exhortation to be exceedingly vigilant and to consider the consequences of his actions instead of simply trusting in God. ASE. On verso in line 2, he mentions the arrival of some letters ḍabāratan, in a bundle or a file, possibly one pierced and loosely bound with string (on which see this short lecture by Marina Rustow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1nMtoEDbmc).

Letter from Abū Naṣr b. Avraham, in Alexandria, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel ha-Levi, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. The letter contains information about trade in silk and pearls. In addition, Abu Nasr reported how he acted in regard to a precious headgear given to him by Yehuda ha-Levi, the Spanish poet. The letter also transmits news from Spanish travelers about the passing away of two great Spanish Rabbis. The letter was written in the 12th of November 1141. (Information from Frenkel.) "I and every human being in the house was ill for forty days. I have not left the house. . . . Your letter arrived in which you asked me to deliver the bales of silk to Abū ʿUmar Ibn al-Bahgdadī al-Laffāt. However, he has not received a thing, for I have nobody who could carry them to him; my brother Abū ʿUmar is ill since his arrival from Cairo and I have nobody able to act for me, for Abū l-Najm (the writer's factotum or partner often mentioned) and his son are ill also. I ask God to turn the end to the good." At the end of the letter: "As soon as I gain a little strength, I will not stay in this city for one hour." See Goitein's note card #27107, and Med Soc V, 103.

Letter from the Qaraite Jews of Ashqelon to the Qaraites and Rabbanites of Fustat. Dating: Summer 1100 CE. The letter deals with the ransoming of Qaraite captives from Jerusalem following the Crusader conquest of the city. (Qaraites represented a large percentage of the small number of Jews who still lived in Jerusalem after the Seljuk conquest[s] in the 1070s.) The letter also explains that the fortified city of Ashqelon had not yet fallen, but the residents are struggling to cope with an influx of refugees and the need to make large payments to the Crusaders to ransom back Jewish captives - men, women and children - as well as books and scrolls pillaged from the synagogues of the Holy Land. Despite the terrible circumstances, they take solace in the fact that that the Crusaders appeared not to have mistreated the women. The writers report that they had received the suftaja (bill of exchange), at least the second substantial donation from the Jews of Fustat to the campaign to redeem captives and books. This letter is a request for further donations. The community in Ashqelon had spent over 500 dinars; ransomed over 40 captives; continues to bear the high expenses of caring for the 20 redeemed captives who remain in Ashqelon; and is now in debt for more than 200 dinars. The writers also mention Jews who had escaped from Jerusalem on their own, and others who had been given safe-conduct with the wālī. Of the refugees who arrived in Ashkelon, many had died of the epidemic they encountered there: "The attacks of these illnesses (amrāḍ), the falling of that plague (wabā'), that pest (fanā'), that disaster (balā')" (recto, lines 17–19); later, describing how the refugees perished, "Some of them arrived here healthy, and the climate turned against them (ikhtalafa ʿalayim al-hawā'), and they arrived at the height of that plague (wa-waṣalū fī ʿunfuwān dhālik al-wabā'), and many of them died" (recto, lines 42–44); then, twice more, the writers emphasize their great expenses caring for those who have survived but are still sick, who need not only food and clothing but medicines and syrups (recto, lines 53–55 and right margin 19–20). There are notes by the writers and forwarders of the letter in the right margin on verso, including Yehayyahu ha-Kohen b. Maṣliaḥ, David b. Shelomo and Ḥanina b. Manṣūr b. ʿUbayd. See DK 242 + T-S AS 146.3 for a letter written one year earlier from the Rabbanites of Fustat to the Rabbanites of Ashqelon, also having to do with the campaign for the ransoming of captives. (Information CUDL and from Goldman, "Arabic-Speaking Jews of Crusader Syria" (PhD diss., 2018), 49–58. See also Goitein, Med Soc 5:537; Goitein, "New Sources on the Fate of the Jews during the Crusaders' Conquest of Jerusalem" (Heb.) Zion, 17 (1952), 136; Goitein, Palestinian Jewry, pp. 241-242; and Goitein's notes attached to Bodl. MS Heb d 11/7 (page 9f). ASE/MR

Letter from a son to his father with detailed description of his illness and recovery. Same writer and recipient as T-S 13J21.13 (addressed to Minyat al-Qa'id) and T-S 13J21.14 and Stras. 4110/90 (see tag). His fever finally abated yesterday with the onset of diarrhea (or successful purging?), however a woman in the house is still feverish. He relates the details of the treatment that he received at the hands of Ibn Habib, which, as far as can be determined through the lacunae, involves oxymel mixed with hot water, and timing something for the fifth day and the seventh day but not during the crisis. Khatir has not yet arrived from Alexandria, as he was detained by the wedding of a relative. Join: Alan Elbaum. ASE.

Letter from an unidentified writer to Eliyyahu the Judge. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer conveys condolences for a death in the family of Eliyyahu (r6–9). He says that the blow is even harder to bear than his own trials with the sick woman (al-ṣaghīra) in his household. The rest of the letter is about this woman. (Motzkin identifies her with Eliyyahu's daughter-in-law Sitt Ghazāl, but he does not explain why.) The writer asks Eliyyahu to obtain a medical consultation with the Rayyis (Avraham Maimonides?) concerning the patient. The writer provides a detailed, albeit cryptic, account of her problems (r15–v1). First she withdrew from mingling with people (inʿazalat ʿan al-khalṭa—unless this refers to a khilṭ/humor) and remained either silent (sākita) or with some altered mental status (sābita). Those around her attributed this to the wakham (bad air/epidemic) and to her pregnancy. But in the fifth month of her pregnancy, she was afflicted with "dullness of mind (balādat khāṭir), irritability (ḍajar), confusion (taḥayyur), and disorientation (taghayyub)." The family members refrained from giving her any medicine to drink on account of the pregnancy. Finally, God had mercy and she gave birth. (Motzkin understood this as a miscarriage, but the letter does not. She could just as well have carried the fetus to term and given birth to a live child.) But, the writer continues, her situation is still unstable, and they anxiously await Eliyyahu's response with the Rayyis's advice. ASE

Letter from Eli Ha-Kohen b. Ezekiel, Jerusalem, to Eli Ha-Kohen b. Hayyim, Fustat. Discusses the matter of the 18 dinars owed to the poor of Jerusalem. Daniel b. Azarya is on his way back to Jerusalem. Possibly alludes to the drought and epidemic in Fustat ("I am very preoccupied about your situation," verso, line 2), and mentions several people in difficult straits.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda very early in his public career, when he was Av Bet Din, to a notable in Fustat, ca. 1025. He signs: Shelomo Av ha-Yeshiva birabbi Yehuda, and surrounds his name with tiny letters spelling out ‘And I am a worm and not a man’ (Psalms 22:7). The letter was carried by his son Avraham (לידו מיד חמוד), and he is seeking help for the community of Jerusalem, many of whom have died in a plague (נאספו בדבר אשר נפל בעיר). (Information from CUDL)

Letter sent by a man from Sicily who had immigrated to Tyre, describing a civil war in Sicily and the bad economic conditions under which his family lived. Dated to the mid-11th century. (Information from Gil and Ben-Sasson.) The writer and addressee are both unknown. He mentions Abū Yūsuf b. Ismāʿīl [al-Andalusi], known from several other letters of the mid-11th-century. He writes, "I witnessed things I never wanted to see: the bloodshed was such that I walked on corpses like walking on the ground; a great epidemic (wabā')"; and a great inflation. His own warehouse and that of his brother Saʿīd were pillaged. Years after these events, two months before the death of his father, his father purchased a house with gardens for 100 dinars from a Christian. The civil wars (fitan) then resumed, the house became worthless, and his father died. He and his Saʿīd then set about collecting all the debts owed to their late father and the goods their father had deposited with others, chiefly with one flax dealer. Saʿid told him they would split everything 50/50. The entirety of verso deals with how the writer was initially cheated out of his share of the inheritance—it seems by Saʿīd who was in cahoots with their brother-in-law Yaḥyā b. al-Munajjim—and the aftermath. ASE.

Letter from Moshe b. Yaʿaqov, in Damascus, to Abū l-ʿAlā Yūsuf b. Dā'ūd b. Shaʿya, in Fustat. Dating: 29 December 1057 CE (Gil) or ca. 1066 CE (Goitein). News has come from Egypt concerning a severe epidemic (wabā'), and the writer is worried and asks for news of the addressee as well as of the merchandise that he had sent to be sold in Egypt. The writer also encloses a letter for Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm b. Dā'ūd b. Sughmār.

Letter from Avraham b. Seʿadya the Hebronite, in Bilbays, to Moshe ha-Kohen b. Ghulayb, in Fustat. Dating: beginning of the twelfth century. Recto 1-15: Flowery Hebrew greetings and Passover blessings for Moshe and his three boys, Yoshiyahu, Sa'adya, and Yeshu'a. Recto 15-19: Updates on the health of family members since Moshe departed. Abu l-Bayan and his sister and mother are healthy. Recto 19-24: Avraham and everybody are extremely anxious about the outbreak of smallpox (juddarī) among aṣḥābunā. It afflicted one house, then two, then three. Suhayl's 3-year-old son died, and Mevorakh's son Khulayl is critically ill. Recto 24-25: Avraham and Abu l-Husayn and Abu Sa'id and Umm Abu l-Bayan and Bayan and _____ all send holiday greetings. Verso 1-3: Avraham's knee pain has gotten worse. He wrote this letter while lying on his side. Verso 4-7: Avraham enclosed another letter to his in-law Abu l-Surur and asks Moshe to forward it to Cairo. He asks Moshe to send him some kohl. ASE.

Letter from an unknown writer to Abu Zikri Yehuda ha-Kohen b. Yosef. The main purpose of the letter is to ask Abū Zikrī to send 50 dinars to the writer, "because my lack of employment has killed me" (ll.12–22). The writer prefaces this request with describing how he was saddened to hear from Abū l-Ḥasan al-Dimashqī that Abū Zikrī had been ill (mutakassil) and how he rejoiced to hear that Abū Zikrī had recovered (ll.6–12). There seems to be an epidemic in Abū Zikrī's location. "May God protect you from this year and these illneses and protect your children for your sake" (ll.11–12). Goitein interpreted Abū Zikrī's illness as dysentery, reading "mutarassil" (index card 27123), but see T-S 13J22.28 and ENA 1822a.12 for similar instances of "mutakassil" (the exact meaning of which is not clear). ASE.

Letter from Eliyahu b. Nissim, in Alexandria, to Shela b. Isḥāq, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably early 13th century. The sender, a foreigner, asks why he has been neglected. He states that he is in Alexandria and cannot come to Cairo without an invitation. The sender is worried because he has not heard from anyone for four months and because a disease had spread in Fustat. The letter opens with a biblical quotation (Proverbs 13:12). (Information in part from CUDL, from Goitein, Med Soc III, 47, 437, and from Goitein's index cards.) Join: Oded Zinger. VMR. ASE.

Letter in Ladino from the merchant Avraham Mayo to his father, probably from Alexandria to Fustat/Cairo, dealing with numerous business transactions and the arrival of a Venetian ship. Avraham reports that he received his father's letter stating that he had selected the saffron and sold two out of three fardos (sacks) of גֿידארי (possibly an Indian textile known as "gudari"; possibly the Turkish headgear "çidari"; the diacritical mark over the ג indicates that it is not simply a hard "g"). Avraham and his partner Sulaymān will purchase as much גֿידארי as they can find and send it. "Here, he and I are like brothers. Just so, you and Khuḍayyir should be like brothers. Always help him." Avraham then mentions five sacks of raisins. He then lists the goods he has sent to his father: (1) fifteen panes of lead marked "Mayo Kavakado"; (2) five espuertas (baskets) of lead oxide (מרדסינך, probably from the Persian "murda-sang"; thanks to Professor Daniel Sheffield for this identification), which bear the seal of Sulaymān; (3) and 107 "kedives" (?) of fine Istanbul iron, which he has sent in the company of Khuḍayyir. The lead cost 3 ducats, amounting to 32 Venetian ducats and 33 muayyadis. The lead oxide cost 100 ducats, amounting to 845 [. . .], and the iron cost 182 ducats, amounting to [...]. Avraham paid 37 muayyadis for the גֿירמה (from context: the warehouse? See verso, l. 21). He then reports how much it cost him to transport each good to Rashid, whence they were presumably transported to Fustat/Cairo. Avraham paid 29.5 Venetian ducats for the five sacks of raisins—it seems this is equivalent to 60 muayyadis per qintal—and he is pleased to have gotten the best raisins from the ship at such a good price. He paid 100 Venetian ducats and 100 coronas for the "mersa" (? מירסה) and asks his father to write quickly [if he wants any], because mersa is in high demand. He also purchased some more raisins, and five qintals of cheese (? קיסה) for 1 corona per qintal. Avraham asks his father to send him some of the capital, because he needs to put it to use "between now and Sukkot" during the mercantile season, otherwise "large groups like those that come from Venice" [will outcompete us? the sentence seems incomplete], and it is better for his father to live on his earnings rather than on the business capital ("el cavdal"). Avraham further reports that the [...] of the city died yesterday after two days of suffering from the plague. 'The young son of the teacher (al-muʿallim) is wounded. The Muslims ("moros") are fighting once again ("de nuevo se hieren").' Avraham then gives instructions for what Bunyal should buy on his behalf ("not lentils, but rather a piece of רוודי מתלוק"). Avraham asks his father to inform Yaʿaqov b. Ḥabīb that Moshe b. Hīnī arrived and told Avraham that he had abandoned the gum (la goma) in Rashid, because he could not find cameldrivers and because it was too heavy to transport any other way. He left the gum there in trust ("encomendado"), with enough money for cameldrivers and other expenses for it to be transported onward. "When it arrives, we will be diligent to sell it, do not have any preoccupation." Avraham must have taken a break, because the next thing he writes is, "The gum has arrived." He concludes the letter with kisses for his mother and for Yizhaq and for Nissim. In a first postscript, he asks his father to go and examine Khuḍayyir's sacks of raisins and see if any bear the sign of the anchor and [...], and to write to Avraham with this information. In the second postscript, he asks his father to send good, big, "Qaitbey" [...]s (coins minted under Qaitbey?) with either Ibn Ḥabīb or with Bunyal, whoever comes, and that he is to leave them for Avraham in the גֿירמאס. But if neither of them plan to come, then the goods should be sent with Shemuel Kohen, "and write to him that they belong to Raḥamim." The last line of the letter mentions a cryptic good (linen? firewood? לינו די סאפאר) and says "do not write his response" (?), perhaps because it is a sensitive matter. Date: Plausibly written in 1513/14 CE, based on (1) a reference to Yaʿaqov b. Ḥabīb, who may be identical with the famous author of the ʿAyn Yaʿaqov who died in 1516 CE, and (2) a reference to a plague victim, and (3) a known recurrence of the bubonic plague in Egypt in 1513/14. On the other hand, there is at least one other Yaʿaqov b. Ḥabīb in Geniza documents from the early 18th century (see AIU VII.D.104 and AIU VII.E.30). Then again, Moss. VII,16.2 is a fragment of a Hebrew document from 1544/5 CE centered on an Avraham, a Raḥamim, and the raisin trade. Information largely from Grace Masback's edition and translation in her Junior Paper, "Avraham Mayo’s Egypt in the Age of Exploration." ASE.

Letter from Shimʿon b. Shaʾul b. Yisraʾel ha-Ṭulayṭulī, in Jerusalem, to his sister Ballūṭa in Toledo. The writer (a Rabbanite) relays two years of news about Qaraites and fellow Andalusians in Jerusalem, as well as family news. He conveys the distress he felt upon hearing of the epidemic (wabā') and unrest (tashwīsh) in the environs of Toledo. One theme of the letter is their father's health. "Our father is in a state that one would wish only for one's enemies. He has become paralyzed (mabṭūl), blind (aʿmā), and feeble-minded (madkhūl al-dhihn), and suffers much (mumtaḥin). The bearers of this letter will tell you about him and about my care for him. He does not lack a thing, for he is well served (makhdūm) and cared for (maḥfūẓ). I do not rely on anyone else to concern themselves with him. My bed adjoins his; I get up several times every night to cover him and to turn him, since he is not able to do any of these things alone (idh lā yamlik min nafsihi shay'). May God, the exalted, reward him for his sufferings." Med Soc III, p. 241. Later in the letter, Shimʿon tells Ballūṭa that she need not concern herself with sending the turban that had been requested, "for, woe is me, he no longer has the wherewithal to leave the door of the house. He used to devote himself (wādhāb should be read as wāẓāb) to the Mount of Olives and to God's Temple for as long as he was able and [the strength] was in him, may God reward him." (Gil's translation diverges significantly from this.) A second theme of the letter is the story of a fellow Toledan, Ibrāhīm b. Fadānj, and his wife, who arrived two years earlier after having been taken captive in Byzantium and redeemed in Ramle. For a detailed analysis of their case—involving multiple changes of allegiance between the Qaraite and Rabbanite communities, and the writer's role in aiding them—see Rustow, "Karaites Real and Imagined" (2007), 43–47.

Letter from Yehuda ha-Melammed b. al-Ammani, in Alexandria, to Avraham Maimonides in Fustat. Dated: Adar 1528 Seleucid, which is 1217 CE. Yehuda devotes the bulk of the letter (r.17-v.19) to a detailed account of the resolution of the conflict in the al-Ammani family between Yehuda and his uncle, R. Sadoq the Judge, crediting Avraham with resolving it. He describes the scene of the ṣulḥa in which all the family members drank to each other's health (Med Soc V, 39). Yehudah continues (v.19-31) with an encomium to Avraham; the Alexandrians have been praying and fasting for God to lift the epidemic that has attacked the population of Fustat and to protect Avraham specifically. Yehuda then emphasizes with gestures of humility (v.31-49) that all the affairs of the community rest on his shoulders alone, as his uncle drinks all day long. Yehuda's temperament cannot tolerate wine—he quotes Proverbs 20:1 ("whosoever reeleth thereby is not wise")—and does not drink more than a quarter cup in a sitting and certainly never becomes drunk. He explains (verso margin) that Avraham's colleague Abū Naṣr the physician encouraged him to write this letter, even though some of his peers mocked him for this. The letter concludes in the upper margin of recto with praises for Avraham. Information in part from Frenkel and Goitein's note card. ASE.