Geniza Lab

Letter of recommendation from the office of Yehoshua Maimonides, to be read in the synagogue, on behalf of a pregnant woman who has no money to support her sick son. ASE. Mentioned in Goitein, "The Twilight of the House of Maimonides," Tarbiz 54 (1984), 67–104.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Quite faded. Mentions that all slaughtering in Damsīs has been put on hold; asks the addressee to obtain a fatwā in response to some query; mentions Ibn al-Munajjim; mentions an illness.

Letter from an emissary of the Yeshiva, in Fustat to Yosef ha-Kohen Av Bet Din b. Shelomo Gaon, in Jerusalem. Dating: August 1053 CE. The letter contains sundry reports about the Palestinian and Iraqi synagogues and dealings with the notables of Fustat. Among these, Abū ʿAlī, the caretaker of the Palestinian synagogue, has taken ill, so he has neglected his duties, and the synagogue has fallen into disrepair.

Letter from Ṣāliḥ b. Dā'ūd, in Tinnīs, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1055 CE. Regarding the debt and goods belonging to the late Abū l-Faraj Yaʿaqov b. Avraham b. ʿAllān. The money and goods belong to Mevasser, the writer’s brother. Also mentions clothes that the writer probably deals with their manufacture. Ṣāliḥ would have liked to come to Fustat and help with finding the will and accounts of the deceased, but he was prevented by the death of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Mawhūb and by his own illnesses. "As to the illnesses that have befallen me and their permanence, I ask God to accept my sufferings as an atonement and to grant me pardon. While writing these lines, I am unable to . . . the doctor comes to see me every day. I ask God to give me good health and to have mercy on me out of regard for the little ones with whom he has blessed me" (r19–22). Information from Goitein, Med Soc, V, p. 345, and Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #783. VMR. ASE.

Letter from Khalaf b. Ghanīma, probably in Alexandria, to 'my brother' Bū Yaʿqūb b. Nissim, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer reports that he went to the Rīf to purchase a julla (? גלה) for the addressee, but the cheapest available would have been 3 or 4 dinars. He entered Alexandria with the julla he already had and obtained new gold for the addressee. He went back to the Rīf looking for the julla. He brought the donk[ey?] to the addressee's house (in Alexandria?). The wife and the boy are healthy. The boy had an attack of ophthalmia but it subsided. The writer sends regards to the addressee's maternal uncle Bū Saʿīd. He adds a postscript on verso: "After writing this letter, I went to the Rīf" apparently to buy wheat, but it was too expensive, so he didn't buy any. ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer reports that he still has to rest in the house for several days after every one day in the market. He was saddened to hear about the addressee's trouble (shaʿath, likely an illness) on his journey. But when he heard that the addressee had not yet sold the merchandise that is with him, he rejoiced even more than he was pained at the bad news, evidently because he wants to seize the chance to make better business arrangements. He mentions Yūsuf b. Ayyūb in the margin. He eagerly awaits the response. On verso there are some lines of Arabic poetry.

Letter of appeal for charity or assistance. Addressed to Peraḥya ha-Kohen. The sender came down with an illness (wa-thāra ʿalā ʿabdih al-maraḍ) and he has been prostrated by it for two weeks (wa-lahū usbūʿayn maṭrūḥ), "may God not afflict any other Jew with this."

Letter from Yeḥezqel b. Eli ha-Kohen (identification based on comparison with DK 233.2), evidently in Jerusalem, to Abū ʿAlī Ḥasan b. Isḥāq al-Ṣārifī (!), in Fustat. The letter is in Judaeo-Arabic and the address is in Arabic. Dating: second half of the 11th century. Apart from the handwriting comparison, there are at least two other reasons to identify the writer as Yeḥezqel b. Eli: (1) the suftaja (money order) of the rayyis is mentioned in line 17 of this document and line 19 of DK 233.2, and (2) the same bearer is listed underneath the address, ʿUmar b. Yūsuf and his son. Whereas DK 233.2 is dated 21 Adar II, this letter does not bear a date, but mentions a letter from the addressee that arrived on 22 Heshvan. Probably DK 233.2 and T-S Misc.28.171 were not sent together. The writer reports on the epidemic (dever) raging in Jerusalem. The first letter of the word דבר is mostly missing, and it bears the wrong vowel, but the context supports the reading of דבר. It is only Wednesday, and already there have been five funerals this week. The writer mentions children, women, and his paternal uncle "in their number" (the sick? the dead?). He adds, "Many people are ʿalā l-qibla." This phrase does not appear in the Judaeo-Arabic dictionaries. Perhaps it means "praying," or specifically praying in the area of the Temple. The writer touches on various things that he wants the addressee to do for him in Fustat (one of them is reminding the Rayyis Abū l-Ṭayyib about the money order), sends regards to Umm Wahbān, reports that he received the medicine (dawā') sent with ʿAmmār, and reports that he has sent the amulet (? this word looks very much like קמיע but the reading is not certain) of Ibn al-Kohen to the addressee, along with a sealed letter from him. ASE.

Awaiting description - see Goitein notes linked below. This letter may be continued in Bodl. MS heb. d 66/14 (identified by Oded Zinger).

Letter from Yosef to his brother Elʿazar aka Abū Manṣūr b. Abū l-Surūr. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 12th or 13th century. Fragment (upper part of recto). Yosef complains about his weakness and poverty and worries. Greetings from [Abū] l-Surūr, from the sender's maternal uncle Abū Saʿd and his wife and Isḥāq. On verso the sender seems to complain about a lack of news: he heard something about a marriage, a (newborn?) boy, Sitt al-Kull, and Daniel, but was not informed. He ends the letter, "Do not blame me, for my vision is weak."

Letter addressed to al-shaykh Abū l-[...] al-Yahūdī in Fustat. From his family members (maybe a brother?) outside of the capital. They urge him to come as fast as he can, because the girl (al-ṣaghīra, spelled السغيرة) is sick, with terrible boil(s) or skin lesion(s) (ṭalaʿa ʿalayhā ḥabb ʿaẓīm), and she cries day and night calling for the addressee. Mentions Yehuda Ibn al-Sofer (ابن السوفار). Mentions the addressee's mother.

Verso: Letter in Arabic script. Fragment (upper right corner). The sender has been sick. Not much else is preserved.

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Simḥa al-Nīsābūrī ha-Levi to Abū l-ʿAlāʾ Salāma b. Hillel al-Ḥalabī. The sender reports that he arrived in Alexandria on Tuesday after spending three days in Malīj. He did not press Abū Sahl Mukhtār (also mentioned in T-S 12.296v) on the matter of the "sayf" (a sword?). because he was ill. But now he has recovered. The sender also refers to the addressee's intended travel to Yemen. (Information in part from Goitein's note card). Join: Alan Elbaum

Recto: Letter from communal leaders, in Alexandria, to the judge Shemuel, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Unclear; likely early 13th century, based on handwriting and Goitein's identification of the judge Shemuel as the same one mentioned in T-S 10J16.6. Regarding a woman in Alexandria with a sick daughter, whose husband had fled his creditor and gone to the capital. The letter says that she had been deserted for a long time, that she had to maintain herself and her little girl, to pay rent, and on top of this, was sued in court by the creditor of her husband. The writers of the letter ask in the politest terms that Shemuel approach the Nagid for action in this matter. Verso: Letter from the judge Shemuel to the Nagid. The writer reports that he had sent several summons to the runaway husband, but since both the High Holidays (approx. September) and Hanukka (approx. December) had passed without response from him, sterner measures were now required, and, to the judge's dismay, the Nagid had to be troubled. The matter was of utmost seriousness since the Alexandrian wife asserted that her husband had married another woman and was living with her in Cairo. Clearly, the police now had to be instructed to bring the man to court by force. But only the Nagid, as official representative of the state, was authorized to give that order. (Information from Goitein, Med Soc, III, pp. 203–04 and Friedman, Jewish Polygyny, pp. 213–16.) ASE.

Letter of petition from a man to a potential benefactor: 'I hereby inform you that I have been in good health, "concealed" among the people (mastūr bayn al-nās). Then when my hand became paralyzed (infalajat), I was left without a means of making a livin[g].' When capitation tax payment came he had to go into hiding in his house, and so he asks for assistance." Cohen, Poverty and Charity, 42-43. See also Goitein's note card. The writer has been hiding in the house for 55 days. Only Abu l-Fakhr the son of the judge and Ibn [...] al-Amshati have come to his aid, each one giving him 5 dirhems. He bribed the capitation tax collectors with 5 dirhems and already spent the other 5. He needs food. ASE.

Letter describing two meetings with physicians. At least part of the letter is addressed to the sender's mother. The first meeting was a visit to Maimonides, who discussed medical topics with the writer, who intends to being a course of study in medicine as soon he sorts out an issue with his brother and maternal aunt. The second was with another physician who visited the writer, checked his pulse, examined a flask of his urine, and prescribed barley water (kashk shaʿīr). Mention is made of a trip to Alexandria. The fragment mentions others and their wealth and very large debts: Abū Manṣūr, Abū l-Maḥāsin, Rīḍā al-Dawla, Ibn Hillel. It also mentions several distinguished physicians apart from Maimonides. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter from Jalāl al-Dawla (or at least a person from the family of Shelomo b. Yishai the Nasi), written during an epidemic, and mentioning the Nagid [Avraham Maimonides] as being ill and also mentioning his (father?)-in-law the judge R. Hananel, who says, "These days are like the Day of Judgment: everyone is preoccupied (mashghul) with himself." He goes on, "We are doing our utmost to escape from this terrible epidemic. There is not a house in Fustat or Cairo among the important Jews—or anyone else—that does not have at least one sick person. The people are in terrible distress, too preoccupied to care for each other--let alone for a stranger." Jalāl al-Dawla also provides an update on his own diarrhea (v7–8): it is intermixed with white phlegm, coiled/twisted (multaff), and it burns when it comes out (yaldhaʿu waqta majī’ihi). ASE.

Business letter from a father, probably in Alexandria, to a son, probably in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment. Dating: Looks 12th century, but this is a guess. The writer explains that he cannot come because he is very ill (wajiʿ wajaʿin ṣaʿb) and has no energy (nahḍa) to 'enter' (Fustat). He has therefore sent Sulaymān on his behalf to collect his indigo that is with Abū l-Ḥasan. The son is to make sure that this happens, and if he wants to travel back with Sulaymān, all the better. After all, it is the end of the year, and the son has to pay his capitation tax in Alexandria. If the son does come, there is a list of items that he should bring with him. ASE.

Letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. "Your friend, my brother Abū Bishr Al-Ṭabīb (the physician) sends his regards and asks you to honor him with whatever you need. If you [...], and inform him about your illness [...] and go see him, so that he can treat your eye." The writer goes on to mention flax and the village and the Sultan ('may God prolong his days'). Verso has many greetings. ASE.

Letter from the Tiberias lepers.