Geniza Lab

Three poems by Avraham Ibn Yiju in honor of Madmun b. Ḥasan, Aden, ca. 1140, who was expecting his third son.

Lower fragment: Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Opens with a poem in Hebrew. The addressee is asked to bring a "fine ingot" (sabīka ṭayyiba) from India weighing 5 raṭls, free of "taqalluʿ(?)." The handwriting is probably known. ASE

Letter in what Goitein identifies as the handwriting and style of well-known India trader Abu Nasr Avraham informing recipient about events, apparently taking place in the Red Sea. On the recto, the author alludes to travel to or from Dahlak, mentions an unspecified group of islands (possibly the Dahlak archipelago itself), a sojourn of 18 days in Dahlak, and the arrival of an unnamed individual from Aden, and wishes for favorable winds and safe arrivals. The verso contains greetings to a number of people (legible among them are Ibn Yaḥyā, Shaykh Yaʿqūb and Abū Naṣr al-Ḥalabi) and gives date as the 6th of month of Av. Abū Naṣr al-Ḥalabī appears as al-tājir, the merchant, in the extant document of his wife's deathbed declaration preserved and dated to 26th of Iyyar 1454/April 13 1143. (Information from R.E. Margariti and S. D. Goitein, 'India Book' VI.40/IB.94; Mediterranean Society 5:151-155)

Small fragment of a letter from Yosef b. Avraham, a merchant of Aden, to a certain Abū Saʿīd (likely Abū Saʿīd Ḥalfon b. Netanel ha-Levi). Only the poetic opening (in Hebrew) and the address (in Arabic) are preserved. The wording of the address is similar to those of other letters sent from Yemen to India, so plausibly this letter could have been sent to Ḥalfon during his time there. (Information from Goitein and Friedman, India Book IV; Hebrew description below.)

Order of payment to Abu al-Surur Kohen, probably Abu al-Surur Farah b. Yeshua ha-Kohen, from Abu Zikri (Yehuda b. Yosef ha-) Kohen of 13 and a half dirhams for almonds. Both men were involved in the India trade. This is one of more than 80 orders of payment signed by Abu Zikri. This document is part of the India Book corpus: V, 42b. (Information from S. D. Goitein and M.A. Friedman, India Traders of the Middle Ages, 14-15)

India Book, II, 21a (T-S NS J241). See PGPID 5479.

Literary (siddur of Seʿadya Gaon). But listed in the India Book as an Abū Zikrī Kohen order of payment—another shelfmark must be intended.

Awaiting description

Money order. In Arabic script with a Hebrew 'emet' at the top. Abū l-Faraj is asked to pay 2.5 dirhams to the bearer Sayyid Muḥammad (or Bū Majd?). Information from Goitein's note card.

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Aharon al-Sijilmāsī, in Dahlak, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel. Dated: 8 Tammuz, apparently of 1140 CE. Yiṣḥaq continues to report to Ḥalfon on his travel from Egypt to Aden. He is writing 6 weeks after his previous letter, which he sent from ʿAydhāb. This is the second letter he has sent Ḥalfon from Dahlak. He describes his travel by sea south from ʿAydhāb, first to Sawākin, and then to Dahlak. The merchants left ʿAydhāb in two ships belonging to al-Sharīf, one large and one small. Most of the merchants in the small ship had to disembark in Sawākin, as it was overloaded and water was coming in. They later found out that the small ship sank. The sender gives the names of the Jewish traders who died and who survived, including (among those who died) Ibn al-Shumūs (whose drowning is also mentioned in doc. 76). Also mentions: Abū l-Khayr al-Najjār (‘the carpenter’), David, Ibn Zughmār (Ṣughmār), Ibn al-Raqqāṣa, Abū Naṣr, Abū l-Faraj, and Abū l-Barakāt. (Information from CUDL and from Goitein and Friedman, India Book IV.)

Legal deed. On parchment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. In which Abū ʿAlī Ḥasan al-Tinnīsī (aka Yefet b. Shemarya) appoints Makārim b. Shelomo b. Yeshuʿa ha-Ḥaver known as Ibn al-Sulamī as his agent to claim what the late Ṣāfī b. Yakhin (see T-S NS 224.40 + T-S NS 184.67) had willed him and which was deposited with [...]. The name of this person was vigorously erased, and the lower part of the document was crossed out with diagonal strokes. (Information in part from Goitein's notes.)

Memorandum from Yosef b. Avraham to Ishaq Nafusi. Aden, 1130s.

Order of payment from Abū Zikrī Kohen. Munajjā is to give (the bearer?) 4 ounces of rose and lemon. (Information from Goitein’s index card.)

Business letter from Aden to ʿAydhāb, mentioning Isaac al-Nafūsī and Hiba b. al-Dabbāgh (‘the tanner’), referring to ships and dinars. (Information from CUDL.) NB: PGP used to list this document as Moss. VI,28.

Letter of apology for a complaint that Madmun had mismanaged a trust. Aden, ca. 1135.

Magical text copied by Ibn Yiju, probably in Yemen around 1135. The text begins with a magical square (cf. sudoku) of which every line, row and diagonal adds up to 15. Such squares were used as amulets to ease a difficult birth. The square is followed with a protective charm against the evil eye, followed by a protective charm against fever. The largest section is a spell meant to cause one's enemy to be chased away from the town. It is followed by two fragmentary lines mentioning 'hatred.' Line 23 contains obscure magical symbols.

Recto: part of a business letter. Verso: order of payment for half a raṭl of honey, signed by Abū Zikrī Kohen. (Information from CUDL)

Verso: order of payment by Abū Zikrī Kohen for one half raṭl of soap and the same of perfume. Information from CUDL.

Letter from Khiyār b. Yaʿaqov to Netanel b. Yefet (aka Abū l-Mufaḍḍal Hibat Allāh b. Ḥusayn). In Judaeo-Arabic. The letter concerns a consignment of mercury (zaybaq), which he was unable to sell in Alexandria, since the price was not yet fixed, while in the bourse of Qāḍī Rajā' (in Fustat) it went for 14 dinars per qintar. No merchandise and no letter in the ship from the Maghrib. In the postscript, mentions traders returning from India and alludes to the concern about the disappearance of Abū l-Faraj Nissim. (Information from Goitein's index card and from India Book)

Letter from Natan b. Nahray, from Alexandria, to Musa b. Abi al-Hayy, Fustat. Around the spring of 1080. Musa is traveling and asks the writer to take care of his family in his absence. The writer brought them food (wheat and butter) and money for their expenses. Mentions the Nagid, Mevorakh b. Se’adya. The writer sends him his greetings for his marriage. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #439) VMR