Geniza Lab

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 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.

Lower fragment: Letter from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to Rabbenu David ha-Ḥakham. Dealing mainly with business matters and also raising money for the capitation tax. Mentions many people including: Ṭāhir al-Simsār; Hiba al-Bilbaysī; Abū l-Makārim al-Kohen. Regards to al-Sadīd and to Abū l-Thanā' and his wife. Shelomo has been suffering an attack of ophthalmia and only wrote this letter with great effort.

Letter fragment on behalf of the lepers of Tiberias to Efrayim b. Shemarya in Fustat.

Letter from Isḥāq b. ʿAlī al-Majjānī, probably in al-Mahdiyya, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: Aound 1040. In Judaeo-Arabic. The letter deals with disagreements about money and discussions on how to solve them. The writer orders a dirham of bitumen (qifār), "for the need is pressing" (lines 12–13). He is most likely alluding to an eye disease. In the margin, he sends greetings to Abū Zikrī Elḥanan the physician and writes, "tell the friend of Tammām, the physician, 'My hope is in you.'" Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #636. VMR. ASE.

Letter from Yeshuʿa b. Ismāʿīl al-Makhmūrī to Nahray b. Nissim, ca. 1045-1096. Contains details regarding flax shipments that were arranged in partnership with Nahray. The author has avoided working with Ibn Qays, seemingly a shipowner, because of his character. Multiple payments are recounted. He passes on the news that Faraj fainted on Thursday in the bathhouse (subita fī l-ḥammām).

Previous description for ENA 2805.2 (upper fragment): Letter from Shela b. Mevasser, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1065 CE. The sender, the judge of Alexandria, has the name “ḥaver” from the yeshiva in Palestine. He writes about wills of people who passed away and taking care of the widows. He specifically mentions a youth named Manṣūr who made a will while suffering the remnants of an illness (line 15). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #790) VMR Another letter to Nahray, in a different hand, is bound together under the same shelf-mark. Previous description for ENA 2740.3 (PGPID 5263): Letter from Shela b. Mevasser to Mevorakh b. Saadya, written after 1094. Shela reports on how he handled an inheritance dispute in Alexandria that ended up in a qāḍī court. (Information from Frenkel.) Join: Oded Zinger.

Letter from Amram b. Yosef to Nahray b. Nissim requesting to forward a letter to Hassan b. Bundar. Location: Alexandria. Dating: 1094–97 CE. ʿAmram congratulates Nissim (Nahray's son) on his recovery (r4–8). He gives Nahray advice about taking good care of his son following his recovery, because "the relapse is worse than the illness" (r25–30).

Letter from Natan b. Nahray to Abū ʿImrān Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy. Among other matters, Natan mentions that he has given 1 dinar each to Moshe the Judge and Yeḥezqel the Alexandrian, the two frail old men who wrote T-S 13J28.10 requesting charity from Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy. Natan also mentions a medicinal syrup that he has asked Abū l-Afrāḥ to buy him. ASE.

Letter from Mardūk b. Mūsā, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat(?). Dating: ca. 1045 CE, based on Gil's assessment. The handwriting is that of Yaʿaqov b. Salmān al-Ḥarīrī, and the letter switches to his voice starting in line v2. The letter deals with business in lemon juice, tamarind, and textiles of flax and silk. Nahray is sick (wajīʿ, r4–7, r13–14, v6–7). Both Mardūk and Yaʿaqov wish Nahray a speedy reunion with his mother. Information from Gil. ASE.

Letter from Nissim b. Ḥalfon b. Benaya, in Tinnīs, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: 7 December 1060. Among many other matters, Nissim reveals that he has recovered from his illness and left the house and returned to work today for the first time (r10-11). ASE.

Petition to the Gaʾon Maṣliaḥ ha-Kohen (in office 1127–39). Begins with six lines of Hebrew blessings, and ends with one line of Hebrew blessings. The sender describes himself as a man of more than seventy years who has been afflicted by an illness that makes him unable to work and earn a livelihood. He owes a debt (or rather capitation tax payment?) of 14 qirats and 1 dirham; somehow this is connected to a man named Salāma Ibn al-Maqāniʿiyya and a guarantee. If he is unable to pay, he fears being imprisoned. He states that he is near death and starving, some days eating and some days not. Maṣliaḥ had previously promised to help him pay this sum, so this letter is a reminder. In the margin, mentions a meat shop and someone named Mīkhāʾīl. Verso is filled with Arabic-script jottings and document drafts in a chancery hand, including drafts of a letter or petition to a notable. VMR. EMS. ASE.

Recto: Letter in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe to his 'brother' Abū Naṣr. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions a previous rebuke; the arrival of the physician today; possibly medically-induced vomiting (...[isti]frāgh min kull budd allāh yajʿal al-ʿāqiba...); 20 dirhams; and something he needs. On verso there is probably the response from Abū Naṣr, stating that the order has arrived, and he was distressed at the news, and probably that he will act on it. This fragment also contains two words in Arabic script from an earlier state document, perhaps a decree.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Writer and addressee are unknown. The letter is an appeal for private charity. The writer is under duress from difficult times (awqāt al-shadā'id). There is a sick person in his household who has had a nosebleed (ruʿāf) for the entire week (the word "sick person" could plausibly be emended to "maraḍ" from "marīḍ," meaning that the writer himself has a nosebleed, but the next line, "I was away," suggests that it was rather someone in his family). When the letter resumes on verso, the writer mentions Cairo; that he is emptyhanded and helpless; that the addressee should not blame him; and that he has [?] his face from shame. ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragmentary (horizontal piece from the middle). Mentions a woman going up to Fustat and litigating over 20 dinars. "And if her travel is delayed to pay him the 20 dinars that is part of his merchandise (? raḥluh), she is excused, because her daughter died and she herself became mortally ill, and illness annuls debts." Then the letter, confusingly, appears to address the woman: " go up (iṭlaʿī), and if there is no going up and no payment...." The text in the margin suggests that this letter is a query addressed to a legal authority. On verso there is an unidentified text in a crude hand that includes words in Hebrew, Aramaic, and maybe Judaeo-Arabic.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer and addressee are unknown, but the handwriting seems very familiar. The writer starts by addressing a single person and sending blessings for his son; he then switches to addressing that person together with his brothers. The letter is a quintessential example of the epistolary norms surrounding illness, expressing preoccupation for others, and rebuking others for failing to do the same. "When I heard that your condition had worsened (takhallufhā), I became very distressed and forgot my own illnesses and condition, until God had mercy and the news of your health arrived, and I thanked God for that, yodu l-adonay ḥasdo, and may God avert all evil from you and your brothers and all in your care and protect me from all bad news. By my life, I am pained/sick of heart from the fact that you do not mention me in a letter or an inquiry, despite the fact that I have not cut off (our correspondence), and the fact that you are to me like my children, nay, like my brothers-in-law, and you ought to be inquiring after me (iftiqādī) if only with a letter or an inquiry. But I forgive you because of all of your cares." ASE.