Geniza Lab

Letter in Hebrew from Azarya Zeevi, Jerusalem, to Yiṣḥaq Castro, Cairo/Fusṭāṭ. Dating: mid-seventeenth century. Should be read together with T-S 20.67—same writer and addressee. The first page is very effaced and difficult to read. ʿAzarya opens with praise for the addressee (r1–4), reports that he received two of his letters (r5–6) and mentioned earlier letters (r9). He mentions the loss of certain "items" (r11). He mentions הר״י אפמדו י״א (r17), who is also mentioned in a negative light in the preceding letter. He discusses the trade in precious stones (r12) and jewelry (r15, 18, 25), apparently with traders from קושנדי, i.e., Istanbul (r19). He then expands on his request for donations for the community of Hevron by way of R. Zerahya [Gota] (v2). Information entirely from Avraham David's edition on FGP.

Partnership agreement dated November 1739 CE (Heshvan 5500) between Nissim Kaspi b. Moshe and Moshe Kohen b. Yehudah Kohen. Signed by Avraham Castro and Nissim (ha-ẓaʿīr) Kaspi and Moshe Magor[...].

Legal document. In Hebrew. Location: Fustat. Dated: 2 Heshvan 5320 AM, which is 1560 CE. Regarding the will of the late Avraham Castro. Stating that the entire inheritance will be divided evenly between Avraham's sons Moshe Castro and Yaʿaqov Castro. However, Moshe will not receive anything for two years, and in the meantime, Yaʿaqov will be free to do business with the money. During this period, Yaʿaqov will also have to pay for the maintenance and the wedding of Moshe, "the same amount he spends on himself" plus an additional 10 Venetian ducats (peraḥim) each year. Scribed and signed by Eliyya b. David חברייה. Signed also by Makhlūf b. Avraham עקאב.

Letter. In Hebrew. Eliyya b. Elyaqim, in Crete, writes to Moshe b. Yehuda, in Alexandria. Dating: 1484 CE (written in the document in the Italian portion on verso). Subject: Commissions of a manuscript and shipments of wine and cheese. Regarding the manuscript, Eliyya has been tasked with acquiring a copy of Nachmanides's commentary on the Torah. He first approached the notable Vittore Royge (? השר ויטור רויגע) who knew nothing about how to obtain it. He asked further and found one copy on new paper in an excellent hand for 8 ducats. He has also heard rumors of another one on parchment for 15 ducats. Eliyya asks for instructions on how to proceed. Eliyya sends regards to Ṣedaqa (Nes or Nīs) and Avraham Talmid and Yosef Castro Sefaradi. Verso contains three lines of writing in Italian and the mirror-image imprint of some biblical verses.

Court record. Location: Fustat/Cairo. Dated: 5307 AM, which is 1546/47 CE. The case involves the payment of the ketubba for Esther, the widow of Moshe Castro, and a debt that the late Moshe was owed by the well-known merchant Avraham b. Shānjī, also dead. The story begins in Jerusalem when the widow demanded payment from Shemuel b. Avraham Ibn Shānjī that he repay the debt of his father (80 Venetian ducats). Later, in Fustat/Cairo, the case came before the judge David Ibn Abi Zimra. See A. David's edition on FGP for further information.

Letter from Moshe Castro, in Jerusalem, to Avraham Ibn Shānjī, in Fustat/Cairo. Written in Hebrew. Dating: 1513/14 CE, based on the assessment of Avraham David. The writer requests for donations for the benefit of the Jerusalem community such as for building expenses (ll.21–31) and for needy individuals (ll.4–9). Mentions an "azul" (blue) garment. Information from FGP.

Letter from Binyamin Castro to a business partner. In Hebrew. Dating: 16th century. Informing the addressee about the death of Moshe b. Shoshan (ll. 2–3), a merchant of Alexandria who had dealings with Venetian merchants and consuls (ll. 4–5). Moshe also owed the writer some money (ll. 3–4). He asks the addressee to assist him in taking possession of merchandise belonging to the late Moshe and thereby getting his debt repaid (ll. 11–12, 14–15). "For now the partnership between us is annulled" (ll. 15–16). But he is prepared to renew the partnership with the apotropos Yaʿaqov ha-Levi. There is further discussion of business in khiyār (purging cassia?) (ll. 16–18, 23–25) in partnership with Yehuda al-Ashqar. Mentions financial trouble with the çavuş and the basha and the defterdar and asks for the addressee's help. Information from A. David's edition on FGP.

Business letter from Yehuda Castro to Binyamin Castro. In Hebrew. Dating: 16th century. The sender reports on business developments in crops, fruits, and vegetables, and emphasizes his trade with Venice (l. 11). A piece of Binyamin's response is preserved at the bottom of verso. He asks Avraham to speak to the דפטדאר (=defterdar?). (Information from Avraham David via FGP.)

Letter from Avraham Castro, in Alexandria, to an unknown addressee, in Fustat/Cairo. In Hebrew. Dating: 16th century (Avraham Castro died in 1560). The writer had a position overseeing trade or taxation in Alexandria. This letter is quite damaged, but it seems to deal with ships and 'the tower' and 'the men of the tower' and bribery. Information in part from FGP.

Letter from Avraham Castro (the grandson of the well-known minter) to a certain Shelomo. In Hebrew. Dating: Second half of the 16th century. Deals with business matters. The writer wishes the addressee to give employment or credit to a certain Yiṣḥaq Qājījī, "one of the influential men of Palestine," who suffered great financial loss due to bad figs. Ṭodros ha-Kohen adds a note in the margin affirming the veracity fo the letter's contents. Information from Avraham David via FGP, and in part from Gottheil-Worrell, Fragments from the Cairo Genizah, p. 237.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic from a certain Reuven [Najjar y Feliz?] to Moshe Najjar y Feliz, probably his brother, dated 4 Settembre '56. It deals primarily with the trade in textiles and clothing. In addition to the recipient, two other business partners are awaiting news and a shipment from the writer: Se. Simḥa (אלס׳ סמחה) and Se. Iro (? אלס׳ אירו). The writer has sent a shipment bearing the the name "Fratelli Najjar" in Italian ("fī-l-talyāno") and bearing the initials FN (which he writes out in Latin script). Another interesting linguistic feature: the recipient seems to be addressed in the second line as "O Mosas" (יא מוזאז). In the second line of the margin, the writer alludes to information that R. Moshe Castro had conveyed to the recipient, suggesting a date of mid-16th-century—so perhaps 4 September, 1556 CE. ASE.

Almost certainly the address of the letter in the previous shelfmark: to Fusṭāṭ, to Fratelli Najjar. Again mentions Moshe Castro in a postscript.

Substantial, late acccount in Judaeo-Arabic, at least one part of which is headed "list of debts." People named include: Avraham Yerushalmi; Yehuda Leon; Yeshūʿa al-Ḥāmī; Moshe Sūsī ("the stranger"); Avraham Abulafia; Meir and Yehuda Garizon (? גאריזון). On the other side: a Castro, Yehuda Leon again; Meir Garizon again; Avraham Yerushalmi again.

Letter from Moshe b. Binyamin Ashkenazi, probably in Fustat/Cairo, to Avraham Castro, probably in Alexandria or Jerusalem. Dating: 16th century. The sender describes how "from the other week we have been shut in, because the epidemic began (כי החל הנגף). Most of those who were stricken have recovered, "except for 2 or 3 infants," but the epidemic continues in Cairo. (Information from A. David's edition.)

Legal document concerning houses that are part of the estate of the deceased Abraham Castro. At the time of writing, Mordechai רקאק is renting one property, and Shemuʾel Ibn Yaḥyā rents another. The document also mentions the following individuals, who have a family connection to the estate of Abraham Castro: Jacob Castro he-Ḥakham, Isaac Castro, Joseph Saʿadya, and Esther the sister of Isaac. This document refers to several previous documents that were brought to the judges for authorisation. The first of these was dated Thursday 3rd Nisan 5402 (= 1642 CE), signed by Habib דנון and Moses [...]. The second document was dated 1643 CE, signed Moses Reuben the scribe, Isaac Castro and Judah [...]. The following judges approved the previous documents: Judah (?) b. Hezekiah ha-Kohen, Menaḥem ha-Kohen, and [...] Barukh, dated Monday 8th [...] 5416 (= 1656 CE) in Cairo. The document is signed by Shelomo b. Shemuʾel, Somekh ha-Kohen (scribe), and Shelomo b. Ezra (?). (Information from CUDL)

Legal document. In Hebrew. Concerning a debt of 52 Venetian ducats (peraḥim) owed by Avraham Aripol (אריפול) to Yaʿaqov Castro (קשטרו). Dated: Monday, 20 Av 5348 AM, which is 1588 CE. Location: Fustat/Cairo. Written by Yosef b. Meʾir Somekh (סומך) ha-Kohen. At the foot of the page is a postscript in a different hand, signed Yom Ṭov Miṭrani (מטראני), confirming the document was approved by R. Beṣalel Ashkenazi (אשכנזי). (Information from CUDL)

Letter from R. Azarya Zeevi of Jerusalem to R. Yizhaq Castro in Egypt, 1640. Should be read together with AIU VII.D.102—same writer and same addressee. This letter contains a lengthy and convoluted account of the exchanges and transfers of a certain sum of money and how Azarya bested their enemy who had other designs on the money. There is a great wealth of information here about market values of different curencies. People mentioned: הר"י אפמאדו (also mentioned in the other letter, identity unknown, appears to be the same "enemy" alluded to at the beginning); הר״מ זגאן; Yaʿaqov Yaʿish; the writer's father Yisrael Binyamin Zeevi (d. 1688 after an illustrious career in Alexandria and Jerusalem); Zerahya Gota (from Istanbul, a student of Yosef de Trani. In the 1630s he was known as one of the sages of Jerusalem and Hebron. Later he lived in Rashid and then Fustat/Cairo); Yizhaq Baso; Eliyya Ovadya; Shelomo Barukh; Yaʿaqov Levi; Mordekhai Kohen; Azarya b. Vilisad (? וילייסיד), also mentioned in the other letter by Zeevi to Castro, a sage who moved from Istanbul to Jerusalem in the first half of the 17th century. As for the writer and addressee: Azarya Zeevi died after 1652 CE. He is mentioned by David Conforte, who knew him personally, in Qore ha-Dorot. He was the son-in-law of Shemuel Ibn Sid (=Shemuel Sidi?). He was among those taken captive by the Bedouin Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Farukh in 1625/6 (see Horvot Yerushalayim, printed in Venice in 1636). ENA 1846.3–4 is a letter that Azarya Zeevi later received from Avraham Yachini (the Sabbatean?) from Istanbul. Evr. II A 1804, an anonymous letter sent to a certain Moshe, mentions a "R. Azarya." Yiṣḥaq Castro: The son of the better-known R. Yaʿaqov Castro. Conforte wrote about him too in Qore ha-Dorot. He is later mentioned in a legal document in the year 1650/1 CE in BL OR5561.b14. Denominations mentioned: sharifis (=ashrafis from the mid 15th century); arayot (=European coins used in the east, Löwenthaler in German); ibrahimis (=coins minted by Avraham Castro in the first half of the 16th century); gerushim (=sometimes identical with arayot, sometimes identical with reales, apparently); zecchinos (Venetian sequins); and reales (Iberian coins from the 14th century); muayyadis (Ottoman coin named after the Mamluk sultan al-Muayyad Shaykh, current in the 15th and 16th centuries). Information entirely from Avraham David's transcription and footnotes.

Legal document in Arabic script. Fragmentary (right side only). Dating: Unclear if this is the date of the document itself, but the document mentions the year 955 AH, which is 1548/49 CE (l. 11). The judge is al-ḥākim al-shamsī Shams al-Dīn [...]. The document mentions several people, notably Yehuda b. Avraham b. Yosef Castro, presumably identical with the merchant Yehuda Castro known from CUL Or.1080 J133, ENA 2808.2, ENA NS 54.7 (though this seems too late), T-S NS 320.127, and probably other Geniza documents. Also mentions Isḥāq b. Isrāʾīl b. Yaḥyā al-Yahūdī. Also mentions al-Raʾīs Muḥammad; certification (taṣdīq) of claims; various large sums of money (including 800 medins/niṣfs and al-dhhab al-sulṭānī); a ship; and Istanbul (اسطنبول). There is one witness signature preserved here, of [...] al-Ḥanafī. Needs further examination.

Letter from a certain Yisrael, in Jerusalem, to Avraham Castro (d. 1560), in Cairo. In Hebrew. Asking for charity and for his family of 8 individuals. (Information from A. David's edition via FGP.)

Legal document issued by a beit din likely under the direction of Rabbi David Ibn Abi Zimra (lived 1479-1573CE). In Hebrew. Dated: 10 of Adar (or Av?) 5292 AM, which in either case is 1532 CE. The document involves Avraham Castro who appoints Rabbi David Ibn Abi Zimra to pursue the issuance of a get for his daughter from the hand of her husband Naftali b. Ṣadaqa. Signed by Shemuel ha-Levi [b. Moshe Hakim] and Natan ha-Sofer [b. Abraham]. Information from edition in Dotan Arad's dissertation (p. 351). MCD.