Geniza Lab

Letter sent from Fustat by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu ha-Dayyan to Sitt Rayhan, expressing concern about her health (r3–11, v20, address), dealing with a house of which one quarter belongs to her, and asking her to travel to Fustat. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Note to R. David to summon a Maghribi named Abu Dawud Khayyat, whose grown-up son had died and whose wife is critically ill with dysentery and fears that she will not see her husband again. On verso are accounts and several versions of the signature of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu, placing the date in the early 13th century. ASE.

Letter from Abū l-Ḥayy b. Avraham, in Ifrīqiyya, to his uncle, Moshe b. Abī l-Ḥayy, in Alexandria. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Mid-11th century. A moving letter, describing two sieges (on Qayrawān?) by the Hijazis (the Hilal Bedouins) and further threats of persecution of the Jews. The addressee's brother is very sick. He started to improve, but is now deteriorating from 'the constriction of his akhlāq' (meaning uncertain, but see tag) and from the pain. The writer does not seem to expect him to live long ("may God unite the two of you before he leaves this world"). (Information in part from Med Soc II, 283, 588, and from Goitein's index cards.) ASE

Letter from Nissim b. Ḥalfon, in Tinnīs, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: August 20, 1046. The writer describes his difficulties. He almost did not collect the debt from al-Ḥarīrī (the silk merchant) in Damsīs. Selling linen was hard because a better product arrived from the Levant (Ashqelon and Arṣūf (and?) Tyre). Selling Nahray's silk was hard, as wel,l because of the superior silk the ghulām of Ibn Abī l-Zaffāt brought from Spain. It was likewise hard to sell lacquer. When he arrived back home, he found his son and daughter ill with smallpox. "When I arrive{d} I found the little one ill (ḍaʿīf). He became affected by smallpox (itjaddara), he and his sister, and people are preoccupied about him (wa-huwa taḥta shughl). May God grant relief in His mercy." Gil reads instead "itjaddada," which would simply mean that the illness was renewed and there was no smallpox. But perhaps this is less likely, because the letter does not describe any prior reprieve from the illness, and because the subject of the verb is "he and his sister," not the illness. Information in part from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #583 and Goitein's note card (#27119). VMR. ASE.

Letter sent by Ṭoviya b. ʿEli ha-Kohen, writing from the countryside to his cousin, the judge Natan b. Shelomo ha-Kohen. Dating: 1122–50, based on the dated documents of the addressee. In a mix of Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew, the latter used especially for sensitive topics. The letter describes the pillage (nahb), famine, and the persecution of the Jews it entailed and describing many other public and private issues. On verso, Ṭoviya gives a brief update on his wife's condition: she is emerging from her illness (mysterious attacks of chills and burning sensations, see T-S 12.234 and Bodl. MS heb. d.66/141), but she cannot tolerate being near fire or in the kitchen. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 106, 524.) ASE.

Letter from Abū l-Faḍl and his mother, perhaps in Fustat, to his father Abū Naṣr, in Asyūṭ. In Judaeo-Arabic. Much of the letter is in the voice of the mother, though Abū l-Faḍl is presumably taking dictation. The letter complains about the hardship of the family after the father/husband had fled to Asyūṭ in Upper Egypt and left them without support. There is no one who can buy even a pound of meat for the children. A certain woman is still sick (right margin, ll. 3–4). It seems that Abū Naṣr had deposited some gold with a certain Abū l-Faḍl (a different person than the son who wrote this letter) in Alexandria "for the orphan girl." But the family has heard no news of this gold and fears it is lost, because Abū l-Faḍl's wife has died and Abū l-Faḍl himself is very sick (ʿalā khuṭṭa) (last lines of right margin, continuing into the upper margin). (Information in part from CUDL and Med Soc, IV, pp. 245, 439, 440; V, pp. 88, 89.) ASE

Letter from the future Gaon Daniel b. ʿAzarya, in al-Mahdiyya, to the leader of the Babylonian community Sahlān b. Ibrāhīm (aka Abū ʿAmr Sahlān b. Barhūn), in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. Dating: Tuesday, 11 Tishrei, probably October 1038 CE (according to both Gil and Goitein). The letter congratulates Sahlān on his marriage, which we know to have taken place on 9 September 1037 CE, from his ketubba (T-S 20.6). The letter also discusses difficulties experienced by the Babylonian/Iraqi congregation of Fustat that were resolved with the intervention of Abū Naṣr Ḥesed al-Tustarī (ll. 13 and 16). Daniel is working on these matters together with the Rosh ha-Gola, at present in the Maghrib, and with the Nagid of Qayrawān (Yaʿaqov b. ʿAmram or Shemuel ha-Sefaradi). The Arabic-script address on verso references Sahlān’s late father Ibrāhīm b. Sahlān (d. ca. 1031), previously the head of the Iraqi community of Fustat, and refers to him as “Barhūn.” The letter briefly mentions Sahlān's deliverance from an illness, but this part of the letter is too damaged to discern any more information (l. 8). (Information from Gil and from S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:511; 3:118, 451.) EMS. NB: As of 01/2022, the PGP transcription is missing all of the text in the margins and on verso.

Letter from Ḥalfon b. Menashshe to Avraham b. Bundār. Location: Fustat. Dating: Early 12th century. Ornate thank you letter and narrative in which Ḥalfon b. Menashshe expresses gratitude for the wealthy Adeni merchants Avraham b. Bundar and the "Leader of the Congregations (either Ḥasan b. Bundar or his son Bundar II) who saved him from the debts that confronted him when he emerged from his life-threatening illness (r31–v2). "Ḥalfon was inflicted by a dangerous and protracted illness, and hopes for his recovery had already been lost. He did recover, but despite the helpfulness of the community and the devoted care of the physicians, he was forced to sell everything in the house, including his Sabbath clothing, and to incur debts to the amount of 12 dinars." Partial trans. Goitein and Friedman, India Traders, p. 44, and summarized in detail 306f.

Letter from Abū Saʿīd, in Palermo, to his brother Abū l-Barakāt known as Ṭāriq, in Fustat. Abū Saʿīd reports that he had fled the unrest in Ifrīqiyya and traveled to Palermo. Prior to departing Ifrīqiyya, it seems, Abū Saʿīd's wife and two sons were sick for four months, and his 1-year-old son died. It seems that Abu Saʿid had to pay 50 Murābiṭī dinars due to the medical care and due to the delay in travel plans. The sea voyage was also ill-fated. The travelers were shipwrecked by a storm on an island known as Ghumūr, where they stayed for 20 days, living on wild nettles. "We hardly resembled human beings." They set off again from the island in four boats, of which only the writer's boat survived, which reached Palermo after another 35 days at sea. "By these letters, for our first month in Palermo we couldn't eat bread or understand what was said to us, due to what happened to us at sea." With understatement, "This is why I did not join you in Egypt this year." Abū Saʿīd adds that he has not heard from Abū l-Barakāt in three years, and though he would like to relocate to Egypt, he hesitates because he does not even know if Abū l-Barakāt is still alive. Abū Saʿīd suggests, alternatively, that Abū l-Barakāt join him in Sicily. Dating: Ca. 1060, based on the reference to Murābiṭī dinars. Information from Gil. ASE.

Letter from an unknown writer to an unknown addressee. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer rebukes the addressee for failing to write with his news. Everyone has been worried about him. The writer himself has been distressed and sick ever since leaving the addressee, but he finally feeling better. The writer found a certain item with him (second word of line 7) that evidently had to be sent to the addressee, but it was the eve of Passover, and Abū l-Barakāt b. al-Ṣabbāgh had traveled, so the writer had to send it with the bearer of the present letter, Abū l-Faraj al-Kohen known as Ibn Qasāsa. There are also a few lines of Arabic script at the bottom, oriented 180 degrees to the main text. Includes a basmala and the word "mablagh" (amount/sum). (Information in part from CUDL and from Goitein's index cards.) ASE

Letter from Yisrael b. Natan, Jerusalem, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Dating: March 1062 CE. Among other matters, Yisrael reports that he is in bad shape: he was sick with congestion (nazla), a cough (suʿāl), and eye pain (wajaʿ al-ʿaynayn), although now he is feeling somewhat better. He asks Nahray to obtain bitumen (qifār) from Abū l-Faraj Yeshuʿa, and send it to him, "for this is the most helpful (drug) for me." ASE

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

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 of appeal for charity from Yeḥezqel b. Ibrāhīm (the writer) and the former judge Moshe b. Shemarya to Abū ʿImran Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy, Segulat ha-Yeshiva. Moshe has gone blind from ophthalmia (ramad); his eye is white and he walks with a cane. Yehezqel is so infirm that he has not left his home for two years, even to attend synagogue services. They ask Mūsā to intervene on their behalf with the Nagid Sar ha-Sarim (Mevorakh b. Saadya), though they know that Mevorakh is busy with the “service of the rulers” (khidmat al-salāṭīn), see Rustow, Heresy, p. 339, and Cohen, Jewish Self-Government, p. 220. See also ENA 2805.5a, in which Natan b. Nahray informs Musa that as instructed he has given 1 dinar each to Moshe the Judge and Yeḥezqel the Alexandrian, who is sick and confined to his house. Dated after 1094. (Information in part from Goitein’s note cards) ASE

Letter from Nissim b. Ḥalfon, probably from Tinnīs, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Dating: Probably from November 17, 1046. The letter contains personal information: the destruction of the writer’s house and his illness. Mentions Sahlān b. Avraham. Also mentions shipments of money and goods: honey, crocus, linen, linen fabrics, and “lāsīn” silk. The illness passage (v12–16) reads as follows: "My lord, I have a great pain (wajaʿ) in my thigh (bi-fakhdhī), and I lack the strength (ʿayītu). . . a medicine for me to drink (dawā' nashrabuhu). I went (wajjahtu) {to} the doctor, but it/he was of no avail. When I go to the bazaar, I am forced to sit on the road five times and more. I have ceased all my work. May God have mercy on me." The translations of Goitein and Gil diverge significantly. Goitein reads "bi-kabdī" (in my liver) and Gil reads "bi-fikrī" (in my estimation) instead of "bi-fakhdhī." Both read "mayyit" (incurable, fatal) instead of ʿayītu, but as the next word is almost illegible, the only way to decide between the two readings is via comparing it with Nissim's other מs and עs. Goitein reads "wajba" instead of "wajjahtu" and understands it as "the prescription of the doctor." Goitein suggests that he is "sitting on his heels" five times or more in order to urinate, whereas Gil remains agnostic about why he has to sit down. Perhaps it is simply to rest. Information from Goitein's note card (#27131), and Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #585. VMR. ASE.

Letter from Natan Ha-Kohen Ha-Ḥaver b. Yoshiyyahu, Tiberias, to Yaʿaqov b. David, approximately 1050. The writer asks the recipient for support on behalf of the sick who are seeking a cure at the hot springs of Tiberias. (Information from CUDL.)

Letter from Abū l-Riḍā to his brother Shelomo. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. Asking for urgent help with "ghathth al-bayt" (a problem of his wife? or actual house?). On verso he adds that he only wrote this letter while 'sick in the brain' (muta'allim al-dimāgh). Information in part from Goitein's notes.

Letter from Abū l-Faraj and his son Abū l-Majd in Bilbays to Eliyyahu the Judge (who is the cousin, ibn khāl, of Abū l-Faraj). They have been in Bilbays only a brief time, since 17 Iyyar, seeking a living there because of difficult economic conditions in Alexandria. But this project has not worked out, and so they are planning to return to Alexandria. The main purpose of the letter is to ask Eliyyahu to rebuke another Abū l-Faraj, who owes the writer 18 dinars, and force him to pay. The writer had deposited the money (and other goods) with this Abū l-Faraj on the night before he traveled; this was witnessed by another cousin (ibn khāla) of Eliyyahu, Manṣūr b. Sahlān. The writer told Abū l-Faraj to draw up a contract for the deposit/loan, but he never did so. (Probably he is now denying that he owes anything.) "If I had known that the matter would turn out like this, {I} wouldn't have given him a penny. . . . My greatest need from you is to rebuke Abū l-Faraj, for he is a heretic [zindīq]. My only salvation from him will be through God and through you. I am shocked at how he treated my son. . . . I am now a piece of flesh: I lack money, sight, and a living." He mentions his weak vision earlier in the letter, too, when explaining the "delay of my raḥl (merchandise? travel?)." Also of interest in the letter is what Abū l-Faraj conveys about his hospitality for Eliyyahu's son, the physician Abū Zikrī, who returned from Jerusalem the previous year. Initially, Abū Zikrī stayed with Abū l-Faraj the son of the Parnas. But after Yom Kippur, the writer said, "He should stay with me instead of with strangers." And thus they lived together, "head to head"—apparently an expression of his great hospitality. When the writer and his son, along with Asad and Abū l-Munā, started preparing to travel (to Fustat?), they urged Abū Zikrī to come with them, citing the wishes of Eliyyahu, but he refused. Asad ended up advancing him 17 dirhams for the capitation tax. Abū Zikrī has no intention of coming, but rather is staying in the house of the writer, along with Sulaymān the Yemeni (perhaps the father of Avraham b. Shelomo the Yemeni, who lived with Abū Zikrī in Jerusalem, and who had family in Bilbays, see T-S 8J16.3 and T-S 13J21.5). Abū Zikrī's motivations seem in part financial—he says he will not come until his father sends him 10 dinars. The letter is full of idiosyncratic spellings, many probably reflecting colloquial pronunciation. ASE.

Letter from Abū l-Majd, in Fustat, to Barakāt b. Hārūn Ibn al-Kūzī, in Alexandria, sent via the shop of Maḥāsin al-Ḥarīrī. Dated: Ramaḍān, 620 AH, which is October 1223 CE. Abū l-Majd complains of the difficult times and his illness, and the problems of selling a sick female slave who actively resists being sold (recto, margin). Part of his haste to sell her is that he was denounced to the government (ghamazū ʿalayyā l-dīwān) and lost 52 dirhams, evidently taxes related to the slave. (Cf. ENA NS 77.254, an outline for a deed of sale of a slave, where "if someone tattles to the government" is a specific eventuality that is addressed.) Abū l-Majd asks Barakāt to come to Fustat and try to sell her. If it weren't for the bitter cold, Meir himself would come with her to Alexandria. (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE

Letter from ʿEli b. Yehezqel ha-Kohen, Jerusalem, to Eli b. Hayyim ha-Kohen, Fustat, concerning Eli b. Yehezqel's travels to Acre and Tyre, return to Ramla, and his serious illness there. "I was attacked by vomiting; I exploded from above and below, over 300 times (lit. "sittings"); everybody in the house gave me up. The doctors came on Saturday night and saw that I was finished and that there was nothing to be done any more. I made my will... [then improved]... but I still have terrible weakness." Also mentions the rent from the heqdesh (pious foundation) to the poor people in Jerusalem and other private and public affairs. 1060 (Gil's estimation). (Information from Gil, Palestine; and Goitein's index cards, including index card #27100.) VMR; ASE.