Geniza Lab

Private account by Nahray b. Nissim. Around 1045. Mentions shipments, probably of flax, types of cloths and fabrics. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #269) VMR

Private account by Barhun b. Salah ha-Tahirti. Most details are about expenses for shipping flax. Mentions other goods, mainly camphor, which was bought in a price that is about a third of the regular price. Also mentions expenses for packages, shipments, taxes, and bribe. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #336) VMR

Private account written by Nahray b. Nissim. Around 1060. Detailed lists about buying flax in several villages, shipping them to the Nile, preserving them, and paying the authorities. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #299) VMR

Business letter in Hebrew and Arabic script about the sale of silk, flax, olive oil and other commodities.

Fragment of a letter from Salama b. Ibrahim, probably from Busir, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1055. Regarding flax. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #766) VMR

Short letter from Nahray b. Nissim to Barhun b. Musa al-Tahirti, Busir. February 8, 1053. Nahray asks Barhun, who is in Busir and deals with buying flax, to buy also for one of Nahray’s partners, Ya’aqov b. Nahum. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #250) VMR

Fragment of a letter from a merchant, might be to Natan b. Nahray. Around 1050. Contains information about shipments and ships movement. The writer deals with buying flax and express his disappointment from the lack of high quality flax. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #833) VMR

Order of payment referring to 1 raṭl of flax oil; signed by Abū Zikrī Kohen. (Information from CUDL)

Short letter from Nahray b. Nissim to Musa b. Abi al-Hayy. Around 1045. Seems that the letter is from the beginning of Nahray’s time In Egypt. He is in a place where flax for shipment are made. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #244) VMR

Account for sales of flax. A calligraphic copy on vellum, ca. 1025. The account was sent from Ifrīqiya to Egypt and provides exact details about 120 bales of flax. Accounts in the same hand and possibly from the same book are also found in CUL Or.1080 J291, BL OR5554A.53-54r, Moss. VIII,476.1-2. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 383 and Goitein index cards linked below.)

Account for Nahray b. Nissim. 1058. The account includes nine shipments of flax, as well as shipments of sumac, cloths, and white silk. Several of those were sold in Ashkelon and others in Tinnis. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #837) VMR

4 pages of accounts in Hebrew, late, possibly to do with the flax business (see page 4) naming currencies such as Gerushim, Ducados, and something Turkish (? 'טורכי).

Letter to Peraḥya. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment. Dating: after 1088 CE. The letter discusses business in flax in the Levant, especially in Damascus. Needs examination

Detailed account of monthly sales of products from the east in Sicily, especially spices and flax, covering the period from August 1064 to October 1065, written in late 1065 (Gil). Also contains the draft of a letter, in which Ibn al-Shāma requests from his business partner a similar account for the years 454–57/1062–65 of the goods and gold that had been sent in exchange from Sicily to Egypt. This exchange of accounts suggests that this particular business relationship that had lasted several years was hereby ended. According to Gil, the account and the letter were sent by Zakharya b. Yaʿqūb b. al-Shāma in Tripoli, Libya. Also mentions Abū Zikrī Ḥayyim b. ʿAmmār, the representative of the merchants in Palermo; and refers to a load of merchandise belonging to Yūsuf b. Ibrāhīm the dayyān transported by Abū ʿAbdallah (b. al-Baʿbāʿ). (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 185, 207; Gil, Kingdom, vol. 4, p. 222; Ben-Sasson, Yehudei Sitzilya, p. 330)

Fragment of a letter from Farah b. Isma’il to Nahray b. Nissim. Regarding money exchange and shipments of linen. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #508) VMR

Fragment of a letter from Farah b. Yosef b. Farah. Around 1070. Mentions selling linen and other goods including tamarisk seeds and nuts. The writer declares that he is not a merchant who participates in tenders for work like others, but stays next to his shop. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #525) VMR

Draft of a letter from Wāfī b. Iṣḥaq b. Eli al-Majānī, 16 July 1059, written at the back of an earlier letter from his father Iṣḥaq b. Eli al-Majānī. Badly preserved. Mentions flax, myrtle and sandalwood and suggests that the recipient opens a shop. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 114.)

Letter from Mūsā b. Abī al-Ḥay (Tinnīs) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat), ca. 1062. Mūsā reached Tinnīs by land because he was scared to travel by ship while carrying money. The letter contains a detailed account of wares that he sold or bought, especially pellitory (Anacyclus Pyrethrum) and flax. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 509 and Goitein notes linked below.)

Business letter from Musa b. Ishaq b. Hisda to Yosef b. Yaʿaqov ibn Awkal. This letter is a response to a letter sent by the addressee. The sender blames a third party, Yosef al-Sabuni, for slandering him. He also sends an account and complains that he does not have enough money for processing (beating flax) and packaging his goods. (Information from Gil)

Draft of an account for shipping flax, by Nahray b. Nissim and his partners. Around 1059. The account contains details about the purchase expenses, for about 1,200 kg of flax, and the expenses for their shipment, probably to Alexandria. The writer might be Abu Ali ha-Kohen (Nahray’s relative). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #839) VMR