Geniza Lab

Letter from Nissim b. Avraham to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat). Dating: ca. 1050s. About a consignment of silk that was about to reach Fustat, owned in partnership by the sender and Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tāhirtī. Nahray is requested to sell the silk as quickly as possible and to keep the sale secret. Nissim's travel plans imply that he writes from an important centre in the delta, possibly Būṣīr. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 506-507.)

Account, private, written by Nahray b. Nissim. Dating: ca. 1061 CE. Nissim b. Ishaq, for whom the account was made, is probably ha-Tahirti. Mentions silk and lacquer and other goods from Sicily, as well as pearls that were exported to Sicily, as well as transactions in Tripoli. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #281 and Shelomo Simonsohn, The Jews in Sicily, 1997, 275.) VMR. EMS.

Letter from Yiṣḥaq ha-Kohen b. Aharon to Moshe b. Maṣliaḥ. In Judaeo-Arabic. He reports that he has arrived safely after a terrible Nile voyage when the boat sprang a leak and everyone almost drowned. The silk has been selling well, but not the garments. He tells the addressee to look after the children. Abū Isḥāq is doing well. He reminds the addressee to have the craftsman (? spelled both sāniʿ and ṣāniʿ here) do something. He offers to send some flax for this purpose. Regards to Sitt al-Gharb, Sitt al-Banāt, and Sitt al-Nās.

Receipt or bill or account. In Arabic script. May be stating that the writer has received (akhadhtuhā) the sum of 50 dirhams for various textile-related expenses. Lines 2–3 may include the phrases "in the hand of the Rāb" and "the presence of the judges." The line items include the laundering (ghasīl) of a silk brocade veil (al-sitr al-dībāj), the laundering of two white ghiṭā's, the price of silk, dyeing (ṣibāgh), and sewing (khiyāṭ). ASE

Recto: Legal deed in Arabic script. (Abū l-)Faḍāʾil b. Khalaf al-Yahūdī al-Ḥarīrī, the tax farmer of the silk, has to receive 474 dirhams from Khalaf, a sum composed of the price of a certain kind of silk worth 425 dirhams, plus other dues from Khalaf, to be pain on 10 Dhū l-Ḥijja 544 AH, which is 10 April 1150 CE. The document was written on the last day of Dhū l-Qaʿda 544 AH, which is 30 March 1150 CE. On verso (see separate record) there is an acknowledgement made by the Jewish court concerning the content of the Arabic deed, signed by Shelomo b. Seʿadya and Avraham b. Natan ha-Kohen. (Information from Goitein's index card and Med Soc II, 614n30.) NB: Goitein refers to ENA 4011.34 as ENA 4011.33.

Business letter. Dated: 12 Tamuz 5559 AM, which is 15 July 1799 CE. Dealing mainly with shipments of silk. Niether writer nor addressee are named.

Letter from Yehuda b. Moshe b. Sughmār, in Alexandria, to Abū Bishr Azhar b. Manṣūr (aka Avraham), in Fustat, ca. 1075. Mentions a shipment of silk to Fustat that got wet. The writer cannot come to Fustat, and he asks the addressee to handle some business and money matters for him. The reason for this is that he has numerous illnesses (amrāḍ shattā), the least of which is the jarab (probably trachoma, but the word can also refer to skin diseases), and so he cannot sit or ride. Furthermore, factoring in travel expenses, he does not think the gains will outweigh the losses in his money and his health. But if the addressee thinks it is absolutely necessary, he will bear the 'fasting and difficulty' and make the trip. Meanwhile, a rumor spread in Fustat about Yehuda b. Moshe b. Sughmār, somehow involving Abū l-Faraj Dā'ūd b. Shaʿyā and the ruler Sayf al-Islam (=Badr al-Jamālī?). However, the person who was said to have been the source of the rumour publicly denied it in the synagogue, swearing truthfulness on pain of excommunication. A court decision denying the rumour was also issued. (Information from Gil.) ASE.

Partnership release. Dated: 1091. Location: Fustat. Verso: Avraham b. Yeshuʿa ha-Kohen irreversibly releases Abū al-Faḍl/Abū al-Mufaḍḍal Netanel b. Yefet from any obligations concerning a partnership. Avraham had purchased two baskets of indigo and silk as an investment on behalf of his Alexandrian partners – the silk was damaged on its initial journey to Fusṭāṭ and Avraham liquidated it completely, settling the balance with Nathaniel and terminating the partnership. Abraham’s partners include Nathaniel’s mother and sister (see lines 23 and 27-31). The recto is another partnership agreement (for which the verso is possibly a draft), which reveals Abraham to be an investor (not the active partner), investing funds with Peraḥ/Peraḥya ha-Kohen, who also adds funds and takes the total to Damascus to import goods to Fusṭāṭ. The partnership is to last the duration of a single trip to Damascus, and Peraḥ is to receive half of the profits to Abraham’s capital as well as all profits to his own capital. Peraḥ is liabile for losses, as with the isqra. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 65-66)

Detailed account in Judaeo-Arabic, much of it for expenses entailed in the dyeing of silk.

Fragment of a business letter from Iṣḥaq b. Aharon Sijilmāssī (Fustat) to Avraham (ʿArūs) b. Yosef (Alexandria), ca. 1080. Iṣḥaq b. Aharon reports about money he sent, asks to buy laque and provides information about silk prices. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 403.)

Accounts related to commerce in silk on a bifolium that is undated yet can be estimated as late-18th to early-19th-century given the presence of Meʾīr ben Naʾīm's name and the general paleography of the document. The monetary sums are expressed in silver "פצה" coinage. Many partners in trade are listed such as: Avraham Yaʿabeṣ, Ḥajj Ḥasan Miʾmar[?], Yaʿacov Portos, and Moshe Hakīm. On the left page of the bifolium the financial instrument "polisa / פוליסה" common in moneylending is mentioned. Date: 18th c or 19th c. MCD.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic dated as [Dhu] al-Qa'da 1013AH which is 1605CE. The date appears in the first line of the recto in a somewhat uncommon format that combines Hebrew alphanumerical figures and Hijri timekeeping: "אל קעדה ס[נת] יג ואלפ", but this format is confirmed further down on the recto by the Jewish calendar year [5]364JC. The accounting format is extremely complex and bears multiple layers of figures being crossed out and adjusted. The commodity "חריר / silk" is repeated on many occasions on the recto. MCD.

Letter from Avraham b. Farrāḥ, Alexandria (probably), to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Ca. 1066. Mentions a number of goods: ṭarṭar (a kind of mordant or fixative, presumably for use in textile dyeing), honey, soap and silk. Avraham b. Farrāḥ also mentions that Abū ʿAbdallah (Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ) came to visit him in Alexandria. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #557)

Recto and verso: Letter. One of the small handful of Judaeo-Arabic papyri. Labeled "papyrus II" in the classification of Blau and Hopkins. Dating: Probably 9th century or earlier. Unlikely to have come from the Cairo Geniza; it is possible that most or all of these documents derive from a commercial circle in Ushmūn. This document is by far the most extensive and well-preserved Judaeo-Arabic papyrus known (at least this was true in 1987). It is also the first to have been discussed in print (in 1886/87). This is a letter from Yaʿaqov b. Yosef possibly to somebody named Yom Ṭov and/or to [Yose]f b. Menaḥem Shuqayr in the Jews' Market (Sūq al-Yahūd), possibly in Ḥawz Shuqayr ("the precinct of Shuqayr"). The addressee may be the father of the sender. The letter discusses numerous shipments of textiles and money. (Information in part from Blau and Hopkins and from Gil.)

Letter from Nissim b. Ḥalfon, probably in Tinnis, to Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat. Around 1046. The writer is about to travel to Palestine. Mentions Sahln b. Avraham (Abu Amar). The letter deals with shipments of goods and money, including cloth packaging, raisins, house products, and “Lasin” silk. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #584) VMR

Letter from Mevasser b. David in Damsis to Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat, ca. 1053. The main issue discussed in the letter is an argument between Mevasser and Nahray on the one side and a Christian on the other side. The Christian had financial claims which were not deemed acceptable by Mevasser. Mevasser b. David complains about financial difficulties, especially since he left Mahdiyya where his family remained and lost his property during travels. He anticipates a difficult year for his family, due to famine and rising prices. The letter refers to pearl and book trade and gives the recipient the power of attorney for a sale of silk. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, pp. 299-300 and Goitein notes linked below.)

Letter from Isma’il b. Farah, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. September 23, 1056. The letter contains details about shipments of money and goods, and several requests to send letters, as well as requests related to buying goods (mainly sugar) and selling goods (mainly silk) in Fustat. Also mentions a large shipment of wax that was sent to the government. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #490) VMR

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 of recommendation from Yehuda to Avraham ha-Zaqen about a righteous silk weaver named Tahor al-Talmid from the pupils of Avraham Maimonides (min jumlat aṣḥāb sayyidinā), who has "left the world from his heart" and sought the service of the Creator. The letter discusses Tahor's altruistic intention to marry an orphan girl.

Letter from Sitt Dhahab, in an unknown location, to Abū Naṣr b. Karīm, in Qāʿat al-Fāḍil, Fustat. She refers to herself as his daughter. Goitein suggests that he is her elder brother, although in that case it might be odd for a sister to refer to "the house of your brother" rather than "our brother." She reports that Abū l-Faraj b. al-Rayyis (Judge Elijah?) has arrived, with 100 dirhams for them. He is interested in buying wheat. She confirms that several consignments have arrived, including the balālīn (?), a frying pan (ṭājin), a robe (shuqqa), yarn (ghazal), and silk in various forms. She suggests that he send silver to Sitt Iftikhār, who has been seriously ill ("she has not lifted her head") already two months. She uses the word "iltaha'at" (bi-ruḥihā wa-maraḍihā) to describe Sitt Iftikhār; this word also appears in the context of distress in CUL Or.1081 J5 and possibly T-S 10J12.14. It might correspond to التهى, meaning "to be occupied with oneself" (Dozy). She reports on the sale of a female slave for 10 dinars, but this deal may have fallen apart: when "the man" came to fetch her price, "they returned to your brother's house, and they said they wouldn't sell her," and the female slave herself had to be bound with ropes. She then gives an update on the door for the vestibule (kumm). Abū l-Surūr bought one, but it is not suitable. Another worker came and took its measurements and is interested in doing the work. As for the old door of iron, Ḥusām took it down, and Salīm the carpenter didn't lift a finger to help. She urges the addressee to be diligent in forwarding the letters of Abū l-Maʿālī, because his mother and grandmother (or: mother and wife) are worried about him. She urges him to not forget to give an update on Najm in each of his letters, because when he does not, everyone is worried. The address is in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic. Information in part from Goitein's note card. ASE.