Geniza Lab

Letter of appeal for charity. A needy man from Qayrawan had applied for assistance from his relative, the esteemed Ifrīqiyyan merchant and scholar, Nahray b. Nissim (active in Fustat, 1060–97 CE). Before turning to Nahray he had already received donations from another prominent Ifrīqiyan merchant, Abū Zikri (Yehuda b. Moshe ibn Sughmār). Nahray had become annoyed. It is not clear whether he was angry because he felt that people might have thought he was neglecting his relative or became peeved for some other reason, such as competition over patronage--or perhaps both (Cohen). In any case, the writer promised henceforth to rely only on Nahray. But since then Nahray has only paid him the insufficient sum of 15 dirhams over the course of eight months. Now the writer is too ashamed to address Abū Zikrī, and he has therefore written this note to a third potential patron to solicit support. (Information from Cohen and Gil and CUDL.)

Letter from Yehuda b. Sahl, probably in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat, ca. 1050. Mentions the sale of a house that may have belonged to Nahray. Also mentions flax and the copper trade. Yehuda b. Sahl’s wife (a relative of Nahray?) sends him regards for the holidays and prays all the time for his health. She was sick (tawajjaʿat), then Yehuda became sick, then he got better, then he relapsed, and also their daughter was sick (r14–18). His wife asks Nahray b. Nissim to send them an order of payment (suftaja) for 10 dinars (r22–23). The letter mentions Abū l-Surūr and Abū Iṣḥāq Barhūn. (Information from Gil.) ASE.

Letter from Mardūk b. Mūsā (Alexandria) to Yosef b. ʿEli Kohen Fāsī (Fustat), ca. 1065. In the hand of the sender’s son, Mūsā b. Mardūk. Mentions various wares, including rice, sugar, camphor water and regrets that previous letters by Yosef b. ʿEli Kohen Fāsī did not include more information about himself and the state of affairs in town. The recipient is requested to urge Nahray b. Nissim to conclude a purchase. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 803.)

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim from Busir to Farah b. Isma’il, Busir. Around 1053. Farah is in Busir, probably was sent there by Nahray, and purchases and packs the shipments there. The letter mentions details about shipping dinars for the purchase. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #256) VMR

Letter from Isma’il b. Salama al-Gazal, al-Bahnasa, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Dating: ca. 1051. Details about payments and business with local government officials in Upper Egypt. Mentions a stock of about 30 tons of grain. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #709.) VMR

Letter from Natan b. Nahray, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat, mentioning various commodities including flax. Dating: ca. 1064 CE. Also mentions a paper price. “My lord mentioned buying paper from the Segulat (= Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy), or from someone else. I haven't found Andalusī paper in sufficient quantities, since my lord mentioned that he wanted it to copy (a book). The Segulat has only small quantities of Andalusī paper. But he has Shāmī paper, wide and large, for 8 dīnārs per ream; if it pleases my lord, I will acquire some for him.” Information from Gil.

Letter from Salāma b. Mūsā Safāquṣī (Alexandria) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat), ca. 1062. Contains information on the movement of ships, and on a significant damage to one of the ships, causing losses to Nahray. Salāma b. Mūsā Safāquṣī hopes to find out from Nahray b. Nissim prices of oil, flax, pepper. He laments the death of Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tāhirtī. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 450 and Goiteins notes linked below.)

Business letter from Nissim b. Ḥalfon b. Benaya (Alexandria) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat), ca. 1050. Nissim b. Ḥalfon left two money poaches in Tinnīs, to be sent to Fustat. He asks Nahray b. Nissim to pass on to Tinnīs a letter enveloped in the present letter, and to pass on to him any letters that may have arrived for him from Tinnīs. Nissim b. Ḥalfon, together with his partner Abū Saʿīd b. al-Tahirtī, sent two loads of tin and he asks Nahray b. Nissim to supervise their sale. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 956.)

Letter from Zakarya b. Yaʿaqov al-Shama (Tripoli, Libya) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat), ca. 1050. The letter discusses the movement of goods from Tripoli to Fustat and vice versa, as well as the state of the market and prices in Tripoli and in the region of Ifriqiya. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 206.)

Letter from Avraham b. Farrāḥ (Gil, on the basis of handwriting) from Alexandria to an unknown recipient, ca. 1055. Mentions various wares – raisins, clothes, pearls. The recipient is asked to help a certain Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAmmār b. Khallūf to purchase wares in Fustat. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 829.)

Fragment of a letter from Yisrael b. Natan, Jerusalem, probably to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. The letter deals with trades, especially of fabrics. Nahray is asked to urgently provide parchment in order for Israel to do his job. The last part is about Avraham b. ha-Gaon Shelomo b. Yehuda. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 3, pp. 145-148, #472) VMR

Letter from Isma’il b. Farah from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1060. The letter deals with shipments of goods that arrived in Alexandria and have being sent to Fustat. Mentions difficulties in selling wax. Nahray sold Isma’il’s old wheat and bought new wheat for him. In Alexandria, they are expecting the first ships (the letter is from the beginning of Tamuz). Mentions details about ships that left the Maghreb but still on their way. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #497) VMR

Testimony stating that Abu al-Fadl al-Sayrafi Masliah b. Meshullam informed Nahray b. Nissim that his wife had vacated the room on the floor (tabaqa) belonging to Shemuel b. al-Kohen, Nahray's in-law. Dated Iyyar-Sivan 1407/ 29 April 1096 - 27 May 1096, in Fustat. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Fragment of a document of sale in which Nahray b. Nissim, the well-known banker and communal lender (d. 1096), buys from his brother-in-law and the sons of the latter's late brother one-third of a house worth 150 dinars. The total value of the house was 450 dinars. (Information from Goitein, Mediterranean Society, III, p. 37; IV, pp. 19, 287)

Legal document dated Iyyar (4)812 (1052), regarding a business dispute between ʿAllān bar Avraham bar ʿAllān and Yaʿaqov ben Salmān concerning flax, al-Lādhiqiyya, Fustat, and Nahray b. Nissim, Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq al-Talmīd.

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim to Yosef ha-Kohen b. Eli Alfasi, Tyre. Around 1067. Abu Yaakov Yosef b. Eli ha-Kohen is on a ship on his way to , and he is based in Ramla. From there he is traveling to Tyre to receive a shipment from the port. Nahray sends him instructions and asks him about the business. The letter was written in Heshvan 13, and mentions an Islamic holiday that is coming soon. It is probably 10 in Du al-higa that was celebrated in October, 1066-1068. The letter mentions important details about exporting goods from . (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 3, pp. 271-276, #508). VMR

Accounts in the hand of Nahray b. Nissim, ca. 1053, listing flax purchases. Nahray organized the list by his partners who ordered flax and noted down for each partner how much he paid individual flax growers out of that partner’s money. Among flax growers are the judge and the preacher of a village and some Christians (Copts). The list testifies to a cooperation between Muslims and Copts in an Egyptian village. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 912.)

Draft of bills in the handwriting of Nahray b. Nissim.

Letter from Avraham b. Farrāḥ, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Dated 27 Iyyar, which Gil renders 1 May 1052. Contains details about the sailing of ships from the Alexandria port. The letter contains an order of payment for 40 dinars to be paid by Abū ʿAlī Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥman al-Ṣāʾigh (Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ) to Nahray b. Nissim. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 813.)

Letter from Avraham b. Farrāḥ/Peraḥya, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat, 1 May 1052. Contains details about the sailing of ships from Alexandria. The letter contains an order of payment for 40 dinars to be paid by Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥman al-Ṣāʾigh (Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ) to Nahray b. Nissim. Also mentions a vizier. (Information from Goitein's index card and Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 813.)