Geniza Lab

Letter in Arabic script. Likely sent from Jerusalem (since it refers to people "coming up" from al-Ramla this week). Addressed to a woman. The sender reports that the mother of Abū Manṣūr is well. This week, Abū l-Faraj al-Tūnisī "came up" from al-Ramla together with "the girl" (al-ṣabiyya). He is still very sick, but she has recovered from her illness. But then the dark girl (al-samrā), the daughter of ʿAbd al-Salām, died. The sender has enclosed a letter from Umm Abū Manṣūr. "As soon as you read it, write the response." Greetings to Abū l-Faraj Hiba and to "my grandson" (ḥafīdī). Reused on verso for writing exercises of biblical verses.

Letter from an unknown writer, probably in Qūṣ, to an unknown addressee, probably in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 12th century, but this is a guess. The writer describes a harrowing Nile voyage "due to the illness of the passengers and loathsome odors. Three of them ended up dying. The last one survived for a day and a half until he died. I remained in distress from the stench that wafted from him, and nearly perished." The writer then safely arrived in Akhmīm on Friday as evening was falling, so he spent Shabbat in the city. He had to pay 10.5 dirhams (of customs?) upon leaving on Sunday, after swearing that he had nothing with him except the clothes (? qumāsh) on his back. He mentions al-Shaykh Abū Isḥāq b. Mushrif/Musharraf who had paid the customs duty for the קמקין (?). The writer wished to inform the addressee of this earlier, but there was a delay of five days before he arrived in Qūṣ. "Your servant arrived in Qūṣ and experienced on the side of aṣḥābunā a measure of hospitality which I am unable to describe even in part. They kindly took an apartment for me, a place which can be locked, before I arrived. . . " On verso there is Mishna Avot. (Information in part from Goitein's index cards and Mediterranean Society 1:298, 474; 5:31-2, 513.) EMS. ASE.

Verso: Letter addressed to a certain Abū l-Faraj. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer has been sick ever since he last saw the addressee, and his illness has already cost him nearly 3 dinars for syrups and other things. He then reports on the books he has sent. He has sent Alfāẓ al-Miqraʾ, "and its purchase is on the one with the Rayyis, 1/2 dinar and a ḥabba." He has sent a volume of tafsīr for 10 dirhams. He apologizes in case the addressee doesn't actually need that one. He mentions ʿAyyāsh and Ḥananel.

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.

Fragment of a Judaeo-Arabic letter addressed (in Arabic) to Abū l-Ḥasan Bishr b. Hilāl al-Baghdādī. The writer refers to his illness ([mā] anā ʿalayhi min al-wajaʿ).

Letter of appeal for charity addressed to the Nagid Abū l-Faḍl. In Hebrew (for the introduction) and Judaeo-Arabic (for the body). The writer has been sick for 4 months, unable to do work. The times are difficult for everyone, even for aṣḥāb al-rasāmīl wa-l-dawālīb. This is a relatively long letter; merits further examination. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.) ASE

Letter from the Gaon Shelomo b. Yehuda, in Ramle, to his son Abū Isḥāq Avraham, in Tyre or Damascus (Shelomo does not know which, so he arranges for the letter to reach Avraham in either case). In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: June 27, 1033 CE, based on Gil's assessment. Shelomo had traveled from Jerusalem to Ramle to see his daughter, because she had given birth prematurely to a boy at 7 months. It seemed at first that the newborn would survive (kānat ʿalāmatuhu khayr), but he died soon afterward (r4–6). Shelomo's daughter remains ill with an intermittent fever (r19, where the word "nawba" is probably to be understood in its technical sense of "paroxysm"), however it seems not dangeorusly ill, since Shelomo plans to return to Jerusalem in two days. Shelomo had sent two previous letters with the same content: he had sent one copy to Tyre, to be forwarded to Damascus, and he had given the other copy to a Damascene Muslim in Abu Musa's caravanserai in Ramleh, who was to pass it on to R. Moshe al-Ḥaver (r6–10). Information in part from Goitein's note card and in part from Gil ASE

Letter probably from Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Fragment (upper left corner of recto). The handwriting is better than usual. There are greetings for the high holidays. Refers to a woman who is 'forgiven' for something; the arrival of Makhlūf; someone apparently having a bone set (injibār) who is unable to walk.

Letter from Natan b. Nahray, from Alexandria, to Musa b. Abi al-Hayy. Around 1063. The writer informs the addressee about Nahray b. Nissim’s illness. Seems like there is a crises in the Maghreb and therefore no ships are leaving from there, and in Alexandria the situation is not good as well. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #435) VMR

Letter from Araḥ b. Natan, also known as Musāfir b. Wahb, in Alexandria, to his brother, Avraham b. Natan the seventh, in Cairo. Dating: 1094–1111 CE. Avraham was an associate of the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saadya. In the letter, Araḥ reports of serious riots in Alexandria and a drunken brawl that ended only with the intervention of the chief of police (wālī), although he also accuses the other faction of having alerted the wālī, in addition to the drunken brawl having drawn his attention. The writer praises the local muqaddam who managed to free those involved with the brawl. He also complains of inappropriate fetishization of official decrees, and is so annoyed at the behavior of his fellow Jews that he reports it to the governor, Fakhr al-Mulk. For his brother’s benefit, he adds that the appropriate way to fetishize a decree is, as everyone knows, to kiss it and put it on your eyes, which is what the governor does. But “the Jews,” he complains, “take it around from place to place” and "wave it around like a banner." There is a passing reference to his illness ('I will tell you about it when my spirit recovers from this illness,' v1). It is likely that he is attributing his illness to the events described in the letter (wa-qad lazimanī minhu mulzim), though Frenkel understands this sentence to mean simply that there is some matter that is incumbent on him. (Information from Miriam Frenkel, Alan Elbaum and Marina Rustow)

Letter from Yūsuf, presumably in Fustat, to his 'brother' Zakarīya b. al-Rayyis, in Fuwwa. In Judaeo-Arabic. The letter is to be delivered to Yūsuf the tax farmer of Fuwwa, who is to forward it to the intended recipient. The letter contains a rebuke for the addressee who left before the holidays instead of staying as everyone urged him. In the meantime, it seems a letter has arrived that demands an urgent response. Everyone is distressed on account of the addressee's illness. Bū l-ʿIzz al-Ghāsūlī brought a letter and three dirhams. ASE.

Letter from a certain Yiṣḥaq to Yosef b. Shabbetay al-Rūmī, Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Very deferential, filled with language of patroange (e.g. li-l-mawlā ʿuluww al-ra'y fī dhālik).The writer has sent the copy of the book and excuses the delay by saying that he fell ill in the winter and it delayed him until now. He asks Yosef to send him the copy of Bereshit, it seems because he is ready to make a copy of it and send it back to him right away. The address is in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic. ASE.

Letter from the physician Abū Zikrī, in Alexandria, to his father Eliyyahu the Judge, in Fustat. Dating: Shortly before 1227 CE. Abū Zikrī tries to convince Eliyyahu to accept the post of judge in Alexandria. He promises that he will procure Eliyyahu's pension from the Ayyubid sultan al-Malik al-Kāmil (r. 1218–38 CE). He reports about the downfall of the Muslim governor and the Jewish Nasi of Alexandria and suggests that his father could get a position in that town if he wanted to. He also rebukes his father in strong terms for failing to include an update on the health of his mother in the previous letter, causing tremendous agitation and fear that she might be sick (r18–21). In a section that is almost completely effaced (v16–17), he mentions "appetite for food," perhaps in the context of one of his own chronic illnesses. (Information in part from Frenkel and from Goitein, Med. Soc. Vol. 1, p. 64 and Vol. 2, pp. 353, 380, 596.) See also T-S Ar.39.64. ASE

Letter from Yūsuf, in Alexandria, to family members, probably in Fustat. The letter is addressed to the shop of Abū [...] al-ʿAṭṭār. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1160 CE, based on the mention (lines 11–12) that the writer departed Egypt in the year 51, probably 551H (1156 CE). This is corroborated by the mention of Abū ʿAlī Ibn al-Amshāṭī (see Goitein and Friedman, India Traders, pp. 103–04). The writer summarizes the events of the last four years. He suffered terrible illnesses and nearly perished en route to Constantinople. He lived there for two and a half years, where it seems he developed a new illness and also suffered from "the illness you know about." He survived only due to the grace of God and their prayers for him. He now asks his family members to go to Ẓāfir the tax collector and bribe him with a half dinar or dinar to register the writer as a newcomer (ṭārī) so that he will not have to pay for all four years he has been gone. "Remind him of my name, Yūsuf, who was under the Muʿallaqa (the Hanging Church)." Information in par from Goitein’s index card. The handwriting looks very similar or identical with that of T-S 10J11.11, and some of the same names appear in each letter, including Abū l-Surūr, Abū ʿAlī, and Sitt Ikhtiṣār. ASE.

Strongly formulated note by the prominent judge Natan b. Shemuel to a prominent member of the community, urging the man to send him money for the sick people while staying in his house. EMS. On verso there is a probably-unrelated name in Arabic script, perhaps from a chancery document: ʿabduhā al-Kāmilī Masʿūd.

Letter from Eli b. Yakhin, probably from Alexandria, to Avraham ha-Kohen b. Aaron, Fustat. Around 1050. Regarding money and payments, including a debt of 50 dinars. Also mentions purchases, shipments, and delivery of letters. The writer expresses his preoccupation for the illnesses in the household of the addressee and his relief that they have recovered (r6). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #778) VMR

Abū l-Faraj b. Khalaf (?), probably in Minyat Ghamr, writes to his cousin (ibn ʿamma), Eliyyahu the Judge, in Fustat. These cousins had prior correspondence and business dealings—Eliyyahu sent 22 dirhams with his previous letter, and the writer has a store in which he deals in indigo. The purpose of this letter is to ask Eliyyahu to write to the judge R. Menaḥem in the hope of obtaining permission for Abū l-Faraj to take a second wife. Eliyyahu is familiar with the case already, but Abū l-Faraj repeats some of it here. He has endured 20 years of suffering because of the illness of his wife, which prevents her from going to the bath (presumably a problem for him because of menstrual purity laws rather than because of hygiene). When Abū l-Faraj arrived in Minyat Ghamr from Jerusalem, he found a second woman whom he wanted to marry. The local judge, Mufaḍḍal the ḥaver, refused to marry them on his own authority and said that permission would need to come from higher up. Mufaḍḍal sent a letter to R. Menaḥem with Ḥabīb the shohet, but there was no response; Abū l-Faraj himself was unable to accompany Ḥabīb. Abū l-Faraj thought that Eliyyahu would already have intervened on his behalf, but no news of that has reached him. He visited Alexandria, but it seems that Mufaḍḍal discouraged him from seeking a ruling from the judge [A]natoli on account of his strictness. In the remainder of the letter, he repeats his request in various ways. He is willing to come to Fustat in order to marry. Information from Friedman's edition and translation. The writer quotes a saying in lines v13–15, where he is urging Eliyyahu to act quickly, and Friedman marked his translation as somewhat tentative. Cf. alternate versions of the same idiom in ENA 2558.21, T-S 13J21.20, Moss. II,167, T-S Misc.28.33, and Bodl. MS heb. d 66/14, e.g., "mā baqiya fī l-ʿumr mithla mā maḍā," literally, "there do not remain [years] of life like those which have passed," apparently corresponding to the English "we aren't getting any younger, [so please help me]." Another version of the phrase also appears in the first chapter of Ibn Buṭlān's Daʿwat al-Aṭibbā', in the mouth of a physician whose income has dried up and who has nowhere to go: mā baqiya aqallu mimmā maḍā ("what remains is less than what has passed"). See also T-S AS 162.167 + T-S AS 151.29 and Oded Zinger's edition in "You and I will enjoy each other's company until God decrees our death in the Land of Israel," Cathedra 174 (2020), note 22. ASE.

Letter in which a man who calls himself the father of the cantor who is "sick, poor, and naked" asks a prominent physician to arrange for him a collection, pesiqat sedaqa, in his private synagogue—and first to give himself. See further details on Goitein's note card and Med Soc II, Appendix C, #90 (p. 500).

Letter of a prisoner mistreated by a Maghribi guard and affected by illness, who asks a notable ("my brother, Abu Imran") to intervene for him with a judge. He mentions an incident on Friday when he attempted to use the toilet after three days without a bowel movement, which is when the guard beat him. "They were also allowed to send letters out of prison, some of which we still have, and since in one such letter a complaint is made against a particularly wicked jailer who cursed and beat the writer without reason, we may assume that in some places at least the authorities in charge did not tolerate excesive cruelty." (Med Soc II, 373 and Goitein's index card.)

Letter from an old cantor to the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. He is complaining that his post was taken by someone other than his son. He lived in the synagogue compound and whenever he heard the voice of the other cantor, his illness grew worse. "It is in fitting with our sense of justice that any one should retain his position. If my son is treated like this during my lifetime, what will happen to him after my demise?" He mentions that he has "cast himself down" (fa-qad ramā nafsahu) and that his severe illness costs him at least 5 dirhams every day. (Information in part from Goitein, Med Soc II, pp. 89–90).