Geniza Lab

Letter from a woman, in Fustat, to her son Abū l-Maḥāsin, in Funduq al-Qamra, Alexandria. Dictated to Abū Manṣūr. Likely belongs with T-S 10J19.26, in which case the writer of this letter is Sitt Ghazāl bt. Abū ʿUmar. She expresses the anxiety (nār) that afflicts her heart on his behalf ever since his departure on Friday. She has been having nightmares and insomnia, and fears that if he does not return quickly, she will be completely blind by the time he returns. (It is also possible that the phrase "yatlaf baṣarī" refers to death instead of going blind; compare "wafāt ʿaynak" in T-S 10J12.14.) She urges him not to drink wine "on account of your illness. . . May God protect us from illness while separated (al-maraḍ fī l-ghurba). . . If my night visions are distressing to me, how [much the worse] if I should see them while awake." The last sentence is ambiguous: either she fears that nightmares can afflict a blind person at all hours, or she fears that her visions of terrible things happening to her son will become realities. She requests that he bring various goods back with him: a large bowl (qaṣʿa), a linen cloth (? shīta), a good comb (mushṭ), and two spoons (milʿaqatayn), and possibly red ink (? midādun yakūnū ḥumr) for Umm Abū l-Bahā'. The scribe Abū Manṣūr interjects here (line 13), and the remainder of the letter is in his voice. He apologizes for troubling the addressee with news of illness, but the fever is still with him. He asks for news of Abū l-Waḥsh Sibāʿ, and the bible, and the book of Rabbenu Baḥye. He is very anxious to learn what his instructions are—it seems he is to copy one or both of these books for Abū l-Waḥsh—so that he is not accused of tardiness. The instructions should be delivered either to Sūq al-ʿAṭṭārīn to the shop of al-Kohen al-Siqillī, or to al-Sūq al-Kabir, to the shop of Abū l-Faraj al-Sharābī. See Mediterranean Society, IV, pp. 224–25, 260. VMR. ASE.

Letter from Mevasser b. David in Damsis to Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat, ca. 1053. The main issue discussed in the letter is an argument between Mevasser and Nahray on the one side and a Christian on the other side. The Christian had financial claims which were not deemed acceptable by Mevasser. Mevasser b. David complains about financial difficulties, especially since he left Mahdiyya where his family remained and lost his property during travels. He anticipates a difficult year for his family, due to famine and rising prices. The letter refers to pearl and book trade and gives the recipient the power of attorney for a sale of silk. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, pp. 299-300 and Goitein notes linked below.)

Court record. Dated: 1408 Seleucid, which is 1096/97 CE. Of a dispute between Abū ʿImrān Moshe b. Moshe Ibn Majjān and Abū l-Faḍl Yosef b. Yoshiyya al-Dhahabi, which arose when the former claimed from the latter a complete bible codex he had bought from him some time before. The resolution is that Abū l-Faḍl gives the codex to Abū Sahl Menashshe to give to Abū ʿImrān (because he had taken a vow that he would never give it himself). (Information in part from Goitein's index cards). Join: Oded Zinger

Letter from the physician Yosef, in Alexandria, to the physician Abū l-Faraj b. Abū l-Barakāt (c/o Abū l-Faraj al-Sharābī), in al-Sūq al-Kabir, Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in both Hebrew script and Arabic script. Dating: 13th century, according to Goitein. The sender calls himself the son of the addressee, but this is not literal. Goitein surmised that the sender and the addressee were paternal cousins and that the sender was married to the addressee's sister (thus his own paternal cousin)—but Goitein did not explain his reasoning. The subjects discussed include: (1) obtaining books from the addressee's warehouse; (2) the capitation tax; (3) an incident translated by Moshe Yagur as follows: "As for what happened on the Day of ʿArava [last day of the Feast of Tabernacles]: Yaʿqūb b. al-Muʿalim argued with his crossed-eyed son and beat him in the middle of the market with his shoe. And so the boy cried out [in the name of] Islam, and the Muslims gathered in his support (wa-ʾinna al-muslimīn taʿaṣṣabū maʿahu), and they took him [the father] and brought him before the governor. He [probably the boy] said to them, “The punishments of Islam (ḥadd) are not applicable, since I am not mature yet.” The qāḍī Ibn Ghāriḍ deliberated [the matter] and ratified his conversion to Islam (rajaʿa jaddada ʿalayhi al-islām). And there were many debates concerning this, [which] will be too long to elaborate"; (4) lancets (ruwayshāt) for bloodletting that the addressee promised to send; (5) a report that friends and family speak well of the addressee (he had asked to be told what people were saying behind his back); (6) a bakers' strike translated by Goitein as follows: "On the second day of the Sukkot feast there were great disturbances in Alexandria because of the bread, which could not be found all over the city, until God brought relief by the end of the day; the governor (al-amīr) and the superintendent of the markets (al-muḥtasib) rode out and threatened to burn down [the houses of] the bakers because of the bread, after they had inquired with the people at one oven in the east and one in the west. At the end there remained fifty hundred weights of bread in the ovens that night. So do not worry"; (7) the sender's brother has been sending letters asking everyone he knows to pray for him (likely because he is about to depart on a journey). (Information from Goitein's index cards, Med Soc IV, p. 238, and Yagur, "Several Documents from the Cairo Geniza Concerning Conversion to Islam" (2020).)

Letter from Abū Manṣur to his 'brother' Abū Saʿd. Mainly in Judaeo-Arabic. The addressee has promised to come for Rosh Hashana. The sender has sent 5 mezuzot and qinot for the 9th of Av. The sender then discusses the copying of books and the capitation tax. CUL Or.1080 J72 has the same sender and same addressee.

Colophon in a commentary to the book of Isaiah, mentioning that the book had formerly belonged to Yaʿaqov he-haver b. Ayyub and was purchased from him by Josiah he-haver b. Aharon ha-me'ulle b. Josiah, av of the court in Acre in the year 4791/1031. Later, presumably during the First Crusade, the book fell into Crusader hands and someone, holding the book upside down as if it was a Western book, wrote a short note in Latin identifying its contents: ‘[interpre]tacio esaya prophete’. During their conquest of the Holy Land, the Crusaders took not only prisoners for ransom but also Jewish books and scrolls. This leaf is presumably from one of the books that passed through Crusader hands but was eventually sold back to the Jewish community. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Efrayim b. Isḥāq, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: Ca. 1070 CE. The writer owns several apartments in Alexandria and rents an apartment to Nahray. Nahray has heard rumors that Efrayim is loaning other people books that belong to Nahray, from his apartment. The writer defends himself and admits that he loaned two books to Mevorakh b. Seʿadya, but in exchange for a receipt signed by two witnesses. The writer has business relations with the addressee and writes about selling vinegar. The writer received Nahray's letter in the ship, in the evening of its sail. He therefore wrote this letter (because in haste?) on a reused receipt—written in Arabic script—from nearly twenty years earlier (it is dated 4 March 1051 CE). The writer also inquires about his sick female paternal cousin (bint ʿammī, r3). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #710) VMR

Letter from Shemuel b. Yehuda ha-Bavli to Berakhot ha-Khaver. Shemuel writes that after searching the book dealers of Egypt for rare titles, he learned in Alexandria that the Greeks had many schools with fine scholars, and so he has made up his mind to go on to Thebes and Salonika in Greece after Passover. First, however, he will come to Fustat to collect the books that he had ordered. Ca. 1130s CE. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from ʿIwaḍ to Peraḥya the judge. In Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew, with the address in Arabic script and Hebrew. Written on a very long strip of paper, for which the writer asks forgiveness, because time was tight and the matter was urgent. The writer reports that Ibn al-Yamanī rejected the authority of Avraham Maimonides, while he himself vigorously defended the Nagid. The writer gives a blow by blow report of his argument with Ibn al-Yamanī. The writer adds that the ḥaver R. Eliezer was sick (mutamarriḍ) at the time the letter was written (or: at the time he wrote his letter). Eliezer is upset at Peraḥya for failing to respond to his letter or to send him Isaac Israeli's Book on Fevers. (Information in part from S. D. Goitein, The Yemenites, 125–29.) VMR. ASE.

Draft of a Hebrew letter from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi to a distinguished physician also named Moshe (but probably not Maimonides because Moshe b. Levi blesses his "sons" rather than "son"). The writer just spent a week in the household of Dr. Moshe, hoping to gain a livelihood of 10 dirhams a week, as he had been struggling to support himself during this drought. However, Moshe b. Levi became embarrassed by all the trouble Dr. Moshe went to on his behalf, so he ran away. He also complains that he could not find any water with which to wash his hands. He now writes this letter begging Dr. Moshe to judge him favorably and to continue bestowing his favor on him. He reminds Dr. Moshe that he still owes Moshe half of a dirham from the book sale for the three tractates (the other draft lists Yoma, Sukkah, and Beitzah) and half of a dirhamfor Sefer Kinyan. T-S Misc.28.140 is a more developed version of the letter, with opening blessings and a signature.

Colophon to R. Saadya Gaon's commentary to one of the prayers (תפילת שמונה עשרה), written in Ashkelon in 1061. Verso: the beginning of R. Saadya Gaon's Arabic commentary to the same prayer. (Gil, Palestine, vol. 3, 327, Doc. #528). VMR

Note from a bookseller stating that he had kept a volume but the interested future buyer had not paid money, and he could not let the proprietor wait any longer. (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS Verso: List (accounts?) in Arabic script. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document. Unsigned. Location: Fustat. Dated: Last decade of Tammuz 1540 Seleucid, which is 1229 CE. In which Shelomo b. Eliyyahu purchases from Abū l-Faḍl b. Maḥāsn Ibn al-Kāmukhī ("preparer of vinegar sauce") a codex of the Prophets for 65 dirhams. The conditions include the right to buy it back within the first two months (until Rosh Hashana). On verso there are two lines of draft text for a version of the same document.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic dealing with the book trade. In a slightly crude hand with some orthographic features more usual for later Classical Judaeo-Arabic letter writing, although the formulae and vocabulary used points to the 11th-12th century. What remains of recto is almost entirely formulaic but contains interesting phrases such as "may your star shine opposite you (wa-yuḍī' kawkabuhu ḥidhāhu)." On verso, the writer mentions Sālim (?) and a sale of 50 dirhams' worth of books. Then, "Among the books that I found for you from him: Raḥamim (?), a grammar, a commentary on Job, a composition on love and companionship and passion, a nice siddur. . . ." The writer also discusses 8 maṣāḥif, and says that the dīwān was not among the books he found. Also mentions a dictionary, a Mishna, and a prayer book. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Recto: Booklist in Arabic script listing individual Epistles (of the Brethren of Purity) that have been copied and bound and into how many majallāt and karārīs, including risālat al-ʿadad, risālat al-akhlāq, al-ārā' wa-l-madhāhib, and al-ṭarīq ilā Allāh. Verso: Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. ASE.

Text of the oath that Bū ʿImrān must swear to his brother Abū l-Maʿānī concerning his mercantile activities, the price of a house, and the payment of the capitation tax during the time when Abū l-Maʿānī was absent (in Yemen or India). In the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. On verso there are also entries about the sale or exchange of books, perhaps in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. Information from Goitein's attached notes.

Yefet the book seller is reminding the buyer - the Nasi himself, about a debt left to pay for buying books. (data from Alloni, The Jewish Library, p. 218-219). AA

Accounts of a book dealer. Written in a mixture of Arabic script and Hebrew script. Dated: Ḥeshvan 1556 Seleucid, which is October 1244 CE. Including Arabic, Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew titles, such as איוב נץ מחקק לרב סעדיה ולאבן גקטלה. Each entry gives the name of a person (ʿinda l-Rashīd Abū l-Faḍl... ʿinda Amīn al-Dawla Abū l-Barakāt b. ʿAmmār wa-sharīkih... ʿinda l-Rashīd Abū l-Faḍl b. Abū l-Fakhr(?) al-ʿAṭṭār...ʿinda l-Shaykh Abū l-Ḥasan b. Nājī al-[...]... ʿinda l-Shaykh Yiṣḥaq al-Kohen al-Ṣabbāgh...). In some cases the books are listed as pawned (رهن على...).

Private accounts written by Nahray b. Nissim. Around 1058. Details about expenses. Mentions books. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #286) VMR

Letter in the hand of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi (d. 1212), probably in Qalyūb, probably to his father Abū Sahl Levi (d. 1211), in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. The section preserved here begins with orders for books. He asks to be sent Kunnāsh al-Duyūra (better known as Kunnāsh al-Adyira, a medical treatise on home remedies for monks, by the Christian physician Ibn Buṭlān (d. 1066)) after checking the copy against the original (baʿd muqābalatih). He wants (Kitāb) al-Khalq if they have not already sent it, and a book called (Kitāb) al-Mayl wa-l-Hijrān, which Moshe left in storage in Fustat. He wants the bag (kharīṭa) containing a sewing kit (ʿuddat khiyāṭa). He wants a commentary on the simple meaning of something (tafsīr . . . peshaṭ), and he urges them to get him a copy of al-Faraj baʿd al-Shidda quickly. After all this, Moshe should still have 3 dirhams of credit (1/2 from Saʿāda and 2 1/2 from Abū l-Riḍā); with this money they should buy aromatic wood (ʿūd rīḥ) for 14 or 15 an ounce. In the margin of recto, he mentions speaking to Abū Saʿd b. Yaʿaqov on his behalf concerning "al-Mayl" (probably the same book mentioned earlier, al-Mayl wa-l-Hijrān). On verso, he continues with orders: red lead (sīlqūn), litharge (martak), and probably a couple more that are difficult to read. ASE