Geniza Lab

Business letter. Probably from Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Maghribī al-Tūnisī (upper right of recto). In Arabic script, in an experienced hand. Dating: Possibly Mamluk-era. On recto, the sender describes various commercial transactions (l. 15r). Toward the bottom of recto, he mentions the following: 3 aqfāṣ of antimony; lead; 7 chests of mercury and verdigris; 6 chests of soap; 7 chests of labdanum; later on, arsenic; and something "to India." On verso, he mentions [...] b. Muḥammad al-Shāṭir on two occasions (l. 1v, 17v); he gives prices for pepper and ginger; mentions the return from the ḥajj (al-nuzūl baʿd al-ḥajj); and mentions saffron. He says that he and Abū Naṣr visited the Nā'ib of Jedda, who received them graciously (l. 8v). MCD. ASE.

Letter from David b. Amar Madini. Around 1040. The addressee and place are missing. The writer expect deliveries from the addressee and suggests he would send them (but not the gold) with one of three people, including two Muslims with the name “Hajj” (that made a pilgrimage to Mecca in the past). Mentions trading of pearls (or corals), cloths, silk, and more. Dated between 1038 and 1045. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #655) VMR

Letter from Yaʿaqov the physician (known as 'the effective'), in Shamṭūniyya, near Kūfa, Iraq, to his pupil and perhaps son-in-law Yūsuf, in Jūma Mazīdat (unidentified location; Gil suggests that it is also in Iraq, near Sūra). Dating: Probably beginning of the 11th century. Yaʿaqov reports that he arrived safely in Baghdad on the 15th of Tammuz. He looked for Mājid but was told that he had already come and gone before Shavuot, and he looked for Abū l-Riḍā b. al-Ṣadr al-Tājir al-Baghdādī but was told that he had traveled to Hamadān. Yaʿaqov is optimistic that these men will return with the ḥajj caravans. As for the two yeshivot, Yaʿaqov declined to join either one of them so as not to offend the other. He told them that he had made a vow to visit the graves of holy men (Gil suggests specifically the grave of Ezekiel). He then traveled to Shamṭuniyya, where he found everyone sick from an epidemic disease. The writer himself became ill with a swelling, probably an abscess, on his leg, from which he developed a fever and was bedbound for 17 days. His son Abū l-Barakāt then became ill with a very high constant fever ("like a blazing fire"). Yaʿaqov sent to Baghdad for materia medica and mixed the medicinal syrup (sharāb) for his son himself, which he gave him each day together with barley water (mā' al-shaʿīrūn). His son is now feeling better. At first they were staying in the house of Abū Saʿd 'the paqid' b. Khalaf (probably a relative, at least by marriage, see verso lines 4–5), but when he and his family became ill, they 'cut off' their guests, "and you know that the people of Shamṭuniyya, even when they are healthy, do not care for foreigners." The saving grace for Yaʿaqov was that the people of Shamṭuniyya needed his services as a physician. The geography of Shamṭūniyya/Shamṭūnya is also described by Golb as follows: "[T]his locality is now a ruin known as Tell el-Shamṭūnī, located to the south of Baghdad on the western side of the Tigris near Ctesiphon (al-Madāʾin)." Norman Golb, "A Marriage Deed from 'Wardūniā of Baghdad,'" JNES 43 no. 2 (1984), 154. VMR. ASE.

Letter of recommendation. In Arabic script. Sent from Damascus to two high-placed addressees (al-majlisayn al-sāmīyayn) presumably in Cairo, al-Majlis al-[...] and al-Majlis al-Nūrī. Dating: Perhaps Ayyubid or Mamluk era. The letter opens with two lines of poetry. The sender then reports that the bearer, al-Ḥājj Aḥmad from the city of [...] has been living for some time in Damascus. He traveled to the Ḥijāz with Ibn Shādī Bedouins but apparently lost a sum of money and has petitioned the government for help. The addressees are asked to assist him. A ḥadīth is quoted: الخلق كلهم عيال الله واحب الخلق الى الله انفعهم لعياله نفع الله بمعروفه يوم يحتاج الناس الى معروفهم. The honorific "Sayyidnā" is used for multiple people including the addressee(s). Regards to various people, including Najm al-Dīn al-Bahnasī and Ayyūb. The Qāḍī Fakhr al-Dīn b. Abī l-Manāqib(?) was present at the time of the writing of the letter. Needs further examination. ASE

Family letter. In Arabic script. Addressed to the mother of Abū l-ʿIzz (Sitt Abū l-ʿIzz), in Fustat. Reports on something to do with ʿAbd al-Salām; that some people were delayed in the addressee's location on account of the ḥajj pilgrims; then mentions Bilbays and a period of 15 days. Regards to various people, including Abū Bakr. Needs examination.