Geniza Lab

Letter from Nissim b. Salāma to his father Salāma b. Nissim. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th century. The writer reports on various financial matters, reports that everyone in his location is in good health, and conveys his preoccupation on behalf of his father, his grandfather, and his paternal aunt. He heard that all of them were "mutakassil," an obscure word referring to some type of illness—Goitein suggests fatigue. Information from Goitein's index cards. ASE.

Letter from Umm Abū ʿAlī, in the Rif, likely near Damīra, to her son Isḥāq, in Fustat. The latter may live with his aunt and uncle, as the letter is addressed to the writer's sister’s son, Abū l-Munā. The writer is ill, and she repeatedly tells Isḥāq to tell Umm Abū l-Munā to send myrobalan and a medicinal syrup back with the messenger, presumably to be furnished by Abu l-Muna’s father who is a maker of syrups (sharābī). Isḥāq's wife seems to be pregnant (the writer is waiting for "khalāṣ zawjatak"). The writer invites her sister Umm Abū l-Munā to visit her in the village by promising plenty of watermelons to eat. This letter is mentioned in Mediterranean Society, I, p. 121. The Arabic address reads: "yaṣil hādhā l-kitāb ilā waladī al-shaykh Abū l-Munā b. Abū Surrī al-sharābī min khālatihi Umm Abū ʿAlī ... dār al-wāzīr (or wāzīn?)." ASE.

Recto: Letter from a teacher to a parnas. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely late 11th or early 12th century, based on the mention of Abū l-Bishr Azhar (see Bodl. MS heb. c 50/16-17 and index of Gil, Kingdom). The writer asks to be paid his weekly salary in addition to what is still owed him from last week. He has already (unsuccessfully) applied to Abū l-Bishr Azhar and to Abū Yaʿqūb with the same request. In support of the urgency of his request, he emphasizes that his wife is severely ill (bi-maraḍ khaṭir ṣaʿb). He is not explicitly identified as a teacher, but Goitein perhaps deduced this from the fact that he is both impoverished and receives a weekly salary from the community chest. Information in part from Goitein's note card. Verso: Reused for accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals.

Half of a letter (left side of recto, right side of verso) from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, Qalyub, to a family member in Fustat. He mentions missing them during the holiday; arrangements with garments and silver; Menashshe, Shemaryah, the Rayyis; praying for his family to have success in something; that he is doing just fine; Abu l-Yusr is critically ill. ASE.

Letter from an unknown sender, in Fustat, to his nephew (ibn ukht) Mūsā, in Qalyūb. Dating: Unknown, but perhaps dateable on the basis of the reference to Rabbenu Yiṣḥaq or on the basis of the capitation tax policies described in the letter. Subject: Mainly dealing with the case of an unhappy (maghbūna wa-maẓlūma), newly married young woman. The writer urges his nephew not to come to Fustat. He reminds him of the education given to him (tarbiya), the obligations towards his family (ahliyya), and the love between them (maḥabba). Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 25. Further information from Goitein's note card: The writer had made peace between a young man (perhaps the son of the addressee) and a young woman (perhaps the sender's own daughter or granddaughter). Then the young man fell ill. His capitation tax was restored (?) to him by the authorities (the letter mentions arbāb al-dawla, al-sulṭān, al-ṣāḥib, the qādī of Qalyūb, and the wālī) on condition that the young man remain in Qalyūb instead of traveling to the Levant as he had intended. ASE.

Letter of request in which the widow of Abu Sa'id b. Shalom, writing to a Nagid, expresses a cry for help on behalf of her children, who are lacking food and clothing, since their father's death. She is suffering from ophthalmia. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 304)

Letter from Perahya b. Yosef Ibn Yiju (which he wrote in his and his brother Moshe's name) in Messina to his father Yosef Ibn Yiju (the brother of Avraham) in Mazara, ca. 1153. He has by now married his cousin, the daugther of Avraham Ibn Yiju, and fled the Norman invasion of Ifriqiya in 1148 for Mazara, then Palermo, then Messina, en route to Egypt. This letter describes the journey along the coast of Sicily. Peraḥya also sends a medical prescription for his mother's illness: a mithqāl (slightly over 4g) of sagapenum (sakbīnaj) every three days and a cumin stomachic (jawārish kammūn). He also tells the addressees not to afflict themselves with fasting and weeping on his behalf, because his heart and liver are wounded if he hears about such excessive behavior (istifḥāl]).

Letter addressed to Eliyya b. Mishaʾel ha-Levi. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. The addressee is called "the mighty prince" (ha-Sar ha-Adir) and his father is called "physician" (ha-Rofe). Almost all of the text is dedicated to praises and blessings. In the remaining text the writer informs Eliyya that ever since he parted from Eliyya and left Fustat, he and his children are suffering from illness (though he may simply be referring to the heartsickness of being parted).

Letter from Natan ha-kohen b. Mevorakh, Ashkelon, to Avraham b. Elazar, Fustat. Dated 1130. This is a letter of recommendation for a man who recently lost his sight from ophthalmia. Bottom missing. On verso is a text in Arabic script.

Letter in the hand of Yehuda b. Ṭoviyyahu (muqaddam of Bilbays, active 1170s–1219). In Judaeo-Arabic. Containing a complaint about illness. The purpose of writing seems to be that the sender is unable to support a Ḥaver who came to stay with him. “[I was] constrained by my great expenses for medicines and chickens… An illness came upon me, on top of my chronic illness: shortness of breath and fever...” Mentions the boy Abū l-Bayān and al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab. Cites Berakhot 3b: “A handful cannot satisfy a lion, nor can a pit be filled up with its own clods.” Goitein read the word farrūj as surūj (meaning lamps -"perhaps he stayed up at night"), but see, for instance, Halper 410 and DK 238.3 for the formula "the medicine and the chicken." Regards to "our rabbi Avraham (Maimonides)" in the margin. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.) Join: Alan Elbaum. AA. ASE.

Letter begging for help from a communal authority ('sayyidnā'), written by Abu Sahl b. al-Ahuv during a famine. Likely early 13th century. He opens with condolence for the death of the recipient's brother and the hunger of the brother's family before going into his own sad tale. Ibn Imran recently stole 100 dinars that were buried in Abu Sahl's house and also took items from his house and sold them. Due to Abu Sahl's age and weakness, he could not act to stop this. Abu Sahl has in the past benefited from charity from the recipient and from al-Tiferet Abu l-Mahasin (a man of this title and kunyah is mentioned in T-S NS J347, dated 1219/1220), but now requires more assistance. Abu Sahl's dependents include an old woman and a sick man who cannot sleep day or night. Abu Sahl has had to buy oil instead of bread, "so that he does not die in darkness." Abu Sahl himself has been ill for the last month. He turned to al-Shaykh al-Nezer, who told him that Sayyidnā ordered for him to receive bread in the distribution, but it has been three weeks and he has not received any bread. He concludes by asking the recipient to investigate the young man (Ibn Imran) who plunged them into this desperate state. ASE.

Letter in the hand of Abū ʿAlī Yeḥezqel b. Netanel ha-Levi, Ḥalfon's brother, while in Qalyūb. Mentions Abū l-Faḍl and Abū l-Ḥasan who are known from other IB VI documents. The writer had received two shawls and a fūṭa (waist-wrapper) which in Qalyūb were worth 1.5 dinars and 0.5 dinars respectively. He sends greetings to Abū l-Fakhr, Abū l-Ḥasan al-Bazzāz (the clothier), and a different Abū l-Ḥasan. He asks for the news of the sick person in the house of the latter Abū l-Ḥasan. Makārim and his siblings also send greetings. ASE.

Letter addressed to Eliyyahu the Judge concerning business matters. Dating: possibly early 13th century. The writer was ill for 40 days, recovered, then relapsed. The writer is extremely distraught and apologetic about not being able to fulfill Eliyyahu's request to send some of the kawlān (papyrus?)—or perhaps its proceeds—that he had previously left with the writer. This is because Musa, the son of the sister of 'sayyidnā', arrived and demanded his uncle's share and took the larger package. Then the writer managed to sell some of the smaller package for 2 dirhams per ounce, which he thought was a good price, but Eliyyahu has told him that he should have gotten 10 dirhams per ounce. He hasn't even collected the full price from the buyer, and there is an ongoing court case. The handwriting resembles that of Yehuda b. Aharon b. al-ʿAmmānī. (The transcription on FGP for ENA 2727.27 is the trousseau list of Nājiya bt. Abū l-Khayr and belongs with a different shelfmark, probably ENA 4020.62.)

Letter from Natan ha-Kohen b. Mevorakh and one other person, in Ashqelon, to Avraham b. Elʿazar, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 1130 CE. Bottom missing. Letter of recommendation on behalf of Badr b. M[...] of Ḥamā who lived in either Alexandria or Ashqelon ('al-thaghr') for 30 years, but probably the former, because he is introduced as having come 'here' recently (חצר אלי הנא). Badr recently went blind due to ophthalmia. Starting in Rabīʿ al-Awwal 523 AH (=February/March 1129 CE), his monthly stipend was cut in half from 2.5 dinars to 1.25 dinars. He is attempting to assert his right to the other half of the payments owed him in court, and the addressee is asked to intervene on his behalf. On recto there is a text in Arabic script (see separate record).

Two letters. (a) Letter from Yaʿaqov b. Yosef [..]ān al-Barqī to Shemarya b. Shemuel. He decribes the difficult winter they have had, not to mention the illness and inkisār (debts to the diwan? see T-S 13J3.6v) of Nissim; the illness of Ezra; the "arrival of that [woman]" and their expenses on her behalf. He mentions the arrival of Barakāt b. Khulayf (mentioned in several other letters) and having purchased two robes (shuqqatayn) for the addressee. ʿAwāḍ is also seriously ill, as well as his elder daughter. He has likely become dependent on public charity (inkashafa), and he even put up his ghulām for sale, but there are no buyers. Faḍl bought a donkey and has gone wandering about. "As for ʿAwāḍ [finding relief?], here no [travelers?] enter or leave." Mūsā b. ʿAllūsh has run away from his family. ASE.

Verso, with the address on recto: Letter from Yaʿaqov b. Salmān, in Alexandria, to his sister, in Qayrawān. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address written in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script. Dating: ca. 1050 CE. The writer describes his fortunes ever since arriving in Egypt, including his month-long illness in Fustat, which exhausted much of his capital. But he was able to recuperate from the illness and enter business again. He is now torn between whether he should bring his flax merchandise to al-Mahdiyya or al-Lādhiqiyya, or whether he should return to Fustat to take a job with Abū l-Faraj b. 'Allān. He refers to his wife as "the mistress of my heart," and to his daughter as Sutayt (little mistress). This letter ought to be read together with Mosseri IIIa.11, written by the same writer to his mother (ed. Gil, Ishmael, #661). Gil published eight other letters by the same writer: Palestine, III, #506–07 and and Kingdom, IV, #660–65. Information in part from Goitein's index cards. ASE.

Petition in Judaeo-Arabic from Yaʿqūb b. Abū l-Yaman to the Nagid. The writer was sick for 8 months and is hiding at home because of the capitation tax. Now a holiday is approaching and he is asking for help. On the back is a short account.

Letter from Al-Mubārak b. Yiṣḥaq Ibn Sabra to his "father" (paternal uncle?) Abū l-Ḥasan Surūr b. Ḥayyim Ibn Sabra. He reports that Ibn Siman Ṭov (בן סימנטב) arrived and told him that the addressee had purchased a sack (tillīs) of wheat for 7 dinars, which saddened him, because Mubārak could have gotten him 2 sacks of superior wheat from his supply in Tinnīs. Indeed, Mubārak is struggling financially, and that would have helped him. He has been worrying so much about his goods in Tinnīs that he suffered an attack of yellow bile and broke out in pustules (fa-min kuthrat mā ḥamaltu ʿalā qalbī laḥaqanī khulṭ ṣafrāwī wa-ṭalaʿa ʿalayya bathr). People are in state of fear due to an unspecified situation. Mubārak had sent a letter with Maymūn al-Maghribī concerning garments that the addressee is supposed to send, because he hasn't even been able to afford a שראשי(?) to wear. He hasn't gone to the synagogue for several Shabbats (it seems due to his financial straits and lack of decent clothing). ASE

Letter fragment addressed to Ṣadaqa ha-Ḥakham. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer conveys his sympathy for the addressee's illness. He mentions that R. Sasson has sent "two sedarim of halakhot," including Seder Neziqin in a blue binding.

Letter from Shelomo b. Nissim ha-Levi al-Barqī, in Alexandria, to Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1080 CE. Shelomo had been asked to come to Fustat with his sister, who is Mūsā's wife. He responds that he is not able to come because of his poor health. "You have already been informed, my lord, of my condition following the illness (ḍuʿf). I go about my business only with the use of a cane (ʿaṣā). If God grants me health, I will be delighted to comply. I beg God for this. Hopefully I will find someone to treat me, for here there is no medicine and no physician and nothing to strengthen my spirit (nafsī—Gil translates it as body)." Mūsā has also been suffering from a prolonged illness. Shelomo conveys his sympathies and explains that he only refrained from writing sooner so as not to increase Mūsā's preoccupations (shughl al-sirr). The letter also mentions the purchase of books. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #646.) VMR. ASE.