Geniza Lab

Letter (tadhkira, memorandum) on two sheets of paper, written and signed by Menashshe b. David al-Ṣayrafī, probably in Fustat, probably to Nahray b. Nissim, perhaps in Qayrawān. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1050 CE. Gil deduces that the addressee is Nahray b. Nissim from the fact that the letter mentions that Ukhuwwa (the Muslim ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz) wished to do business with the addressee and with Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tahirtī, and the latter was Nahray's most established business partner (and his cousin). The letter deals with problems communicating with people in Alexandria by letter, and mentions a consignment of oil. Menashshe opens by asking the addressee to intervene on his behalf with Abū Ibrāhīm Ismāʿīl, who had cut off his correspondence with Menashshe for the last year. "If it is due to something I did or a fault of mine, perhaps it is something I can rectify or apologize for, and if it is the 'neglect due to illness' or the like, I have seen his letters to other people, such as to Maṭar and to you, many of them" (recto of the first sheet, lines 6–11). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 499. See also Goitein notes linked below.) ASE.

Letter from Mardūk b. Mūsā, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat(?). Dating: ca. 1045 CE, based on Gil's assessment. The handwriting is that of Yaʿaqov b. Salmān al-Ḥarīrī, and the letter switches to his voice starting in line v2. The letter deals with business in lemon juice, tamarind, and textiles of flax and silk. Nahray is sick (wajīʿ, r4–7, r13–14, v6–7). Both Mardūk and Yaʿaqov wish Nahray a speedy reunion with his mother. Information from Gil. ASE.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer and addressee are unknown, but the handwriting seems very familiar. The writer starts by addressing a single person and sending blessings for his son; he then switches to addressing that person together with his brothers. The letter is a quintessential example of the epistolary norms surrounding illness, expressing preoccupation for others, and rebuking others for failing to do the same. "When I heard that your condition had worsened (takhallufhā), I became very distressed and forgot my own illnesses and condition, until God had mercy and the news of your health arrived, and I thanked God for that, yodu l-adonay ḥasdo, and may God avert all evil from you and your brothers and all in your care and protect me from all bad news. By my life, I am pained/sick of heart from the fact that you do not mention me in a letter or an inquiry, despite the fact that I have not cut off (our correspondence), and the fact that you are to me like my children, nay, like my brothers-in-law, and you ought to be inquiring after me (iftiqādī) if only with a letter or an inquiry. But I forgive you because of all of your cares." ASE.

Letter from Moshe b. Elʿazar the teacher (ha-Melammed) to Elʿazar the scholar (ha-Talmid). In Hebrew (for the introduction and address) and Judaeo-Arabic (for the body). The writer excuses himself for not having written earlier because of illnesses. Probably there is an epidemic: amrāḍ wa-awjāʿ wa-mawt. He reports that al-Ḥamishi ('the Fifth') died, but the addressee's family is well. They have moved to a new location. Abū l-Maʿānī al-Kohen sends regards. The writer begs indulgence "for the magnitude of my ignorance, for I wrote this (letter) after drinking the medicine. I am sick. I did not know what/how to write [...]. I know that you will not blame me for this." It is not completely clear what lapse he is referring to. Perhaps the lapse of having written God's name incorrectly (פאללל) and crossing it out in the previous line. Information in part from Goitein's index cards. ASE.

Letter from Labrāṭ b. Moshe b. Sughmār, the chief judge in al-Mahdiyya, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: Ca. 3 August 1057 CE (Gil) or 1061 CE (Goitein). Goitein explains, "Our letter was written after 1057, the date of the ruin of Qayrawān, when R. Nissim (b. Yaʿaqov) and other inhabitants of that city had found refuge in Sūsa, a seaport on the Tunisian coast north of al-Mahdiyya. R. Nissim died in 1062.The reference to the Sicilian city whose male inhabitants were put to sword by the conquering Normans fits the fall of Messina in 1061." Labrāṭ extols the great rabbinical authority R. Nissim b. Yaʿaqov, and his pupil the enigmatic "Rav" of Egypt. At the time of the writing of this letter, R. Nissim lived in Sūsa. There he supervised the copying of his writings, which was done for the Qayrawān scholar, Nahray b. Nissim, who then lived in Egypt. The letter relates how R. Nissim's writings were transferred to Egypt, an important detail, which sheds light on the value of the Geniza fragments of these writings, which have been published by Sheraga Abramson. Labrāṭ reports on the progress of the court case that Nahray b. Natan brought against his brother Yisrael b. Natan (both of them the cousins of Nahray b. Nissim) regarding the inheritance of their father's estate. The letter hails the zeal and progress made in Jewish learning by a son of R. Natan b. Avraham, Av ha-Yeshiva, the sometime Gaon of the Palestinian academy. The letter concludes with a report of the conquests made by the Normans in Sicily. The reference is to their taking of Messina by assault, and the losses suffered by Jews and, in particular, by Muslims. The writer expresses apprehensions with regard to the import of grain from Sicily, since Tunisia itself, a primarily agricultural country, had been laid waste by the invasion of the Arab tribes. Labrāṭ opens the letter with copious well wishes to Nahray because of his eye disease (wajaʿ ʿayn and ḍuʿf ʿayn) and conveys well wishes to Nahray on behalf of R. Nissim (r4–11). Goitein cites this letter as an excellent example of the convention of expressing preoccupation for a sick correspondent and conveying congratulations upon his recovery: "After having read the bad tidings in Nahray's missives, [Labrāṭ] had become disquieted and frightened, and passed his sleepless nights in asking God to accept himself as Nahray's ransom and to heal him. He had also passed the news on to "the Light of the World" (the spiritual leader of the Tunisian Jews), who was also very worried about it; his prayer for Nahray, Labrāṭ is confident, would be accepted. Finally, the merchants arriving from Egypt reported that Nahray was well and his eyes restored, whereupon Labrat praised and thanked God. He would be set at rest, however, only by a personal letter from Nahray confirming this happy turn of events" (Goitein, Med Soc V, p. 111). Labrāṭ goes on to describe the serious illness of R. Nissim himself (r14–18). All had despaired, "but God looked upon us and did not afflict us and blind our eyes." R. Nissim recovered, but the remnants of the illness did not leave him for a long time. Information from Goitein and Gil. There are photostats and an edition in Goitein's notes (to be uploaded). ASE.

Letter from She'erit to Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm al-Talmid. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer heard from Abū l-Barakāt that the addressee is sick (ḍaʿīf) and is very preoccupied and hopes for a letter with news of his recovery. Abū l-Munā is also anxious for news of the addressee and his wife. The bearer of the letter, Yūsuf, is a friend of the writer, and the addressee is to help him sell the items he has with him. Regards are sent to Abū l-Faraj. ASE.

Letter from a physician to his uncle. Tells the writer's sad story, which involved the death of his beloved wife, an unfortunate second marriage, and his eventual flight. The writer asks his uncle to give his son the family bible. (Edited, translated, and analyzed at length in Oded Zinger's dissertation, chapter 5 and document #10.)

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda, in Jerusalem, to Sahlān b. Avraham, in Fustat. In Hebrew. Dating: 1029 CE. "Here is a description of old age in the hand of Solomon b. Judah Gaon, the president of the Jerusalem yeshiva and official head of the Jews of the Fatimid empire, written nineteen years before his death. The time was excruciating for him: things in the yeshiva and the community at large did not go according to his wishes. Abraham b. Sahlan, a leader of Egyptian Jewry, Solomon's 'peer,' with whom he had probably studied many years before, had just died, and his own son was on his way to Aleppo in northern Syria, a voyage fraught with danger. . . . But old age, like life in general, has its ups and downs: the rich correspondence of the Gaon shows him as being active in affairs and rich in style during the long years following the passage translated above, although a premonition of death is certainly felt in it. 'I am a descending sun, soon to set. My soul is very much depressed since my peer passed away, may he rest in Eden. I ask God only to keep me alive through this year so that people should not say: "Both died within one year." Take notice, my dear, that I am going about like a shadow [cf. Psalms 39:7]. I have no authority (reshut), only the title. My strength is gone, my knee is feeble, and my foot staggers. My eyes are dim, and, when I write, it is as if I was learning it, sometimes the lines are straight and sometimes crooked, and so is my style, because my mind is disturbed since the day my beloved [son] traveled to Aleppo to fetch some goods he had left there. I pray to God to bring him back in safety "before I depart and be no more" [Psalms 39:14]'" (Goitein, Med Soc, V, p. 120, translating lines 19–25).

Letter from a scholar from Ramla (who had lived for twenty years in Baghdad) to Nahray b. Nissim. Around 1095. Seems like a part of a regular correspondence between the two. Nahray was blind at that time and needed someone to read him the letter. Mentions the book by the Gaon Aharon b. Yosef (Khalaf b. Sarjado) and one of Shemuel b. Hofni’s grandsons. The writer asks Nahray to find a few products in Fustat, including indigo, pepper, arsenic, ammonia water and more. Between his request for funds due to him and his discussion of an ongoing divorce, he interposes the line, “for I am a lump of flesh waiting to die,” continuing later that “I am in need of mercy, my strength is fading” — a common rhetorical strategy for gaining the sympathy of one's correspondent. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #85) VMR, revised following the analysis of old age (and complaints about old age) in the seminar paper of Jake Brzowsky ('21), Fall 2018. Same writer: T-S 24.46, T-S 12.780, ENA 2594.12.

Business letter from Seʿadya b. Avraham b. Sasson of Alexandria to his relative Ṣedaqa b. Ṣemaḥ of Fustat, a maker of Sūsiyāt textiles. Seʿadya opens by inquiring about Ṣedaqa's ill health. "I was tranquil when I received frequent letters from you, and when they ceased, I became distressed due to imagining (? tajwīzī) an illness or something else. May God protect us from what we fear. Then my cousin (ibn ʿammatī) arrived and informed me that you had become ill, and that you had begun to recover, and I and those with me rejoiced and thanked God for that." Saadya also Ṣedaqa if he wants to secure passage on the Byzantine ship that had just arrived. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 31; V, p. 103; and Goitein's index cards.) ASE.

Letter from Araḥ b. Natan, also known as Musāfir b. Wahb, in Fuwwa, to his brother Abū Isḥāq Avraham b. Natan (Wahb) the Seventh, probably in Fustat. Dating: 1090s CE, according to Frenkel. Araḥ is returning from a journey of much travail (taʿadhdhabtu fī safrī wa-waṣaltu sālim). He is now in Fuwwa and intends to return soon to Alexandria. The main issue in the letter is an urgent request to convey a letter from Ḥusām al-Mulk to the Qāḍī of Alexandria, Makīn al-Dawla, regarding the protection of the Jewish community from the 'hatreds' (sin'ot) of the Muslim population. Both the addressee and their cousin Abū l-Faḍl have been ill, based on the wishes for recovery. The faint line of text at the bottom is the mirror imprint of line 9 ("I am intending to trave on Thursday"). Information in part from Frenkel. ASE.

Letter from Yūsuf b. Mūsā al-Tahirtī, in al-Mahdiyya, to Yeshuʿa b. Ismāʿīl al-Makhmūrī, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: August 3, 1063, based on Gil's assessment. The letter contains details about shipments of goods and about the route of ships from and to al-Mahdiyya, as well as a price list. It also mentions a lawsuit filed against Yeshuʿa by one of his Sicilian partners. Yūsuf opens with several lines of sympathy for Yeshuʿa's health problems. First, he was happy to learn of Yeshuʿa's recovery. Then, two letters came with news that he had gotten worse (mā intahā ilayhi ḥālak). Then, Yeshuʿa's own letters came with news of his recovery. (Information from Gil, vol. 3, p. 245, and from Ben-Sasson, p. 393.) ASE

Letter from Labrāṭ b. Moshe b. Sughmār, in al-Mahdiyya, to his brother Yehuda, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: January 9 (12 Shevat), 1058 CE (Gil) or 1061 CE (Ben-Sasson). Labrāṭ congratulates Yehuda on the birth of his firstborn son. There may be a prayer for God to protect the infant from the evil eye (r11–12; the first letter of the word is smudged; Gil reads al-ḍaw' rather than al-sū'; neither one is strictly grammatical). Labrāṭ heard from Zakkār that the infant was a girl and was only reassured when Yehuda's letter arrived with the news that it was a boy. Labrāṭ keeps the blessed letter with him and kisses it and puts it before his eyes; he gave it to his sister this week but made her promise to return it (r4–18). Labrāṭ continues with business affairs. There is an elaborate response to what Yehuda said about the pain Labrāṭ caused him by rebuking him about a business decision taken by Yehuda. Labrāṭ only wrote anything because it concerned somebody else's merchandise. As for what is owed to him by Yehuda, what are 20 dinars next to their relationship, which is worth the whole world? If Yehuda was agitated by Labrāṭ's rebuke, Labrāṭ is now agitated by Yehuda's response. Furthermore, this sum is nothing compared to what they already lost in Qayrawān. As the proverb goes, "If nothing is left of your provisions except a single cake, you might as well throw it into the sea" (r18–32). The letter continues with matters of trade between Ifrīqiyya, Sicily, and Egypt. Numerous people are mentioned: the Nagid, Nissim, Abū Hārūn, Ḥayyim b. ʿAmmār, the boy of Ḥassūn, Ḥassūn b. Mūsā, Yehuda b. Mūsā, Abū ʿAbd Allāh, the notables of Qayrawān and al-Mahdiyya, Isḥāq b. Bar[hūn?], and Yosef b. Eli al-Kohen. People who came from Palermo said that Zakkār was sick but then recovered (r33–57). Labrāṭ is delighted to hear that Yehuda has been studying Torah, Mishna, and Talmud with 'the Rav' (r58 and margin). Verso consists mainly of greetings. Labrāṭ is surprised at Yehuda's rebuke for Nissim's failure to send him letters. (Gil identifies this man with Nissim b. Moshe ha-Shelishi.) Nissim hasn't even written to Labrāṭ, who is two hours away from him. "He is dying, and he should write you a letter?" (v11–13). Nissim redeemed a Bible codex which belongs to Labrāṭ and Yehuda, and which had been plundered in one of the wars of Ifrīqiyya. Labrāṭ now wishes to make arrangements to reimburse Nissim and get it back (v13–17, 23–24). Labrāṭ concludes with the bad news of Ifrīqiyya, Sicily, and al-Andalus (v35–40). The price of wheat has skyrocketed this summer; Qayrawān is a ruin; the Bedouins are waging war on each other; people are worried about Sicily this year, for the Franks have attacked with a great army; they ('Franks') have also invaded al-Andalus this year and destroyed many of its villages, killed many people, and imposed taxes on all the areas they conquered. (Information in part from Gil, vol. 4, p. 36; Ben-Sasson, p. 36.) ASE.

Letter from a husband, probably a merchant belonging to the elite, to his wife of a second marriage. In Judaeo-Arabic. He expresses his yearning and describes his depressed state in great detail, seeking to refute her assumption that he is remaining away because life is good for him. He alludes to his "many illnesses and sundry pains" but doesn't go into them to spare her. He received her letter about her "sickness of heart which brings the sickness of the body," but chides her for writing about such things, because he is not the kind of man who needs to be aroused to "tenderness and compassion." ASE

Letter sent to Abū l-Barakāt Ibn Shalīda, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer calls the addressee 'my uncle' (ʿammī). The purpose of this letter is to break off their relationship, and it is striking for its hostility. The writer reports that Abū Isḥāq the cantor recently arrived and told him that the addressee is seriously ill (fī ḥālin ṣaʿb min al-wajaʿ). In place of expressing sympathy, the writer begins a tirade about how the addressee has mistreated him (and/or his family members?) and wounded his heart; "even strangers could not wound my heart so" (r13–14). The substance of the conflict is difficult to discern. The writer expresses the wish that certain people will be killed by marauding Ghuzz (Seljuks/Turkomans) (r7–8). The writer continues, "May God curse the hour that unearthed this matter. . . it has brought me nothing but evil (wabāl). From now on I care nothing about what you desire or about the illnesses of those in your family. I swear to God that I will not write you again, wish you peace, or ask after you, neither you nor those in your family, neither with language nor tongue (i.e., not at all). And [I will remain?] in this world without uncle, without father, and without brother." He concludes with two somewhat self-righteous biblical quotations: 'Abraham was one among the nations [and he inherited the land]' (Ezekiel 33:24, slightly misquoted), and 'may God repay every man according to his deeds, according to the fruit of his doings' (Jeremiah 17:10, slightly misquoted). The writer might also quote 1 Samuel 24:15 ('The Lord therefore be judge') earlier in the letter (r11–12), but a lacuna makes it difficult to be certain. Information in part from Goitein's note card. EMS, VMR, ASE.

Letter from Nissim b. Ḥalfon b. Benaya, in Tinnīs, to Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tāhirtī al-Maghribi, in Fustat, both prominent in the Geniza correspondence of the eleventh century. The writer mentions merchants from the Maghreb, Syria, and Iraq doing business in the busy Mediterranean seaport. He probably alludes to his illnesses in lines r3–6: "You tasked me with buying ladies' caps (maʿājir), but you know what a 'pain' (wajaʿ) it is, especially selling clothing in Tinnīs, from morning to evening. I relapsed only twice due to the burdens I take upon myself (mimmā najūr ʿalā nafsī). But today, praise be to God, I am in every state of well-being." In lines v4–5, Nissim invokes the common trope of assuming a business partner (here Ibn Juhā) is ill if one has not heard from him in a longer-than-usual time. Information from Gil, Kingdom, III, #597, and Goitein, Med Soc, II, p. 520; IV, pp. 176, 406, and V, pp. 110, 536. EMS. ASE.

Informal note from ʿAbd al-Karīm to R. Yosef . He asks the addressee to urgently send his grandmother ("the mother of Sutayta") for Shabbat, because the boy himself is sick (mā kān ṭayyib) and so is his father. The father had been carried home (maḥmūl) on a bed (?) on Wednesday. (Information from Goitein's index cards.) ASE.

Letter of Abū l-Maḥāsin b. ʿAlī the trader, introduced by citations from Proverbs 3:4, Psalms 37:11 and 119:165. Mentions consingments of medical commodities such as betel palm (fawfal), amomum (qāqulla) and quince (safarjal), a doctor’s visit and names such as Naḥūm the perfumer and Abū Manṣūr Ibn al-Ṣāʾiḡ (goldsmith), cousin of the writer. (Information from CUDL.) The writer excuses the poor appearance of his letter ('my mind is not present') on account of his great preoccupation for his two friends who are sick, Naḥum al-ʿAṭṭār and his cousin (b. ʿammatī) Abū Manṣūr the son of the tax farmer of ברמא. The writer leaves the shop and visits each of them 5 or 6 times a day, because they are 'cut off' from anyone who can go to the physician for them. ASE.

Letter from the physician Abū Zikrī, in Alexandria, to his father Eliyyahu the Judge, in Fustat. Dating: Shortly before 1227 CE. Abū Zikrī tries to convince Eliyyahu to accept the post of judge in Alexandria. He promises that he will procure Eliyyahu's pension from the Ayyubid sultan al-Malik al-Kāmil (r. 1218–38 CE). He reports about the downfall of the Muslim governor and the Jewish Nasi of Alexandria and suggests that his father could get a position in that town if he wanted to. He also rebukes his father in strong terms for failing to include an update on the health of his mother in the previous letter, causing tremendous agitation and fear that she might be sick (r18–21). In a section that is almost completely effaced (v16–17), he mentions "appetite for food," perhaps in the context of one of his own chronic illnesses. (Information in part from Frenkel and from Goitein, Med. Soc. Vol. 1, p. 64 and Vol. 2, pp. 353, 380, 596.) See also T-S Ar.39.64. ASE