Geniza Lab

Image not available. According to Schwarb Catalogue: Business letter from Abu Nasr b. Ibrahim to Abu Zekharia Judah b. Yosef Hakohen. AA

Business letter from the North African merchant Benāya b. Mūsā (Alexandria) to Shelomo b. Mevorakh (Fustat), containing inter alia information about the movement of ships and referring to several India traders. Benāya b. Mūsā asks his correspondent to intercede on his behalf with head of the Jews Mevorakh b. Saʿadya, seeking the latter’s assistance in arbitrating a dispute to which the merchant’s son was a party. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below and Cohen, Jewish Self-Government, pp. 238n96 and 250-251.)

Letter of business to Judge Eliyyahu, mainly about small quantities of sugar candy-- see Goitein Nachlass material

Informal note in Judaeo-Arabic regarding a business matter. VMR. 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.

Business letter. Dated: 12 Tamuz 5559 AM, which is 15 July 1799 CE. Dealing mainly with shipments of silk. Niether writer nor addressee are named.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Describes a legal arrangement, probably a partnership in a store or business. Dating: 12th century, based on the typical hand. Mentions Abū l-Surūr and Ibn al-Sulamī; a period of a year and a half; a quarter of the business proceeds; "except for the verdigris" (illā l-zinjār); and the term muʿāraḍa (objection?). Ends with greetings (ajall al-salām) and a request to write back quickly (וכתבך לא תוכרהא [עני). Verso is blank. AA. ASE.

Business letter (called tadhkira - i.e. a memo) in Judaeo-Arabic to an Ibn Sughmar mentioning, among other things, honey. On the back is an account (list of expenses? nafaqa).

Business letter from Avraham Kolon (קולון) to Yosef Ardiʿa (ארדיעה). In Hebrew. Dating: Monday, 5 Adar [5318 AM], which is 1558 CE (see A. David's article for explanation of the date). The sender was delayed 8 days in Rashīd, as he could not find any camels/cameldrivers to hire, so he sent his perfumes/spices by Nile barge (גרמי). He and R. Yosef have found no buyers for the (ostrich) feather or for the ginger, but he has managed to sell some of the addressee's indigo (אנייר = añir = añil, originally from Arabic al-nīl). If there is a difficult epidemic in Fustat/Cairo, the addressee should put all the goods of Yaʿaqov לוחמית and Yiṣḥaq פורדוניל in storage (? באוצר), as this is not the time to leave any goods with any person. (Information from Avraham David's edition.)

Strip from the right side of a letter, probably regarding business. Signed by Menashshe. AA

Small fragment of a business letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th or 12th century. Mentions [...] b. Jabbāra and a report that ʿAbdallāh traveled from Zanjbār/Zanzibar to Mirbāṭ. Few other specifics are preserved. AA. ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Conveying instructions regarding business transactions in al-Mahdiyya.

no image available. According to Mosseri Catalogue this MS contains various lists, some in Arabic script, regarding business matters. AA

Letter from Zakarya b. Yaʿaqov al-Shama (Tripoli, Libya) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat), ca. 1050. The letter discusses the movement of goods from Tripoli to Fustat and vice versa, as well as the state of the market and prices in Tripoli and in the region of Ifriqiya. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 206.)

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim to Yosef ha-Kohen b. Eli Alfasi, Tyre. Around 1067. Abu Yaakov Yosef b. Eli ha-Kohen is on a ship on his way to , and he is based in Ramla. From there he is traveling to Tyre to receive a shipment from the port. Nahray sends him instructions and asks him about the business. The letter was written in Heshvan 13, and mentions an Islamic holiday that is coming soon. It is probably 10 in Du al-higa that was celebrated in October, 1066-1068. The letter mentions important details about exporting goods from . (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 3, pp. 271-276, #508). VMR

Letter. One of the small handful of Judaeo-Arabic papyri. Labeled "papyrus I" in the classification of Blau and Hopkins. Dating: Probably 9th century or earlier. Unlikely to have come from the Cairo Geniza; it is possible that most or all of these documents derive from a commercial circle in Ushmūn. This is a letter from Ḥusayn b. Suwayd to his business partner Abū Yaʿqūb Isḥāq b. Ṣadaqa. (Same sender and addressee as Judaeo-Arabic papyrus XIII.) It deals entirely with shipments of garments and payments. (Information from Blau and Hopkins, and from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 282.)

Letter from Hassun b. Yiṣḥaq to a partner. Business letter discussing payments and shipments, apparently of flax and textiles. Dated ca. 1050. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #807)

Letter from Barakat b. Hibat Allah al-Ja'fari to Abu al-'Ala Sa'id b. Munajja ('Ulla b. Yosef ha-Levi, the parnas in Fustat). Complete letter containing personal and business matters. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Alexandria to Abū l-Maʿānī. Business letter fragment concerning various transactions, some of which are taking place in Alexandria, and mentioning the purchase of poppy seed and rice and a codex apparently used as surety. Some text on the verso seems to belong to the same letter. The rest of the verso is a different (but potentially related) document in Arabic script. (Information from Goitein's index cards and CUDL)

Letter. Family letter dealing with grain and payments, and extending greetings. Largely effaced. (Information from Goitein's index cards)