Geniza Lab

Letter from a merchant in the Maghreb to his business partner in Fustat (might be a person from the Tahirti family). The beginning of the 11th century. Details about selling large quantity of flax and shipments of hundreds of dinars from the Maghreb to Egypt. Also mentions buying lead and other goods and details about the prices of different goods as indigo. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #137) VMR

Letter from Ya’aqov b. Yosef al-Tunisi, Fustat, to Salah b. Barhun al-Taharti, Ramla. The writer sends goods to Ramla, to the merchant’s officer Ahmad b. al-Harani. Mentions details about merchandise that arrive in Fustat. Both the Taharti brothers, Ismaʿil and Salah b. Barhun, are in Palestine. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #140) VMR

Draft of private account of Yosef b. Eli Kohen al-Fasi. Around 1057. Contains details about partnership between the writer and Barhun b. Salah regarding purchase of flax in Busir, and details about silk business. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #397) VMR

Letter from Yosef b. Farah from Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1045. The writer wrote the letter in the Hebrew month of Iyar, before the sailing season is about to start and the merchants starting to negotiate the prices for shipments. Yosef wants to travel to Tripoli, Libya, but he needs to travel to Palermo before that. The writer adds a recommendation for Avon b. Ṣedaqa, from his town, Gabès (Qābis). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #509) VMR

Short letter sent from Yosef b Avraham to Ismail b. Yaʿaqov al-Andalusi, mentioning that the writer sent textiles marked with his name, and asking Ismail to buy sandals and a scarf for the writer's son. Dating: ca. 1055. (Information from Gil, Kingdom)

Letter from Yaʿqūb b. Salmān al-Ḥarīrī, Tripoli (Lebanon), to Nahrāy b. Nissīm, Fusṭāṭ. Commodities mentioned are wheat, figs, and cotton. According to Goitein's estimate, this letter was written exactly seven weeks before the letter T-S 8j19.27, which would be approximately 458-459/1066 (Goitein, Letters from Medieval Jewish traders, pg. 46, footnote #2). This was the time when Egypt was ravaged by a massive famine (shidda ʿuzma) and traders were eager to secure whatever victuals they could procure for their families and friends; "You know the times we are in, do not delay, these are difficult times". YU

Account of the Tahirti brothers dealing with the sale of flax worth 800 dinars in the Maghreb and containing details about buying textiles in the Maghreb and shipping them. Dated 1025. Accounts in the same hand and possibly from the same book are also found in T-S J1.54, BL OR5554A.53-54r, Moss. VIII,476.1-2.

Letter from Yosef b. Simha, Alexandria, to the Taharti brothers (Isma'il and Salih b. Barhun), Fustat. The writer is aboard a ship in Alexandria and asks for help selling his musk.

Letter from Barhun b. Musa al-Taharti, probably from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Dated: June 1, 1054. Mentions shipments and details about ships. Also mentions details about storing goods and some details about coins. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #347) VMR

Letter from Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy, Alexandria, to his relative Abu l-Ḥasan Shelomo b. Nissim al-Barqi, containing instructions about selling goods such as textiles and lead in Fustat.

Large fragment of a detailed order for textiles, specifying 18 different colors, sent to Spain, perhaps from al- Ahwaz. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 106, and from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Ayash b. Ṣedaqa, Alexandria, to an unknown addressee. Dating: January 1051. Lists of goods that were bought or sold. Some details about the market and credit conditions as well as details about shipping. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #486) VMR

Letter from Nahray b. Natan b. Nahray, in Alexandria, to a certain Abū Saʿīd. Fragment (upper part only). In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Late 11th century. The sender and his father, both residents of Alexandria, are known to have exchanged letters with their relative, Nahray b. Nissim. (Gil mistakenly identified the sender as Nahray b. Nissim himself.) In this letter, Nahray b. Natan writes that he has received a letter with a list of merchandise sent to Fustat by Abū Sulaymān Dāʾūd Ibn al-Lebdī. The list of merchandise is valuable for the study of the Indian Ocean trade. The sender says that he has sent two purses of 100 dinars each with two different messengers and asks the addressee to buy several items for him. (Information from Goitein and Friedman, India Book I.)

Two accounts of Ibn Yiju about transactions with the Nakhuda Abu Abd Allah Ibn al-Kataib, Aden, 1140-1145. This is the verso of III, 19.

Accounts of Avraham Ibn Yiju's workshop for bronze vessels, India 1132-1139, 1145-1149. The verso of this document is III, 21.

Letter from Yeshua b. Isma’il al-Makhmuri from Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1050. Information about shipments of goods. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #306) VMR

Letter from Barhūn b. Ṣāliḥ to Abū l-Ṭayyib Sa'id reporting on transactions and asking for news of the addressee. Also asking for shipment of some flax.

Letter from Maymūn b. Khalfa, Palermo, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. 18 August 1056 (Gil). Describes the movement of goods and ships to and from Sicily. The government of Sicily imposed on Jewish merchants in Palermo a customs import duty (ʿushr), normally imposed only on foreign merchants, because resident Jews cooperated with their foreign partners and declared incoming goods as their property. A judge and other Jews were sent to prison. The writer reproaches Nahray for his dealings with a resident of the island, Sulaymān b. Shaʾul. Also mentions "the ships (plural!) of Abū ʿAbdallah Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ:

Letter from ʿAmram b. Yosef to Netanel b. Yefet regarding goods sent by Ḥasan b. Bundār. Location: Alexandria. Dating: 1094–97 CE. ʿAmram mentions his ophthalmia ('it seems as if I have found slight relief') and the wretched woman (ʿaguna for ʿaguma, as in CUL Or.1080 J24) who suffers pain in the joints of her hands and feet (this woman and her arthritis also appear in T-S 13J23.10). ʿAmram excuses himself from paying his respects to the Nagid on account of his ophthalmia, so he asks Netanel to represent him. ʿAmram makes the same request of Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy in Halper 394 and of Nahray b. Nissim in Bodl. MS heb. d.75/19. ASE. See Med. Society II, 478, Section 18. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Business letter in Arabic script from Mubārak b. Isḥāq to Abū l-Faḍl Sahl b. Yaḥyā al-Baṣrī (or al-Baṣīr), expressing longing for the addressee and sending greetings to Abū l-Faḍāʾil b. Baqāʾ and Abū Saʿd b. Abū l-Baqāʾ.