Geniza Lab

Recto: Letter in the handwriting of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, probably from Qalyub to his father in Fustat, consisting almost in its entirely of good wishes for Tabernacles. He mentions that the turban (raddah) arrived. He mentions the wife of his paternal uncle, but the context is ambiguous. He then admits that he has no money even to buy bread, but all will end well. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 87, 351.) Verso: Either the response or the initial letter, probably from Levi (Abu Sahl) to his son Moshe. Everyone in the family is well. The addressee's brother Abu l-Ḥasan is doing well, in spite of all that he suffers. He mentions something that the wife of the addressee's paternal uncle said, but it is not clear what. There is an abrupt change of topic (unless this topic is what the wife of the uncle was talking about) to a certain Shelomo. "They said that this is something that pleases neither God nor man, that a woman should be married and her husband does not see her plucking or combing or putting on earrings or dressing up or going about." The letter is torn here. The gossip about this wife resembles the situation of Sitt Ghazal in her marriage to Shelomo b. Eliyyahu (see T-S 13J8.23), but that marriage took place in 1228 CE, and Moshe b. Levi, the presumed addressee of this letter, died in 1212. ASE.

Recto: Letter in the handwriting of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, probably from Qalyub to his father in Fustat, consisting almost in its entirely of good wishes for Tabernacles. He mentions that the turban (raddah) arrived. He mentions the wife of his paternal uncle, but the context is ambiguous. He then admits that he has no money even to buy bread, but all will end well. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 87, 351.) Verso: Either the response or the initial letter, probably from Levi (Abu Sahl) to his son Moshe. Everyone in the family is well. The addressee's brother Abu l-Ḥasan is doing well, in spite of all that he suffers. He mentions something that the wife of the addressee's paternal uncle said, but it is not clear what. There is an abrupt change of topic (unless this topic is what the wife of the uncle was talking about) to a certain Shelomo. "They said that this is something that pleases neither God nor man, that a woman should be married and her husband does not see her plucking or combing or adorning herself or dressing up or going about." The letter is torn here. The gossip about this wife resembles the situation of Sitt Ghazal in her marriage to Shelomo b. Eliyyahu (see T-S 13J8.23), but that marriage took place in 1228 CE, and Moshe b. Levi, the presumed addressee of this letter, died in 1212. ASE.

Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi agrees to bring to court a husband and his wife, the latter being accused of frightening another man's wife with practices of necromancy forbidden by religion. (Information from Mediterranean Society II, pp. 332, 599)

Legal query addressed to Maimonides, whose autograph responsum is written underneath the query. The question regards an elderly widow who accused a teacher of asking her to sleep with him. The writer insists that she is merely trying to destroy the reputation of a man who would never do such a thing, and he asks how the man should proclaim his innocence. Maimonides responds that her claim should not be believed without witnesses, that anyone who has been slandered can excommunicate his slanderer by name, but may not obtain a blanket excommunication against all who accuse him. However, still better in this case is to put an end to the gossip and avoid any kind of public discussion or excommunication. The handwriting of the questioner closely resembles that of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi (see also ENA 2808.16 in which Moshe b. Levi asks the recipient to obtain an answer to a fatwa that he had previously sent to Fustat). ASE. Ed. Joshua Blau, R. Moses b. Maimon: Responsa, (Hebrew; 3 vols; Jerusalem, 1957–1986): Vol. 2, pp. 522-3, #274.

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. Location: Fustat. Dated: 1507 Seleucid, which is 1195/96 CE. Involves Abū l-Fakhr and Khalaf b. Hillel. A sum of 22 dinars is mentioned; a period of two years; and the dowry of "his daughter" Sitt al-ʿIzz. The document is very faded, but more should be legible with effort. Verso seems to be a continuation of recto, but also mentions a mu'akhkhar (delayed marriage payment) perhaps of 50 dinars. The handwriting is probably that of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi. Needs further examiantion. ASE.

Recto and part of verso: Letter from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, Qalyub, to his father in Fustat. He is concerned about how they will pay the capitation tax. He is very irritated that he has not been informed about the following things: how much money they got for selling the kerchief that he sent them last week; how much they have already payed on his behalf (for his own capitation tax); how much remains to be paid; whether the dirhams that he sent with Bu l-Khayr arrived; whether the dirhams that he sent with his paternal uncle 'Imran arrived. They have sent him no letter at all; they only sent back the 'muthallath' (referring to a 'triple' weave?) coat with instructions to sell it in Qalyub, but why would he have sent it to Fustat in the first place if he wanted to sell it in Qalyub? So he is sending it back with Safi and wants them to sell it for 17 dirhams, and if they can't get that much, they should have the fuller work on it. In the continuation (T-S AS 145.195), there isn't much more of substance, but he mentions al-Shaykh al-Yesod on recto, and then again in a postscript: "please go to al-Yesod [and apologize for me] from him and tell him that I am only hiding because of [the capitation tax?]." Join: Alan Elbaum.

Recto: Letter from Abū Sahl Levi to his son Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi. He has sent: parchments (ruqūq), scissors (miqaṣṣ), a belt (zunnār), a razor (mūs), and a hook (? khaṭfa). He blames ʿUthmān for the delay: he spends every day looking around trying to find him. Mentions Ṣāfī and Khalaf. Verso: Letter from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, presumably to his father Abū Sahl Levi. He asks for news of three different women (perhaps related to BL OR 12186.12, in which his father offers him the choice of several brides?). These identifications are based on handwriting and typical content and phrases. ASE

Legal query in the hand of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi regarding a man who married a widow, then found in her a "hidden defect" from which he contracted an illness. He is a poor man without even enough money for food and has no source of livelihood except public charity. He is in bad straits because whenever he demands a divorce, she insists on receiving her ketubba payment in full. Does the law permit him to pay it in installments? He insists that he is unable to pay one lump sum because of his illness and poverty. On verso there is a fragment of a page of piyyutim in the hand of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi. ASE.

Letter from Barakāt al-Kohen to the cantor Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi (d. 1212). Barakāt has sent the volume which he found of al-Faraj baʿd al-Shidda. He found another copy with his brother's son in al-Maḥalla and plans to go get it and send it to Moshe. He will also send the two 'little qawls' (piyyuṭim?) which he'd mentioned, on the subject of love. On verso, he asks Moshe to send him two pots with dates, for those he received were spoiled, and he discarded them in Minya Zifta. He also sends his greetings to Abū l-ʿAlāʾ and Abū l-Maʿālī. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 411, and from Goitein's index cards)

Short commercial letter, mentioning a letter from the addressee having arrived with Abū l-Khayr and the consignment of 30 raṭl of good מרמל. (Information from CUDL.) In the hand of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi. ASE.

Letter in the handwriting of Abū Sahl Levi (d. 1211), in Fustat, to his son Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi (d. 1212), in Qalyūb. In Judaeo-Arabic. Abū Sahl has sent with 'the Rayyis' 3 pounds of Sinnārī cheese and 5 (pounds?) of white (cheese?) from Abū l-Majd al-Parnas. He asks for the price of something - a mantle (burda)? - because the garment mender (al-raffāʾ) has been demanding the money. Moshe's brother Abū Isḥāq is well. Abū Sahl plans to send the qandīl and marāwiḥ with Ṣāfī or with one of Moshe's brothers. On verso there is the completion of the letter and jottings of Greek/Coptic numerals. ASE

Complete letter from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, Qalyub, to a family member in Fustat. He sent 23 dirhams with the bearer and gives instructions for its disposal. The recipient is to buy lemons (?) for one dirham and give them to the Rayyis Abu Zikri (the Gaon Sar Shalom ha-Levi?!). He also orders white paper for 3/4 dirham. Of the remaining 21 1/4, Baqa' Ibn al-Sab' gets 20. Apparently Moshe also has some money with the recipient, which he then adds to the remaining 1 1/4. Mahfuz is to get some. 'Imran Ibn al-Dajani gets some. All of these people are to give receipts. The recipient is to tell Moshe's paternal uncle Tahir that he got for him from Abu l-Ḥasan the partner of Salim 13 dirhams after great difficulty, and he is willing to send them. "As for the maqamah that you sent me, it is mine and in my own handwriting. And tell Abu Sa'd [...]." He could plausibly be referring to DK 173, an autobiographical maqamah in his own hand. ASE.

Legal query in the hand of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi (found by Amir Ashur), with the responsum at the bottom signed by Shelomo b. Natan.

Recto contains Hebrew poetry, likely in the hand of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi. Verso contains a Judaeo-Arabic letter, likely from Yedutun ha-Levi, in Fustat, to his brother Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, in Qalyūb. Identifications are based mainly on handwriting. The sender comments on either these or other poems (there are several letters in which Moshe writes that he is enclosing poems and wants feedback on them). There is also something about "mukhāṭabat al-faqīh" here. Yedutun says he might come out and visit on Friday. ASE

Letter fragment (lower part) probably from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi in Qalyub to his father in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Discusses sundry small business dealings (in wine, onions, honey, garments) and mentions his delight when he learned that his sister had recovered and that his brother Abu l-Ḥasan [Yedutun] planned to come out [to Qalyub] to spend Shabbat with him. ASE

List of books in four columns, including biblical books, talmudic tractates, a ‘prayer’ by Saʿadya, the Siddur of al-Sijilmāsī, works by Abū l-Faraj אבן שחתל, commentaries on Genesis and Numbers, and Midrash Tanḥuma. With occasional descriptions of the type of script (e.g., ‘tiny script’, ‘red ink’). Information from CUDL. The handwriting is that of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi (who incidentally is known to have worked briefly as a book dealer or copyist, see T-S Misc.28.140 and T-S 6J10.9, ed. Scheiber). Many of the books in the present list are described as "in my own handwriting" or "in the handwriting of my brother—I took it from our house." The brother is identified as Abu l-Ḥasan (i.e. Yedutun ha-Levi) in the last two lines of the left column of verso. See T-S NS 226.167 for a similar booklist in his hand (possibly but not clearly a join). ASE.

Letter of appeal from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, in the synagogue of the Jerusalemites in Fustat, to a communal dignitary. The letter is signed and dated: 1508 Seleucid, which is 1196/97 CE (1508 Seleucid). Moshe describes how he is a cantor like his father and grandfather and great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather and his paternal uncle, and how the recipient has always bestowed favor on his father and grandfather. Perhaps he wants an official appointment as a cantor in Fustat? Moshe lived much of his life in Qalyūb but was evidently staying in Fustat at this point. ASE.

Recto is a draft of a poem in praise of Moses Maimonides by Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi.

Hebrew letter, likely a draft, from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi to a distinguished physician (but probably not Maimonides: Moshe b. Levi blesses his "sons" rather than "son"). The writer just spent a week in the household of Dr. Moshe, hoping to gain a livelihood of 10 dirhams a week, as he had been struggling to support himself during this drought. However, Moshe b. Levi became embarrassed by all the trouble Maimonides went to on his behalf, so he ran away. He also complains that he could not find any water with which to wash his hands. He now writes this letter begging Dr. Moshe to judge him favorably and to continue bestowing his favor on him. He reminds Dr. Moshe that he still owes him half of a dirham from the book sale for tractates Yoma, Sukkah, and Yom Tov (Beitzah) and half of a dirham for Sefer Kinyan. T-S 6J10.9 is an earlier draft of the same letter without the opening blessings or signature. ENA 1810.2 and 1810.3, also written by Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi contain drafts of poetry in praise of Maimonides, several phrases of which are recycled in the present letter.

List of recipients of charity (bread) along with the khuddām al-kanīs (the list begins with three parnasim). This list fills three pages of the bifolium. One page has a Hebrew poem, preceded by the glyph, possibly in the handwriting of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi.