Geniza Lab

Draft of a letter from Wāfī b. Iṣḥaq b. Eli al-Majānī, 16 July 1059, written at the back of an earlier letter from his father Iṣḥaq b. Eli al-Majānī. Badly preserved. Mentions flax, myrtle and sandalwood and suggests that the recipient opens a shop. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 114.)

Business letter from Musa b. Ishaq b. Hisda to Yosef b. Yaʿaqov ibn Awkal. This letter is a response to a letter sent by the addressee. The sender blames a third party, Yosef al-Sabuni, for slandering him. He also sends an account and complains that he does not have enough money for processing (beating flax) and packaging his goods. (Information from Gil)

Letter segment, probably to Nahray b. Nissim.

Draft of an account for shipping flax, by Nahray b. Nissim and his partners. Around 1059. The account contains details about the purchase expenses, for about 1,200 kg of flax, and the expenses for their shipment, probably to Alexandria. The writer might be Abu Ali ha-Kohen (Nahray’s relative). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #839) VMR

Letter from ʿAyyāsh b. Ṣadaqa, in Būṣīr, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1045 CE. ʿAyyāsh is about to finish the phase of buying linen in the Delta region. The letter contains details about the type of linen he bought and complains about the difficulties he had. Verso: Account by ʿAyyāsh for business with his partners. Also mentions a Christian person named Yahnes (Yohanan). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #475) VMR

Letter fragment from Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tāhirtī. Mentions details about money exchange and shipments of pepper and silk to and from Palermo. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #352) VMR

An account by Barhun b. Musa ha-Tahirti with Yeshua b. Isma’il and Abu Ibrahim. Around 1060. Regarding their partnership in business of redwood and silk. Nahray b. Nissim wrote several details on the right side about shipment of money. Verso: Mentions a shipment of Persian cloth, cotton, a deal with b. al-Trabulsi and rose water. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #358) VMR

Fragment from a private account written by Nahray b. Nissim. 1049. Some details about trades of pearls and beads. This document seems like a draft for the account that Nahray sent to Barhun b. Yitzhak ha-Tahirti (see: Bodl. MS heb. e 98/64-65). In this list writes details about buying flax in Munimun and its shipment to Rashid, and probably from there to Alexandria. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #275) VMR

Letter from Barhun b. Salah al-Tahirti, from Mahdiyya to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1045. Barhun is in the Maghreb and makes business with the people of Qayrawan, Safakus, Tripoli (Libya) and he is planning to travel to Sicily as well. Mentions gems, nuts, and flax. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #328) VMR

Letter from Ayash b. Sdaka, from Alexandria, to Barhun b. Musa al-Tahirti. Aruond 1045. Mentions a disagreement with a person that was supposed to send Ayash goods and money. In addition, Ayash asks what exactly he needs to buy. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #482) VMR

Letter in which Arus b. Yosef mentions accounts of the export of five qintars of wool worth thirty dinars from Alexandria to Almeria in Spain. The trader had to pay six dinars for freight, half in Alexandria and half on arrival in Spain. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, pp.105, 344, 419)

Private accounts written by Nahray b. Nissim. Around 1058. Regarding trades of gems. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #284) VMR

Legal document containing the wording of the vow to be made by Bū Isḥāq Ibn Kathīr. Also mentions ʿOvadya b. Aharon and the wife of the baker. Deals with custom duties (maks), mentioning a shop, money changers and 'The Apple House' (Dār al-Tuffāḥ). Money (dirhams and dinars) are weighed and kept with different men. Among many other things, Bū Isḥāq must vow that he reported all of the profits from the sale of a special kind of watermelon (al-Burullusī) and that he embezzled nothing "except what a mosquito (baʿūẓa) can carry." Join: Alan Elbaum. ASE.

JRL Series B 4089: This business letter describes commercial transactions and what the author describes as favors or 'gifts' to a fellow trader. The main commodities mentioned are copper and pepper; customs dues, freight charges, porters' fees, and safekeeping are also reported. The mention of a tax paid at al-Furda (the customshouse at the port city of Aden) and the names of Ali al-Nili ('the indigo trader') and Abu Ghalib al-Rubban ('the captain') suggest that the author reports from the port city of Aden in Yemen sometime in the 12th century. The letter continues on the verso. On the men mentioned by name see Goitein and Friedman, India Traders of the Middle Ages, 145, 603; and 153, 325-27; on al-Furda see Goitein and Friedman, India Traders, passim; and Margariti, Aden and the Indian Ocean Trade, passim. See PGPID 5479.

India Book III, 18: Five accounts written by Ibn Yiju in India, 1136-1139, 1145-1149. These accounts are written on the other side of a letter from Madmun from Aden to India (see II, 23, PGPID 5479).

JRL Series B 4089: This document is the continuation of a letter on the recto. The business letter describes commercial transactions, including taxes paid at the customshouse of the port city of Aden in Yemen, and dates to the 12th century. See PGPID 5479.

Beginning and end of an important business letter written after the arrival of the sender from Mahdiyya to Alexandria, containing a list of prices. Dated to the end of the 11th or the beginning of the 12th century. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 221, and from Goitein's index cards)

Recommendation letter addressed to Nahray b. Nissim, for a writer who is traveling to Egypt to copy manuscripts and to marry a relative of Nahray. (information from Goitein, Palestinian Jewry, p. 174). VMR

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Impersonal business letter stating that Umm Bayān, who is dragged to court everyday by her creditors, opened her husband’s storage crate and sold items from it in order to pay off some of her debts. Mentions Iraqian raw silk traded in Alexandria, and concludes with well-wishes to Abu Kathir Efrayim along with his wife and son. Written in the hand of Abu Nasr b. Avraham. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:103, 417; 3:246, 480; Oded Zinger, Women, Gender and Law: Marital disputes according to documents of the Cairo Geniza, 52.) EMS