Geniza Lab

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya, probably 1039.

Fragment of a letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya, approximately 1025.

Draft of a letter from Efrayim b. Shemarya to Shelomo b. Yehuda. (MR; see also S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:399; 2:8, 520, 534)

Letter from Ali ha-Mumhe b. Avraham to Efrayim b. Shemarya

Fragment of an ordinance (taqqana) concerning the Jerusalem community in Fustat. The community decides to choose ten men who will manage the community with Efrayim b. Shemarya. Probably written July 7, 1028; in the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya. (Gil, Palestine, vol. 2, 594-596, Doc. #325) VMR

Fragment of a letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya, approximately 1040.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya, approximately 1030.

Letter from Shelomo b. Semah, Ramla, to Efrayim b. Shemarya, approximately 1030.

Part of a letter written by Shelomo ‘the lesser, Head of the Yeshiva’ (i.e. the Gaʾon Shelomo b. Yehuda), in Jerusalem, to Efrayim b. Shemarya, in Fusṭāṭ. Dated: 1035 CE (per Gil). Regarding the special collection to help restore ‘the cave’ (i.e. the Rabbanite synagogue in Jerusalem, that was damaged in the collapse of part of the Western Wall on the Temple Mount during Passover 1034 CE). The restoration of the synagogue is described, including the removal of rubble, and the use of 62 beams and 600 planks. Also mentions details concerning captives, as well as Yosef b. Yaʿqūb, a prominent member of the Fusṭāṭ Jewish community, who is loyal to the Babylonian academy of Pumbeditha and has the title Alūf. Greetings are sent to the addressee's son-in-law, Yosef. (Information from CUDL.)

Legal document. Location: Fustat. Dated: Ḥeshvan 1350 Seleucid, which is 1038 CE. The contents are difficult to understand because of the poor state of preservation. Signed by: Mevorakh b. David, Maḥfūẓ b. Yiṣḥaq; Yiṣḥaq b. Khalaf; and Shelomo b. Mundhir. The validation is written by Efrayim b. Shemarya (as head of the Beit Din) and signed by himself and by the cantor Yefet b. David. (Cited in Oded Zinger, Women, Gender, and Law: Marital Disputes according to Documents of the Cairo Geniza, 383; Jacob Mann, Jews in Egypt and Palestine under the Fatimid Caliphs, 1:99) EMS

Letter from the Jerusalem community in Fustat, in the hand of ha-Hazan Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya in Tamuz (July) 1028. R. Shlomo b. Yehuda was appointed to be the new head of the Yeshiva in Jerusalem and the Jerusalem community in Fustat are writing to get his re-approval for their leader and judge - Efrayim b. Shemarya. (Information from Goitein, Palestinian Jewry, pp. 83-86). VMR

Letter from Yosef Ha-Kohen b. Shelomo Gaon, Jerusalem, to Efrayim b. Shemarya, approximately 1050.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya. End of 1025 / 1026. Concerning the Fatimids' army that is coming from Egypt against the bedouins.The letter's main issue is the serious disagreement in Fustat concerning Efrayim b. Shemarya, which some people want to remove from his position, for Shemuel b. Avtalyon. Shelomo suggests Efrayim to restrain his emotions so he will not help his opponents with his actions. (information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2, pp. 116-119). VMR

Document written in Zawīlat al-Mahdiyya with a validation written by the court of Fustat, as denoted in Hebrew אשרנוהו (in the validation of the court). The main document concerns a shipment of goods which was sent by Yaḥyā b. Mūsā and which did not include trading goods for Salmān b. Shabīb ha-Kohen. Salmān claims his goods in front of the court. The document mentions Yisrael b.Yūsuf Ibn Bānūqa and others. It is dated: Thursday, 19 Tammuz 4807 AM, which is 1047 CE. Witnesses: Khallūf b. Yehuda; Barhūn b. Moshe b. Barhūn; Yiṣḥaq b. Yaʿaqov .The validation is in the handwriting of Efrayim b. Shemarya. Other witnesses: Avraham b. Mevasser; the cantor Yefet b. David (b. Shekhanya). (Gil, Kingdom, 4: 106-7, Doc. #633; S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:236-7, 574; and Oded Zinger, Women, Gender, and Law, 402). EMS and VMR

Settlement made in the court of Fustat between Mufarraj b. Yefet b. Shuʿayb the Damascene and Yaʿaqov b. Yosef the Iraqi. The Dayyan consulted the Gaon, probably Shelomo b. Yehuda, who said that one of the two must take an oath. (Information from E. Bareket, Shafrir misrayim, pp. 51, 60, 84 and from Ben-Sasson, Yehudei Sitzilya, p. 187.) Draft in the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya (ca. 1020-1050) (MR).

Letter from Shemuʾel b. Avraham to Efrayim b. Shemarya (ca. 1007–55 CE). Address on verso. (Information from CUDL)

Deed of compensation from the court of Efrayim b. Shemarya and in his handwriting. Concerning people from Tyre and a partnership, starting with an Arabic basmala.. (Information from E. Bareket, "The leaders of the Jews in Fustat", vol. 1 pp. 71-72, vol. 2, pp. 290, 380). VMR

Verso: Letter in the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya. Dating: Ca. 1026 CE. Referring to a speech made by Abū Isḥāq (Avraham b. Sahlān), a member of the Babylonian yeshiva, concerning the eclipse of the exclusive juridical authority of the Palestinian yeshiva (i.e. the authority of Efrayim b. Šemarya). (Information from Gil and CUDL)

Business letter in Arabic script from Efrayim b. Shemarya to Yehuda b. Yosef ha-Kohen. This hand looks very different from the other hands Rustow has identified as belonging to Efrayim (see The Lost Archive, 498n49, which identifies Halper 354, T-S NS 320.45, Bodl. MS heb. d 66/83, CUL Or. 1080 J7, T-S10J6.6, T-S13J36.14, and T-SAS152.236 + T-SAS 152.269 as all being in Efrayim b. Shemarya's Arabic hand).

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya.