Geniza Lab

Letter sent by Perahya the second b. Yosef the second to Shelomo ha-Nasi, dealing with various matters, including an ordinance (taqqana). Mentions the Nagid R. David. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter sent to the Nasi Shelomo b. Yishay in Fustat by his assistant in Bilbays, describing his journey from Syria to Egypt and saying that the people of Bilbays have not paid him yet for the pesiqa mentioned in a previous letter. Also reports about the plunder of the bazaars of the wool makers and clothiers, about a tribute levied for the wali (musadara) of 500 silver dirhams. (nuqra) and 200 others shohad li'l-na'ib (a bribe to the local appointed leader), and the capture of a large caravan near al-Arish and of the people of Gaza, so that no travel to Syria was possible. (Information from Gil)

Fragments of letters of the Nasi Shelomo b. Yishay. The recto is a fragment of a letter sent to the Nasi Shelomo b. Yishay (originally from Mosul, but then living in Egypt). The sender describes how he saved the property of the orphaned children of a certain Farah. The verso is a letter from the Nasi Shelomo b. Yishay, offering his services to the people of Fustat and especially to the Nagid David, grandson of Maimonides. Dated to ca. 1237. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II,19; also Gil)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Yoshiyahu ha-Nasi to a dignitary whom he addresses as "Sar ha-Teʿuda" and "Nagid Erez Yisra'el ve-Yehuda." After a lengthy introduction, he reports that he has accomplished what was asked regarding the copy of the book, and he also asks the Nagid to go to the physician Abū l-ʿIzz and obtain a waṣiyya (advice? prescription?). There are some faded sections. ASE.

Letter from Jalāl al-Dawla, in Fustat, to Shelomo ha-Nasi b. Yishay, in Bilbays. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1240 CE. The writer describes the difficult economic state of his group staying in Egypt and says that they intend to go back to Mosul. As part of a litany of complaints, he mentions that he has been sick many times and nearly died (v25–26). His sicknesses also feature in T-S 12.654 and T-S NS 321.93. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, II, pp. 264f.) ASE

Letter of recommendation. Avraham Maimonides recommends the Nasi ʿOvadya to the community of Bilbays ('to honor him and give him hospitality') after having given special instructions to its dayyan Perahya. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, p. 490, and from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Jalal al-Dawla in the name of Jesse b. Shlomo to the Nasi (president) Shlomo b. Ishai, Fustat. January 10, 1254. The letter regarding a book that was found in Abu al-Fatah’s estate after his passing. Ishai declared that the book belongs to his uncle, the Nasi Yoshiyahu b. Ishai so it cannot be sold, but ha-Kohen Nafis al-Davla is interested in buying it for his son. They ask the addressee, which is in Damascus, for instructions what to do. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #101) VMR

Letter to Shelomo ha-Nasi concerning destruction of houses and oppression of his mother's brother in Mosul (May 16, 1237). Context is likely the Mongol invasion. Cf. Bodl. MS Heb. a 3/24 (PGPID 502).

Letter from the beginning of the thirteenth century from a man who was staying in Alexandria to the Nasi, Shelomo b. Yishai, who was in Cairo. The writer arrived to Alexandria on commercial business, to deal with an order of pillows, carpets and clothes for the Nasi from local artisans. The local Judge, R. Elazar ha-Dayan, was also involved with the Nasi's order. (Information from Frenkel. Frenkel does not mention that Gil published the verso of the document and treats the two sides as parts of the same letters. Gil summarizes the letter: Letter sent from Alexandria to the Nasi Shelomo b. Yishai in Fustat by one of his students. The letter deals with making linens and pillows for the Nasi in Alexandria. The people of Alexandria are anxious to hear the lessons of the Nasi.

Letter from Alexandria to the nasi Shelomo b. Yishay, Fustat, from one of his supporters. Around 1240. The letter mentions products that people make in Alexandria for the Nasi, such as robes, turbans, pillows, and bedsheets. Also mentions that the people of Alexandria are eager to hear the Nasi’s lessons and lectures. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #100) VMR

Letter from a Yehuda. Beginning only. The writer acknowledges receiving a letter from the majlis of 'our lord and crown of the heads' the 'Nagid' and Nasi Shelomo (b. Jesse? [see line 7] active first half of 13th century).

Recto: letter to the Nasi Shelomo (probably Shelomo b. Jesse, mid-13th century). Verso: accounts with Coptic numerals. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from David to the Nasi Shelomo (probably the 13th-century Nasi Shelomo b. Jesse), informing him of an oath a certain Makīn had to take in connection with an unpaid debt and recommending his excommunication. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Beginning of the opening of a letter. Verso: Address in Arabic script, to al-Nasi Shelomo in Cairo (most likely Shelomo b. Yishay, 13th century. AA) (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS

Letter from a member of the nasi family of Mosul addressed to Shelomo b. Yishay describing a visit of the writer when he was a young boy to the house of Moses Maimonides. He mentions a servant of Maimonides, describing him as the “keeper of the curtain,” a duty similar to that of an usher. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 4:381, 454; 5:65, 522) EMS

Letter from Ishaq ‘Ammani in which he praises the recipient El'azar ha-Levi ha-Sar and his success with Yoshiyyahu ha-Nasi Nasi ha-Jalut. Also mentions Ishaq Kattan Ammani. C. 13th century. EMS and VMR

Verso: Record of the scribe Abū l-Faraj b. Abū Naṣr b. al-Mesos in which he testifies to having received from Shelomo ha-Nasi one Egyptian dinar. He will repay by copying. Dated: end of Av 1549 Seleucid, which is 1238 CE. No signatures. (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS

Leaf from a notebook or register of some sort. The two pages are each headed "faṣl," like other documents from the dossier of the Mosul Nasi Shelomo b. Yishay (and this document may be in the same hand). Goitein initially read the date on verso as Elul 4955 AM, but it seems more likely that it is Elul 1553 Seleucid, which is 1242 CE. On recto there is a formulary for a clause in the marriage contract in which the groom is held responsible if he has intercourse with his wife before she has counted the full seven days and immersed in the ritual bath (miqve), in which case he has to divorce her with full ketubba payments. On verso there is the beginning of a court record, mentioning Shelomo ha-Talmid ha-Mevin, with pen trials in Hebrew script and jottings of accounts in Arabic script (mentioning two commodities and their weights; one of them is ṭabāshīr/bamboo chalk). (Information in part from CUDL and Goitein's notes.) ASE

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. From the circle of the 13th-century Mosul Nasis. Extremely faded. The beginning and ending are missing. All of recto and part of verso are narrated as secondhand reports ("he said... he said... he said..."). Recto is a horrifying account of the Mongol (Tatar/תתר) invasion (cf. Bodl. MS heb. a 3/24 and T-S 20.128, belonging to the same circle of Mosul Nasis and possibly from the same sender). The Mongols entered the narrator's city on Simḥat Torah and plundered it, taking captive al-Nasi al-Fakhr, his wife Sitt al-Ruʾasāʾ, his brothers, his sister, and his 2-year-old son. Thousands of men, women, and children fled. By the time they reached Wādī ʿUmayr, the women were exhausted from carrying their children. The Mongols tore the children away—including the son of al-Fakhr and Sitt al-Ruʾasāʾ—and threw them on the ground as they cried out for their parents. When the letter resumes on verso, the sender (or the narrator of recto?) is describing his difficult economic circumstances wherever he has ended up (Syria? Bilbays? Fustat?). Everything that al-Nasi al-Fakhr had, clothing or otherwise, has been lost. Previously they were supported by the community or private donors ("kāna yaṣilunā mezonot") but now the people cannot spare any attention for them, even though they profess to love them. He mentions someone named Barakāt with the title al-Tifʾeret; a distinguished physician; and other notables who say that either the sender or the addressee should obtain a decree/rescript (tawqīʿ) and become the leader (muqaddam, ḥākim) of the community. There are a couple more faded lines, and the continuation is missing. ASE

Recto: Legal testimony, possibly a draft. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated Sunday 9 Iyyar 1559 Seleucid (1248 CE). Place: Fustat. Involves Sulaymān al-Ṣayrafī al-Levi b. Abū l-Munā al-Sukkarī, a sum of 140 dinars, the brothers Abū l-Rabīʿ Sulaymān Al-Levi and Abū l-Faraj Zayn al-Tujjār al-Levi the executors (or heirs?) of the late ʿAmram, and monthly payments of 4 dinars to the brothers. Verso: Jottings in Arabic script and the name "Shelomo b. Yishay ha-Nasi" several times.