Geniza Lab

Letter from Labrāṭ b. Moshe b. Sughmār, in al-Mahdiyya, to his brother Yehuda b. Moshe b. Sughmār, in Fustat. Dating: July 30 (26 Av), 1057, based on Gil's assessment. (Gil dates ENA NS 18.35, written on 6 Elul, to the previous year. But both letters contain very similar congratulations on Yehuda's wedding, so perhaps they were sent two weeks apart instead of eleven months.) Labrāṭ opens with describing his great anxiety on account of his brother, because he had not received a letter from him all year. "My heart was preoccupied and I thought the worst, for he who loves is inflamed (muwallaʿ) with thinking the worst. On the eve of ʿAẓeret (Shavuʿot), Fityān and his associates arrived in a boat from Sfax to al-Mahdiyya. When I saw them, my soul almost left me and I went pale (? akhadhatnī ṣufra). I said to myself, perhaps they have news [of you]. . . . [Fityān] said, God bless him, that your letters were with him. I prostrated myself and thanked God for His favor" (r4–8). Labrāṭ then congratulates his brother on his marriage into a distinguished family (r10–19). He mentions a person of low morals whom he tries to avoid, but he recently had to go to this person's wedding in Sūsa (r19–21). When he returned to al-Mahdiyya, 'the boy' was sick (ḍaʿīf), and worsened, and almost died. Every day letters arrive from people in Sūsa, perhaps specifically from the man of low morals, blaming Labrāṭ regarding either this boy or that person's affairs (aḥwālihi). The next phrase is quite difficult, perhaps: "I considered that he was heedless (sahā), and I decided to completely despair of him (i.e., end the relationship). I am left with no eye to see light with, [and nothing] to take pride in, except for you, may God protect you (r21–24). (Gil reads it differently.) The remainder of the letter deals with business matters. The writer is much older than his brother. He asks him to fulfill his family’s duty by helping him with his business. He also mentions events in the Maghreb. Apparently there is a naval fleet besieging Sūsa. (Information in part from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #615.) See also Goitein, Med Soc III, viii, B, 1 no. 36. VMR. ASE.

Letter from Ṭoviya b. ʿEli ha-Kohen, in Fustat, to his father ʿEli b. Avraham ha-Kohen, in Banyas/Dan. Dating: May 28, 1112. The son and father had parted ways in Tyre. After a difficult sea voyage, Ṭoviya arrived in Fustat, where he found an epidemic (wabā'). The judge Avraham b. Natan Av became ill and narrowly escaped ("reached the gates of") death, while the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saadya succumbed. He died on Saturday, the new moon of Tevet, December 2, 1111. (See Cohen, Self-Government, p. 147, where Islamic sources describing the same epidemic are cited as well.) Ṭoviya had received a letter from the Nagid Mevorakh before his death and took it with him to the Rīf, where he stayed for five months. Ṭoviya reports that one of the dignitaries in Fustat—possibly Avraham b. Natan Av—is even more noble and pious than his father had told him. Ṭoviya tells his father to be assiduous in praying for him over Torah scrolls, perhaps because Avraham has not completely recovered from the illness. He also tells him to pray for Moshe Nagid b. Mevorakh. Ṭoviya writes, "Buy me an Aleppo izār (a large wrap or coat) in which I can pray all the time," probably referring to an inexpensive piece of Syrian cotton (Med Soc I, 196). He encourages his father and a certain Natan to join him in Fustat. He sends regards to his brothers Yaḥya and Meir, and to Avraham Pe'er ha-Qahal, and to Mevasser b. Ghālib, and to Yeshuʿa b. Ṣedaqa, and to Yehuda ha-Parnas, and to Y{ū}suf b. Namir. ASE.

Letter from Suhayl, in an unknown location, to his wife Umm Wuhayb and to his son, in Fustat. He asks in the most urgent terms that they return to him. He is seriously ill (marīḍ ʿalā khuṭṭa) and may die at any moment. If they do not return, they will regret it when regret will not do them any good. He alternates between addressing his son, who is probably meant to read the letter to his mother, and his wife. Information in part from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 339. ASE.

Letter begging for help from a communal authority ('sayyidnā'), written by Abu Sahl b. al-Ahuv during a famine. Likely early 13th century. He opens with condolence for the death of the recipient's brother and the hunger of the brother's family before going into his own sad tale. Ibn Imran recently stole 100 dinars that were buried in Abu Sahl's house and also took items from his house and sold them. Due to Abu Sahl's age and weakness, he could not act to stop this. Abu Sahl has in the past benefited from charity from the recipient and from al-Tiferet Abu l-Mahasin (a man of this title and kunyah is mentioned in T-S NS J347, dated 1219/1220), but now requires more assistance. Abu Sahl's dependents include an old woman and a sick man who cannot sleep day or night. Abu Sahl has had to buy oil instead of bread, "so that he does not die in darkness." Abu Sahl himself has been ill for the last month. He turned to al-Shaykh al-Nezer, who told him that Sayyidnā ordered for him to receive bread in the distribution, but it has been three weeks and he has not received any bread. He concludes by asking the recipient to investigate the young man (Ibn Imran) who plunged them into this desperate state. ASE.

Letter of a woman, who was seriously ill, requesting her sister to provide her younger daughter with a proper education. Concerning the illness: "This is to inform you that I have become seriously ill with little hope for recovery. I have dreams indicating that my end is near. . . . Let Abū l-Barakāt come and treat me, for I am in a serious condition. . . . God knows how I wrote these lines." Concerning her daughter's education: "My most urgent request to you, if God decrees my death, is to take care of my little daughter and make efforts to give her an education." She repeats several times not to separate the Sudanese female slave from the little girl and to give nothing but the younger female slave to the elder daughter Sitt al-Sirr. "Cursed be he who acts against my dying wish." ASE

Letter from Saʿīd, in Alexandria, to his brother Bū l-Majd Meir b. Yakhin the cantor, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Rudimentary hand and phonetic spellings throughout, including the use of the alif-lam ligature as a lam-alif. Dating: First quarter of the 13th century. Saʿīd complains about the lack of letters from Meir and reminds him that their mother is critically ill (marīḍa ʿalā khuṭṭa), and that she is only sick on account of the fact that she will not see Meir before she dies (mā maraḍhā illā sababak alladhī mā tarāk min qabl an tamūt). Saʿīd inquires about the clay vessel (burniyya) he had sent containing medicines (or ink for the inkwell? this part requires further decipherment). He has heard that Meir's daughter's daughter has died, and he sends his wishes that she be replaced with a boy. He continues, insensitively, "My wife has given birth to a daughter." Then, "Do not ask about my illness, which you know about." The economy is bad in Alexandria and prices are high (bread is five dirhams). Bū Saʿīd the son of the Qa[ḍī?] has died, and Ibn Ghulayb is likewise ill. Saʿīd sends his regards to Meir's wife. Their other brother (Hilāl), Maʿānī, and Maḥāsin and his son Abū l-Najm all send their regards. ASE.

Recto: Letter from (or written on behalf of) a woman to her son Avraham ('Rabbenu'). In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably no earlier than 14th century, and conceivably much later, based on script and vocabulary. Mentions an area called ḥawsh al-maghāriba in Fustat, where Avraham's sister lives. The letter contains cryptic exhortations about associating with Gentiles, directed at Avraham as well as a certain Raḥel (his wife?). The letter also informs him that his sister's daughter Ḥabība is "stricken" (maḍrūba) and is on the verge of death. "Every day brides and grooms go forth from the neighborhood. I do not wish to confound you by telling you who they are nor how many there are. My son, by God, by God, do not enter the neighborhood until God lifts this affliction from Israel." Is she referring obliquely to an epidemic, and to the victims as "brides and grooms"? Verso: Avraham's response to his mother. He expresses his distress at the death of his sister's husband Yaʿaqov and at the news of Ḥabība's condition. He also mentions the harrowing night he spent on a Nile boat after leaving Ḥayyim's house, which he thought he would not survive. Even in the morning, he [vomited?] from time to time and could not hold any food down until God had mercy. The particular words used to describe his symptoms are obscure, possibly as they are late colloquial Judaeo-Arabic. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 242, 479; IV, pp. 228, 431, and from Goitein's index cards.) It is possible that Avraham's letter came first and his mother's letter is the response. ASE.

Letter from Simḥa ha-Kohen (in Alexandria) to his parents-in-law Eliyyahu the Judge and Sitt Rayḥān (in Fustat). In Judaeo-Arabic. Simḥa describes in moving terms the illness and death of his female slave (jāriya). Goitein and Motzkin understood this to refer to his daughter, however it probably means slave here, because Simḥa cites as condolence the formula from Berakhot 16b, "המ ימלא חצרונכם" (noted by Eve Krakowski, 07/2022). The physician Abū l-Thanāʾ had been caring for her in his home, and ultimately told Simḥa to take her back when her illness became hopeless. Simḥa (briefly) rejoiced because no one had expected her to walk again. A porter carried her home in a basket. She then died at home despite their hopes for her recovery. Simḥa's wife–the daughter of Eliyyahu and Sitt Rayḥān—is now in a deep depression ("the world closed itself to her") and sees nobody except Sitt Rayḥān when she visits. Simha now begs her to visit again soon. See also T-S 18J4.10. Discussed in Goitein, Med Soc II, 251.

Note to R. David to summon a Maghribi named Abu Dawud Khayyat, whose grown-up son had died and whose wife is critically ill with dysentery and fears that she will not see her husband again. On verso are accounts and several versions of the signature of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu, placing the date in the early 13th century. ASE.

Letter from Abū l-Ḥayy b. Avraham, in Ifrīqiyya, to his uncle, Moshe b. Abī l-Ḥayy, in Alexandria. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Mid-11th century. A moving letter, describing two sieges (on Qayrawān?) by the Hijazis (the Hilal Bedouins) and further threats of persecution of the Jews. The addressee's brother is very sick. He started to improve, but is now deteriorating from 'the constriction of his akhlāq' (meaning uncertain, but see tag) and from the pain. The writer does not seem to expect him to live long ("may God unite the two of you before he leaves this world"). (Information in part from Med Soc II, 283, 588, and from Goitein's index cards.) ASE

Letter from Simḥa ha-Kohen (Alexandria) to his father-in-law Eliyyahu the Judge (Fustat), explaining a recent incident involving two cloaks worth 109 dirhams and a brush with the police. He congratulates Eliyyahu on the upcoming wedding of his son Abū l-Barakāt (=Shelomo). Simḥa has been unable to fulfill an obligation to Eliyyahu because his wife (Eliyyahu's daughter) has been sick for the last year, and he has been unable to travel. See also T-S 13J24.10.

Letter (bottom part) from Alexandria to Fustat, dictated by Abu l-Najm Hilal, written down by Abu l-Muna, and addressed to Abu Ishaq b. Yaʿaqov at funduq al-Mahalli, who is to give it to Abu l-Majd the cantor—the brother of Hilal. The writer sends greeting to the addressee’s wife and the teacher Yiṣḥaq. The silk that Abu l-Majd sent to Mahasin has arrived. The old woman (presumably the mother of Hilal and Abu l-Majd) is frail and no longer able to work, and everyone is distressed, and they wish Abu l-Majd to come before she dies. The Ḥaver and Ibn Daud reached an arrangement to alternate Shabbats (in receiving income?) starting after Passover. Information in part from Goitein's note card. EMS. ASE.

Letter, likely sent to Abū l-Majd Meir b. Yakhin, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 1216/17 CE (1528 Seleucid). The writer urges the addressee to come see his sister, who is very sick. She has a throbbing pain (ḍarabān) in her right hip; a burning pain in her heart; a nonhealing wound (the word looks like khalal) in her right thigh; and her tongue is dry. She prays to God that she will see the addressee's face before she dies. "When your [brother?] said to her, 'Let her take the rhubarb-barberry pastille and make it […] and hopefully it will abate,' my master, she said, 'I do not want any of this unless he obtains a prescription, and the prescribing physician prepares it for me and sends it.' This is deliverance, my master. They prescribed hiera oil (duhn al-iyārij) for her thigh, but it was not effective. What is killing her is the pain in her thigh. I do not need to urge you to come. If her condition becomes fatal, your mother will die next. She will never live after her. The best is for them to slake their yearning for you, and you will gain your mother’s prayers." The letter continues with an update on the addressee's brother Hilāl ('his condition is the same'); a description of a large funeral; something to do with the addressee's request for Masā'il Ḥullin and how he needs to be more specific; a long series of rebukes for the addressee's negligence in writing; and regards to various people. ASE.