Geniza Lab

Fragment from a 16th-century letter in rhymed prose. (Information from CUDL) On the verso a name appears possibly as the recipient of the letter: Abraham Qraqusha[?] "קרקושאה". A variant of this surname's spelling is also repeated on the verso as "קיקושאה". MCD.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic (16th century per FGP) from Yosef b. Adīda (?) to Yefet b. Farḥān regarding flax shipments. People named include ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Maḥlāwī and ʿAbd al-Qadīr. The writer asks the addressee that when he comes from Fusṭāṭ he should bring letters from the children of Yiṣḥaq b. Adīda. He then may give his address: Rubʿ al-Ḥamzāwī, the alley of the Karaites.

Fragment of a 16th-century business letter. Faded and damaged, so the contents are difficult to determine. Appears to be a letter from an agent to his employer reporting on his business activities. Mentions Fusṭāṭ and Alexandria (line 7) and Sariel the Judge who owes the writer 84 peraḥim (line 8). Information from Avraham David's edition.

Letter from Mordechai. Dating: probably 16th century. It is headed by an ornate בע''ה. Verso and the margin on recto contains jottings (signature practice) in a different hand and ink. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Avraham Kolon (קולון) to Yosef Ardiʿa (ארדיעה). In Hebrew. Dating: Thursday, 12 Kislev [5318 AM], which is 1557 CE (see A. David's article for explanation of the date). Mentions a huge shipment of merchandise. "They say" that apart from the 200,000 peraḥim (which typically refers to Venetian ducats) there are 74 cases of coral, 14 cases of קארבה(?), a thousand copper ingots of one kind and 400 of another, 60 cases of hats, 60 cases of silk garments, and 100 packages ("balas") of clothing. Also mentions Francisco Grisolin (פרנסיסקו גריסולין). Address on verso. (Information in part from CUDL)

Note from Yosef Tamish (? טמיש) to Namir. In Hebrew. The sender is in prison (שורתיים אלו להודיע לכה איך אני בבית הסוהר) and he has nobody to help him. He asks the addressee to join with Yiṣḥaq al-Ashqar and raise some money on his behalf. Dating: mid-16th century.) Information in part from CUDL)

Financial agreement (partnership?) between Daniel b. Eliyya and Yaʿaqov b. Avraham, dated 1512/13 CE ([5]273) and citing sums in peraḥim.

Bifolium of legal records, one of which is dated 1519 CE (Sivan 1830).

Legal document dated 6 July 1564 CE (16 Tamuz 5324), Fustat, in which Sulaymān Ṣafiyy and the treasurers of the heqdesh of the Mustaʿrib congregation reach an agreement regarding the amounts owed by Sulaymān. He owes them ongoing rent payments for the līwān in an ʿaliyya belonging to the heqdesh in which he lives, as well as a prior debt of 123 muayyadis. In this document, he commits to paying 4 muayyadis a week, or 16 a month, of which 9 are for rent and 7 are for defraying his debt of 123 muayyadis. There are three different enforcement mechanisms: Sulaymān accepts a ban of excommunication upon himself if he fails to pay on time; he undertakes a vow; and he agrees that if he does not pay, the treasurers have the right to evict him through the Muslim court sytem, and he will have to pay the associated fees (by including this provision here, the heqdesh officers forestall the possibility that they will be accused of violating the halakha by resorting to the Muslim courts). The witnesses are ʿOvadya b. Avraham Ḥazzan and David b. Elʿazar Ḥonik (? חניך) ha-Levi (who also appears in ENA NS I.57 and ENA NS 29.11). On verso there is an archiving note: "the rental contract of Sulaymān Ṣafiyy, debt of 123 muayyadis to the congregation." Information from Dotan Arad's edition. ASE.

Legal document in Hebrew. 16th-century. Yaʿaqov b. Faraj Allāh the Qaraite, known as Fayrūz, attests that he owes Moshe Ḥazzān b. Yiṣḥaq(?) a certain sum of muayyadis/medins. He will pay one medin a week. Dotan Arad estimates the dating of this fragment as 16th-century in the edition that appears in his dissertation (p. 353).

Authorization of takanot from the Mustarab community in Egypt from 1595

Legal document with testimony concerning orphans and Isaac Horoshban (הורושבן), who died. Mentions various people including Isaac Shanji (שאנגו). Dated 1st Tammuz 1586 CE. (Information from CUDL)

Letter (draft) mentioning Abba, Abraham, and Shemuʾel Ibn Sid. Sent by Yehoshuaʿ [...]. Postscript by Avraham Shaul. (Information from CUDL)

Accounts concerning sugar and honey, with Coptic numerals. Mentions al-qāḍī Shihāb al-Dīn b. Shirīn, Jonah from Damietta and Abū l-Barakāt. Dated 934 Hijra (= 1528 CE). (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Letter from Abraham Sagis (סאגיש) in Safed to an individual in Egypt who had previously studied with the sage Moses di Trani in Safed. Abraham complains about an outstanding debt owed by the recipient, and the recipient’s stinginess toward the descendants of his former teacher. Signed Abraham Sagis. Verso: Part of an address. C. late 16th century. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Fustat to the communal leaders of Damietta, Yiṣḥaq Beirav and Ṣedaqa ha-Kohen. First half of the 16th century. Mentions Avraham b. Shānjī and Moshe Dammūhī as well. Information from Avraham David's transcription and notes on FGP, where he also provides detailed commentary on the figures named. ASE. See also Dotan Arad's edition from his dissertation (p. 353).

Part of a letter, c. mid-16th century, from Abraham Sagis, in Jerusalem, to Joseph Qorqos, who is normally resident in Jerusalem but is currently visiting Egypt, regarding the distribution of funds sent to Jerusalem by various Egyptian donors, including the dignitary Shelomo Alashqar, from which support was also given to the Ashkenazi yeshiva and the recipient’s own yeshiva, both in Jerusalem. Mentions David Zulati, Jacob Galican, Jacob Hami, Judah, Abraham, and Mordechai. (Information from CUDL)

Letter, c. 16th century, written on behalf of and signed by Joseph Karo, in the land of Israel, to Jacob Villarreal, in Egypt. Joseph requests repayment of a loan, and that payment should be made through Shelomo Sirilio and Isaac Alashqar. (Information from CUDL)

Letter in Ladino by Abraham Palieche to his sister, dated Elul 5324 (1564 CE). He is in Egypt/Cairo and wants her to come to meet him with the first ship to Alexandria. (Information from CUDL.) He begins by informing her that he is in Misrayim, i. e. Cairo: "Esta sera fazer vos saber komo esto aka en Misrayim. Ke por korer tanto la mi fortuna despues ke de vos me aparte . . . ." He then informs her of his wish to be reunited with her: ". . . kiera el shem itbarakh ke de aki adelante sea akabada la fortuna . . . ." He tells her to board: "la primera nave i veni vos por aki ke el shem itbarakh nos apiadara aki." He assures her that they will manage to subsist: "aki estaremos ganando . . . vos por vuestra parte y yo por la mia," pointing to a certain economic independence on the sister's part. After having thus solved any possible objections he turns to tell her what she is to bring with her: "esa tabla buena aki traeres una vasia para mi eskritura." If she does not understand she is not to worry: "vuestro hermano R. Ishaq YSU el vos enkaminara en todo esto y mira lo ke fazes no vos partais sin dinero . . . ." He ends by sending his "enkomiendas a vuestro hermano y su mujer a mi nina la bezares de mi parte el ke desea vervos mas ke eskrivirvos." He then adds a long postscript again telling her what to bring. On the journey she is to take a companion if she so wishes: "no receles de tomar algun hombre nekhbad o mujer . . . lo ke avreis menester tomares y abasares en Alexandria ke luego abasara vuestra hermana." From Eleazar Gutwirth, "The Family in Judeo-Spanish Genizah Letters," 212.

Partnership settlement recorded in the home of Rabbi Moshe Damūhī in Cairo that bears a date in line 34 of 9 Ḥeshvan 5304 AM (1543 CE). This is not the exact date of recording for this document, which has been lost to damage in the lower right corner and was likely somewhat later in the sixteenth century. The partnership settlement is related the cost of rent and repairs for a building in which a section was used as a house of prayer for the Maghrebi congregation. Some of the names of the individuals involved are: Raḥamim b. Mordechai Ḥadād and Najma bt. ha-Rofe Saʿadia Tawīl. The witness Badusa b. Asher may have also scribed this document. He is listed as the sole witness in a nearby shelfmark from 1569CE (CUL T-S 13J4.20). Information from Goitein's linked index card and Dotan Arad's edition. MCD.