Geniza Lab

Two letters. (a) Letter from Yaʿaqov b. Yosef [..]ān al-Barqī to Shemarya b. Shemuel. He decribes the difficult winter they have had, not to mention the illness and inkisār (debts to the diwan? see T-S 13J3.6v) of Nissim; the illness of Ezra; the "arrival of that [woman]" and their expenses on her behalf. He mentions the arrival of Barakāt b. Khulayf (mentioned in several other letters) and having purchased two robes (shuqqatayn) for the addressee. ʿAwāḍ is also seriously ill, as well as his elder daughter. He has likely become dependent on public charity (inkashafa), and he even put up his ghulām for sale, but there are no buyers. Faḍl bought a donkey and has gone wandering about. "As for ʿAwāḍ [finding relief?], here no [travelers?] enter or leave." Mūsā b. ʿAllūsh has run away from his family. ASE.

Letter fragment in the hand of Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi Nisaburi about his cost in an affair concerning Abu Sa‘id Makhlūf al-Nafusi. (Information from Goitein's index cards; and Mediterranean Society, 4:413.) EMS. The writer also wants more bibles sent and warns him of any more business with Makhlūf. He mentions further matters regarding Abu l-Faraj and Abū Tahir, and sends greeting to a number of people, including Abu Sahl, Abu l-Rida and Abū l-ʿAla who are admonished for not writing for a long time. (Information from CUDL.) He also describes a prolonged illness (60 days) this winter and asks Abū l-Munā to try to obtain a drug called Abū Zīdān for him; the physicians tell him there is no alternative. Join: Oded Zinger. ASE.

Letter from Ibrāhīm, unknown location, to Ḥayya ha-Kohen the teacher, in Palermo ("al-madīna"), Sicily. The addressee is asked to deliver two tailored woolen mayzar covers, which had been deposited with him, to the bearer of the letter. The writer includes legalistic language appointing the bearer as his agent: qabḍuhu qabḍī wa-taslīmuhu taslīm{ī} wa-anta paṭur min aḥrayutam. The writer is ill this winter (perhaps this is why he needs the woolen covers). The letter also mentions the process of “cutting up” for making and fitting the sleeves of a garment. Address on verso. (S.D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 4:182, 412.)

Letter from a certain Yiṣḥaq to Yosef b. Shabbetay al-Rūmī, Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Very deferential, filled with language of patroange (e.g. li-l-mawlā ʿuluww al-ra'y fī dhālik).The writer has sent the copy of the book and excuses the delay by saying that he fell ill in the winter and it delayed him until now. He asks Yosef to send him the copy of Bereshit, it seems because he is ready to make a copy of it and send it back to him right away. The address is in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic. ASE.