Geniza Lab

The opening of a letter, from a Gaʾon, to Meshullam and Isaac, sons of Yehoshuaʿ. Arabic text on verso. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment from the opening of a letter, from Maṣliaḥ ha-Kohen Gaʾon b. Shelomo ha-Kohen Gaʾon. (Information from CUDL)

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic, in an elegant hand with tall, flamingo-like lameds. The sender appears to be a well-connected physician or medical student. Dating: Probably 1170s–90s, based on the mention of Qarāqūsh. Some excerpts: "... I have not found a stable position... in Cairo until that thing is fulfilled... in Fustat... I sat... our Rabbi... the head of the physicians (muqaddam al-ṭibb)... a physician and said to me... Cairo, and sometimes with Abū l-Riḍā, and I stay with him two nights a week and learn from him... your excellence, for 30 dinars' brokerage... entered to Qarāqūsh (likely Bahāʾ al-Dīn Qarāqūsh, active in Egypt 1169–1201) and told him the situation, and he fired him. Your excellence should be reassured, because everything is going well for you. Your excellence should kindly send a letter to 'our master' (Sayyidnā) thanking him for his advocacy for you... does not open his door to a Jew... your slave Abū Isḥāq (=the sender?)... and Abū l-Riḍā and his mother kiss your feet... and Abū l-Ṭāhir sends his regards." (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE

Fragment from the end of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. "You have left me to die in this grief. A person would think that there is no more care (iftiqād) between you and me. You have lit an inextinguishable fire in my heart. As for... your shop, he said he won't pay a penny until your letter arrives. As for the turban, it came out to 45 dirhams for Bishāra the ghulām of al-ʿArīf...." (Information in part from CUDL)

Fragment of a 13th-century letter, probably from the family of the judge Eliyyahu, mentioning Abū l-Barakāt, Sitt Rayḥān and Sitt Jawhar. There is a request to purchase oil for the synagogue at Dammūh. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter (16th–17th century). (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Yoel to Efrayim. Fragment (upper left corner). The sender is likely identical with Yoel ha-Melammed (see e.g. T-S 20.148), since it is a rare name and their handwriting appears to match. Little of the content is preserved; the sender mentions the bearer of the letter, Yosef, and offers an excuse about why he has not traveled. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Fragment from a legal document or letter. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe? Mentions (Abū l-)Faraj and Dāʾūd, the court of 'our master' (Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon?), and [...] b. Hillel Rosh ha-Qahal. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Probably part of a letter, mentioning ראש הנדיבים סט and ‘the cantor’ and Ibn al-Amʿaṭ. (Information in part from CUDL)

A fragment of a letter. Only a few words are preserved on each side. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter in the hand of Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother Abū Saʿīd Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (left side of recto). Discusses business affairs, one of them involving a fur garment (farw). Mentions Abū l-Surur (their brother Peraḥya?). (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter in the hand of Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (left side of recto). Yefet previously sent the receipt for the purse of needles (or lead? אבר, cf. DK 232.2) with Muḥammad. Mentions: Abū ʿImrān b. [...]; the cutting (? qaṣāra) of cushions (mikhādd) — cf. Moss. VII,168; the sun(?); Abū l-Ḥasan. (Information in part from CUDL)

Recto: Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Legible phrases: "... worse than... a terrible danger... in other news... R. Natan... to Fustat with a letter... the [Exi]larch.... Verso: Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic, possibly in a neater version of the same handwriting. On this side, the alephs at least look like those of Yosef b. Shemuel b. Seʿadya ha-Levi (ca. 1181–1209). Might be communal accounts for revenue from rentals (e.g., al-ṭabaqa) for Sivan and Tammuz. Mentions names such as Umm Baqāʾ and Murajjā. (Information in part from CUDL)

Fragment of a communal letter. Four lines preserved. Wide space between the lines. Refers to the presence of the shekhina when people gather to study, all the more so when they gather for prayer in the synagogue. (Information in part from CUDL)

Recto: part of a business letter. Verso: order of payment for half a raṭl of honey, signed by Abū Zikrī Kohen. (Information from CUDL)

Letter of Mūsā b. Abū l-Ḥayy, Alexandria, to Yosef b. Mūsā ha-Taherti, in Fusṭāṭ (c. 1065 CE). (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Avraham b. Yaʿaqov. In Judaeo-Arabic, prefaced with a Judaeo-Arabic basmala. Dating: Might be 11th century. Refers to the addressees' coming from al-Ramla. Otherwise consists mostly of greetings. (Information in part from CUDL)

Recto: end of a letter and postscript, advising Yefet the cantor to come to the entrance of the yeshiva. Verso: jottings in Hebrew and Arabic. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: part of a Judaeo-Arabic letter, complaining about the lack of letters from the addressee and explaining that a letter had been sent to the Ḥaver on Wednesday 22nd Kislev. Verso: part of an Arabic document. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: order of payment by Shelomo (b. Elijah the judge) either for wine or a medicinal syrup (שראב). Verso: letter in Arabic. (Information from CUDL)