Geniza Lab

Letter from the Jerusalemites to Bishr ibn Ghalib, the parnas of Fustat, apparently 1024.

Letter from Yoshiyyahu Gaon to the banker (ha-Shulḥani) Netanel b. Aharon, Fustat (?). Dating: ca. 1020 CE.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Yiṣḥaq Ha-Kohen b. Furat written in his own hand. (Gil) 1029.

Petition to Shelomo ha-Nasi from a man whose name is missing, reporting that a pesiqa (pledge drive) in his favor had brought a substantial sum, but more than a month had passed without his getting the money. Dating: Probably ca. 1230s, if this is the Shelomo ha-Nasi known to have been in Egypt at that time. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 106, 544, n. 13 and from Goitein's index cards) On verso, part of a book list mentioning responsa, as well as a couple lines of accounts in Arabic script.

Letter sent by the head of the Jews, Sar Shalom ha-Levi Gaon b. Moshe, to the community of Qalyub confirming Moshe b. Levi as slaughterer, cantor and teacher. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Fragment of a letter from Shelomo ha-Kohen Gaon b. Yehosef. Spring 1025.

Letter from Jalal al-Dawla in the name of Yishai b. Shelomo to the Nasi (president) Yishai b. Jesse, Fustat. January 10, 1254. The letter regarding a book that was found in Abu al-Fatah’s estate after his passing. Yishai declared that the book belongs to his uncle, the Nasi Yoshiyahu b. Yishai so it cannot be sold, but ha-Kohen Nafis al-Dawla is interested in buying it for his son. They ask the addressee, which is in Damascus, for instructions what to do. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #101) VMR

Letter from the two congregations of Alexandria to David Ha-Levi b. Yiṣḥaq, requesting 33 1/3 dinars for the ransom of a prisoner. 1030-1.

Letter from the two congregations of Alexandria to David Ha-Levi b. Yiṣḥaq, requesting 33 1/3 dinars for the ransom of a prisoner. January 1031.

Letter from Sadoq Ha-Levi b. Levi, Jerusalem, to Efrayim b. Shemarya, Fustat, probably 1030.

Letter from Daniel b. Azarya. The letter was later covered in large writing excercises in Arabic script.

Letter in the hand of Daniel b. Azarya (Gil) to ʿEli b. ʿAmram. Daniel b. Azarya refers to notebooks of responsa (including some by Samuel b. Ḥofnī) that he would like copied by an expert scribe on good quality paper - not Egyptian paper, he says, but rather Andalusī (Spain) or Iṭrābulusī (Tripoli) paper. (Information from Gil, Palestine) On the back is a literary text.

ENA 4050: Fragments of a letter from Shemuel Gaon b. Hofni to one of the community leaders in Qayrawan. Around 1008. Maybe was addressed to the Nagid, Avraham b. Ata. Describes the agreement between the writer and Sharira Gaon and the warning from transferring money to the other Yeshiva, Pumbedita, meaning the Yeshiva of the writer’s son in-law, Hayya Gaon. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #52) VMR

Letter from a communal leader to a Nasi. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer reports that he fulfilled what had been requested of him in the letter that the addressee had sent him with a certain woman. He accompanied her to the two synagogues and informed the two congregations about an error in a recent court session (majlis al-ḥukm). It seems that a ban of excommunication placed on this woman is being retracted, and that she is owed 4 sanja dinars from public funds. The writer accompanied her to the ṣarf, where it turned out that the money the Nagid (sayyidnā) had given her was 5 qirats short of the 4 dinars, and the writer had no money, whether rubāʿīs or dirhams, with which to pay the balance. Her brother-in-law and David al-Najjār then accosted the writer in the market and 'cried out' (istaghātha) against him, saying that they won't pay a penny until they see the woman's documents. The writer asks the addressee to send the documents with her—and possibly the remaining 5 qirats (verso)—so that everyone will be spared "their evil" (of the brother-in-law and David al-Najjār; this reading is not completely clear). Merits further examination.

List of contributors to the poor. Coptic numerals.

Verso: List of pledges (thabat al-pesiqa). Dating: ca. 1032 CE (based on the date on recto). Interesting entries include: 'the philosopher' (=a doctor? cf. elsewhere in the lists), professions clustered together, 'the deceased' (al-marḥūm), the abundance of 'bankers' (ṣayrafī, spelled srfi), 'son of the kushit ' (Ethiopian woman), 'sons of the man'.

Letter from the Yeshiva to the community of Hazor (Caesarea), ca. 1025 (?)

Letter from Daniel b. Azarya (ca. 1055) to Eli b. Amram in Fustat. Marwan b. Saqir and Yosef b. Yaaqov are mentioned

Letter (fragment) from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Yaʿaqov ha-Ḥaver b. Yosef. Apparently end of 1025 or beginning of 1026.

Letter from Yisrael ha-Kohen Gaon b. Shemuel. April 1019, in the handwriting of Israel ha-Kohen b. Shemuel b. Hofni. The letter is addressed to one of the most important members in the community. The addressee and the community/place are unknown. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #62) VMR