Geniza Lab

Fragment of a business letter, probably 11th-century, as it mentions Barhūn and Nahray. Difficult to read due to ink smudging; needs further examination.

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. Probably 11th-century mercantile.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th century. Mentions Mardūk b. Mūsā.

Letter probably from Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat, to Barhūn b. Ṣāliḥ al-Taherti. Very damaged. Needs examination.

Letter to Nahray b. Nissim. Written in Judaeo-Arabic. Almost complete. Mentions flax; Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf al-Kohen; "the beads of al-Tustari"; Av[raham] b. Sughmār and Abū Zikrī b. Sughmār. Needs examination.

Legal document. In Hebrew and Aramaic. Dating: 966–1011 CE, because the qiyyum is signed by Shemarya b. Elḥanan. Involves Yiṣḥaq b. Sha'ul and his wife Ramla(?). Signed: Avraham ha-Kohen b. Seʿadya; Tamīm ha-Kohen b. Shemuel; Ḥusayn b. Yiṣḥaq; [...] b. Seʿad'el; and Yehoshuaʿ b. Khalfa (a payyeṭan and the subject of Shulamit Elizur's 1994 book: פייטן בעידן של מפנה ר' יהושע בר כלפה ופיוטיו). The qiyyum (validation) is signed by Shemarya b. Elḥanan.

Power of attorney (called "שטר הרשאה זה" in the antepenultimate line). In a mixture of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Judaeo-Arabic. Salmān ha-Kohen b. Shabīb appoints someone as his agent. Dated: 9 Nisan 13[..] Seleucid, which is 989–1088 CE.

Family letter from Sāʾir b. Yosef al-Kharazī (the dealer in beads) to Khalfūn b. Rabʿūn. Carried by Yaʿqūb al-Andalusī. In Judaeo-Arabic. On parchment. Dating: 11th century. Per Goitein's index card, the sender asks the addressee to "come down" to Fustat after years of absence. But it is also possible that the sender is in Ifrīqiyya and he is just referring to someone who "went down to Egypt." (Information from Goitein's index card.) Needs further examination.

Letter from Elḥanan b. Shemarya to the community of Qayrawān. In Hebrew. The content of the letter is lacking, with only the sender's title and opening blessings preserved. On verso there is the beginning of the address as well as the opening of another letter. Letter prefaced with four short lines of blessing, beginning with Psalms 119:165. No names preserved. (Information from CUL catalogue via FGP.)

Letter from Mūsā b. Labrāṭ, in al-Mahdiyya, to his nephew Efrayim b. Dā'ūd, probably in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th century. Comforting the addressee (upon a death?) and reporting that he received the capital invested. Information from Goitein's note card.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, headed by an Arabic-script basmala. Fragment (left side of recto, left side of verso). Dating: Likely 11th century. Sent from Fustat. Addressed to 'my brother' Abū l-Ḥasan [...] b. Sahl al-Yoʾavi(?). Mentions "the matter of the marriage of Mūsā." Speaks at length about family drama, an old woman, and another woman and a gift or inheritance she received from her maternal aunt. "She was gone for the month of the holidays and then returned.... We drove her away, which was difficult for her.... She said, 'If you do not give me my property (or dowry? raḥlī) [...]'... We had pity on her... and gave her her property... in Jewish and Muslim (courts) that there are no remaining liabilities between them... I cannot cut her off in this... he is currently the supervisor (al-nāẓir)...." Needs further examination. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)

Letter from Salāma b. Ismaʿīl to Ismaʿīl b. [...] concerning business affairs. Dating: 11th century. (Information from CUDL.)

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th century. Mentions the cost of shipping from al-Mahdiyya to Qayrawān.

Multifragment. P2: Maghribī business letter from the 11th century. Nearly entirely preserved, but faded. Mentions well-known merchants such as Barhūn Ibn al-Tāhirtī (r4). Needs examination for content. Uncited in the literature.

Mercantile letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 11th century. The sender intends to travel to Barqa. Mentioning Yosef b. Shāhūn. Reused on recto for Psalms 30:1-13 (with some orthographic errors) in Hebrew. (Information from CUDL)

Letter addressed to Yaʿaqov b. al-ʿAbbās al-Kohen. In Judaeo-Arabic. On parchment. Dating: Probably 11th century. Resembles some of the family letters from Ifrīqiyya to merchants in Egypt from the same period. The addressee is called 'my father' (יאבי). The sender mentions his (or her) mother, who weeps day and night. There is a woman (the same?) who screams something. Mentions "the kindness which her father and mother did," and then "the sins which I/she did...." Later, mentions Ibn Shūshī (or Sūsī?) and his brother, and "your daughter is in the house of sultans and notables, and they demanded/sued us...." (Information in part from CUL.) Needs further examination.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Probably a mercantile letter of the 11th century. The name "Yūsuf" appears in the address, but the rest is very faded. Needs further examination.

Letter probably from Nissim b. Ḥalfon, in Tinnīs, to an unidentified addressee, probably in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: mid-11th century. Almost completely unmentioned in the literature (the exception is Golb, "The Topography of the Jews of Medieval Egypt," p. 138). Identification of the sender is based on handwriting and typical content; cf. Gil, Kingdom of Ishmael, vol. 3, #585–#601. The letter is almost completely preserved; should be edited.

Fragment of a business letter to Mūsā b. Barhūn al-Tahertī from his 'brother.'

Letter from Nissim b. Khalfūn b. Benaya to Abū Isḥāq Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tāhirtī. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script. Needs examination.