Geniza Lab

Letter from Barhun b. Yiṣḥaq (Tripoli al-Gharb) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat), August 1051. Written a short time after the sinking of the ship of Waḥlān (also mentioned in T-S 10J19.9, a letter from Barhun's brother Nissim, Gil #393). Conveys various instructions regarding the property and merchandise that Barhun's father, Yishaq b. Barhun ha-Taherti, left behind. Information from Gil.

Lower fragment: Letter to Nahray b. Nissim, ca. 1045-1096.

Previous description for ENA 2805.2 (upper fragment): Letter from Shela b. Mevasser, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1065 CE. The sender, the judge of Alexandria, has the name “ḥaver” from the yeshiva in Palestine. He writes about wills of people who passed away and taking care of the widows. He specifically mentions a youth named Manṣūr who made a will while suffering the remnants of an illness (line 15). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #790) VMR Another letter to Nahray, in a different hand, is bound together under the same shelf-mark. Previous description for ENA 2740.3 (PGPID 5263): Letter from Shela b. Mevasser to Mevorakh b. Saadya, written after 1094. Shela reports on how he handled an inheritance dispute in Alexandria that ended up in a qāḍī court. (Information from Frenkel.) Join: Oded Zinger.

Fragment of a letter from Nahray b. Nissim, Alexandria. Mentions silk and business concerning dresses. The addressee is unknown although it seems his father’s name is Yahya. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #266) VMR

Letter from Marduk b. Musa in Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat; June 22, 1046 (per Gil). Conveys some information about the movements of ships carrying merchandise for Nahray and his circle. Mentions a serious accident on one of the ships. Barukh b. al-Shamah adds a message at the end of the letter. Information from Gil.

Letter from Yeshu'a b. Ismāʿīl al-Mahmuri, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Mentions the safe arrival of (probably) relatives to Fustat; a female slave who was sold in Alexandria, and instructions for the coming winter dealing mostly with wheat and oil. Ca. 1060 (Gil estimate). VMR

Letter from Ishaq b. Yusuf al-Andalusi to Nahray b. Nissim. Dated 1050.

Letter from Yeshu'a b. Isma'il to Nahray b. Nissim.

Note from Yeshu'a b. Isma'il to Nahray b. Nissim. ca. 1065

Letter from Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy Khalila in Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat, ca. 1060-1075 (Udovitch) or ca. 1050 (Gil). Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy had been in Buḥayra buying grain; he mentions the movement of ships from Alexandria to the Maghrib, and trade with the east, presumably Shām and possibly Iraq; also mentions other commodities, including silk, wax and alkali; Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ is mentioned in the margin.

Letter from Fadl b. Sahlun to Nahray b. Nissim. Another letter, unconnected to the other one, is bound at the same number. This is a letter from a woman, Umm Nissim, to her relative Abu Sa'd.

Letter from Ismāʿīl b. Faraḥ to Nahray b. Nissim.

Letter from Barhūn b. Mūsā b. Barhūn al-Tāhirtī, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1050–60 CE, at the beginning of Nahray's activities in Egypt.

Letter from Natan b. Nahray to Abū ʿImrān Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy. Among other matters, Natan mentions that he has given 1 dinar each to Moshe the Judge and Yeḥezqel the Alexandrian, the two frail old men who wrote T-S 13J28.10 requesting charity from Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy. Natan also mentions a medicinal syrup that he has asked Abū l-Afrāḥ to buy him. ASE.

Letter from Mardūk b. Mūsā, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat(?). Dating: ca. 1045 CE, based on Gil's assessment. The handwriting is that of Yaʿaqov b. Salmān al-Ḥarīrī, and the letter switches to his voice starting in line v2. The letter deals with business in lemon juice, tamarind, and textiles of flax and silk. Nahray is sick (wajīʿ, r4–7, r13–14, v6–7). Both Mardūk and Yaʿaqov wish Nahray a speedy reunion with his mother. Information from Gil. ASE.

Letter from Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy (Alexandria) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat).

Letter from Nissim b. Ḥalfon b. Benaya, in Tinnīs, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: 7 December 1060. Among many other matters, Nissim reveals that he has recovered from his illness and left the house and returned to work today for the first time (r10-11). ASE.

Letter from Nissim b. Avraham to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat). Dating: ca. 1050s. About a consignment of silk that was about to reach Fustat, owned in partnership by the sender and Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tāhirtī. Nahray is requested to sell the silk as quickly as possible and to keep the sale secret. Nissim's travel plans imply that he writes from an important centre in the delta, possibly Būṣīr. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 506-507.)

Letter from Mūsā b. Abī al-Ḥayy, from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1057. Regarding sending goods in leather sacks. Musa returned from the Maghreb. He is planning to travel to Tripoli. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 519). NB: Gil referred to this document as "ENA 2805.8 A."

Fragment of draft of a court document relating to the affairs of Nahray b. Nissim, ca. 1045-1096.