Geniza Lab

Letter of appeal from a cantor to a certain Moshe ha-Sar who is in government service. The letter also addresses Ṣedaqa ha-Sar. He asks for assistance in the payment of his capitation tax, of five months of rent, and of three months of payment incumbent on him from a promissory note. The writer had led prayers for Moshe's health during the public services in the syngaogue, and the prayer was evidently heard. He now conveys wishes for full recuperation and that the addressee will retain the favor of the sultan and his entourage (Goitein suggests that this refers to a new sultan, possibly Saladin). ASE.

Letter from Avraham b. Abi al-Hayy, from Alexandria, to his brother Musa. Around 1075. The writer is worried about their sister, Jarba, who is about to get married but still does not have a bed and bedsheets. Abū l-Ḥayy is sick and Avraham asks again that he will get him a prescription. He first asked in the preceding letter, F 1908.44C. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #470) VMR

Letter from a man from the land of the Persians, who, after the loss of his fortune, had come to Egypt to seek a post as teacher. He asks for help, as he was unable to work owing to an illness of smallpox. He is living in the synagogue (this is written above the line; the scribe first wrote "living with [???]" and then crossed it out). "I came to this city empty-handed, intending to support myself by serving the people, but I fell sick with smallpox. Now I cannot work and I possess nothing." Information from Goitein's index card.

Recto, with address on verso: Letter from Saʿdān b. Ḥ[...] to his 'brother' Abū Zikrī Yaḥyā b. Yiṣḥaq(?). The addressee had sent a letter reporting that he had gone to Alexandria and to Tinnīs. His family members are upset at him. "I read [your letter] to Sitt Faraj and she screamed and cried, and she still suffers the remnants of an illness, because she had ophthalmia that caused her to scream, may God protect her. She asked to me to write to you but did not want to inform you about [the illness] except with great anguish (ḍīq sadr)." They rebuke him for going to these places when there was no need, and urge him to come back quickly.

Letter from the wife of Yehuda b. Moshe b. Sughmār, in Fustat, to her husband Yehuda b. Moshe b. Sughmār, in Alexandria. The letter was dictated to Abū l-Faraj, who gives his name toward the end of the letter (v9-10); Gil suggests that he is their son. The writer conveys her concern for what she heard of her husband's illness (wajaʿ). She describes her father's and her own misfortunes, and discusses the famine in Fustat. The sugar and the rose preserves that Yehuda said he sent never arrived. Dated September 26 (18 Tishrei), 1070 CE (Gil's suggestion based on the similarity between events described in the letter and those known to have transpired in 462H). ASE.

Fragment of a letter from Yisrael b. Natan, Jerusalem, probably to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. The letter deals with trades, especially of fabrics. Yisrael b. Natan returns some pearls to Fustat because he is disappointed with their marred color. He asks that they be sold in Fustat, and some carnelians purchased with the money. Nahray is also asked to urgently provide parchment in order for Yisrael to do some work as a scribe. The last part is about Avraham b. ha-Gaon Shelomo b. Yehuda. Yisrael asks Nahray for bitumen (qifār) for his eye problem because he cannot get any in Jerusalem; see also T-S 12.364; T-S 13J26.4; and T-S 10J10.24. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 3, pp. 145-148, #472) VMR. ASE.

Family letter, partly in Hebrew and partly in Judaeo-Arabic. The handwriting seems to be that of the judge Mevorakh b. Natan. Dated: End of Ṭevet 1492 Seleucid, which is 1180/81 CE. There is a long passage (in rhymed Hebrew) about the addressee's mother ailing ever since he departed for Alexandria with the caravan. The scribe wrote the letter while very sick (marīḍ lāzim lā aʿaql ʿalā nafsī min al-ḥamāʾil(?) ṣudāʿ(?) al-bārī yulaṭṭif bi-raḥmatihi fa-tabsuṭ al-ʿadhr...). (Information in part from Goitein’s index card)

Letter from Ibrāhīm, in Sunbāṭ, addressed to a Nagid. In Judaeo-Arabic. Requesting assistance for his family in time of need. His family members are all sick, and he has no money even for a medicinal syrup.

Letter sent from al-Mahalla by a man who is sought by the controller of revenue, asking a friend to obtain for him a letter from Shams al-Din (the director of revenue in the capital), saying that he is registered as absent. "Do not ask about my state of illness, weakness, want, and terrible fear of the supervisor's warrant." (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 382)

Letter from Benaya b. Mūsā to Abū l-Afrāḥ ʿArūs b. Yūsuf. In Judaeo-Arabic. The purpose of the letter is to explain why the writer never managed to make it to Abū l-Afrāḥ's location for the last two years. The first year, he fell ill in al-Maḥalla, and never even believed he would make it back to Alexandria. This year, he intended to travel, but was unable to "for reasons that cannot be mentioned." Benaya's children--or at least one of them--are hoping to travel this year, and he prays for their success. Benaya is very preoccupied because he heard that his cousin (bint ʿammī) is sick, and he asked the Kohen Abū l-Surūr for news about her but has not heard back, so he now asks Abū l-Afrāḥ for news about his cousin's health.

Letter from Mūsā b. Yiṣḥaq b. Nissim, in al-Mahdiyya, to Ismāʿīl b. Barhūn al-Tāhirti. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1030. The writer is looking forward to the addressee's intended visit to al-Mahdiyya. He describes the situation in the Maghreb, and he mentions silk business and a large transfer of money to a yeshiva. "In a letter sent from Fustat to Qayrawan, Tunisia, we read this: 'A wakham like this I have not seen since I have come to Fustat. I was ill for a full four months with fever and fits of cold, which attacked me day and night. But God, for the sake of his name, not because of my merits, decreed that the illness leave me; I am now restored to complete health. The wakham has ceased, and all our friends [meaning the compatriots from Tunisia] are well." (Goitein, Med Soc V, 113.) ASE.

Recto: Note from Rashīd inviting a physician to come urgently to Rashīd's home, and to bring a friend. Verso: The physician responds that if he is being invited to a drinking party, he cannot come today because the Christians prevent him (? li-ajli moqesh al-'arelim). If he is being summoned to treat (mudāwā) somebody, probably al-Sadīd, it can be postponed to another day. Rashīd should tell al-Sadīd that the writer already came looking for him several times but could not find him. He was worried on his account ("the first was in my heart"), and he wondered if perhaps al-Sadīd no longer needed his services. Changing the topic, he concludes, "As for the the [Ar?]abic letter, I have it with me. I will make a copy of it and return it." Information in part from Goitein's index cards. ASE.

Letter sent by a physician from Qalyub, who had opened an office in Fustat, inviting his wife (who is his paternal cousin) to join him there and mentioning that the response of the public had been excellent, although he suffers from professional competition. Her daughter, who lives in the capital, is pregnant and wishes her mother to assist her at the time of birth. Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 256; III, p. 30. The writer also conveys his sadness upon hearing that the addressee had an eye illness; he wishes he could be there to treat in in person, but suffices with sending a prescription together with this letter. ASE.

Petition in Judaeo-Arabic to help Thābit al-Hazzan b. al-Munajjim, who was ill and had been imprisoned for two months for not paying his capitation tax. (Information from Goitein's note card)

Letter of appeal in the name of an old woman, whose mantle was stolen while she was about to wash it in the Nile, asking the community in a well-styled address to help her to buy at least a large shawl. She emphasizes her age and frailty and eye disease as the reason why she cannot help herself. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 170, 500.) ASE.

Letter from ʿAmram b. Yosef to Netanel b. Yefet regarding goods sent by Ḥasan b. Bundār. Location: Alexandria. Dating: 1094–97 CE. ʿAmram mentions his ophthalmia ('it seems as if I have found slight relief') and the wretched woman (ʿaguna for ʿaguma, as in CUL Or.1080 J24) who suffers pain in the joints of her hands and feet (this woman and her arthritis also appear in T-S 13J23.10). ʿAmram excuses himself from paying his respects to the Nagid on account of his ophthalmia, so he asks Netanel to represent him. ʿAmram makes the same request of Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy in Halper 394 and of Nahray b. Nissim in Bodl. MS heb. d.75/19. ASE. See Med. Society II, 478, Section 18. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Letter from Yaʿaqov b. Yosef b. Ismāʿīl al-Iṭrābulusi, Ascalon, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Circa 1060. Discusses the import and export of goods through Ascalon. (Information from Gil, Palestine, Vol. 3, p. 186.) The writer has been suffering from a severe case of ophthalmia (ramad), "but even so I have never neglected my correspondence (r6–7).

Letter from Yeḥezqel b. Eli ha-Kohen b. Yeḥezqel, in Jerusalem, to Eli ha-Kohen b. Ḥayyim (aka Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAllūn b. Yaʿīsh), in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic. Dating: second half of the 11th century. See also T-S Misc.28.171. The writer expresses his relief at the news that the addressee recovered from his illness. He devotes much space to excusing himself for failing to send any letters until now. He asks the addressee to remind 'the Rayyis' (probably identical with al-Rayyis Abū l-Ṭayyib in T-S Misc.28.171) to remind his son to fulfill the money order (suftaja) that had been sent. In a postscript, he conveys the news that the sister of Hiba ('who is with Shimʿon al-Rav') died, who was also the mother-in-law of Abūn b. Ṣedaqa. Information from Gil. ASE. NB: The first Goitein note card (#6240) belongs with DK 228.4 (PGPID 31342).

Letter from Meʾir b. ʿEli ha-Kohen, in Damascus (חדרך סוריא), to his brother Ṭoviyya b. ʿEli, in Fustat. Dating: beginning of September 1127 CE. The letters deals with financial matters and the purchase of flax and indicates that the Gaon (Maṣliaḥ) was by then in Egypt. "Mutual affection was expressed by kissing the eyes" (Goitein, Med. Soc., viii, C, 2, n. 117). Cf. T-S 10J17.8. Also mentions someone who got very sick (balagha kathīr) but God sent health (recto, 8–10). Mentions the same Yaḥyā b. Najm who appears in T-S 6J2.13.

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. David b. Sughmār, Fustat, to his partner Makhlūf b. ʿAzarya, Jerusalem. (DK XV, ed. Gil, Palestine, Pt. 3, pp. 178-183.) The market was at a standstill because of an epidemic (amrāḍ). ASE.