Geniza Lab

Letter from Eliyyahu the Judge to David ha-Kohen he-Ḥaver. Only the top is preserved. (Information in part from CUDL)

On recto an order to impose excommunication on a person who took books from 'our house' and didn't return them. At the end a signature 'so wrote Shelomo'. On verso, after stating that the excommunication will be imposed in Cairo, Fustat and Damuh, signatures of the sages approve it, but it seems that all were copied by the same person who wrote the document- Shelomo b. Elya. To be published by MAF in his forthcoming editions of Abraham Maimuni and his contemporaries. AA

Letter, written by Shelomo b. Elijah. (Information from CUDL)

list of commodities and prices, written by Shelomo b. Elya or his father Elya b. Zekharya. AA

Two lines from an opening of a letter from Abu al-Barakat b. al-Rayyis, probably Shelomo b. Elya. AA

Draft of the qinyan formula of a legal deed. Seems to be in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. AA

Recto: A list of books written by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. Verso: A note in Arabic script, also written by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. It seems asking the addressee not to embarrass him and to help him with his request, the nature of which is unclear. Might be related tot he book list on recto.

Recto: Beginning of a letter in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to al-Shaykh al-Najīb Abū l-Barakāt.

Verso: Accounts listing relatively large quantities of medicinal substances. In Judaeo-Arabic, Arabic script, and Greek/Coptic numerals. Items include: pomegranate syrup; two pomegranates; quince oxymel; sorrel; barberry syrup; apple syrup. There is also a Hebrew "emet" at the end of the Arabic-script section.

Letter from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to a certain Abū Isḥāq, who is addressed as "the esteemed and precious brother." In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragmentary (top part only). Shelomo says that he rode up to the shop and asked the addressee's cousin (ibn khāl) Abū l-Faḍl where the addressee had gone, but Abū l-Faḍl didn't know. On verso there is a list of names followed by Greek/Coptic numerals and one sentence from the Mishneh Torah, all in the hand of Shelomo. AA. ASE.

Recto: Letter from Mūsā, probably addressed to Shelomo. Asking the addressee's help in doing something on Sunday. Verso: Letter from Shelomo (likely Shelomo b. Eliyyahu). Perhaps the response to the letter on recto. He tells the addressee that he can come to his house and read/study there.

On verso letter in Arabic - needs examination. On recto a piyyut written by Shelomo b. Elya who signed on verso.

Very dark and torn list of names followed by numbers, probably written by Solomon b. Elya. Among the names we can find al-Maghrebi al-Nafusi, Baqa b. al-Qabila. AA

Shelomo b. Eliyyahu writes to a notable, "I was told that you have made a marriage contract (ṣadāq) for your daughter at a Muslim court. I cannot believe it." Med Soc III, p. 444, n. 50. Information from Goitein's note card.

Accounts of weekly expenditure of a type similar to App. B 41-43, 49, and also in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. A clean copy for three weeks, always opening with the amounts collected by two persons: first week, two laymen; second,the beadles Tahir and Mahasin; third, Tahir and the cantor Abu al-Majd. Cash was 74 dirhams in the first week, 32 1/2 in the third. Here too the standard price for bread was 1 dirham for 10 pounds, since in the second week 9 loaves of bread were resold for 7/8 dirhams. In the second week, a loan of 10 dirhams had to be taken from the judge Hananel to cover the expenses for the bread, and in the third, another loan from a different source. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 461, App. B 77 [dated to 1200-1240]).

Recto: Bottom of a letter addressed to a brother. In Judaeo-Arabic. The addressee is instructed to look after their mother and not to neglect his prayers, morning and evening. Verso: The original letter was torn and the lower fragment was reused for an informal note from Shelomo (b. Elya) to R. A[vraham?]. Shelomo has delivered the money (darāhim?) to Abū l-Khayr; the addressee should now give the bearer all of the quires (karārīs), without leaving out a single page.

List of sums promised or paid (the entries crossed out), ranging from 1/8 to 6 1/2, mostly in fractions, wherefore in cases in which exactly 1 or 2 dirhams were given the word sawa, 'exactly,' was added. The mother of the writer gives 2 dirhams, and in 3 instances the entries consist in balances owed to the contributors. The list probably represents school fees pledged or donated for needy children. On the reverse, notation of prices obtained for 4 books, e.g. Guide of the Perplexed, 30 dirhams, with 2 dirhams for brokerage (see Goitein, Kiryat Sefer 44 [1969], 125-126). In the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu.

Petition from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu requesting a payment (from the revenue of the dwelling of Imran b. al-Muzanjir) of 1/2 dirhem per week for the teaching of the boy of the sick man Abu l-Khayr al-Ruhbi. He calls this payment khamīs. Information from Goitein's note card.

Note by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu addressed to Abū l-Rabīʿ (in the note) or Abū l-Barakāt (in the address on verso). Accompanying payment for rose marmalade. Shelomo apologizes and says he has been ill and is writing the note while lying down (or "(half-)asleep). (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE