Geniza Lab

Letter to Abu al-Ḥasan 'Allun the parnas (Eli b. Yahya, dated documents 1057-1107) about a case of inheritance, with a recommendation for a bashful young Jewish man as a flax worker. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, p. 199, and from Goitein's index cards)

Fragment of an opening of a letter by Shelomo b. Semah, Ramla, to the communities of Fustat, probably December 1033.

Letter from a ḥaver of the Jerusalem yeshiva, probably in Aleppo, to a gaʾon, probably Shelomo b. Yehuda, in Jerusalem. Dating: ca. 1035 (Gil). The ḥaver complains about the members of his congregation who plot against him and have twice slandered him, once to the present gaʾon, once to his predecessor. The writer’s innocence has been proven before, and will be proven again, with the help of Ṣadoq b. Levi, whose previous letter was lost. Also mentions Tamīm b. Avraham and Yefet Ibn al-Shayzarī. The writer is also on good terms with the local governor. The writer is leaving for Calneh to attempt to resolve a dispute within the Jewish community there over who should succeed their recently deceased judge. It's unclear what is meant by Calneh; various candidates for this biblical toponym have been proposed, but the most likely here is probably the one near Aleppo, identified with the modern village by the related name Kullan-Köy. As the recipient’s last letter was lost, the writer requests that the recipient send a letter of support to strengthen the writer’s authority within the community in Aleppo; with allusions to Job 30:26, 10:22 and Proverbs 27:19. (Information from CUDL and from Marina Rustow)

Letter from Yehoshua ha-Ḥaver b. Eli, Caesarea, to the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saadya.

Letter of censure to the community of Malij and its leader.

Letter from Yusuf ha-Kohen b. Shelomo Gaon, writing from Jerusalem or Ramla, informing the Jewish chief justice of Aleppo that it had taken seven months to find the husband whose wife in the Syrian city had demanded a divorce. The bill of divorce had now been made out and entrusted to a man who would deliver it to the woman, ca. 1035. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 3:262, 485) EMS

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda (or Avraham son of the Gaon?) to Efrayim b. Shemarya. In Hebrew. Asking Efrayim to organize the Jewish community in Fustat to assist the bearer, a victim of theft (or refugee?), on his homeward journey. Dating: probably 1034/35 CE. (Information from CUDL). Join: Oded Zinger.

Letter sent by a young man named Siba to his mother in Fustat but addressed to his brother, Abu al-Najm, describing the troubles he had encountered from a capitation tax official on his travels in a Nile boat and saying he had arrived safely in Alexandria. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 299, 300)

In this appeal, typically addressed to the community ('your excellencies, my masters, the illustrious lordly judges, and...the elders of Israel'), a widow and mother of four, weighed down by debt, asks for 'something to conceal myself (astur bihi nafs) and the fo[ur] who are with me. She thus voices the common plaint of the master, the 'concealed,' who strives to maintain him/herself economically without having to 'uncover his/her face, especially by resorting to the public dole. (Information from Goitein's index cards and from Cohen)

Letter from the wife of Maʿānī. Desperate letter of appeal to the 'courts' (judges) from a blind woman whose husband had fled to Alexandria and left her and her 3 year old girl. She is pleading to the community for relief. She calls herself 'a widow during the lifetime (of her husband). (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 218, 472 and from Cohen)

Document of legal import for a woman who has appointed a wakil. Composed in letter form and addressed to the community in Jerusalem. Probably late 13th century. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Circular by the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya to all the authorities in the Rif to bring to court in Fusṭāṭ one Avraham b. Manṣūr who owed to Hillel b. Ṣadoq 500 dirhams. Information from Goitein's note card. There is also a note in Arabic on verso (mentioning Damietta?).

Letter from Eliyyahu Ha-Kohen b. Shelomo Gaon, Jerusalem, to Efrayim b. Shemarya, Fustat.

Letter from the community in Ashkelon to the community in Fustat. Dating: Probably 1025 CE. Mentions praises to two of the Fatimid governors in Ashkelon. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2 pp. 574-575, #314) VMR

Letter from Ṭoviya b. ʿEli ha-Kohen to his cousin the Judge Natan b. Shelomo ha-Kohen regarding alleged arrears in a compound of the Qodesh, ca. 1130. The two overseers of the qodesh who were in charge of an unnamed compound complained about arrears of two months owed by one of the tenants, Abu'l-Ḥasan b. al-Hazzan. The tenant in the meantime has left the apartment. The complaint was addressed to the gaon, the head of the yeshiva, himself. He asked one of the parnasim of the qodesh to inquire about the matter. The writer brings the results of his inquiry to the knowledge of the Judge. The inquiry has shown that there were no real arrears, but to make the matter totally right, a copper lid left by the tenant was to be handed over to Abu'l-Bayan, apparently one of the prominent leaders of the congregation of the Palestinians, in order to spare the parnasim his reproaches. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 251 #46)

Letter to Eli b. Amram from a junior colleague, as court scribe, specifying the fees received for writing documents (marriage contracts, divorce documents, a power of attorney) during Eli's absence; also mentioning a power of attorney made out on behalf of an agunah to a welfare official who was going to Spain, where her husband was located.

Draft of a petition in the handwriting of Natan b. Shelomo ha-Kohen, addressed to al-Malik al-ʿĀdil (aka the vizier Ibn al-Salār), asking that he release the estate of the Jewish merchant Abū l-Faḍāʾil b. Baqāʾ, which had been illegally sealed by the Mutawalli al-Maʿūna in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1150–51 CE. (Information from Khan and from Goitein, Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 269, 437; II, pp. 353, 513, 604.)

Complaint submitted to the Nagid, quite possibly Avraham b. Maimonides (1205-1237), regarding Siba al-Faqusi who had interrupted the synagogue service. The writer apologizes for troubling the Nagid with such affairs. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, 490; Goitein index cards)

Letter regarding aid to a Maghribi who tried to settle in Jerusalem, before 1035

Letter to a Nagid mentioning Jewish communities in various towns and villages of Galilee. The first five lines are very faded.