Geniza Lab

Fragment of an official letter from Fustat addressed to a certain town in the Rīf (or perhaps a circular), exhorting them to be generous and assist the bearer with the payment of his capitation tax. For if they do not, he will go to prison for a long time, and it will be difficult to free him. Whatever they are able to do on his behalf, the cantor of the town should send a letter with a report. ASE

Letter of appeal. The writer states, "The illness was enough for me, and then the capitation tax assailed me." The tone is aggrieved; he complains about Abū ʿImrān al-Kohen and mashāyikh al-balad who get together to drink in the evenings. The writer wishes to get through to "Rabbenu," but he has not been allowed access, and he is ashamed to appear before al-Shaykh al-Thiqa, the brother-in-law of Rabbenu, and Yūsuf b. al-Tilmīdh. Merits further examination.

Letter of appeal for charity addressed to Yiṣḥaq Barukh. In Hebrew. Dating: Late, maybe 16th or 17th century. The writer is a teacher.

Petition for help addressed to a Jewish notable. Written in Hebrew, for the introduction, and Judaeo-Arabic, for the body. The sender is a goldsmith in the central exchange (Dār al-Ṣarf). A certain Daylamī named ʿAzīz al-Dawla has been persecuting him (יעמל מעי פי שפיכות דמים... ממא יעמל מעי מן אלסנאות). The addressee is asked to intervene and stop that man from harming the sender. "I have begun a task and I am unable to obtain my wage on his account." He uses the stock phrase, "The knife has reached the bone." There are also a few words in Arabic script upside down at the bottom of the page (possibly from an earlier document reused for the petition).

Letter of appeal addressed to Rabbenu Yiṣḥaq. In Hebrew. The writer's place has been destroyed and some people have been sold by the shaliṭ/sulṭān (into slavery), and "the shoḥad (perhaps ransom here rather than bribe) that they took. . ."

Letter of appeal for charity addressed to a Nagid. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions the person known as "the ḥedvat" (אלחדואת).

Letter of appeal from Bū Saʿd al-Baghd[ādī]. The Hebrew introduction and a few words of the Judaeo-Arabic body are preserved.

Letter of appeal or recommendation addressed to Moshe ha-Kohen. The introduction is in Hebrew and the body in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer reports that the bearer of this ruqʿa is a stranger from the people of al-Maḥalla. [It seems the letter here switches to the voice of the bearer]. He had generously opened his house to all, and among those who have stayed with him are Yiṣḥaq al-Sofer al-Siqillī (the Sicilian) and Mikha'el al-Rav. But fortune turned against him. Now, ever since Tammuz, he has been in this city (Fustat?). He never burdened anyone, but now he has been ill for a month and a half, and nobody look after him except Abū l-Faḍl Sar ha-Leviim. . . [the remainder is lost].

Recto: Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. The same scribe probably wrote ENA NS 69.20 and T-S AS 156.42, based on the handwriting similarity combined with the presence of the relatively uncommon blessing "min dār al-fanā' wa-l-shaqā' ilā dār al-naʿīm wa-l-baqā' (from the abode of perdition and woe to the abode of blessing and immortality)." In this letter he conveys his terrible distress ('the waters have reached the seat of breath') on account of imprisonment and lack and inability to buy food. He is evidently asking for money. Verso: Recipes in Arabic script. The first is for a laurel-based ophthalmic (ṣifat kuḥl al-sādhaj al-ḥāfiẓ) that strengthens the vision. The second is for a coolant (barūd) that the caliph al-Ma'mūn purportedly used to preserve health and strengthen eyesight. ASE.

Letter of appeal from a woman whose husband had abandoned her with Muslims. "In this fragmentary letter a woman bitterly describes her marital misfortunes. Her husband brought her and her eight year old daughter to live among non-Jews. He then abandoned them with no food or drink. She fell ill [with pleurisy—"itbarsamt"] and was forced to turn to her gentile neighbours for assistance. Her daughter died. Deserted, diseased and bereaved, she sought release from her marriage. She was advised, "Sell your hair and ransom yourself". The iftidā' or "ransom" divorce, which is referred to here, entailed the wife's renouncing her claim to the delayed mohar payment. The purport of the advice here seems to have been that even if she would be left completely destitute and would have to sell her hair for support, she should initiate divorce proceedings and ransom herself from the marriage. This reminds us of R. Akiba's instructions to a man who wanted to divorce his wife without paying her the full ketubah settlement: "Even if you have to sell the hair on your head, you must pay her her ketubah" (M. Ned. 9:5). In the present case the wife seems to have been reluctant to do this. She wanted assistance in accomplishing the divorce without losing what was due her as divorce settlement (ḥaqq). This document is described by Goitein, in Med. Soc. 3, 272. Goitein offers a different explanation of the advice given the woman to cut her hair, viz. by cutting her hair and sending it to the religious authorities, she would humiliate herself and thereby compel them to take action on her request to perform the ransom divorce. See the reference on p. 487, n. 136, for women of the court sending their hair to an important general. The fragment is in a poor state of preservation, and some of my readings are uncertain." Information, edition, and translation from Friedman, "Divorce Upon the Wife's Demand," p. 117f. See also Zinger, "She Aims to Harass Him," and "Long Distance Marriages" (note 57).

Letter of appeal for charity. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer explains that the family has no money for the coming holiday and no wood or oil; they have never been among the takers but always among the givers; there is someone in the house who is seriously ill (wajaʿ/wajiʿ ʿalā khuṭṭa). On verso there is a piyyut.

Recto: Letter in Arabic script, regarding financial matters "innanī katabtu ilā marʾ(?) lahu ʿindahu danānīr", concerning a teacher (qad addanī muʿallim l-ṣabīyy). Also mentions Cairo. Needs examination. Verso: Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer urges the addressee to help him again with money for rent for the qāʿa where he lives, because his landlady, the sister of al-Najīb "has destroyed me from all that she demands [it] from me."

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Small fragment. May be a letter of appeal for charity.

Letter of appeal for help. In Judaeo-Arabic. Written on behalf of a woman, probably in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. "A divorced woman complains that her former husband constantly asks her to return to him. She has left for Alexandria and all the time he keeps asking her to return to him in Fustat which she is afraid to do. Even the Rabbi's servant continues to pressure her to comply (ghulām al-rav baqiya yulzi(mu)nī ʿalā al-safar) saying that “it might be good for you.” Information from Zinger's dissertation, p. 47.

Letter addressed to Abū Saʿd. In Arabic script. The sender begs for an urgent loan of 5 dirhams, because he is sick. He will try to repay it when he can leave the house (and get back to work). The bottom is damaged, and the end may be missing. Verso is blank. (Information in part from JRL catalogue.)

Letter of appeal from Yefet addressed to al-Shaykh al-Raḍiyy. In Arabic script, with the sender's name in Hebrew script. He begs for a small sum of money and/or bread. "By your religion... Do not turn away my messenger empty-handed." On verso there are two more lines of Arabic text connected to the letter and some jottings that include Greek/Coptic numerals.

Letter of appeal, perhaps. In Judaeo-Arabic. Opens with יענך ייי ביום צרה and continues with greetings for the dear 'walad' ha-ḥazzan ha-talmid ha-sar ha-nikhbad..... The body of the letter is not preserved.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer is recovering from illnesses and is in difficult financial straits. He asks for a loan of 62 dirhams.

Letter of appeal for charity. Fragment. In Hebrew. At the bottom, in a different hand, "David ha-Nasi b. [...] Ga'on b. [???].

Letter from Avraham Karyo, Hayyim Moshe Pianti, Rahamim Shelomo ha-Levi, and a second Pianti, in Hebrew, recommending a certain poor man for charity. There is one line in Judaeo-Arabic on verso.