Geniza Lab

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.

Letter from a man, in al-Maḥalla, to his son or younger relative. In Judaeo-Arabic, elegantly written. Lines 1-4: A Judaeo-Arabic poem, damaged. Lines 5-12: Opening blessings. The writer reports receipt from Abū l-Majd of the carpet, two turbans (miqʿaṭayn), and the gold leaf. He requests a letter from the recipient. Lines 12-17: The writer suffered an attack of burnt yellow bile one night. He tried every medicine to no avail, but continues to take a half dose of medicine each day. He has been proscribed eating anything at all or drinking wine, and he is in great distress from this. Lines 17-19: Fortunately, the astrologers are all in agreement that his good fortune is imminent starting on the eighteenth of this month. Lines 20-22: “Do not worry if you hear that somebody drowned in al-Maḥalla. It was a youth named Abū l-Faraj, known as Abū l-Faraj b. al-Sunbāṭī.” Lines 22-25: Greetings to the recipient, the mother, the paternal aunt, the maternal aunt, and the old man, likely the father, Abū ʿUmar or Abu ʿUmr (which may be a kunya for a man who has a child at an old age; cf. DK 238.4, lines 19 and 23). ASE.

Letter from Jalāl al-Dawla, in Fustat, to Shelomo ha-Nasi b. Yishay, in Bilbays. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1240 CE. The writer describes the difficult economic state of his group staying in Egypt and says that they intend to go back to Mosul. As part of a litany of complaints, he mentions that he has been sick many times and nearly died (v25–26). His sicknesses also feature in T-S 12.654 and T-S NS 321.93. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, II, pp. 264f.) ASE

Letter from Minyat Zifta to Fustat. The writer had been sent to Minyat Zifta to deliver an instruction to the judge Shabbetay b. Avraham (active 1135-78), it seems to summon him to Fustat. Upon arriving in Minyat Zifta, he found an epidemic that had caused a large number of deaths in the Jewish community. The writer emphasizes Shabbetay's willingness to obey but awaits instruction on whether he still needs to come in light of the circumstances. The writer also conveys the complaint of various locals that every other town in the Rif has a synagogue, but they do not. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 113, 537). EMS; ASE.

Letter from Simḥa ha-Kohen (Alexandria) to his father-in-law Eliyyahu the Judge (Fustat), explaining a recent incident involving two cloaks worth 109 dirhams and a brush with the police. He congratulates Eliyyahu on the upcoming wedding of his son Abū l-Barakāt (=Shelomo). Simḥa has been unable to fulfill an obligation to Eliyyahu because his wife (Eliyyahu's daughter) has been sick for the last year, and he has been unable to travel. See also T-S 13J24.10.

Letter from Shelomo b. Ḥayyim b. Shelomo to Avraham ha-Sar b. Natan ‘the Seventh’. Dating: Ca. 1100 CE. Information from CUDL. There is a rhymed Hebrew introduction (~10 lines) and a Judaeo-Arabic body (~6 lines plus margins). The bulk of the letter is taken up with good wishes for the addressee's recovery from an illness. It briefly touches on financial dealings, e.g., the writer has obtained nearly 4 dinars of the money owed to the addressee by Ibn Shuwayʿ. The writer twice sends regards to the Nagid Mevorakh, urging Avraham to tell him of Shelomo's "iftiqād" (preoccupation/solicitude, especially during illness) for him. ASE.

Letter from ʿIwaḍ to Peraḥya the judge. In Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew, with the address in Arabic script and Hebrew. Written on a very long strip of paper, for which the writer asks forgiveness, because time was tight and the matter was urgent. The writer reports that Ibn al-Yamanī rejected the authority of Avraham Maimonides, while he himself vigorously defended the Nagid. The writer gives a blow by blow report of his argument with Ibn al-Yamanī. The writer adds that the ḥaver R. Eliezer was sick (mutamarriḍ) at the time the letter was written (or: at the time he wrote his letter). Eliezer is upset at Peraḥya for failing to respond to his letter or to send him Isaac Israeli's Book on Fevers. (Information in part from S. D. Goitein, The Yemenites, 125–29.) VMR. ASE.

Letter from Abū l-Faraj, in Alexandria, to his son-in-law Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Early 13th century. Abū l-Faraj admonishes Shelomo to treat his wife Sitt Ghazāl well, and informs him that Shelomo's aunt (who is also his mother-in-law) is not coming to check that her daughter is well but rather coming to arrange a marriage between her son and Shelomo's niece, because she is the owner of 9/24ths of a house belonging to the family. He opens the letter with his preoccupation for Shelomo's illness and his happiness upon learning of Shelomo's recovery (r6–10). He also wishes a speedy recovery to Shelomo's mother (Sitt Rayḥān). (Information in part from CUDL.)

Shelomo b. Eliyyahu writes to a relative (his father-in-law Abū l-Faraj?) complaining about the behavior of Abū l-Barakāt (Sitt Ghazāl’s paternal uncle and Shelomo’s first cousin), who sent a letter to Abū l-Faḍl b. ‘Atā’ b. Ḥasan inquiring about Shelomo's mistreatment of his wife Sitt Ghazāl. Abū l-Faḍl confronted Shelomo after he exited the synagogue. This behavior sickened Shelomo, who alludes four times to his “relapse” (naksah). Shelomo complains that Abū l-Barakāt sees himself as too important and Shelomo as too inconsequential to write directly to him, instead involving strangers in the matter. Those who extend greetings are Shelomo, Sitt Ghazāl, his father (Eliyyahu the Judge), his mother (Sitt Rayḥān), his brother the physician Abū Zikri, his brother-in-law Simḥah, his maternal aunt (and mother-in-law) Umm Abū l-‘Izz, and her son Abū l-‘Izz. Greetings are extended to the recipient, to Abū l-Barakāt with blessings for his son, and to their father Abū l-Ḥasan (Shelomo’s paternal uncle). Sitt al-Fakhr and her daughter are also mentioned. Cf. Mediterranean Society, III, p. 435 and Goitein's index cards.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, probably 13th-century or later, from a physician or druggist to a respected person named Avraham who also has a son named Shelomo. The writer greets Avraham's wife and wishes her a speedy recovery. He then says he was greatly distressed ("it utterly blotted out my mind") to learn of the illness "of the noble mother." The word used to describe her state is khudūra—numbness or paralysis? withdrawal to women's quarters? Another possibility is that the khudūra refers to the writer's own mental faculties and the impact on him of the news of the mother's setback. In any case, the great bulk of the letter it taken up with conventional expressions of longing and respect. He concludes, "As for what you insisted that the slave respond to every letter and letter, I have done so in a separate letter that has been sent with this one. As for what you mentioned regarding the hiera [a medicine], the slave intends to make it this very week, God willing." ASE

Recto: Letter from a Karaite in Alexandria to the Karaite Nasi David b. Hasdai, concerning support for the Nasi from the Karaite communities in the Maghreb. Dating: 12th century. The letter opens with many very deferent phrases and congratulations on the addressee's recovery from illness. Verso: Draft of a rhymed Hebrew opening to a letter. (Information from CUDL)

Copy of a long letter sent by Ḥananya b. Yosef ha-Kohen, Av Bet Din. Dating: ca. 1020 CE, according to Gil. Probably addressed to the community in Fustat. Mentions Tiberias and a ban of excommunication on the Mount of Olives. The writer excuses his delay in responding to the previous letter, as he was suffering a severe relapse of his illness at the time that he received it. Gil summarizes the contents of the letter as follows: "At the beginning of the eleventh century, Geniza letters definitely disclose that Tiberias is no longer the seat of the yeshiva. The av-bet-din of the yeshiva, Ḥananya ha-Kohen b. Yosef, mentions in his letter the serious differences within the Tiberias community and the yeshiva’s intervention. It appears that Ḥananya's brother served as judge in Tiberias, and when he died, the people of Tiberias asked the yeshiva to send them someone to take his place. Someone was indeed sent, after a group of Tiberian notables promised they would treat him well, but that person apparently tried to discard the authority ofJerusalem, and even took the liberty of proclaiming leap years(!), whereupon the Gaon and the yeshiva excommunicated him. Nevertheless, he continued to do as he saw fit and even organized a faction of supporters, and it seems that they also took for themselves the revenue from the ritual slaughtering that was intended for Jerusalem. [Two brothers in Fustat were apparently helping him.] It does appear, then, that there was some sort of rebellion in Tiberias which tried to re-establish the old order." On the biography of Ḥananya ha-Kohen Av Bet Din, see Gil, History of Palestine, section 854 (pp. 664–65). And see ENA 4009.4 (a letter addressed to him from Sicily) and Moss. Ia,9 (a document drawn up in his court, dated 1007 CE). (Information from Gil and CUDL.)

Letter from Khalaf b. Yiṣḥaq, in Aden, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel. Dating: October 20, 1137 CE (Heshvan 3, 1449 Seleucid). Long letter in which Khalaf writes about an unfortunate turn in his business affairs. Khalaf had sent goods with Abū l-Yumn al-Maḥallī and Abū Zikrī al-Ṣā'igh to Egypt for Abū ʿImrān Ibn Nufayʿ and at that time had asked Ḥalfon to help Abū ʿImrān with the sales and purchases (r17–23). But Abū ʿImrān died, and Ḥalfon traveled to the West, and the two messengers suppressed Khalaf's letters and acted as if the merchandise belonged to them (r23–27). Abū l-Yumn was going to return to Aden, but he fell ill in Qūṣ and had to return to Fustat, and Khalaf does not know his current condition. Abū Zikrī al-Ṣā'igh is planning to travel on to the West. He had with him a container (mikḥala) of musk that was destined for Ḥalfon, but the head of the Jews, Maẓliāh Gaon, took the container from him before he traveled (r27–38). Khalaf has already asked Abū Zikrī Kohen, the representative of the merchants, to go to the courts with the purpose of recouping the value of the goods Khalaf has lost and sending the money back to Aden. In this letter, Khalaf asks Ḥalfon to assist Abū Zikri Kohen in this (r38–53). The letter continues with other business matters, including an update on the shipment of nard (sunbul) for Ḥalfon and his partner Mubārak al-Māliqī (i.e., from Malaga) that was detained in al-Qaṣṣ, evidently a location in NW India (r53–v3). Khalaf concludes with regards for Maṣliaḥ Gaon; for Ḥalfon's brother ʿEli Nezer ha-Maskilim; and for "the congregations." Khalaf is preoccupied that he has received no letters from Ḥalfon (v4–10). Information from Goitein and Friedman. ASE.

Recto: Letter from an unknown busybody in Minyat Zifta to the Nagid Avraham (II?) in Fustat/Cairo. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. The purpose of the letter is to relate various improprieties ("matters proceeding not as they should," r13–14) of a muqaddam (perhaps of Minyat Ghamr?), al-Shaykh al-Sadīd. The first episode (r17–32): The local schoolteacher had to go to Cairo to pay his capitation tax (jizya) because he was originally from the Levant. When the teacher was delayed in returning, the community began talking about hiring a new teacher. Al-Sadīd caught wind of this and vetoed the proposal, fearing that a new teacher would be a nuisance (tashwīsh) to him, and he insisted that he teach the children himself. They responded that he was far too busy with his medical practice and serving as muqaddam, not to mention his business dealings. He persisted, and they said, "But you don't even live here!" He said that he would come live there until the original teacher came back. The teacher came back, and al-Sadīd was so enthusiastic about the additional income that he refused to let the children return to the original teacher, and he had made their parents vow to that effect. The community felt pity on the original teacher because of his poverty. The second episode (r32–45): During the same period of al-Sadīd teaching the children, someone fell sick in Minyat Zifta. A group of people, including another physician named al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab, came to visit the patient and found al-Sadīd attending him. Al-Sadīd rudely ignored al-Muhadhdhab. After everyone had sat around the patient, al-Muhadhdhab said, "Are you angry at me? I have been courteous to you, just like the community. I don't know what you want from me. I left you the synagogue and didn't attend today." Al-Sadīd (saracastically): "Thank God you found people to support you (against me?)." The writer of the letter editorializes: There were many people present who also don't attend the synagogue, but not because they were supporting al-Muhadhdhab, rather because they heard about how al-Sadīd had disparaged them. Back to the story: Al-Sadīd sighed and said: "How I hold back from complaining about my travails!" The writer: He didn't hold back at all. The third episode (r45–end): A certain judge (qāḍī al-ḥukm) was seriously ill (marīḍ bi-maraḍ shadīd), and al-Muhadhdhab was attending him "[against] his will and not for his good." This is unclear: was al-Muhadhdhab treating the judge incompetently, or was al-Muhadhdhab the one somehow coerced into this job? Meanwhile, al-Sadīd had been angling to get a connection to this judge. The judge had a slave with jaundice (khadīm bihi yaraqān). This too is unclear: is the slave acutely ill, or is this simply a description of his chronic state? Al-Sadīd came and spoke to the slave, and then came back with something to give to the slave—and the story ends here, unless the join is found. This document is possibly related to Bodl. MS heb. a 3/15, a letter from Avraham (I) Maimonides ordering a territorial muqaddam in Minyat Zifta/Minyat Ghamr to share his duties with his cousin al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 189, 560.) Verso: Mysterious page of notes in Judaeo-Arabic in at least two different hands. The items on this page include two recipes for staining (or dying? or removing stains? the word is tulaṭṭakh/laṭkh); Judaeo-Arabic poetry; a riddle or two; and an extended grammatical discussion of case endings after 'kāna and her sisters' and related topics. ASE.

Letter in the hand of Abū Zikrī, physician to the sultan al-Malik al-ʿAzīz (Saladin's son and successor), sent to his father Eliyyahu the Judge. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 1193–98 CE, if all the identifications are correct (this document would then be several years earlier than any other document relating to Abū Zikrī or his father Eliyyahu). This is the second page of what was originally a longer letter. Abū Zikrī describes his overwhelming grief upon hearing the news that his younger brother had died. Members of the court came to express their condolences, including the sultan himself, who said that he considers the deceased as equal to his own younger brother, al-Malik al-Amjad. (Information in part from S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:346-47, 5:175–77.) EMS. ASE.

Letter from Ḥalfon and Bundār b. Maḍmūn, in Aden, to Sulaymān b. Abū Zikrī Kohen, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1150 CE. Maḍmūn's two sons write from Aden to express their sympathy on the death of Abū Zikrī Kohen to his son Sulaymān, Fustat ([A] 27 lines). They discuss unfinished business of the dead merchant ([B] 30 lines) and report briefly about the grave illness of their own father ("Do not ask how he (my father) is suffering from the strain of illnesses and constant pain," v1) and the well-being of the widow of Sulaymān's maternal unde, the shipowner Maḥrūz b. Yaʿaqov, and his children [C]. Information from India Traders (attached).

Letter from Abū l-Bayān either to his father or to a distinguished elder. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. The father is titled "rayyis" (in the address). The rayyis Abū l-Bayān is mentioned in ll.6-7 and may be identical with the sender, which would mean that a scribe is writing on his behalf. The letter is very long and mentions numerous family and business matters. Sitt Ihtimām is still in the same state as when the addressee departed: one week sick, the next week healthy. Another woman ('sittnā') had a brief case of colic (qawlanj). Abū l-Riḍā is still "in the same state" (presumably sick). A woman called ṣāḥibat al-dār sent him 30 dirhams for 2 weeks, and some olive oil, then paid for another 2 weeks (this sentence is not clear). Abū l-Mufaḍḍal is doing something (mutaṣarrif fī nafsih) in the same way that he used to do. The people of Damietta and Tinnīs were apparently clamoring for the addressee's presence—the sender tries to dissuade him by asking if it is right for him to exhaust himself on the nights of holidays and sabbaths just to satisfy others and sicken himself. But Abū l-Mʿālī Ibn al-Qasqās came and reported that the addressee's arrival in Tinnīs and Damietta was a great success. There are repeated references to the addressee's factotum and slave (ʿabd, khādim) Abū l-Ḥusayn. When the addressee's letter arrived about obtaining a (tax?) receipt (wuṣūl), Abū l-Ḥusayn went to the son of the Ṣāḥib al-Dīwān, gave him the ruqʿa, and obtained the receipt, "and later, we will give it to the ḍāmin of the quarter." The sender paid 8 2/3 dinars to Abū Naṣr al-Kohen on that day. There follow detailed and lengthy reports on business transactions. People mentioned: Abū l-Riḍā, al-Ḥayawānī, Ismāʿīl, Kātib Ibn al-Saqīl(?), the sister of Abū Manṣūr, Abū l-Mufaḍḍal, Abū l-Munā, the brother of the craftsman (al-ṣāniʿ), Masʿūd, the wife of Saʿd al-Rakkābī(?), Abū Saʿd al-Ṣāʾigh, Ibn Futūḥ, Benaya, Dhakhīrat al-Mulk, and Sharaf al-Dawla. Some of the commodities (there are also many more which are difficult to read): household furnishings, sugar, clothing, honey, raisins, something which was locked up with an iron lock, something that needs to be weighed properly, maybe hemp, sheep (khirāf), and a packsaddle (bardhaʿa). Then he conveys regards from various people ("in both households"), Abū Isḥāq b. Pinḥas, Abū Ṭāhir, and the slave Abū l-Ḥusayn. There follows a report involving Dhakhīrat al-Mulk and Sharaf al-Dawla, at least in part about a Jewish baker from Jerusalem and his son, working in the market of Ḥabs Bunān in Fustat, who were cheating their customers with bad weights (arṭāl), and who were discovered and arrested. It seems that Abū l-Ḥusayn the addressee's slave interceded with Sharaf al-Dawla and used the addressee's influence to have them freed—but now the Jews are worried that this will tarnish their reputation among the gentiles. The sender reports that Abū l-Bayān has not ridden the mules; that he has purchased a new saddle for his donkey; and refers to the arrival of 'al-Shams.' There are three more postscripts in the upper margin, discussing further business matters, mentioning Cairo and Ibn al-Qāḍī, and saying that the khādim Abū l-Ḥasan has gone to Tinnīs with a power of attorney. ASE.

Letter from Abū Zikrī b. Ḥananel to Abū l-Afrāḥ ʿArūs b. Yosef al-Arajawānī. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address partially in Arabic script. Concerning business matters, and mentioning commodities such as sal ammoniac (nushādir) and purple fabric (arjawān). Refers to a ship that is apparently not traveling—not to al-Mahdiyya and not to al-Andalus. A qāḍī is sick, and the traders cannot trade. (Information in part from CUDL and Goitein's index card.)

Business note in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th or 12th century. Mentions the arrival of the merchants and a request that the addressee write something in his handwriting in 'the maḥḍar' (court notebook?). The sender cites his illness ("were it not for my illness and the fact that I cannot move") to excuse himself for not coming in person. On verso there is a note in Arabic script about a sum of money owed. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter from a certain Ḥ[alfon] (?) to Shemarya b. David requesting an appointment as a religious functionary. Egypt, 1213 (?). He cannot work because of his weak vision. The handwriting resembles that of Moshe b. Levi (d. 1212), who may have written the letter on behalf of the petitioner—but this is speculative. ASE.