Geniza Lab

Fragment of draft of a court document relating to the affairs of Nahray b. Nissim, ca. 1045-1096.

Letter from Yosef b. Shemarya, the dayyan of Barqa, in Alexandria, to “his brother” Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Mentioning his pilgrimage to Jerusalem from Egypt and that he is unable to travel by sea. Written ca. 1060. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:586, 4:242, 439.) EMS. There is a translation into English in Goitein's attached notes.

Account, private, written by Nahray b. Nissim. Dating: ca. 1061 CE. Nissim b. Ishaq, for whom the account was made, is probably ha-Tahirti. Mentions silk and lacquer and other goods from Sicily, as well as pearls that were exported to Sicily, as well as transactions in Tripoli. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #281 and Shelomo Simonsohn, The Jews in Sicily, 1997, 275.) VMR. EMS.

Account of Nahray b. Nissim for three bales sent from Busir to Fustat, ca. 1045-1096.

Business letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender addresses a certain Avraham and a certain Abūn (both on recto). Most of the commodities mentioned are materia medica, including balm seed (ḥabb al-balasān), chebulic myrobalan, rhubarb, and kohl. Very faded. There are also remnants of a few words in very large Arabic script, perhaps from a state document. ASE

Business letter. Probably from Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Maghribī al-Tūnisī (upper right of recto). In Arabic script, in an experienced hand. Dating: Possibly Mamluk-era. On recto, the sender describes various commercial transactions (l. 15r). Toward the bottom of recto, he mentions the following: 3 aqfāṣ of antimony; lead; 7 chests of mercury and verdigris; 6 chests of soap; 7 chests of labdanum; later on, arsenic; and something "to India." On verso, he mentions [...] b. Muḥammad al-Shāṭir on two occasions (l. 1v, 17v); he gives prices for pepper and ginger; mentions the return from the ḥajj (al-nuzūl baʿd al-ḥajj); and mentions saffron. He says that he and Abū Naṣr visited the Nā'ib of Jedda, who received them graciously (l. 8v). MCD. ASE.

Letter addressed to al-Shaykh al-Ajal al-Raʾis Abū ʿĪmrān Mūsā (Shelomo b. Mūsā al-Mahdāwī in al-Mahdiyya) from his business associate (Peraḥya b. Yosef in Fusṭāṭ) regarding diminution of his wages and distribution of work. He expresses his fear of being left with nothing if he is asked to vacate the store. He pleads that he be associated with Nāṣir so that he isn't left without a place or position when the master decides to assign new duties and extend his benevolence today as revealed to him by ẓāhir. Towards the end, he extends greetings to the addressee's father and a Shaykh al-Ajal Abū l-Ḥasan. See also T-S 10J14.16.

Report or legal document in Arabic script. Dated: Jumādā II 1010 AH, which is 1601 CE. In the upper part mentions various people al-Ḥājj Muḥammad Ibn Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Manārī and gives their tribal affiliations. Mentions the village of al-Muʿayṣira (المعيصرة) in the vicinity of Homs and قطيا (maybe the town of that name in Sinai). The contents have to do with mercantile goods, including silk and tamarind. Needs further examination.

Letter from Mardūk b. Mūsā from Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. August 10, 1047. Regarding shipments of goods and money. Mentions events related to the Bedouin in Egypt. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 778.)

Recto: Partnership record. Dating: 1096. Written in the hand of Hillel ben Eli. Describes a settlement between Yaḥyā and Abū al-Barakāt Mevorakh. Abū al-Barakāt Mevorakh loans 210 dinars to and places some agricultural commodities with Yaḥyā. Yaḥyā agrees to take upon himself the maintenance of the poor of Fusṭāṭ for a year in the event of nonrepayment. The repayments do not appear here because this would have been recorded only on the debtor’s copy of the loan agreement. Yaḥyā’s testimony that he paid his debt wouldn't be accepted without these records, but testimony by Abū al-Barakāt Mevorakh (the creditor) is to be accepted without such condition. Verso: Court record. Dating: 1116. Part of a court record detailing a different partnership. Abū al-Surūr Simḥa ha-Kohen brings a power of attorney to pursue the claims of the brothers Abū al-Ma‘ālī and Abū al-Wafā Tamīm b. Yeshu‘a regarding a partnership held by their dead brother Mevorakh, with Yaḥyā (the same Yaḥyā from the recto) and Abū al-Ḥusayn the money-changer. The structure of the partnership is unclear, but it seems likely that Mevorakh was an investor and Abū al-Barakāt had always been the active partner. Upon Mevorakh’s death, Yaḥyā and Abū Ḥusayn claim 2/3 of the partnership assets, leaving Simḥa to collect the remaining 1/3 for Mevorakh’s heirs. The verso is written in a different hand from the recto, likely that of Nissim b. Naḥray. Signed by Barukh b. Yiṣḥaq, the chief judge of Aleppo. The connection between the two documents is Abū al-Barakāt and Yaḥyā. Per Goitein, this Abū al-Barakāt is not the Mevorakh mentioned on the recto but rather Abū al-Barakāt Mevorakh b. Shelomo al-Ḥalabī, and Yaḥyā is Abū al-Ḥasan Yaḥyā ha-Kohen b. Shemuel ha-Kohen al-Baghdādī. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 56-60)

Letter from Musa b. Abi al-Hayy, from Busir, to Abu al-Ifrah Avraham (Arus) b. Yosef, Fustat. August 5, 1084. The letter contains details about the purchase of linen. Mentions that a Christian person from the Delta region sends money to his wife in Fustat, with Musa. In addition, mentions some goods as rose extract, and money transfers. )Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #468) VMR

Letter sent from Busir by Musa b. Abu al-Hayy to Abu al-Afrah Arus b. Yosef in Fustat, containing details about flax and other goods. Dated August 1084. (Information from M. Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 556)

Letter from the daughter of the head of the Yeshiva to Nahray b. Nissim. Ca. 1060.

Letter from Mardūk b. Mūsā from Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. August 10, 1047. Regarding shipments of goods and money. Mentions events related to the Bedouin in Egypt. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 778.)

Letter from Abūn b. Ṣadaqa, Jerusalem, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Abūn conveys a detailed tale of a serious falling-out with another merchant and urges Nahray not to associate with him. Abūn describes his reclusive lifestyle in Jerusalem (v25–30) and mentions in passing that he fell sick (r7–8).

Letter sent from Fustat by Barhun b. Salih al-Tahirti to his cousin Barhun b. Musa. The letter deals with business dealing with Muslims and the collection of debts. Dated ca. 1053. (Information from Gil)

Letter from Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tahirtī, in Trapani, Sicily (Gil prefers to read אטראבנש in line 2 over Goitein's and Ben-Sasson's אטראבלש), to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Ca. 1053 CE. The top line of the recto is partially torn away, as is the writing on more than three quarters of the text of the top margin. The writer spent the winter and the summer in Tripoli (Libya) and and in Sicily. Some of the family members are in the Maghrib, and they are caught up in a mess of an unclear nature. Mentions the textile trade with Sicily; the procurement of flax in Egypt; and other business matters.

Business letter sent from Alexandria to Fustat by a Maghrebi merchant named Nissim who, coming from al-Mahdiyya, had arrived in Alexandria at time of a civil unrest.

Important business letter sent from Alexandria to Fustat by a Maghribi merchant named Nissim who, coming from al-Mahdiyya, had arrived in Alexandria at time of a civil unrest. The writer describes the difficult situation in Alexandria and al-Mahdiyya, attaches valuable price lists and assures the addressee that his wife and baby daughter are perfectly comfortable. Dated 1060-1070. (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 168; V, pp. 50, 51, 519.) A letter from Alexandria, in the hand of Salāma b. Mūsā b. Iṣḥaq Safāquṣī, to an unknown recipient. Summer of 1062. Lists prices in Alexandria. Mentions trade links with Byzantium, Genoa, Crete, Sicily, and Spain. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 445-446.)

Letter from Ḥayyim b. Amar Madini, Palermo, to Abu al-Surur, a merchant from Fustat (might be Ishaq b. Barhun al-Tahirti). September 2, 1056. Mentions the events in Sicily and the Maghreb. Regarding shipment of goods, mainly lead from Sicily. Also mentions “Kitab Alamanat” by Se’adya Gaon. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #650) VMR