Geniza Lab

Letter concerning the delivery of a consignment of peas by a slave-agent, which is to be paid for in sal-ammoniac rather than money, and instructions to send sal-ammoniac, garlic, and candles with a third party named Abd al-Wali.

Letter from Mubarak ha-Levi b. Yosef to Alexandria concerning business matters. The writer calculates how much he has paid the addressee and how much of the account between them remains. The addressee is also ordered to borrow ten dirhams from a third person for trading purposes.

Letter concerning business matters in which the writer mentions silk and asks the addressee for further trade-related instructions to be sent to him in a future letter.

Business letter concerning a trip of the addressee and a third person, and mentioning 80 dirhams in the possession of someone else and the arrival and news of yet another person.

Letter fragment from Yosef to Abū l-Faḍl b. ʿAmrīṣ. In Judaeo-Arabic. Containing remarks about business transactions including the delivery of a consignment of glass.

Legal document. Court record (copy). This document concerns the settlement of an account between Abū al-Mufaḍḍal Netanel b. Yefet and Abū al-Ḥasan Ṭoviyya b. Avraham ha-Levi. Netanel brought a court-validated document specifying that Ṭoviyya owed him 65 dinars. Ṭoviyya claimed that he sent the amount in various commodities (15 pounds of silk worth 15 dirhams, and fragrances worth 15 dinars, in addition to kābulī murabbā (preserve of chebulic myrobalan), as well as 10 dinars in cash) by means of the agent Abū al-Faraj to be sold in Tunisia. It is unclear whether the 65 dinars is a partnership account or a debt owed Netanel by Ṭoviyya. However, that the commodities were sent to be sold in Tunisia (see T-S 8J4.9) suggests that Ṭoviyya has a financial interest in the sale. Depositing the funds with Abū al-Faraj, Netanel and Ṭoviyya have contracted a partnership of sorts for repayment of Ṭoviyya's debt. Lieberman speculates that the Abū al-Faraj al-Wakīl mentioned here may have been Abū al-Faraj Yeshu‘a b. Isma‘īl al-Maghribī, a well-known Tunisian merchant from the late 11th century (see T-S 12.566, PGPID 3181; and T-S 10J20.7, PGPID 2953). A draft copy of this document also exists; see (see T-S 8J4.9, PGPID 2128. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 177).

Letter from Yusuf b. Ḥalfon in Damsis to Abu Nasr Da'ud b. Nahum in Fustat, mentioning business with the prominent merchant Abu Zikri. Dated to the first half of the 12th century. (Information from Gil, and Goitein's index cards)

Business letter discussing a problem with a consignment of silk and requesting the purchase of linen (ghazal). There are also two lines of Arabic script written upside down in the bottom margin. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Business letter from Natan b. Nahray, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dated: ca. 1063 CE. Natan's son, and his son's eldest daughter, came down with an illness (ʿāriḍ). He despaired of them and went out of his mind, until God sent some improvement. But they are still weak. He interjects, "By God, watch out for the smallpox (iyyāka al-juddarī)!" The son and granddaughter have erupted in "jarab" and "ḥabba" (skin conditions). Hopefully with this suffering something worse has been averted from them. Please pray for them (r13–19).

Large fragment of a business letter referring primarily to business conducted at Busir.

Business letter, which begins after seven lines of poetical complaints about separation, concerning camphor (kāfūr) and garments (aksiya) transported by Abū al-Afrāḥ ʿArūs. (Information from Goitein's index card). EMS

Letter addressed to Ibn Sa’id b. Abu Nasir concerning an order of textiles, including two ‘khaysha’ (a type of linen cloth), a ‘tafadila’ (a tailored piece), and specificities in the colors of green, gold, and brown. “Iraqi purple” dye is also mentioned. EMS

Account by Avraham Ibn Yiju of Indian products sold for another merchant, Aden, ca. 1141-44.

Letter from Yehuda b. Simḥa, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1050 CE. The writer trades in pearls and coral. He asks Nahray to sell one of his shipments. He writes that when he imported pearls, through Spanish merchants he had to pay heavy taxes. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, vol. 4, pp. 386-387, #729). VMR. Note that Gil identifies the sender as Yosef b. Yehuda b. Simḥa, who also sent ENA 3793.6. This is possible, but the word "Yosef" is not preserved on this fragment, and the hands do not seem to be identical. ASE

Large fragment of a letter with accounts, especially of goods brought from Syria. “You have received from Muhammad al-Shami 1-1/6 for the price (‘an qimat) of the 40 dirhams that he borrowed from me.” Also mentions a clay vessel (barniyya) with melted butter; Egypt, twelfth century. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:381; 4:144, 397) EMS

Left part of a letter from Nahray b. Nissim, who also wrote the letter enquiring about commercial matters and conveying greetings. Ca. 1055.

Fragment of a letter from Nahray b. Nissim, probably to Busir to an unknown addressee. Around 1055. Mentions several products and sends greetings, including to the people who were involved in buying flax. Verso contains illegible lists in the hand of al-Tahirti (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #259) VMR

Business letter sent by Ismail b. Yusuf b. Abi 'Uqba in Alexandria to Abu Sa'id Yusuf b. Musa b. Barhun in the countryside village of Munimun. Ismail b. Yusuf is taking care of Abu Sa'id's interests, such as shipping and receiving goods sent to him. The letter contains much detailed information about silk, parchments, corals, wool, pearls and other goods. Dated to the 11th century (Gil ca. 1036). Mentions names such as Labraṭ b. Daʾūd b. Suġmār, Abū l-Aʿlā, Nissim b. Abū l-Ḥasan, Abraham b. Joseph the dyer, Abū ʿAllūsh, and Khallūf b. Zikrī. (Information from CUDL and Gil, Kingdom, vol. II, p. 634)

Letter from Yūsuf b. Ismāʿīl in Alexandria to Abū l-Faraj b. Ṣedaqa al-Ramlī, announcing to him that five boats had arrived from Suwaydiyya, the port of Antioch, carrying gallnuts, jujube, raisins, walnuts, sumac and tragacanth gum, and specifying the prices of these goods. Yūsuf writes that because of the high price of the gall nuts he decided not to buy them. (Information from CUDL and Mediterranean Society, I, p. 213; IV, p. 405)

List of transportation expenses by Nahray b. Nissim, around 1045. Includes details about different types of payment for transporting goods from Fustat to Alexandria and loading them onto the ships. Several ships are known from Ibn Awkal’s accounts. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #270) VMR