Geniza Lab

Letter from an unknown writer in Qūṣ to an unknown addressee in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 12th century. The writer reports that the children and their mother arrived safely in Qūṣ after a terrible Nile voyage that lasted 45 days. The writer sends various instructions to be executed in Fustat. He mentions numerous people including Abū Naṣr, Abū Surūr b. al-Amʿaṭ, Abū l-Makārim Ibn Nufayʿ (whose son also arrived safely in Qūṣ), Abū l-Munajjā, and Abū ʿAlī. Information from Goitein's attached transcription.

Karaite Nesiim. A memorial list.

State petition. Recto: petition to the the imām Al-Āmir bi-Aḥkām Allāh from a Jewish merchant, Mūsā b. Ṣadaqa, who was detained unlawfully after his return from India and Yemen with goods. The merchant writes that he had already registered documents in the court of the judge Jalāl al-Mulk Tāj al-Aḥkam (Abū l-Ḥajjāj Yūsuf b. Ayyūb al-Maḡribī) and asks for his property and freedom to be restored. Ca. 516-521 AH (= 1123-1127 CE). On verso there is Hebrew liturgical text. (information from CUDL.) See also Goitein notes linked below.

Letter from Ṭāhir, in Qūṣ, to his mother, in Alexandria. In Arabic script; large, very regular characters. Dating: Possibly 11th century. Goitein notes that this fragment is a palimpsest, but the 'undertext' may simply be a mirror-image imprint. The sender has rented animals (either donkeys or camels) to travel to ʿAydhāb for 8 dinars. He hopes to set sail at the end of Rajab. A large part of the letter is devoted to greetings to everybody at home and requests for prayers. He reports that a man known as [...] al-Farsī (or al-Qurashī?) told him that his cousins (awlād ʿammī) are well, living in a place called تبليه ?نبايه? in Yemen. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card and attached notes.)

Business letter in Arabic script from Ibrāhīm b. Hillel to Abū l-Afrāḥ ʿArūs b. Yosef (who ʿAodeh thinks was in India at the time), mentioning shipments of copper, textiles, brazilwood, pepper and cardamom.

Fol. 3: Legal document. Left side of an agreement with a wife that she would receive the rent from the middle story of a house, but if it was unoccupied it would be her loss. Dated: 1436 Seleucid or slightly earlier, which is ca. 1124 CE. Names Isḥāq b. Makhlūf al-Nafūsī; a Lebdī; and [...] b. Abū ʿUmar al-Ṭabīb. In the lower margin, at 90 degrees: "Efrayim b. Elʿazar ha-Ḥazzan, Sitt al-Kull bt. Yaḥyā." (Information from Goitein’s attached notes.)

Letter from Abū l-Faḍl, in Alexandria, to his son Ismāʿīl al-Fāṣid al-Yahūdī, in Aden. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. Dated: Iyyar of the year 571 AH, which is 1175/76 CE. Awaits more detailed summary. See Goitein notes linked below.

Estate of Nissim b. Yaʿqūb, a merchant who died in Suakin (present-day Sudan) on Monday, 7 Shaʿbān 503 AH (approximately 1110 CE). The handwriting appears to be that of Hillel b. ʿEli. Information from Goitein's notes.

Awaiting description - see Goitein notes linked below. This letter may be continued in Bodl. MS heb. d 66/14 (identified by Oded Zinger).

Letter fragment from Saʿīd b. Marḥab, in Aden, to Abū l-ʿAlā b. Abū Naṣr ha-Kohen, probably in Fustat. In Hebrew (for the introduction) and Judaeo-Arabic (for the body). Dating: mid-12th century. Abū l-ʿAlā’s father is dead, indicated not only by the usual post-mortem blessing after his name (זכ׳׳ל) but also the Hebrew חיי before his name. The address is on verso. Blank spaces on both sides contain Arabic script, seemingly practice for the beginnings of letters. (Information from CUDL.)

Order of payment. In Judaeo-Arabic. In which Tamīm b. Yaʿaqov asks Abū Saʿīd to give Abū l-Ḥasan b. Masʿūd the price of the bundle (ṣurra) of ben (al-bān), because the latter kindly made some wine for Tamīm. Goitein's notes indicate that the use of the term "ṣurra" proves a connection to the India trade. His notes also translate al-bān as "nutmeg."