Geniza Lab

A letter in Ladino, possibly to Ya'aqov b. Habib, however, not the same person as the famous author of 'Ayn Ya'aqov. A Ya'aqov b. Habib is also mentioned in the Ladino letter 13J7.30. This letter is dated 1718 CE (5478). The address is then somewhat confusing: "to the sages Alpalas y Sahalon (?), Mitzrayim." It also says "Zurich" (?) in latin characters along with the date. Needs further examination. See "Alpalas y Sahalon" tag for other documents from the same group. ASE.

Letter from Moshe Yehoshuaʿ Ashkenazi, in Alexandria, to Alalas y Sahlon, in Cairo (spelled Cairro). Dated: Sunday, 21 Adar II 5480 AM, which is 1720 CE. In Ladino. There is a great deal about business transactions and trouble with the customs office, specifically with a certain accursed Jirjis. Commodities include linen or flax, coral, and kermes (a red dye). Moshe reports on the arrival of a ship from Marseilles bearing wool, raisins, paper, tin, and kermes, among other things. Moshe seems aggravated: "as there are other things to be doing, I will be brief" (ll. 29–30), and "I have carried out a thousand contrabands but have never had so much trouble as with this one" (in standardized Spanish spelling: mil contra bandos hice nunca me tomé tanto ṣaʿar como esto") (l. 33). See "Alpalas y Sahalon" tag for other documents from the same group. (Information from Grace Masback's Princeton senior thesis, April 2021.)

Letter in Ladino dated Kislev 1719 CE (5480). The address is in both Hebrew and Latin characters: "Al Se[nyor] Alpalas y Sahalon, Cairro." See "Alpalas y Sahalon" tag for more documents from the same group.