Geniza Lab

Letter from Surūr, in Bilbays, to his widowed mother, in Cairo, who lives with her two other sons Faraj Allāh and Rashīd. The letter deals with a case to be brought before the Nagid Yehoshua Maimonides (1310–55) b. Avraham II (1245–1313) b. David (1222–1300) b. Avraham (1186–1237) b. Moshe (1135–1204), containing circumstantial evidence (amāra) and details sustaining it. The first part of the letter (r1–17) includes lengthy apologies for failing to visit when he heard that his mother was sick. He was unable to come because of the expense of renting an animal, the danger of the journey, and because he was suffering from ophthalmia ('but now, thank God, I am better'). In the next part of the letter (r18–v1), he informs his mother that he remarried four months earlier, to a beautiful virgin who shares all of his mother's good traits and who is the fulfillment of his mother's prayers for him. His wife is distressed on behalf of her mother-in-law's illness and wishes to come to visit. Goitein suggests that the key to why Surūr neglected to tell his mother or ask her permission prior to the marriage lies in his neglect to mention his wife's name or that she comes from a good family. Most likely, she did not come from a good family, and his mother would have disapproved. In the third part of the letter (v1–27), he gets to the main purpose of writing: he had loaned a siddur to a pilgrim to Palestine named Fakhr against a security of 6.5 nuqra dirhams (containing three times as much silver as regular dirhams). Now that Fakhr has returned to Cairo, he has heard that family members already returned the silver, but Fakhr refused to return the siddur. The writer wishes Fakhr to be pressured to return the siddur. He suggests first that his family tell Sulaymān al-ʿAṭṭār, who mediated the original loan/security, "So-and-so [Surūr] says such-and-such to you with the following signs." He then recounts the story of how Sulaymān and Fakhr stayed in the khān in Bilbays with six other pilgrims (al-Shaykh Muwaffaq the cantor, Saʿīd b. al-Kātib, Nāṣir b. Ṭayyib, Yehoshua b. al-Ghāriq, Mūsā b. Mardūk, and Ibn Abū Saʿd al-Khādim), and how they were stranded there over Shabbat when the caravan left. If Sulaymān's intervention doesn't work, Surūr's brother Faraj Allāh should approach the Nagid Yehoshua. He then gives "signs" to remind the Nagid of his case: how, when he visited Bilbays, he spoke with Surūr about the copy of a Bible belonging to Yaʿqūb the brother of the teacher; how the Nagid was involved in Surūr's divorce from his first wife; and how the Nagid went to see the head of police (wālī) of Bilbays, who directed him to the Qadi, who was not available. If this doesn't work, he suggests that his brother go to Yaʿqūb the brother of the teacher and solicit his help. Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 337, 601 and from Goitein's Tarbiz article on Yehoshua Maimonides. ASE.

Letter from the chancellery of the Nagid Yehoshuaʿ Maimonides (d. 1355) concerning a needy orphan. The first line is in Arabic characters, characteristic of letters from the Nagid's office. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 303-304)

Letter, possibly from the office of Yehoshua Maimonides, recommending a man who is “poor but from a good family.” The community of Fustat is asked to help by taking up a collection in the synagogue, referred to as a ‘pesiqa.’ (Mark Cohen, The Voice of the Poor in the Middle Ages: An Anthology of Documents from the Cairo Geniza, Princeton University Press, 2005, 197) EMS. Bibliography: Mentioned in Goitein, "The Twilight of the House of Maimonides," Tarbiz 54 (1984), 67–104.

Stern letter from the office of Yehoshuaʿ Maimonides, requesting the addressee’s quick appearance together with money he owes. An Arabic basmala (or perhaps authentication mark, see Yehoshua's other letters to the community) is written over Yehoshuaʿ’s motto. (Information from CUDL.) Bibliography: Goitein, "The Twilight of the House of Maimonides," Tarbiz 54 (1984), 92.

Letter, possibly from the office of Yehoshua Maimonides, in which the nagid asks the community in Fustat to take up a charity collection for a scholar, David, on his way to Jerusalem and in a hurry to catch a caravan. A note in the margin indicates this request to expedite the collection. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:136, 548; and Mark Cohen, The Voice of the Poor in the Middle Ages, 198) EMS. Bibliography: Mentioned in Goitein, "The Twilight of the House of Maimonides," Tarbiz 54 (1984), 67–104.

Letter from the office of Yehoshuaʿ Nagid (d. 1355) to the community of Fustat asking them to arrange a charitable collection (Information from Goitein, Tarbiz 54 [1984], 84)

Fragmentary letter from the office of Yehoshua Maimonides to a certain Avraham, concerning the affairs of a man, his wife, and a young boy, and mentioning issues of habitation and an excommunication. See discussion in Goitein, "The Twilight of the House of Maimonides," Tarbiz 54 (1984), 96–97.

Letter of recommendation from the office of Yehoshua Maimonides to be read in "the two synagogues," to help an old man named Yeshuʿa to travel to Jerusalem where his children lived. Bibliography: Mentioned in Goitein, "The Twilight of the House of Maimonides," Tarbiz 54 (1984), 67–104.

Letter of recommendation for a poor man with a family from the office of Yehoshua Maimonides.

Official letter headed by the ʿalāma (motto) of the Nagid Yehoshuaʿ Maimonides (d. 1355) and written in the typical hand of his clerk (compare Moss. IV,37.1). Issuing an order about a suwayqa (little market?). Every Jew is forbidden from doing [...] without the permission of the court. The elders should be informed that if they [...] or [...], a ban of excommunication will be placed. More information might be extracted with further examination. On verso there is Zechariah 1:16–17; 8:7–8. AA. ASE.

Letter from the office of Yehoshuaʿ Maimonides (introduced with his usual motto) to the community in Cairo concerning a lawsuit between Hiba b. Abū l-Faraj Allāh and his in-law Fakhr; he warns against unauthorised recourse to a gentile court. (Information from CUDL)

Order sent to the community of Fustat from the office of Yehoshuaʿ Nagid (d. 1355) recommending the elder Shemuel for charity, followed by requests and prayers on verso written in a different handwriting. (Information from a note on Goitein's typed text)

Small fragment from the top of a letter from Yehoshuaʿ ha-Nagid to a community.

Fragment of a letter from the office of Yehoshua Maimonides, possibly a recommendation for Yosef al-Ṣabbān (the soap boiler).

Letter from the office of Yehoshua the Nagid (d. 1355), a grandson of a grandson of the Rambam, to the Jerusalemite synagogues concerning an erection of a Sukkah and redemption of pawned Torah bells.

Letter of recommendation from the office of Yehoshua Maimonides, to be read in the synagogue, on behalf of a pregnant woman who has no money to support her sick son. ASE. Mentioned in Goitein, "The Twilight of the House of Maimonides," Tarbiz 54 (1984), 67–104.

Letter from the office of Yehoshua Maimonides to a certain Avraham ha-Sar (likely the same addressee as in T-S 8J40.2) regarding an excommunication. Muslim courts are mentioned. Needs further examination.

Letter from the office of the Nagid Yehoshuaʿ Maimonides (d. 1355) in which the cantor Faraj Allāh is ordered to arrange a collection for a traveler. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 494)

Strong censure from the office of Yehoshua Maimonides that the addressee had left a guest recommended by him without food on Friday and Shabbat and, in addition, the addressee's son had insulted him. He summons both father and son to his court, urgently. Infromation from Goitein's note card. ASE.

Legal document likely in the hand of the clerk of Yehoshua Maimonides. Needs further examination.