Geniza Lab

Letter, possibly from the physician Abu Zikri (identification based on handwriting and style), to unidentified addressees "who are to me like my parents." Fragment. The writer excuses himself for being unable to fulfill a duty on account of his ophthalmia (ramad). He sends regards to "the noble physicians" Seʿadya, Sar Shalom, Yehuda ha-Ḥazzān, Moshe, and Yaʿqūb and ʿAbdūn and their little brother. He closes with good wishes for the high holy days and begs the addressees to forget all rancor against him, "for how close is the death of man . . . The measure of a friend is how he bears the pain (or offenses, ḍarar) of his friend." The transcription is tentative in several places. Merits further examination. ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, perhaps addressed to Eliyyahu the Judge. The writer worries about various family members: a woman whose brothers refuse to support her (r1-5); the niece (?) of the recipient and her daughter (r5-6). Mentions sending to Fakhr things that belong to her (r8). The writer has sent various garments with Suwayd (r13-14). Mentions the troubles of al-Rayyis al-Ḥakīm Abū Zikrī and that he is unable to send his children even 5 dirhams. "Have patience with Abū Zikrī, for he is your only remaining son, and do not do anything to him except what he deserves" (r14-v1). Sitt al-Khayr is preoccupied on behalf of the recipient (v2); Nissim sends his regards (v3); al-Shaykh Hiba sends his regards (v7). The remainder of verso is somewhat difficult to understand. See also Goitein's notes attached to BL OR 10578C.1 (PGPID 6310), where this document is mislabeled as Gaster 1357.8 (rather than 10). ASE.

Note from Yefet b. Yosef (both son and father are called "teacher," melammed) to Abu Zikri the physician, the son of Eliyyahu the judge asking him to send the tutty (zinc oxide for ophthalmic use) that he had promised the writer before his departure. Information from Goitein's note card. ASE.

Note from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to his brother, the physician Abū Zikrī, written in an extremely cursive script. He informs Abū Zikrī that the turban and ten rings (or seals) have arrived. The old woman (their mother Sitt Rayḥān?) is ill with a cough, headache, fever, and chills. ASE.

Letter from Abu Zikri the physician (in Jerusalem?) to his father Eliyyahu the judge in Fustat. Abu Zikri is terribly worried that he will die before seeing his father again, and he begs his father to forgive his offenses. He has sent many letters already with the same purpose. Apart from a hidden illness that he cannot divulge in a letter lest it fall into the hands of his enemies, he suffers from a weak liver, an enlarged spleen, indigestion, lack of appetite, and fatigue with the smallest exertion. He only goes to the market once or twice a week to obtain necessaries, and even that is with difficulty. ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (top part only). The hand is reminiscent of that of Abū Zikrī b. Eliyyahu the Judge. The sender asks for an update on whether the addressee had a reconciliation with the elders (? in ṭāba qalbuhu maʿa l-mashāyikh) and may encourage him to come together with Abū l-Makārim al-Kohen or with al-Dayyān Rabbenu [...]. On verso there are a couple words in Arabic script (incl. qīrāṭ) and Greek/Coptic numerals. VMR. ASE.

Letter from Abū Zikrī to his father Eliyyahu the Judge. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Late 12th or early 13th century. The letter conveys eloquent greetings for Hannuka (recto). Abū Zikrī was sick ever since arriving in [...], but he has started to recover, and now he suffers only the remnants of the illness. He sends regards to numerous family members and friends (verso). In a postscript, he writes, "You know, my master, that the reason for my illness is the death of R. Avraham." And he claims that the reason he has been unable to come in person is that he does not want to [see?] a Fustat that is bereft of Avraham. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, V, p. 395 and from Goitein's index cards.) ASE

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic of a man to his social superior mentioning that a Nasi asked the writer's father to travel with him to Alexandria. The writer is very sick and is afraid he wil soon die. Also his mother is sick, as is his wife, so he asks the recipent to talk to the Nasi that he will not make such a great request upon the father. On the back is what remains of the address: "your slave Shelomo be-Rabbi Eliyyah." There is also a piyyut and 5 lines of a legal document dealing with the house of Ibn Qurra and mentioning the Iraqi synagogue. ASE.

Letter from Abū Manṣūr, unknown location, to Abū Zikrī al-Rayyis b. Eliyyahu, in Fustat or in Qalyūb ('wherever he may be'). In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. Rudimentary and distinctive hand. The writer is certainly a relative of the addressee, perhaps a brother-in-law or paternal cousin (or both), as he asks about the welfare of Abū Zikrī's wife. The letter mentions debts to the tax collectors (ḥushshār, l. 17). The writer complains that the addressee has been absent too long from his wife and mother. The date, added to the last line, is the 30th of the Omer (15 Iyar), but no year is provided.

A letter in stylishly rhyming Judaeo-Arabic addressed to Abu Sahl and his three sons, Abu l-Mansur, Barakat, and the boy Abu l-Fadl. The writer is likely named Abu Zikri (see line 12 of verso), which, along with the handwriting and elevated register, suggests that this is the well-known son of Eliyyahu the Judge. Abu Sahl appears to be his father-in-law, since the writer opens with a detailed update about his wife. Recto 1-5: Greetings to the above mentioned. Recto 5-12: Extended greetings to Shaykh Abu l-Hajjaj Yusuf. Recto 12-24:The writer, his young daughter, and his wife yearn for his mother-in-law, who seems to have visited recently and assisted with childcare. Everyone in the house is also helping his wife, who is in the state that God knows (often a figure of speech for illness). His daughter is starting to recognize everyone in the house, including visitors, and also serves her mother. Recto 22 – Verso 30: Following these pleasant updates, the remainder of the letter is a blistering tirade against Barakat who affects intelligence but whose brain produces only "mucus, delirium, and madness [al-mukhāṭ wa-l-hadhayān wa-l-khubāṭ].” The dispute that led to Barakat’s recent imprudent letter (“ravings long, wide, and thick emerging from a mind that is sick [hadhayān kathīr ṭawīl 'arīḍ ṣadar 'an dhihn marīḍ]") is detailed in lines 5-15 of verso. It had to do with financial arrangements for the trousseau and rent of Barakat’s cousin, the daughter of his maternal aunt. Verso 32-end: Closing greetings. ASE.

Letter of condolence from a certain Yaʿaqov to Eliyyahu the Judge ("wherever he is"). Dating: Early 13th century. In Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew. The orthography, including of biblical quotations, is phonetic and idiosyncratic. It is not clear who died. The main text consists almost entirely of condolences and exhortations to have patience (ṣabr). Four lines from the bottom, Yaʿaqov writes, "As for Abū Zikrī, the world very nearly departed him. But he is still wretched. He had patience and was consoled. He was hardly able to write to you after the terrible blow, had we not made him him write to you. . . . He lay sick in bed for a period of three months. [. . .] took up his treatment . . . until God saw fit take to His trust." (For the strange-seeming phrase "lahu marīḍ," see also ENA 2738.37.) The context is unfortunately quite difficult to decipher. It is possible that Abū Zikrī died, or, perhaps more likely, the 'taking of the trust' refers to the same person whose death provided the occasion for this letter. There is no way to know for sure, but it is plausible that this letter is connected to T-S 24.72, a letter of condolence from Abū Zikrī to his father Eliyyahu in which he describes the terrible illnesses that afflicted him after he learned of the death of his brother. ASE.

Letter in Arabic script conveying a request not to keep back a man who is 'one of the peasants of my brother' (wa-huwa min fallāḥīn akhī), who was was dāmin al-dukkān, and wanted to travel to his place, Kalabshā (in Nubia, near Aswān). (Information from Goitein's index card and Marina Rustow.)

Letter from Manṣūr Kohen to Eliyyahu the Judge (Abū l-Faraj b. al-Rayyis). In Judaeo-Arabic. There are several letters by this writer: see tag. This letter mentions al-Ra'īs al-Ḥakīm Abū Zikrī and al-Rashīd Abū l-Ḥasan. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter possibly from Abū Zikrī the physician to his father Eliyyahu the judge. Written in rhymed Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. Goitein comments, "One hardly knows where phraseology ends and facts come in. E.g., complains about his bad salty ???." He gives a cryptic update on the (his?) mother ("not used to the state in which she is"). (Information in part from CUDL and Goitein's index card.)

Letter fragment (upper right corner). Addressed to the writer's father. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions a young man from Aleppo and a medicinal syrup. The letter is written in rhymed prose, like many of Abū Zikrī b. Eliyyahu's letters, and the handwriting is actually quite similar.

Letter from Judge Eliyyahu to his two sons Abu Zikri and Shelomo. He wants them to come back from Jerusalem. 13th century.

Letter from Avraham b. Rav Shelomo the Yemeni, in Jerusalem, to Eliyyahu the Judge, in Fustat. Written not long after T-S 8J16.3 (same sender, same addressee). Dating: ca. 1214 CE (Goitein's estimate). Avraham mentions a "brother-like" relationship with Abū Bishr that he entered into at Eliyyahu's recommendation, however Abū Bishr has died and the authorities have confiscated all his property. Avraham also mentions divorcing a woman in Jerusalem "after much suffering and paying her more than was due her." Abū Zikrī, Eliyyahu's son and Avraham's former roommate, can tell Eliyyahu more about what happened. Avraham requests that Eliyyahu convey the news of the divorce to Avraham's son and to the son's mother. He also requests charity for a man who recently arrived in Jerusalem after a harrowing journey. (Information in part from S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 3:47, 262, 437, 485.) EMS. ASE.

Letter from the physician Abū Zikrī, in Jerusalem, to his father Eliyyahu the Judge, in Fustat. Abū Zikrī reports that his masters, the princes al-Malik al-ʿAzīz and al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam, were laying siege to Damascus and that he was unable to get through to them to request a leave. Although ill himself, the writer states that he visited the sultan’s palace every other day. The letter also makes a note of “our colleagues at Qūṣ.” (Eliyyahu Ashtor, “The Number of Jews in Medieval Egypt,” JJS 18 (1967), 18; and S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:347, 603.) "Do not send me the biqyār (a goat-hair garment?), because I am not well, and I am thinking of how you will fare after my death. How terrible would it be to receive your garment in the tailor's packaging, unopened! Ever since you left, I have not even had a single week of health. Regarding the collyria and equipment that you requested, I have not been able to get to it, because I am ill. I am wintering in Jerusalem, because the army is at Damascus, and I am stranded here, and cannot leave without an order from the sultan." EMS. ASE.

Letter from Abū l-Faraj and his son Abū l-Majd in Bilbays to Eliyyahu the Judge (who is the cousin, ibn khāl, of Abū l-Faraj). They have been in Bilbays only a brief time, since 17 Iyyar, seeking a living there because of difficult economic conditions in Alexandria. But this project has not worked out, and so they are planning to return to Alexandria. The main purpose of the letter is to ask Eliyyahu to rebuke another Abū l-Faraj, who owes the writer 18 dinars, and force him to pay. The writer had deposited the money (and other goods) with this Abū l-Faraj on the night before he traveled; this was witnessed by another cousin (ibn khāla) of Eliyyahu, Manṣūr b. Sahlān. The writer told Abū l-Faraj to draw up a contract for the deposit/loan, but he never did so. (Probably he is now denying that he owes anything.) "If I had known that the matter would turn out like this, {I} wouldn't have given him a penny. . . . My greatest need from you is to rebuke Abū l-Faraj, for he is a heretic [zindīq]. My only salvation from him will be through God and through you. I am shocked at how he treated my son. . . . I am now a piece of flesh: I lack money, sight, and a living." He mentions his weak vision earlier in the letter, too, when explaining the "delay of my raḥl (merchandise? travel?)." Also of interest in the letter is what Abū l-Faraj conveys about his hospitality for Eliyyahu's son, the physician Abū Zikrī, who returned from Jerusalem the previous year. Initially, Abū Zikrī stayed with Abū l-Faraj the son of the Parnas. But after Yom Kippur, the writer said, "He should stay with me instead of with strangers." And thus they lived together, "head to head"—apparently an expression of his great hospitality. When the writer and his son, along with Asad and Abū l-Munā, started preparing to travel (to Fustat?), they urged Abū Zikrī to come with them, citing the wishes of Eliyyahu, but he refused. Asad ended up advancing him 17 dirhams for the capitation tax. Abū Zikrī has no intention of coming, but rather is staying in the house of the writer, along with Sulaymān the Yemeni (perhaps the father of Avraham b. Shelomo the Yemeni, who lived with Abū Zikrī in Jerusalem, and who had family in Bilbays, see T-S 8J16.3 and T-S 13J21.5). Abū Zikrī's motivations seem in part financial—he says he will not come until his father sends him 10 dinars. The letter is full of idiosyncratic spellings, many probably reflecting colloquial pronunciation. ASE.

Letter. The hand and style resemble those of Abū Zikrī the son of Eliyyahu the Judge. In Judaeo-Arabic, high register, rhymed prose. The contents are very difficult and need further examination. The writer seems to be defending himself against a rebuke he received from the addressee. He mentions his mother several times as well as a woman in labor, but the latter might be proverbial ("I hear that a woman in labor (makhīḍa) when nothing happens becomes enraged (maghīẓa).") He conveys good wishes for the addressee's recovery from an illness (r23–25). ASE.