Geniza Lab

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (upper margin of recto and part of the address on verso). The addressee should send the response with "the fleet" (al-uṣṭūl). Regards to various people, including "(the friend of?) my wife (ṣāḥibat baytnā) Sitt al-Shām the daughter of the son of Hiba." Mentions a woman who is all alone; the addressee should urge her family to come visit her. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter of ʿEli ha-Mumḥe (‘the Adept’) b. Abraham in Jerusalem, to Efrayim b. Shemarya in Fusṭāṭ (c. 1045 CE), with the continuation and, inverted, the address on verso. Also on verso, Arabic jottings, part of which are written transversely across the page. (Information from CUDL)

Personal letter in Hebrew. Fragment. Recto consists of blessings. Verso mentions ha-Sar ʿOvadya, "your relative," and that he should be told something to do with Aleppo (צובה). (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter fragment. Probably addressed to Abū Ṭāhir Shemuel al-Ṣayrafī, in Fustat (sent to "al-murabbaʿa"). In Judaeo-Arabic. Only the upper right corner of recto and part of the address are preserved. (Information in part from CUDL)

Fragment of a letter to 'my brother.' In Judaeo-Arabic. Mostly urgings to write back and expressions of longing. Mentions the shop of Abū l-Majīd. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic the recipient of which is unknown, but this individual is referred to with an honorific form of address (l.2-3). The letter is dated in late 1764 CE (Cheshvan 5525 AM) and in the first lines there is mention of wine "חמריו" (l.6r), possibly as an object being sold: "באלסוואל מעה באיעה בחמריו" (l.6r) and "אטבאעכום אלחמרה" (l.7r). Lines 14-17r feature a discussion of the language used in the sender's and recipient's correspondence. In the final lines we find the sender using the polite phrase of kissing the hands "תקבל איאדיכום" (l.24-25r). The signature is elaborately embellished to the extent of illegibility, yet some letters emerge in the surname that might suggest "Saragosi/[?]סאראגושי". MCD.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya, with address inverted on verso; fragment. (Information from CUDL)

A letter in the handwriting of Shelomo b. Judah announcing the deaths of the former geʾonim, Josiah, and Shelomo’s immediate predecessor, Shelomo ha-Kohen, who died ‘six days before Rosh ha-Shana’ (in 1025 CE). (Information from CUDL)

Fragment of a responsum in the hand of Shelomo b. Yehuda, regarding bread baked by Gentiles (pat shel goyim). Information from Gil and CUDL.

An autograph letter by Abraham b. Maimonides to the community of Bilbays. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment of a letter from Abū l-Thanāʾ to his "father," possibly named Abū Saʿd Ibn [...]. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script (note that the bottom line of the address was originally the top line; it appears where it is now because of how the letter was glued shut and cut open). Dating: Probably late 12th or 13th century, based on handwriting. The sender says that the holiday was no holiday at all due to the addressee's absence. He reports that there is no longer any need (wajh, spelled וש) for the addressee to stay away (fī bilād al-ghurba), because the diwan has received in full (istawfā) whatever was owed to it (the capitation tax?), and "al-Ḥazzāzī has taken for us its writ/document (or even receipt? ḥujja)." Join by Amir Ashur.

Recto: letter in Judaeo-Arabic with some missing lines. Verso: an order from Shelomo (b. Elijah the judge) for groceries. (Information from CUDL)

Verso: order of payment by Abū Zikrī Kohen for one half raṭl of soap and the same of perfume. Information from CUDL.

Letter from Elʿazar b. Avner to Abū l-Rabīʿ Sulaymān b. ʿImrān. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: No later than 1237 CE. The sender chastises the addressee for his inappropriate behavior and speech, somehow concerning Avraham Maimonides and the pietist movement. Verso contains the address and, inverted in relation to recto, a list of names. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Begging letter to a cantor together with the refusal in reply, mentioning Abū l-Faḍāʾil. (Information from CUDL.) (This is not quite clear; it appears that everything here was written by the same scribe, albeit with different pens. The request has to do with prayers rather than money, or at least it is not overtly about money. Needs further examination.)

The beginning of what is probably a petition, written by a boy who was abandoned by his father before he was born. (CUDL description: Letter complaining about a husband leaving his wife and daughter, mentioning precious items, gold and silver.)

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to one of his brothers. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (right side of recto). He previously sent something with Yūsuf b. al-[...] and 1 1/2 raṭls of sugar(?) with Baqāʾ(?). The addressee is to split it into two halves and sell them. Discusses various other business matters. (Information in part from CUDL)

Note in Judaeo-Arabic, very faded, mostly formalities. On verso, in a different hand: "khaṭṭ al-Rayyis Abū Manṣūr שצ."

Recto: Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (lower left corner). Probably recommending a poor man for charity ("[give him] something to nourish himself with"). Mentions 'my master the ḥaver.' Ends with a ḥasbala. Verso: a price-list in Arabic, or maybe accounts of monthly rent payments (اجرة المحرم...) (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter probably from Abū Sahl Levi (d. 1211), in Fustat, to his son Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi (d. 1212), in Qalyūb. In Judaeo-Arabic. (Identification based on handwriting and typical content.) Levi has sent Moshe the materia medica which he had ordered. "If you like them, keep them, and if you don't, send them back." They include sumac, spikenard (sunbul), maḥlab, tutty, and clove. There follows some accounting. Levi reports that 'the girl' (=Moshe's wife) is currently ritually impure and will immerse herself on Sunday, so he should endeavor to come visit on Sunday—and to make sure to come to Fustat directly instead of stopping in Cairo—while she is ritually pure. The language is quite ambiguous here, but the best reading may be that she will intentionally not purify herself if she knows that her husband is coming. There is a mystifying instruction (or just innuendo?) to ride the donkey into town if it is more than 6 handbreadths (6 ashbār = ~1.4 meters), and not to bother if it is less than 6 handbreadths. Levi reports that 'your brother' (=Abū l-Ḥasan Yedutun) bought the requested qatāmīr (pl. of qiṭmīr, apparently a date membrane or an eggplant calyx?) as soon as he returned to Fustat, and Ṣāfī took them to Qalyūb the next day and deposited them with Avraham b. Sulaymān for Moshe to collect at his convenience. (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE