Geniza Lab

Letter sent from Jerusalem in later medieval times by a woman named Jamila, the widow of Yehuda, addressing two brothers-in-law in Cairo, explaining that she could not come with the last caravan since she had visitors from Damascus who had fled from the plague, but promising she would come with the next caravan. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, p. 115)

Letter from חצרייה(?) and her mother to פוצילא. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably no earlier than 14th century. The writers report on the condition of the neighborhood, which is stricken with an epidemic (magefa) and, barukh ha-shem, various people in the addressee's family have been stricken (inḍarabū). No one is left in the house except for the writer, the daughters (באנת = בנאת?) and the female slave. There is a postscript, "Do not blame your mother, because your mother has no sense. This is Shuml (=Shemuel?)." Needs further examination.

Letter from an unknown writer, in Rashīd, to the sage R. Badosa, in Fustat/Cairo. In Hebrew. Dating: Second half of the 16th century. The writer describes the fear in Rashīd that an epidemic will break out. In the continuation it becomes apparent that the epidemic is already in Fustat/Cairo. The writer heard from Yiṣḥaq Ashkenazi and from Yeshuʿa Zimati(?) that for five days there has been no new case (in Fustat/Cairo). The writer is about to embark on a journey to flee the epidemic. He has hired passage to an unnamed location on a ship from Damietta (? דמאת) together with Yosef Ṭaffār and some other "good Jews." They plan to leave on Friday. If the addressee should wish to come to Rashīd, he should not carry any money with him, because the roads are dangerous. The writer's sister will remain Rashīd until the addressee arrives; in the meantime, the writer has made all necessary provisions for her. Information in part from FGP. ASE

Letter draft from an anonymous shaliaḥ, in Fustat/Cairo, to an unknown addressee, in Jerusalem. In Hebrew. Dated: Monday, 22 Raḥamim, 5595 AM, which is 1835 CE. There is some ambiguity about the specific day. If Raḥamim is Elul, the 22nd should have been a Wednesday. But perhaps Raḥamim here means Av, when the 22nd did fall on a Monday. The letter conveys a remarkable tale of the writer's fortunes ever since he left Jerusalem on a fundraising mission on behalf of a certain Kollel. He first went to Gaza (not Giza as his spelling might suggest), where he bought passage to Suez with some gentiles from Bethlehem. In Suez (or before arriving there?), he came down with a terrible fever for ~24 days. He paid a Muslim woman a qirsh a day to wash his soiled clothing in the sea. When he entered the city, he found an epidemic (cholera?). All the gentiles were trying to flee in boats to Jedda. The writer too tried to flee, but a certain officer came and commandeered the boat, kicking him and a group of Damascenes off of the boat. The writer then had a second bout of fever ("my whole body burnt, and my tongue cleaved to my palate, and I went to the doctor, who treated/cured me a second time"). By this point all his money had run out. Shortly thereafter he developed an eye disease. There follows a long tale of how he relied on the hospitality and charity of various strangers, mentioning various "polisas" (securities), various letters proving his status as a shaliaḥ that he had to present, and various people--Jews and gentiles--whom he turned to for help. Relatively early on he made his way to Fustat/Cairo, where he had little success raising money or gaining allies. The capitation tax collector (baʿal ha-kharāj) apprehended him for failing to pay for 'the third year' (he had only paid for the years '50 and '51) and he spent three days in prison, where he fell ill again for the fourth time. He got out of prison through the intercession of Muʿallim Bekhor. His subsequent luck raising money was no more successful than before. He mentions going to the Beit Midrash to sleep there, because he had nowhere else to turn. The end of this letter is a plea for the addressee to send him money. The letter ends mid-sentence, and there is no address, suggesting that it was never sent (and thus could find its way into the Geniza). ASE.

Letter sent to ha-Talmid ha-Baḥur Nissim Agostaro (אגושתארו) in Alexandria from his father Shelomo Agostaro, including a warning that he should not come to Cairo before the epidemic has finished, because every day one or two people die. There are greetings to many people, among them Mordechai, Esther, Shabbetay and Shemuʾel. (Information from CUDL)

Letter in Ladino from the merchant Avraham Mayo to his father, probably from Alexandria to Fustat/Cairo, dealing with numerous business transactions and the arrival of a Venetian ship. Avraham reports that he received his father's letter stating that he had selected the saffron and sold two out of three fardos (sacks) of גֿידארי (possibly an Indian textile known as "gudari"; possibly the Turkish headgear "çidari"; the diacritical mark over the ג indicates that it is not simply a hard "g"). Avraham and his partner Sulaymān will purchase as much גֿידארי as they can find and send it. "Here, he and I are like brothers. Just so, you and Khuḍayyir should be like brothers. Always help him." Avraham then mentions five sacks of raisins. He then lists the goods he has sent to his father: (1) fifteen panes of lead marked "Mayo Kavakado"; (2) five espuertas (baskets) of lead oxide (מרדסינך, probably from the Persian "murda-sang"; thanks to Professor Daniel Sheffield for this identification), which bear the seal of Sulaymān; (3) and 107 "kedives" (?) of fine Istanbul iron, which he has sent in the company of Khuḍayyir. The lead cost 3 ducats, amounting to 32 Venetian ducats and 33 muayyadis. The lead oxide cost 100 ducats, amounting to 845 [. . .], and the iron cost 182 ducats, amounting to [...]. Avraham paid 37 muayyadis for the גֿירמה (from context: the warehouse? See verso, l. 21). He then reports how much it cost him to transport each good to Rashid, whence they were presumably transported to Fustat/Cairo. Avraham paid 29.5 Venetian ducats for the five sacks of raisins—it seems this is equivalent to 60 muayyadis per qintal—and he is pleased to have gotten the best raisins from the ship at such a good price. He paid 100 Venetian ducats and 100 coronas for the "mersa" (? מירסה) and asks his father to write quickly [if he wants any], because mersa is in high demand. He also purchased some more raisins, and five qintals of cheese (? קיסה) for 1 corona per qintal. Avraham asks his father to send him some of the capital, because he needs to put it to use "between now and Sukkot" during the mercantile season, otherwise "large groups like those that come from Venice" [will outcompete us? the sentence seems incomplete], and it is better for his father to live on his earnings rather than on the business capital ("el cavdal"). Avraham further reports that the [...] of the city died yesterday after two days of suffering from the plague. 'The young son of the teacher (al-muʿallim) is wounded. The Muslims ("moros") are fighting once again ("de nuevo se hieren").' Avraham then gives instructions for what Bunyal should buy on his behalf ("not lentils, but rather a piece of רוודי מתלוק"). Avraham asks his father to inform Yaʿaqov b. Ḥabīb that Moshe b. Hīnī arrived and told Avraham that he had abandoned the gum (la goma) in Rashid, because he could not find cameldrivers and because it was too heavy to transport any other way. He left the gum there in trust ("encomendado"), with enough money for cameldrivers and other expenses for it to be transported onward. "When it arrives, we will be diligent to sell it, do not have any preoccupation." Avraham must have taken a break, because the next thing he writes is, "The gum has arrived." He concludes the letter with kisses for his mother and for Yizhaq and for Nissim. In a first postscript, he asks his father to go and examine Khuḍayyir's sacks of raisins and see if any bear the sign of the anchor and [...], and to write to Avraham with this information. In the second postscript, he asks his father to send good, big, "Qaitbey" [...]s (coins minted under Qaitbey?) with either Ibn Ḥabīb or with Bunyal, whoever comes, and that he is to leave them for Avraham in the גֿירמאס. But if neither of them plan to come, then the goods should be sent with Shemuel Kohen, "and write to him that they belong to Raḥamim." The last line of the letter mentions a cryptic good (linen? firewood? לינו די סאפאר) and says "do not write his response" (?), perhaps because it is a sensitive matter. Date: Plausibly written in 1513/14 CE, based on (1) a reference to Yaʿaqov b. Ḥabīb, who may be identical with the famous author of the ʿAyn Yaʿaqov who died in 1516 CE, and (2) a reference to a plague victim, and (3) a known recurrence of the bubonic plague in Egypt in 1513/14. On the other hand, there is at least one other Yaʿaqov b. Ḥabīb in Geniza documents from the early 18th century (see AIU VII.D.104 and AIU VII.E.30). Then again, Moss. VII,16.2 is a fragment of a Hebrew document from 1544/5 CE centered on an Avraham, a Raḥamim, and the raisin trade. Information largely from Grace Masback's edition and translation in her Junior Paper, "Avraham Mayo’s Egypt in the Age of Exploration." ASE.

Letter probably from a man, in Jerusalem, probably to a woman named Marḥaba, perhaps in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic, with many colloquial forms (incl. the suffix שי for verbs that are negated). Dating: Late, probably no earlier than 15th century, based on handwriting and language. The letter is full of grief and self-pity. This fragment begins with a discussion of the death of a woman; the writer's father and mother have also died; the writer resents being rebuked for the lack of letters. On verso, "We see others congratulating each other on/with their children, and I am in sorrow. . . You have killed my soul. . . This deed that you have done, nobody does this. If someone sends a piece of news and reports that someone (or the wife of someone, āl fulānī?) died, I am confounded, I don't know if I should mourn or not." The writer requests a proper letter containing news of the address and the family. "You asked if we have an epidemic (magefa) here in Jerusalem. Thank God, there is no evil and no heat (? lā sharr wa-lā ḥarr, probably an idiom). After greeting those of you who have survived, (I inform you) that your son and brother-in-law are well." ASE