Geniza Lab

Letter of Abū l-Maḥāsin b. ʿAlī the trader, introduced by citations from Proverbs 3:4, Psalms 37:11 and 119:165. Mentions consingments of medical commodities such as betel palm (fawfal), amomum (qāqulla) and quince (safarjal), a doctor’s visit and names such as Naḥūm the perfumer and Abū Manṣūr Ibn al-Ṣāʾiḡ (goldsmith), cousin of the writer. (Information from CUDL.) The writer excuses the poor appearance of his letter ('my mind is not present') on account of his great preoccupation for his two friends who are sick, Naḥum al-ʿAṭṭār and his cousin (b. ʿammatī) Abū Manṣūr the son of the tax farmer of ברמא. The writer leaves the shop and visits each of them 5 or 6 times a day, because they are 'cut off' from anyone who can go to the physician for them. ASE.

Letter to a doctor with his reply (CUDL). "Medical enquiry to a doctor with his reply. This document type is a responsa type dealing with a few questions sent by a man to his physician; the verso is the practitioner’s answer. The patient does not describe his medical problem, but asks about food (the amount of bread he can eat), drink and if he can go bathing. Most probably the doctor knew the patient and his medical problem, since he gave precise answers without asking for the symptoms. The doctor ends his reply with the phrase ‘ve-rofe holim yerape’kha’ (‘May He who heals the sick heal you!’) This short letter is informal, lacking honorary titles and names of both the sender and the recipient, as opposed to the previous document. Therefore this document can be considered a medical responsum between patient and physician. The drink that was recommended by the physician is, in fact, a recipe for medicine." Information from Amir Ashur and Efraim Lev. The handwriting of the physician looks like that of Yedutun ha-Levi (cf. L-G Misc. 99, T-S NS 305.115, and CUL Or.1080 J117v for evidence that Yedutun was a physician). ASE

Letter in which a patient reports to his physician, describing his illness and asking for a prescription. Full translation by Goitein, Mediterranean Society, V, 105. "I[n Your name, O] M[erciful]. My lord, the chief physician Abu Rida. May your Excellency take notice that cold and heat have shaken me from Sunday until this hour. I cannot taste anything edible. Yesterday I rolled bread crumbs into two little balls, but after having eaten about a quarter ounce of bread, I hiccupped until midnight, and believed the hiccup would never stop. Then my soul desired a bit of fried cheese, but.... For three days more [the call of] nature has not come to me. Fever, headache, weakness, and shaking do not leave me all day long. Moreover, I cannot taste anything, not even lemon with sugar. I am also unable to give myself an enema. So, what do you prescribe for me? I drink very much water. May your well-being increase and never decrease. And Peace."

Letter from Ṣāliḥ b. Dā'ūd, in Tinnīs, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1055 CE. Regarding the debt and goods belonging to the late Abū l-Faraj Yaʿaqov b. Avraham b. ʿAllān. The money and goods belong to Mevasser, the writer’s brother. Also mentions clothes that the writer probably deals with their manufacture. Ṣāliḥ would have liked to come to Fustat and help with finding the will and accounts of the deceased, but he was prevented by the death of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Mawhūb and by his own illnesses. "As to the illnesses that have befallen me and their permanence, I ask God to accept my sufferings as an atonement and to grant me pardon. While writing these lines, I am unable to . . . the doctor comes to see me every day. I ask God to give me good health and to have mercy on me out of regard for the little ones with whom he has blessed me" (r19–22). Information from Goitein, Med Soc, V, p. 345, and Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #783. VMR. ASE.

Formal letter in Arabic script. Dating: Perhaps 12th or 13th century based on handwriting. From ʿAbdallāh b. [...]. He reports that he has obeyed the addressee's order (imtathala al-mamlūk al-marsūm) and investigated the matter of Ibrāhīm b. [...]. Then mentions "for the treatment of the eye (li-mudāwāt al-ʿayn).

Letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. "Your friend, my brother Abū Bishr Al-Ṭabīb (the physician) sends his regards and asks you to honor him with whatever you need. If you [...], and inform him about your illness [...] and go see him, so that he can treat your eye." The writer goes on to mention flax and the village and the Sultan ('may God prolong his days'). Verso has many greetings. ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment. One side deals with routine business matters. The other side reads, ". . . out of your favor (inʿāmak), prescribe for me. . . I have been sick with a sneeze (ʿaṭsa, spelled ʿatsa). . . in the fever. The doctor attended me with a syrup (sharāb) and almond oil (duhn al-lawz). I arose from the illness for a period. . . from my place, and I remained for a period. It became. . . . " ASE.

Public appeal of a blind woman to the congregation of Fustat to pay the fee of 4 dinars charged by a Muslim physician for the treatment of either herself or her sick daughter, who suffered from dropsy (istisqā'). Her other children (or child) had been given as security for this sum. Probably written by Hillel b. Eli (dated documents 1066–1107). Information from Goitein's note card. See also Med Soc, II, Appendix C, #96 (p. 501), and Med Soc I, p. 259 on children as collateral. ASE.