Geniza Lab

Letter in which Shelomo, who was appointed to a new post, complains that he found only opponents and asks advice of the Nagid. He also complains about his illness (l. 16). (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from the Karaite congregation of Alexandria to the leader of their community, complaining about the helplessness and dissolution of the community. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, p. 365) Reused for Arabic accounts with Coptic numerals (see PGPID 35173).

Beginning and address of a letter from Tahor b. Avraham to the judge Eliyyahu b. Zechariah. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter to the Nagid by a woman who had taken steps to convert to Judaism requesting that he accept her conversion, which, she assures him, she did not seek for material gain. (Information from and translation in Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 309-310)

Letter in Hebrew, complete but letters smudged on right side and crossed out in line 7. Apparently an appeal for charitable assistance.

Note from Sahlan b. Avraham, leader of the Babylonians in Fustat, to Aharon the Cantor ha-Mumhe b. Efrayim, in which he informs him that a certain physician has arrived from Jerusalem, bearing letters from the Gaon to people in Fustat, ca. 1035.

Recto: Letter addressed to Shelomo b. Yehuda, the gaon of the Palestinian yeshiva. Dating: 1025–51 CE. This is a fragment containing 12 lines from the beginning of the letter. In the margins of recto and on verso, there is also a will concerning gold for a man's daughter.

Verso: Legal memorandum submitted by Avraham b. Shemaʿya to Avraham (b. Natan) ("Foundation of the Yeshiva"). He reports that Yosef and his wife appeared before the court, and the wife appointed the elder Abū Sahl ʿAṭiyya as her agent to sue her husband on her behalf. (Information from Goitein's index card). EMS

Letter of appointment of Eli b. Yiṣḥaq Ha-Kohen Ghazal for a position of a beadle synagogue of the Babylonians in Fustat in the year 1099.

Letter from Ascalon to the Nagid in Egypt concerning a dispute in the community over synagogue expenditures, 1st half of the 12th century.

Small fragment of a letter to Yaakov ha-haver (member of the Sanhedrin) from Yusuf ha-Kohen. (Information from Goitein's index cards) VMR

Fragmentary letter of request probably from Jerusalem. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

A, b, and c of this folded piece of paper contain List. 'Distribution of money and clothing,' superscribed 'The rest through Abu'l-Bayan' (the parnas). Since this heading is not followed by a sum, it does not represent the balance of an account, but indicates that one or more preceding distributions were carried out by other officials. Nine persons receive 5 (dirhams), eight, 3, and one, 2, altogether 18 recipients, all women, except for 3--2 of whom are characterized as foreigners. Verso, four distributions of a muqaddar (an item of clothing; three to male persons) and four of a jukhaniyya. Among the recipients a freedwoman and 'the orphans' of one household. In the handwriting of Shemuel b. Saadya, who wrote in the margin an item of another type dated Tishri (Sept.-Oct.), 1183. 14c, ll.5-6 are in the different handwriting of the man, Elazar b. Michael, who wrote this confirmatory note. Entries marked with an asterisk have a wavy line above them, at the beginning, resembling a sine curve, perhaps meaning 'claimed' one entry on 14b is overlined, meaning deleted.

A, b, and c of this folded piece of paper contain List. 'Distribution of money and clothing,' superscribed 'The rest through Abu'l-Bayan' (the parnas). Since this heading ais not followed by a sum, it does not represent the balance of an account, but indicates that one or more preceding distributions were carried out by other officials. Nine persons receive 5 (dirhams), eight, 3, and one, 2, altogether 18 recipients, all women, except for 3--2 of whom are characterized as foreigners. Verso, four distributions of a muqaddar (an item of clothing; three to male persons) and four of a jukhaniyya. Among the recipients a freedwoman and 'the orphans' of one household. In the handwriting of Shemuel b. Saadya, who wrote in the margin an item of another type dated Tishri (Sept.-Oct.), 1183. 14c, ll.5-6 are in the different handwriting of the man, Elazar b. Michael, who wrote this confirmatory note. Entries marked with an asterisk have a wavy line above them, at the beginning, resembling a sine curve, perhaps meaning 'claimed' one entry on 14b is overlined, meaning deleted

Verso: Record of the donation of one quarter of a compound by Sitt al-Naẓar bt. Ḥalfon to the qodesh. Dating: ca. 1161 CE. She also donates one-sixth of the same compound to Faḍāʾil b. ʿAwāʿiḍ Ibn al-Katnānī, a brother or some other relative of hers, on the condition that she herself shall have the usufruct of that part during her lifetime. After her death it will go to him, to his son, and to his mother Sitt al-Dār. After that, this part also will pass into the possession of the qodesh. Written by the judge Mevorakh b. Natan on the verso of an engagement contract dated 29 November 1161 CE. (Gil, Documents, pp. 299 #66.) EMS

Verso: List of "those who have not received their share" (al-bāqiyyīn bi-lā akhdh), i.e., in the distribution of wheat. Dating: Probably 1215–40 CE, based on Goitein's assessment and the date of the document on recto. There are three lists. I. Parties receiving wheat. II.Twelve parties (of whom at least six are repeated from list I) getting sums, mostly of 2.5 or 5 (dirhams). III. Names without any explanation added, some identical with those in the list T-S NS J440. The neglected people listed were mostly outsiders, either foreigners (Rum/Byzantium, Persia, Jerusalem, Barqa, etc.) or from Egypt itself (Alexandria, al-Mahalla, Minyat Ghamr, Benha, Damira, Dakarnas). The overlinings may mean these persons have now received, which would explain the fact that mostly it is the same names above and below that are overlined. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 462–63, App. B 85.)

Letter from Damietta to the Fustat community (קהלת מצר) to collect money for alimony and travel expenses, it seems, to Palestine, for two individuals. David and his father are addressed; Avraham, the judge, and “our teacher Hillel ha-hazzan ha-parnas” (the cantor and leader) are greeted. (Information from Goitein’s index cards) VMR and EMS

Beginning of a petition from Yosef b. Moshe asking the addressee, his lord and master (mawla and sayyid) for a favour, describing himself as modest, shy (muhtashim). Address on verso.

Letter fragment from Daniel b. ʿAzarya (active 1052–62), in Palestine, to a dignitary in Fusṭāṭ. An urgent request to ask the authorities to stop an expected decision about Israel. (Information from CUDL and Gil, Palestine, vol. 2 p. 698--699, #381) VMR

Letter from Araḥ b. Natan (aka Musāfir b. Wahb), in Alexandria, to the Nagid Mevorakh, in Fustat. The sender and addressee are not named in the letter, but Frenkel identified them on the basis of handwriting and content. Dating: toward the end of Mevorakh's tenure as nagid (1094–1111; Frenkel). This long letter, written between the lines of the Arabic text on recto, mentions disputes in the Jewish community, especially an ongoing dispute with the Maghribi community over the payment of the capitation tax. The Banū Naḥum family is involved (a well-known family from Alexandria). The letter also expresses the dissatisfaction of the community with its muqaddam. Araḥ functions in the letter as the 'nā'ib' (deputy) of the Nagid in Alexandria. (Another interpretation of the word niyāba in line 31 would be that "they [Araḥ's enemies] have destroyed the community in the name of representing you.") In a postscript, Araḥ reports to the Nagid how he dealt with a case of a widow who was exploited. Araḥ complains in passing about the severe illness that he contracted while traveling (lines 14–15), perhaps to support his self-presentation as someone who takes care of the community despite all that it costs him. Information in part from Frenkel. Note that this letter is written on an enormous sheet of paper that originally contained an Arabic state document, subsequently reused for a copy of Shemuel b. Ḥofni's Kitāb al-Shurūṭ on verso, and ultimately torn up and reused for this letter and other documents. Joins: T-S Ar.18(2).193 + T-S Ar.30.306 + T-S Ar.30.314: Marina Rustow. T-S 24.21: recorded in FGP from the Sussman Talmud catalogue.