Geniza Lab

Power of attorney to Perahya ha-Kohen to recover in India goods entrusted to Abu al-Faraj, Nissim al-Raqqi. Fustat, early 1090s.

Memorandum from Yosef b. Avraham to Abu Nasr al-Halabi. Aden, ca. 1130-50.

Letter from Maḍmūn b. Ḥasan, in Aden, to Avraham Yijū, on the Mangalore coast of India. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 1130s CE. There are two copies preserved: T-S 6J4.14 + T-S 18J2.7 (India Book II,13 + 14) and JRL Gaster heb. ms 1863/13 + T-S 12.416 (India Book II,15).

Legal testimony. In Judaeo-Arabic. Location: Fustat. Dating: ca. 1156 CE. Sitt al-Ahl bt. Sayyid al-Kull, the widow of Hiba b. Abū Saʿd who had drowned near Aden (see PER H 161), declares that she has received from Abū l-Surūr Peraḥya b. Tiqva ha-Levi known as Ibn al-Amʿaṭ, a certain sum from the estate of her late husband. Sitt al-Ahl's father Sayyid al-Kull is also known as the druggist Hillel b. Naḥman. (Information from India Book.)

Letter from ʿAmram b. Yosef, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim. Asking Nahray to intervene with Ḥasan b. Bundār. Dating: 1094–97 CE. "This is the opening letter of the correspondence; Amram b. Joseph recapitulates what had been done thus far and asks Nahray b. Nisslm to intervene with Ḥasan b. Bundār through the merchants returning to Aden. Lines 1-13. Excuses for the writer's long silence: he always inquired after Nahray's well-being, but refrained from writing so as not to obligate a response. Lines 13-29. A letter of Abu 'l-Faraj Nissim, containing the story of his horrible experiences, had been forwarded by Nahray ten months earlier. It caused the family great distress, which was exacerbated by the illness of both the writer's sister (Nissim's wife) and his own wife, an orphan whom he had recently married after the death of his former wife, and who had borne him a sickly boy. Economic difficulties did the rest. "Man's road is not his [to choose]." Line 30-verso, line 13. In that letter Nissim had mentioned that he had shipped to Abū ʿAlī Ḥasan b. Bundār 1 1/4 manns camphor with the request to sell them in Aden and to send the proceeds to Nisslm's family; the camphor had arrived in Aden, but Nissim did not know whether Ḥasan had forwarded anything. That letter had been written exactly two years before. Recently a number of acquaintances, all mentioned by name, had arrived from Aden, some with letters and receipts from Adenese merchants. One receipt seemed to be connected with Nissim's shipment, and Nahray is asked to inquire into this and similar matters. Verso, lines 14-24. Having learned that the merchants who had arrived from Aden were returning there, Amram wrote to them letters and now asks Nahray to meet 'all of them' and to give them his letters. They should explain to Ḥasan b. Bundar that his "taking temporary possession of the camphor's proceeds as security against possible claims" was a great sin Verso, lines 24-31. On his way to the East, Nissim had met in Dahlak Sheikh Abu 'I-Ḥasan Salāma al-Maʿarrī, the brother of Sheikh Abū l-Ghanā'im. In the aforementioned letter (lines 13, 29 ff) Nissim had written that he had met that man again and asked him to carry with him the proceeds from the camphor from Aden, if they had not been sent before. Nahray is requested to find out whether this man had arrived in Fustat and whether he had brought any helpful message. Verso, lines 31-38. In the concluding part, Nahray is reminded to enquire about another traveler who was reported to have some news on the matter. One or two lines are missing at the end. {See the introduction to II, 3, for the dating.}" Description from India Book (see attached).

Letter from Ḥalfon b. Menashshe to Avraham b. Bundār. Location: Fustat. Dating: Early 12th century. Ornate thank you letter and narrative in which Ḥalfon b. Menashshe expresses gratitude for the wealthy Adeni merchants Avraham b. Bundar and the "Leader of the Congregations (either Ḥasan b. Bundar or his son Bundar II) who saved him from the debts that confronted him when he emerged from his life-threatening illness (r31–v2). "Ḥalfon was inflicted by a dangerous and protracted illness, and hopes for his recovery had already been lost. He did recover, but despite the helpfulness of the community and the devoted care of the physicians, he was forced to sell everything in the house, including his Sabbath clothing, and to incur debts to the amount of 12 dinars." Partial trans. Goitein and Friedman, India Traders, p. 44, and summarized in detail 306f.

Copy of a letter from Madmun b. Ḥasan to Avraham Ibn Yiju (Aden, 1133-1140). For the other copy, see PGPID 5457.

Letter from the rabbinical court of Fustat to Madmun b. Ḥasan regarding the estate of Ibn Jumayhir. Fustat, 1146.

Two copies of a letter from Mahruz to Sulayman b. Abu Zikri Kohen before sailing back to India. Aden, ca. 1137-1147.

Letter from Khalaf b. Yiṣḥaq to a merchant in Egypt: Attack on Aden by the King of Kish. Aden, ca. 1135-6.

Letter from Madmun b. Ḥasan to Avraham Ibn Yiju. Aden, 1133.

Letter from Madmun b. Ḥasan to Avraham Ibn Yiju (Aden, 1133-1140). There is a second copy of this letter: T-S 13J7.13 + T-S K25.252.

Letter from Madmun b. David: Murder of the 'Caliph' and return of Jewish life to normalcy. Aden, 1202.

Letter from Ḥalfon and Bundār b. Maḍmūn, in Aden, to Sulaymān b. Abū Zikrī Kohen, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1150 CE. Maḍmūn's two sons write from Aden to express their sympathy on the death of Abū Zikrī Kohen to his son Sulaymān, Fustat ([A] 27 lines). They discuss unfinished business of the dead merchant ([B] 30 lines) and report briefly about the grave illness of their own father ("Do not ask how he (my father) is suffering from the strain of illnesses and constant pain," v1) and the well-being of the widow of Sulaymān's maternal unde, the shipowner Maḥrūz b. Yaʿaqov, and his children [C]. Information from India Traders (attached).

Letter from a certain Ḥ[alfon] (?) to Shemarya b. David requesting an appointment as a religious functionary. Egypt, 1213 (?). He cannot work because of his weak vision. The handwriting resembles that of Moshe b. Levi (d. 1212), who may have written the letter on behalf of the petitioner—but this is speculative. ASE.

Letter from Madmun b. Ḥasan to Avraham Ibn Yiju: three fragments of two copies. Aden, ca. 1130s.

Memorandum to a traveler carrying Indian goods to Yiṣḥaq b. Bundar. India, ca. 1110.

Letter from Mukhtar b. Yaʿaqov to Sa'id b. Naja describing Ḥasan b. Bundar's assistance. Aden, ca. 1100.

Poem by Avraham Ibn Yiju praising Madmun b. Ḥasan and cursing his enemies. Aden, ca. 1140-1144.

Poem by Avraham Ibn Yiju praising Madmun b. Ḥasan as a defender of the faith (and as a defender of Avraham Ibn Yiju himself). Aden, ca. 1141.