Geniza Lab

Letter draft from an unknown man in Egypt to Marzūq Chelebi (? גלבי) in Damascus. Both writer and addressee are Qaraites. The latter is greeted as someone who is renowned for his charity "among Muslims, Christians, and Rabbanites." Recto is written in Judaeo-Arabic, and verso is in Arabic script; both sides appear to belong to the same letter. The letter mentions a figure named Isaac Navarro several times as well as "the Pasha." It tells the tale of persecution and imprisonment; it seems that the captive Rabbanites had the wherewithal to advocate with the Pasha for their release, but not so the Qaraites, and the Rabbanites gloated tremendously (wa-yā shamātat al-rabbānīn!). Needs further examination.

Letter from Yefet Fayrūz, in Damascus, to Eliyyahu Fayrūz, in Fustat/Cairo. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Catalogued as 18th century. Needs further examination.

Letter from Sulaymān al-Skandarī, in Damascus, to his brother-in-law Faraj Allāh Ibn Fāḍil and his wife (the writer's sister), in Cairo. Written in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Unknown. He alludes to various business matters. He writes that he arrived safely in Damascus (and crosses out "Hama" which he originally wrote instead). Needs further examination.

Letter from the Qaraite community of Damascus to the Qaraite community of Fustat/Cairo. Numerous senders are named. Date unknown. Written in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Deals with a legal or financial matter; needs examination.

Letter from an unknown writer, in Jerusalem, to Shelomo ha-Kohen and ʿOvadya Kohen, presumably in Fustat/Cairo. Dated: Thursday 24 Heshvan 5514 (עמדת), which is 1753 CE. Written in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic, and the address is written in Hebrew and Arabic script. Deals with a legal matter. The writers have close links to Damascus. Needs further examination.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Names of writer and addressee are not immediately apparent. Their locations are also not explicit but it should be possible to deduce them; Jerusalem and Damascus are mentioned several times; Homs and Baalbek are mentioned as well. Dating: Probably 15th century or later, based on comparison with the other letters from this stratum. The writer's son Avraham recently died. On verso he describes a controversy over when the new moon of Tishrei appeared, spurred by the moon failing to appear at night but then appearing during the daytime before the next sunset. Needs further examination.

Letter draft from the Qaraite community of Cairo to the Qaraite community of Damascus. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Unknown. Regarding a marriage-related legal case that reached the Muslim courts and resulted in someone spending two months in prison. Needs examination.

Letter from the Qaraite community of Damascus to the Qaraite community of Cairo. Dated: Wednesday, 10 Tammuz 5512 AM (ואתה על), which is 1752 CE. But it is catalogued as 1776 CE. Written in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. This very large document needs further examination. Apparently this also has the shelfmark Yevr.-Arab. II 1477.

Letter to Aharon Rofe in Damascus. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. The writer may be writing from Ṣanʿā (penultimate line of recto) where he has traveled for business. He awaits instructions from the addressee and asks him to send pears (ijjāṣ) ("unless they brought the disgusting ones") and violets and סיתרג(?) and rhubarb. Needs further examination.

Letter from the Qaraite community of Jerusalem to the Qaraite community of Damascus. The scribe is Meir Rofe Tawrīzī, and the letter is also signed by Mordekhai Hillel and ʿAbd al-Raḥīm. Written in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Unknown, but possibly the 1580s CE based on the mention of the sanjak named Abū Sayfayn, known from other sources to have been the administrator of the sanjak of Nablus under Sinan Pasha. The letter is a vivid account of the dire circumstances and persecutions in Jerusalem. The writers mention that the Rabbanites were in fact oppressed even more, but they subsequently turned on the Qaraites. The writers need assistance, and they write that they are seeking it from Damascus because the community of Fustat/Cairo "is not to be turned to," it seems due to troubles of their own. Needs further examination.

Letter from an unknown writer, in Damascus, to his parents. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Thursday, 25 Tammuz 5341 AM = 1581 CE (unless we are only meant to read the numbers with arrows over them, in which case it is 5301 AM = 1541 CE; the day of the week might help determine which). ʿAbd al-Laṭīf "the cousin" (ibn ʿamm) and Faraj Allāh "the boy" add a postscript. The letter mainly deals with business matters; mentions many names; mentions the currency ashrafī. The writer had recently arrived in Damascus with a group of ten travelers; he reports on the high prices of pepper and ginger in Damascus and regrets not having brought a certain commodity with him to sell there. Many people are named in the closing greetings. Needs further examination.

Letter draft in Judaeo-Arabic. Perhaps intended to be sent from Fustat/Cairo to Jerusalem. Dating: Unknown, catalogued as 18th century. The writer reports on the money that was with the addressee's brother (? karīmak) Yaʿaqov Ḥazzan and his maternal uncle Yehuda Rofe. He recounts how the addressee traveled to Jerusalem, then to Istanbul and "the lands above it," then Damascus where he married, then Jerusalem. Also mentions the Dār Simḥa synagogue in Cairo.