Geniza Lab

Poetry and prose about wine. In Judaeo-Arabic. Includes the phrase "just like the Jews do it" and refers to a holiday celebration "on the night of the 10th."

Letter from a woman, in Fustat, to her son Abū l-Maḥāsin, in Funduq al-Qamra, Alexandria. Dictated to Abū Manṣūr. Likely belongs with T-S 10J19.26, in which case the writer of this letter is Sitt Ghazāl bt. Abū ʿUmar. She expresses the anxiety (nār) that afflicts her heart on his behalf ever since his departure on Friday. She has been having nightmares and insomnia, and fears that if he does not return quickly, she will be completely blind by the time he returns. (It is also possible that the phrase "yatlaf baṣarī" refers to death instead of going blind; compare "wafāt ʿaynak" in T-S 10J12.14.) She urges him not to drink wine "on account of your illness. . . May God protect us from illness while separated (al-maraḍ fī l-ghurba). . . If my night visions are distressing to me, how [much the worse] if I should see them while awake." The last sentence is ambiguous: either she fears that nightmares can afflict a blind person at all hours, or she fears that her visions of terrible things happening to her son will become realities. She requests that he bring various goods back with him: a large bowl (qaṣʿa), a linen cloth (? shīta), a good comb (mushṭ), and two spoons (milʿaqatayn), and possibly red ink (? midādun yakūnū ḥumr) for Umm Abū l-Bahā'. The scribe Abū Manṣūr interjects here (line 13), and the remainder of the letter is in his voice. He apologizes for troubling the addressee with news of illness, but the fever is still with him. He asks for news of Abū l-Waḥsh Sibāʿ, and the bible, and the book of Rabbenu Baḥye. He is very anxious to learn what his instructions are—it seems he is to copy one or both of these books for Abū l-Waḥsh—so that he is not accused of tardiness. The instructions should be delivered either to Sūq al-ʿAṭṭārīn to the shop of al-Kohen al-Siqillī, or to al-Sūq al-Kabir, to the shop of Abū l-Faraj al-Sharābī. See Mediterranean Society, IV, pp. 224–25, 260. VMR. ASE.

Letter from Yehuda b. Aharon b. al-ʿAmmānī, in Alexandria, to Abū l-Majd Meir b. Yakhin (Thābit), "the Glory of the Cantors," in Fustat. Dated: 14 Iyyar, 1216 CE. The letter contains information about a communal conflict between Anatoli the Judge and Yehuda's paternal uncle—Ṣadoq b. Shemuel b. al-ʿAmmānī—and his son Mufaḍḍal. (Frenkel suggests this is the same case against a judge that Yehuda mentions in T-S 13J21.25, but that letter was written in 1208.) Ṣadoq had made a taqqana and collected signatures of important Alexandrians such as Abū Saʿd b. Nānū and Bū l-Rabīʿ al-Kohen in order to appoint his son Mufaḍḍal to lead the congregation (as judge?), but Mufaḍḍal is young, beardless, and unmarried, and therefore regarded as unfit to lead the congregation over an older, distinguished man. Moreover, Ṣadoq went to the Nagid Avraham Maimonides for approval of the taqqana behind the back of Anatoli the Judge, who was understandably angry when he heard. It seems that Mufaḍḍal has been shunned by most of the population for the last few months. Yehuda himself is waiting for the Nagid to respond with a fatwa to a query of his own, and he is resentful that the Nagid does not recognize that Yehuda is the one who is managing all the affairs of the synagogue, while his uncle is addicted to wine and incompetent (Med Soc V, 39 and 516, n. 148). Yehuda mentions the Tāj (the Aleppo Codex) "which was written and pointed by Ben Asher or Ben Naftali" in the last line of the main text on verso. The addressee Abū l-Majd was recently sick, and others in his household still are. See also T-S 16.305, a letter written in spring 1217 in which Yehuda thanks Avraham Maimonides for resolving the conflict between him and his uncle. Information in part from Frenkel and from Gotein's note card. ASE.

Letter from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu (Barakāt al-Muʿallim) to al-Shaykh al-Rashīd ('the father'—evidently an elder relative). The note accompanies a gift of wine for a banquet in honor of finishing the study of Talmudic tractate (seliq). Shelomo asks him five times not to put him to shame by paying or by sending him a return present. In any case, he did not drink wine in this hot time, and the time of the grape pressing was near. Information from Goitein's note card.

Legal document involving Abū l-Ḥasan and Refa'el and Abū l-Muʿāfā (who may be the same as Refa'el), possibly a dissolution of a partnership. The pressing of wine and the spoiling of wine are mentioned. Information from Worman catalog. On verso are jottings in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic, perhaps related to recto

Letter from Muslim to his son ʿIwaḍ. In Judaeo-Arabic. Concerning sugar cane molasses (quṭāra) and wine. "Stop occupying yourself with marriage plans and such idle things," writes a father, reminding his son, a fledgling physician, that he had not yet made enough money for such ventures. (wa-tukhalli ʿannak al-ishtighāl bil-jīza (=zija) wa-l-umūr al-hadhayāniyya. First Goitein took bljyzh as bil-ijāza (with Imāla) in the sense of tazkiya (certificate of good conduct for a physician), see Med. Soc, II, 250. But the reading suggested here seems to be preferable. Later in the letter the father says: anta muḥārif, "you are a poor man." (Information from Goitein, Med Soc III, p. 245 and 480 note 158).

Letter from Yehuda b. Aharon Ibn al-ʿAmmānī, in Alexandria, to Abū l-Majd Meir b. Yakhin ("the Glory of the Cantors and their strength"), in Fustat. Dated: 22 Shevat 1525 Seleucid, which is early 1214 CE. In the letter are found the repercussions of the arrival of French rabbis to Alexandria. The community seems to be in a serious crisis due to the lack of leadership. (Information from Frenkel.) Yehuda additionally congratulates Abū l-Majd on his recovery (r.7-12) and agrees that his illness is primarily caused by drinking too much wine and that he should moderate his drinking (r.22-24). He refers to a frail woman (r.14-15). He reports that Abū l-Majd's brother Abu l-Najm Hilal is ill: he never fully recovered since a nail entered his leg months ago, and he does not or cannot open his mouth (r.15-19). He only reports this because it is said that Hilāl may be on his deathbed. (Cf. INA D-55 f.4, also known as IOM D 55.4, summarized in Med Soc II, 220 and V, 155, in which Yehuda writes to Eliyyahu the Judge that “[Hilāl] went to rest in the evening and did not awake in the morning. It was the first day of the holiday, and he was buried on the same day; he left a fine boy of sixteen, who studies with me.” However, Hilāl's fatal illness was different than the one mentioned in this letter, as Hilāl was still alive in December 1214 when he wrote T-S 13J21.27, having recently traveled from Alexandria to Fustat and back.) Yehuda devotes much space to discussing piyyutim that these two cantors have sent or will send each other (r.25-v.9); rebukes Abū l-Majd for failing to date his letters (v.1-4); mentions the financial difficulties in his household (v.9-10); mentions Abū l-Faraj b. al-Rayyis (=Eliyyahu the Judge) and his fundraising for Jerusalem (v.10-13); and ends with a recommendation for R. Shemuel who approached him as he was writing this letter and seems to intend to travel to Fustat. R. Shemuel does not speak Arabic and is dependent on the community's aid (v.13-21). ASE

Legal document. Location: Bilbays. Dated: First decade of Sivan, 1564 Seleucid, which is 1253 CE. Under the reshut of David I Maimonides. Concerning a settlement between Sulaymān b. Yaʿaqov and his brother Nafīs b. Yaʿaqov and Dā'ūd b. Yosef regarding payments for wine left by the late Abū l-Waḥsh b. Sulaymān, who died when a grave collapsed on him. Signed by Avraham b. Elʿazar and Yaḥyā b. Ṭahor ha-Levi. (Information from CUDL and E. Struss-Ashtor, History of the Jews in Egypt and Syria under the rule of the Mamluks, 3:12-14) VMR.

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.

Fragmentary scrap that contains multiple hands. The recto has been identified as a responsum, whereas the verso is a short note to Abu al-Ḥasan (or Abu-l-Hakan), requesting him to give the bearer wine. There are two hands on the recto: the more fainted one states the problem (line 1-5), a more fresh black ink continues the answer to the query (lines 6-10). The second hand is more cursive and uses more connections. The subject of the responsum on the recto seems to be wine and wine selling, which makes this a interesting case of paper reuse: the main subject of both the older and the newer documents is wine. It is also possible that the shaykh, mentioned in the verso of the document, is the same Abu al-Ḥasan as in fragments Moss. II 135.1 and TS NS J 224.1. See Phukoiava's database "Wine Accross the Geniza" for translation. (Information from Ekaterina Pukhovaia)

Two rhymed letters between the brothers Shemuʾel and Shelomo, on the subject of wine. See also Goitein's index card, and cf. T-S 8J15.15 (same brothers).

Informal note from an unknown writer to R. Ḥiyya. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer requests the excellent jug of wine (al-nabīdh al-mamzūj) that Ḥiyya had promised him on Saturday, as he received bloodletting today, and the doctor prescribed that he drink wine afterward. Trans. Goitein, Med Soc IV, 255.

Accounts, dated October 1230 CE, in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu, referring to a cellar (maṭmūra) in his father’s house with 117 jugs of wine. Most of the wines are described as ‘crossbred’ (muwallad), and just 10 are described as ‘real wine’ (khamr). (Information from CUDL.) See also DK 201.2.

Inventory of a wine merchant's wine cellar. (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 259)

Letter addressed to Abū l-Faraj and Abū l-Ḥasan. In Judaeo-Arabic, with extremely rudimentary spelling and and handwriting (e.g. אכדיל אלכום for ادخل اليكم). This is a letter of appeal for charity. The sender bemoans his and his family's poverty. He asks for hospitality until after the holiday (this is not the first time he has asked). He also asks for some wine for qiddush.

Medical prescription composed of ingredients that appear regularly in similar prescriptions of those days. Wine is recommended as an alternative for a sharab (a potion). The verso contains an unrelated Arabic document. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 266-7)

Accounts of a wine dealer (or at least somebody who sells liquid by the jarra) in Judaeo-Arabic. Customers include Makārim al-Ṣayrafī, Barakāt al-Azraq, Maḥāsin b. al-[...]; the son of Simḥa; Abū ʿAlī b. al-Sukkarī; Bū Manṣūr b. al-Dhahabī; al-Shaykh al-Makīn and his brother Abū l-Baqā'.

Recipe for a certain kind of wine ("al-nabīdh al-mudabbir"). On verso there are calendrical calculations mentioning Tishrei 1423 Seleucid, which is 1111 CE.

Accounts, mentioning quantities of money and commodities such as wine. (Information from CUDL)

Accounts, mentioning names such as Ibn al-Ḡanī (?) and Joseph b. Judah al-Levi. Lists a number of dates, weights, numbers and commodities, such as honey, wine and sugar. (Information from CUDL)