Geniza Lab

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim to Yosef ha-Kohen b. Eli Alfasi, Tyre. Around 1067. Abu Yaakov Yosef b. Eli ha-Kohen is on a ship on his way to , and he is based in Ramla. From there he is traveling to Tyre to receive a shipment from the port. Nahray sends him instructions and asks him about the business. The letter was written in Heshvan 13, and mentions an Islamic holiday that is coming soon. It is probably 10 in Du al-higa that was celebrated in October, 1066-1068. The letter mentions important details about exporting goods from . (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 3, pp. 271-276, #508). VMR

Letter from Nahum b. Mansur, in Malij, to the parnas Abu Kathir, in Cairo. The letter discusses the happy outcome of Nahum b. Mansur's daughter's marital dispute . Written around 1092, as indicated by a calendar for that year written on the free space of the verso. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 568; III, pp. 213, 471)

Letter from Abū l-Ḥayy b. Ṣāliḥ al-Ṣabbāgh, in Palermo, to Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Taherti. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Ca. 1050 CE. The sender came to Palermo in order to travel on to Egypt, because conditions in the country (presumably Ifrīqiyya) were poor, and he was unable to provide for his family. He describes his wretched situation. He booked passage on a ship (qunbār) belonging to a man from Tinnīs, but he waited and waited, and all the other ships ("even the ships of Tripoli") set sail. At last, the night of sleeping on the ship (al-mabīt) arrived, but in the middle of the night, the government commandeered the ship and its goods and turned out all the passengers, including even Abū l-Ḥayy the Unlucky (al-ḍaʿīf al-najm) (is he referring to himself?). Thus the sender has been stranded in a foreign land without any money. "My arms and legs have been cut off, and I have left my son and my family (or: wife) perishing." Abū l-Ḥayy asks Barhūn for help. (Information in part from Gil and from Ben-Sasson.)

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to one of the personalities in Fustat, concerning the fate of Rabbanite prisoners and the future of the Rabbanite community in Jerusalem. Approximately 1033. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Yisrael b. Natan in Jerusalem to Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat. November 29, 1061. Concerning copying books and family matters. Mentions Zakkai ha-Nasi, Daniel b. Azarya's brother, and his son, who were about to arrive in Fustat. Also mentions a few people that were coming from Byzantium, traveled through Jerusalem, and some of them stayed there. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 3, pp. 160-164, #479). VMR

Letter from Mevorakh b. Yisrael Januni in Palermo to Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat. July 31, 1052. The writer tries to take care of shipments of goods that belong to Nahray, and therefore traveled to Sfax and then to Palermo. He informs Nahray about the tasks that he could not do. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #755) VMR

Letter from ʿIwāḍ b. Ḥananel, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Around 1060. The letter is in the hand of Benāya b. Mūsā and switches to the voice of Benāya starting in line v1. The letter discusses goods and shipments as well as books that ʿIwāḍ is buying for Nahray. ʿIwāḍ has been suffering a serious illness (wajaʿ) ever since Adar Rishon (this passage begins in line r16). People despaired of him; he recovered from the illness; but then he developed a swollen abdomen ("and I am frightened from it"). Now he does not travel unless absolutely necessary. He asks Nahray to obtain for him sugar and good-quality rhubarb. Information in part from Gil and Gotein's note card (#27102). VMR. ASE.

Letter from Nissim b. Ḥalfon, probably in Tinnis, to Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat. Around 1046. The writer is about to travel to Palestine. Mentions Sahln b. Avraham (Abu Amar). The letter deals with shipments of goods and money, including cloth packaging, raisins, house products, and “Lasin” silk. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #584) VMR

Letter from Nissim b. Ḥalfon in Tyre to Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat, ca. 1055.

Letter from Sadoq Ha-Levi b. Levi, Head of the Court of the Yeshiva of the Land of Israel, in Ramla to Efrayim b. Shemarya, probably 1029.

Letter from Hassun b. Yiṣḥaq to a partner. Business letter discussing payments and shipments, apparently of flax and textiles. Dated ca. 1050. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #807)

Letter from Saadya b. Avraham in Hebron to Yeshu'a b. Yakhin in Fustat, approximately 1080.

Letter from the cantor Elazar ha-Hazzan b. Avraham to Mevorakh b. Saadya, before he became Nagid (thus, before 1078). Informing that three pieces of copper, a lamp, and one other item belonging to the sister of Abu 'Ali Husayn b. Yosef have been delivered in the presence of witnesses, and sends wishes for the holidays. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from 'Amram b. Moshe al-Barqi, sent via Alexandria, to Mevorakh b. Saadya (1094-1111) asking for assistance, which the recipient had already granted in the past to the writer's uncle and father, and congratulating him on the birth of a son (late in Mevorakh's life). (Information from Cohen, Jewish Self Government, pp. 151-152, and Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Ismail b. Barhun Taherti in Mahdiyya to his brother, Abu al-Surur Ishaq b. Barhun, reporting what Tahir and his partner, who were the proprietors of a boat called Ibn al-Iskandar, did for him. At the end the sender conveys his greetings to family members. Dated to the 11th century. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 309, 478, and Goitein's index cards)

Letter from a penniless woman, the widow of Abū Surrī, to Mevorakh b. Saadya (1094–1111). She begs him to come to her rescue in a litigation brought against her by the relatives of her deceased son-in-law for a modest amount. Her daughter was married to Yosef b. Asad b. Qirqas who left her to travel three and a half years ago. That was prior to al-Afḍal's siege of Alexandria in 1094. The daughter was then ill two years while the mother used her dowry (רחלהא) for nursing her in her illness and for the burial when she died. It has recently become known that Yosef was killed in Nastaro (an island between Damietta and Alexandria), and his cousin claimed his estate—which was non-existent. (Information from Goitein's note card and from M. R. Cohen, Jewish Self Government, pp. 221-260.) For a detailed discussion of the geographical situation of Nastaro, see Khan, "A Copy of a Decree from the Archives of the Fāṭimid Chancery in Egypt," BSOAS, Vol. 49, No. 3, 1986, p. 444.

Account of the Qodesh: building expenditures, ca. 1037-38. The parnasim Husayn (Yefet) b. Da'ud (David) b. Shekhanya and Yaʿaqov b. Bishr al-Arjawani list the expenditures made by them during A.H. 429. The building operations refer to the synagogue and to the "new compound," which is most probably Dar Qutayt. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 164 #10)

Letter opening in the handwriting of Avraham, son of the Gaon, to Yiṣḥaq Ha-Kohen b. Furat in Fustat, 11th century.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to an unidentified personality in Fustat, expressing gratitude for funds sent to the community in Jerusalem, and requesting the intervention of the recipient to persuade a lady to leave Egypt and join her husband in Jerusalem. Approximately 1030. (Information from CUDL)

Letter. Family letter dealing with grain and payments, and extending greetings. Largely effaced. (Information from Goitein's index cards)