Geniza Lab

Legal document. Court ruling. Dated: July 1084. Written in the hand of Hillel b. Eli. Location: Fustat. Yaḥyā b. Samuel sues Amram b. Abraham for various commodities (wool, flax, and cinnamon in exchange for silk robes, silver scammony, and saffron) which represent the former’s investment with the latter. However, Amram seems to have placed the items in the care of Abū al-Ḥusayn al-Tinnīsī, who seems to have assumed responsibility for them by means of a power of attorney. Apparently, Aaron sold the items and prepared an account sheet, remitting the balance to Amram, who then settled his account with Yaḥyā. At the time the matter is to be adjudicated, Amram has left Fusṭāṭ and Yaḥyā asks for a continuance. Yefet b. Avraham, counterparty in the sale of a quantity of silver to Abū al-Ḥusayn, also appears in a number of geniza documents. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 110). Verso seems to contain another legal discussion with the same partners over similar issues.

Court document dated 15 Kislev 1469/26 November 1157 acknowledging that the court had heard the testimony of the wife of the addressee, the Shaykh Abu Mansur b. Shemuel, including testimony enumerating the assets of her son, Abu Imran, which were in her possession. List of these assets follows: Inventory of a silk-weaver's shop. Includes 32 items, most either effaced or partly torn away: 4 looms, 3 combs for silkweaving, 3 wooden rolls on which the bolts of silk were rolled, 2 irons, one for robes and another for turbans, wicker baskets full of warps, various quantities of bleached and other linen (which was woven together with silk), a small pot with weaver's reeds, copper threads covered with silver, and other items not preserved. (Information from Mediterranean Society, 1:412
s s
24; Friedman, Jewish Marriage, vol. 1, 412; vol. 2, 150, 312; and Marina Rustow)

Court archive describing a working woman (an unraveler of silk) from Tyre, Lebanon who possessed a house and was able to pay a bill of twelve dinars over the course of several years, yet claimed in court to be bankrupt and too poor to even buy bread; dated 1091. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:128, 430; 2:602; 5:88, 530) EMS

Letter from Marduk b. Musa in Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat. (c. July 1048 CE). Marduk expresses outrage as he reports on the opening of a bundle of commodities passing through Alexandria on its way to Fustat; the goods included a qintar and forty ‘jarawi ratls’ of wax and a bundle of silk (khazz). The letter also mentions an order for earthenware goblets (‘saghar’) with gold luster in Fustat. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:337, 487; 4:149, 394; Jessica Goldberg, Trade and Institutions in the Medieval Mediterranean, 173) EMS

Business letter from Avraham b. Farah in Alexandria to Yosef b. Moshe b. Barhun al-Tahirti in Fustat. The letter mentions a shipment of cosmetic oils, lead, silk and pearls. Avraham takes care of the storage house rented by Yosef in Alexandria. He asks Yosef to buy him ink and pens in Fustat. (Information from Gil)

Business letter from Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi b. Simḥa al-Nīsābūrī to the parnas ʿŪlla ha-Levi. The writer recommends a young Jewish man and describing him as being very good at kattan work, indicating the scotching and hatchling of flax. Also mentions the silk market and prices. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:105, 402, 418, 455) EMS

Deed of compensation in the handwriting of Emanuel b. Yehiel concerning Sulayman ha-Kohen b. Efrayim, who engaged in dyeing silk with turquoise blue. Also mentions the Nagid David; Fustat, 1564 Sel. (1253/1252 C.E.). (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:107, 420; Joseph Mann, The Jews in Egypt and Palestine, 2:329; E. Struss-Ashtor, History of the Jews in Egypt and Syria under the rule of the Mamluks, 3:8-10) VMR and EMS

Letter from Yosef b. Musa al-Tahirti from Mahdiyya, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1058. Mentions several goods including silk, copper, and seashells. Mentions family matters. The writer is concerned about family members and especially about girls that became orphans. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, vol. 3, pp. 215-224, #367). VMR

Letter from Abu Mansur al-Kohen b. Yefet ha-Kohen Abu Qasasa with orders for ‘mahmuda’ (scammony plant) and camphor. (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS On the verso is a postscript from Abu l-Ḥusayn (Abu l-Ḥasan is written above in the margin) concerning the silk trade. He also sends greeting to the addressee’s brother Abu l-Faraj. (Information from CUDL)

Lower part of a letter, following a complete letter. The writer, in Damira, sends 18 dirhams because the recipient, a relative in Fustat, had sold to him for less than he usually did. The letter discusses business matters, including a torn silk garment. (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS Verso: Piyyut, starting על מה יציר תיגע עצמך. (Information from CUDL)

Letter (late, 15th century onwards), in tiny handwriting, dealing with the silk trade. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Avraham b. David b. Sughmār, probably in Alexandria, to his son, David, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1055 CE. The father rebukes his son for losing money. He mentions several negative events that happened probably in the Maghreb. Also describes how his son lost trading goods as silk. He also complains about his illness (r6). Information from Gil, Kingdom, vol. 4, pp. 1-4, #609. VMR. ASE.

Letter concerning business affairs (cloth trade) in which the writer mentions the city of Damietta, and silk for Abu al-Mufaddal. EMS

Legal document. Court record (copy). This document concerns the settlement of an account between Abū al-Mufaḍḍal Netanel b. Yefet and Abū al-Ḥasan Ṭoviyya b. Avraham ha-Levi. Netanel brought a court-validated document specifying that Ṭoviyya owed him 65 dinars. Ṭoviyya claimed that he sent the amount in various commodities (15 pounds of silk worth 15 dirhams, and fragrances worth 15 dinars, in addition to kābulī murabbā (preserve of chebulic myrobalan), as well as 10 dinars in cash) by means of the agent Abū al-Faraj to be sold in Tunisia. It is unclear whether the 65 dinars is a partnership account or a debt owed Netanel by Ṭoviyya. However, that the commodities were sent to be sold in Tunisia (see T-S 8J4.9) suggests that Ṭoviyya has a financial interest in the sale. Depositing the funds with Abū al-Faraj, Netanel and Ṭoviyya have contracted a partnership of sorts for repayment of Ṭoviyya's debt. Lieberman speculates that the Abū al-Faraj al-Wakīl mentioned here may have been Abū al-Faraj Yeshu‘a b. Isma‘īl al-Maghribī, a well-known Tunisian merchant from the late 11th century (see T-S 12.566, PGPID 3181; and T-S 10J20.7, PGPID 2953). A draft copy of this document also exists; see (see T-S 8J4.9, PGPID 2128. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 177).

Business letter discussing a problem with a consignment of silk and requesting the purchase of linen (ghazal). There are also two lines of Arabic script written upside down in the bottom margin. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Abū l-Najm to Eliyyahu the Judge. In Judaeo-Arabic. Asking him to send the crimson red silk in his possession (al-maftūl wa-l-shaqīq) with a third person. The letter is torn off here, and the bottom part is missing.

I. Sale of 1/12 of a house containing two connected apartments and four silk workers shops. 1160. II. Note concerning claims on trousseau items between Tahir b. Abu Sa'd and his wife Fakhr bt. Abu Yiṣḥaq.

Mercantile letter from an unknown sender, possibly in Sicily, to Abū Zikrī Elḥanan b. Ismāʿīl (al-Andalusī). In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (vertical piece from the middle). Dating: ca. 1050 CE, per Gil. Concerning consignments of copper, lead, silk (jīzī, lāsīn, and dimunshī/Demona silk). (Information from Gil and from Goitein’s index card.)

Business letter in Hebrew and Arabic script about the sale of silk, flax, olive oil and other commodities.

Letter(s). The first 9 lines are in Arabic script (the hand is practiced), followed by 9 lines in Judaeo-Arabic (the hand is crude). It may be one and the same sender/scribe. The Arabic portion mentions congratulations; possibly sesame oil (sīraj, l. 3); that the sender sent something to the Rayyis, who is asked for a favor; that Abū l-Ḥasan b. al-[...] was also present at the time this letter was written and kisses the addressee's hands and serves him. The Judaeo-Arabic portion mentions "a Hebrew letter"; urges the addressee to respond quickly before the holiday; asks for "a separate ruqʿa in my name and in the name of Sulaymān"; and may allude to a legal case between himself and Sulaymān in the countryside (al-Rīf). He reports that "they have begun" with the addressee's silk and asks if they should start dyeing the 10 ruṭaylāt of silk. Needs further examination (especially the Arabic portion). ASE