Geniza Lab

Letter from Maḥrūz b. Yaʿaqov, in Fustat, to his in-law Abū Zikrī Kohen, in Alexandria. Dating: Sunday, 15 Jumāda = 16 Adar, which is probably 3 March 1135 CE. The letter is an urgent warning advising Abū Zikrī to take all his merchandise out of a warehouse in Alexandria. "A business partner of Abu Zikrī's in Fustat was dying, and because of the lawlessness prevailing at that time in Egypt, Abu Zikrī's goods would be confiscated together with those of the dead man (before 1129, it seems). {The dying man, Abū Saʿīd, was related to Abu Zikrī's partner the well-known Alexandrian India trader Abu Naṣr b. Elishaʿ. Evidently, Abu Saʿīd did not have any heirs of the first degree, and the officials of the diwan al-mawārīth (line 5: aṣḥāb mawarif!), the Office of Estates, which took advantage ofsuch situations, were about to confiscate all ofhis belongings held by Abu Naṣr. Not taking any chances, the officials would sequester Abu Naṣr's assets and, moreover, those of Abū Zikrī, since the partners' holdings were stored together. The Head of the Yeshiva, certainly Maṣliaḥ ha-Kohen, who in fact was apparently Abū Zikrī's cousin, personally conveyed the warning to Maḥrūz and instructed him to send immediately an urgent message to his brother-in-law Abū Zikrī. For this purpose, Maḥrūz hired a private courier (najjāb) to Alexandria by camel. In his letter, Maḥrūz tells Abū Zikrī to disregard costs and extricate his wares without delay. The warning is repeated in a postscript written after Musallam (see the previous document) informed the writer that the courier would not set out that night. The Head of the Yeshiva's warning is not related to Abu Zikri's urgent request to him in II, 58, since that letter was written several years after II, 59. No. II, 59 is dated Sunday, 15 Jumada. Since Maḥrūz urges Abu Zikri to return to Fustat to be with his family before the approaching holiday, the date can be fixed with a fair degree of certainty as March 2, 1135, when 15 Jumada I came four weeks before Passover. (I do not know why Goitein assumed the letter had been written before 1129.) As already noted, Maḥrūz was not accustomed to writing, and others penned for him most of his letters, which have been preserved, except for this one and V, 20. Because ofthe urgency ofthis letter, he evidently wrote it himself. His untrained hand, poor style and substandard language, replete with vulgar forms and other orthographic irregularities, prove the wisdom of his normal practice.}" Also of note: Maṣliaḥ Gaon is sick with "the stone" (al-ḥaṣā), i.e., a urinary stone (r17). On verso there are six lines of love poetry in Arabic script. Description based on India Book; see attached. ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Full of glimpses of interesting subjects. The writer complains about the heavy rain this winter; he mentions the customs tax (maks); the great "ḥamas"; there is a section on the "shaḥn(?) of the courtyard of the house of the Sayyid Eliyyahu (the Prophet?)"—it seems some sort of construction work requiring measurements to be taken; mentions the shrine at Dammūh; and finally mentions copies of manuscripts and drugs that either have been sent or are to be sent.

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Moshe, the muqaddam of Sunbāṭ (see T-S 24.25v, dated 1149 CE), to the Nagid. Yiṣḥaq reports that the chief cantor died after four months of lying in bed with terrible pains. He complains that the widow ("the wicked Zeresh") is threatening, as soon as her son arrives, to accuse him before the local chief of police (wālī) of being the cause of her husband's illness and death. She says, "The muqaddam excommunicated him and killed him before the entire congregation." Defending himself, Yiṣḥaq writes, "You know the ḥamas of the Rīf. A person may die from less than this." Goitein understands "ḥamas" to be the Hebrew word variously meaning violence, anger, injustice, or false witness (but usually referring to governmental persecution in Geniza documents). The writer is thus referring to his own sufferings, countering the claim that he killed the cantor with the claim that the distress caused by such a false accusation puts his own life in danger. The writer admits that popular opinion is against him (anā taḥta safeq fī l-amr). In the bottom, fragmentary portion, he seems to complain that he is not being paid; he also mentions a blanket and "three sick people, and I am the fourth." He is prepared to come to Fustat if the Nagid wishes. Information in part from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 74, 537. ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Middle part of a long letter concerning the rent of one-fourth of a house belonging to a woman. The sender explains that it is not worthwhile going to court, as it would only lead to fines and financial ruin, and the 'ruler' (Heb. shaliṭ, corresponding to Arabic qāḍī? or perhaps wālī?) might turn out to be wicked, and in these parts there is a lot of ḥamas (oppression by the government). There follows a convoluted discussion of the rent of this property. The sender asked the landlady to come, but she said that she couldn't come, and the female slave couldn't come, and they would split the losses. In the closing greetings, the sender reports that the children are all well. Abū l-Mufaḍḍal intends to travel but delayed his departure until after the holidays. The sender conveys his congratulations to Abū l-Maʿālī and perhaps a woman and her son (or father?) Abū l-Najm. In the margin there is the beginning of a report about something that the wife of Abu l-Barakāt heard from the wife of Zikrī. Potentially the same handwriting as T-S 12.417, JRL SERIES B 2601, and/or ENA NS 2.40. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.) ASE