Geniza Lab

Letter from Hārūn b. Yaʿqūb, in Tiberias, possibly addressed to Mūsā b. Ismāʿīl b. Sahl. Dating: Likely 11th century. Dealing with the indigo trade. Needs examination.

Letter from Sulaymān b. Shaʾul, perhaps in Sicily, to Salmān b. Shabīb al-Kohen, perhaps in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: mid-11th century. Touches briefly on business matters (he has sent some silk with Abū l-Ḥasan) but most of the letter is an explanation of the difficult circumstances at home. Sulaymān intended to travel this year, but he had to stay home and look after family members. He worries that someone will die and someone else will inherit and a woman will be left without resources. "I cannot describe her condition to you; the stones themselves would weep." The woman has been consoled by the presence of the addressee's son Abū l-Saʿḍ, who has behaved admirably. Sulaymān also reports on the state of Salmān's elderly female niece (al-ʿajūz bint akhūk), which hinges on a matter of inheritance. Uncited in the literature.

Letter from Yeḥezqel b. Eli ha-Kohen (identification based on comparison with DK 233.2), evidently in Jerusalem, to Abū ʿAlī Ḥasan b. Isḥāq al-Ṣārifī (!), in Fustat. The letter is in Judaeo-Arabic and the address is in Arabic. Dating: second half of the 11th century. Apart from the handwriting comparison, there are at least two other reasons to identify the writer as Yeḥezqel b. Eli: (1) the suftaja (money order) of the rayyis is mentioned in line 17 of this document and line 19 of DK 233.2, and (2) the same bearer is listed underneath the address, ʿUmar b. Yūsuf and his son. Whereas DK 233.2 is dated 21 Adar II, this letter does not bear a date, but mentions a letter from the addressee that arrived on 22 Heshvan. Probably DK 233.2 and T-S Misc.28.171 were not sent together. The writer reports on the epidemic (dever) raging in Jerusalem. The first letter of the word דבר is mostly missing, and it bears the wrong vowel, but the context supports the reading of דבר. It is only Wednesday, and already there have been five funerals this week. The writer mentions children, women, and his paternal uncle "in their number" (the sick? the dead?). He adds, "Many people are ʿalā l-qibla." This phrase does not appear in the Judaeo-Arabic dictionaries. Perhaps it means "praying," or specifically praying in the area of the Temple. The writer touches on various things that he wants the addressee to do for him in Fustat (one of them is reminding the Rayyis Abū l-Ṭayyib about the money order), sends regards to Umm Wahbān, reports that he received the medicine (dawā') sent with ʿAmmār, and reports that he has sent the amulet (? this word looks very much like קמיע but the reading is not certain) of Ibn al-Kohen to the addressee, along with a sealed letter from him. ASE.

Business letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Possibly 11th century, on paleographic grounds. Verso contains one line of Arabic script, perhaps the address. Needs further examination.

Legal queries addressed to Shemarya b. Elḥanan regarding marital laws. One in Hebrew and one in Judaeo-Arabic (this one crossed out)

Letter from Yoshiyya Gaon to Efrayim b. Shemarya, in Fustat. The sender's name is partially preserved at the top of the letter, in a different hand to the body of the letter. Dating: Ca. 1020 CE. Written in Hebrew, with the address in both Arabic script and in Hebrew. Mentions another letter in Hebrew and a different letter in [Arabic, presumably]. Also mentions Ṭuviyya ha-Ḥaver. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions Nahray b. Nissim and Yūsuf b. al-Ghazzāl.

Mercantile letter. On parchment. Dating: Early 11th century. The address is only partially legible and written in a confusing way. The sender appears to be al-Faḍl b. Yūsuf. The addressee is Abū l-Surūr Faraḥ b. Yehuda al-Kīnānī(?) known as ṣāḥib (the friend of?) al-Baradānī; underneath is written "to Abū l-[Faraj] Yūsuf b. Yaʿqūb Ibn ʿAwkal" (the most prominent merchant in the Geniza documents of this period). The letter was sent to him "either in Fustat or al-Ramla." The sender may be in Tripoli. He is angry about something to do with a huge shipment of 581 cases of "that damned tutty" (tūtiyāʾ, zinc oxide) and a financial loss that is "beyond repair. . . you have destroyed us." He bemoans his loss of reputation among "the Tripolitans, the Sicilians, the Maghribīs, and the Levantines, let alone among the Baghdādīs." Mentions the arrival of a group of traders who had been in Egypt, among them Abū ʿImrān Mūsā b. Yaḥyā Ibn al-Ṭaḥḥāla. Mentions the (arrival of?) the ship of ʿArūs. The letter concludes with something about a woman named Sitt ʿAlam. Uncited in the literature & should be edited. AA. ASE

Fragment of a letter from Ismāʿīl b. Yūsuf b. Benaya. Sent to Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. Dating: No later than 1038 CE, since it mentions a letter from Hayya Gaon, who is still alive. Refers to somebody who fled into 'the lands of the Turks' and then into 'the lands of the Persians.' (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Accounts in the hand of Nahray b. Nissim from Palermo, Sicily, for the year 443 AH = 1051/52 CE. Refers several times to 'the large ledger' (al-daftar al-kabīr). Accounts for Abū l-Khayr (=b. Barhūn Tāhirtī?). (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Letter probably from Menashshe b. Yehoshuaʿ, in Tyre, to the ḥaver Abū l-Faraj Shemaʿya, in Jerusalem. In Judaeo-Arabic. T-S NS 322.101–17 all belong to the same dossier as Gil, Palestine, #521–23. This batch is unedited and unmentioned in the literature.

Letter probably from Menashshe b. Yehoshuaʿ, in Tyre, to the ḥaver Abū l-Faraj Shemaʿya, in Jerusalem. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. Dating: mid-11th century. Mentions previous correspondence with a certain Yoshiyya, involving ʿAkkā and Ramla. The sender commiserates over the addressee's illness. Greetings to R. Aharon and Shelomo. T-S NS 322.101–17 all belong to the same dossier as Gil, Palestine, #521–23. This batch is unedited and unmentioned in the literature. ASE

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Likely 11th century, likely in the hand of a known merchant. Mentions ambergris.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Bifolium. See PGP 20645

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Likely 11th century, likely in the hand of a known merchant.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Likely 11th century, likely in the hand of a known merchant.

Business letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th century, based on the locations (e.g. al-Mahdiyya and Sicily) and people named. Fragment: Right side of recto and right side of verso only. People named include: [...] Makhmūrī, Elḥanan, Abū Ibrahīm b. [...], Shemeul b. Sigla (?) b. Surrī, Khallūf b. al-Sh[...], the writer's brother Yehuda, and the writer's brother-in-law and his son Maṣliāḥ.

Business letter from Abū l-Surūr b. David to Abū l-Afrāḥ ʿArūs b. Yūsuf. Fragment. Mentions the late Abū Saʿīd and the Muslims who claimed they were owed money from his estate. Mentions the daughter of the late Abū l-Faraj. Verso was reused for a few lines of accounts in Judaeo-Arabic.

Letter addressed to Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 11th century. There are somewhat unusual phrases after the address: בלג פדית and ישע יוחש. Mentions a caravan; the rotting of the names of the wicked; and a gathering of the elders of "the two cities."

Letter in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions Zayn al-Tujjār and Rabbenu Nahray Gadol ha-Yeshiva (=Nahray b. Nissim?). The sender's name may be Yosef (there is a very faded address on verso).