Geniza Lab

Recto: Letter in poetic Hebrew, addressed to Rabbenu Yehuda (=Abū Zikrī Kohen) asking for help, because "bread has run out."

Verso: List in the hand of Abū Zikrī Kohen. Mentions: saffron; mazāwir; minshafa in a blue kerchief; arjīs (=narjīs?); "swords" (suyūf); and almond. Goitein suggests that this is an inventory of items for a wedding.

Nearly complete letter in Arabic, written by a Muslim and/or addressed to a Muslim (concludes with prayers for the prophet Muhammad), sent to somebody close to the India trader and Nagid Maḍmūn b. al-Ḥasan (active 1131–51). Unfortunately, the beginning of the letter and the address are lost. The writer reports meeting with [Abū?] l-Faraj b. al-Surūr and learning that the addressee had directed his business (? taklīfak) to the West (bilād al-gharb) and has been left without strong connections in India (bilād al-hind). He then brings up Maḍmūn b. al-Ḥasan and (it seems) how Maḍmūn has bestowed his favor on the addressee more than on others. He then explains why he has been unable to travel: his East African slave (al-ʿabd al-zanjī) died, and the [In]dian slave who was with him in Sunkhalā (= present-day Songkhla) had already departed. . . . "and I remained cut off" (? wa-baqītu munqaṭiʿ). Despite this, he is doing well (qalbī ṭayyib), and he requests a favor from Maḍmūn. In the margin he mentions the ship-owner (nākhudhā) Abū ʿAbd al-Qahhār (? this word is uncertain) Abū l-K[...]. Merits further examination. ASE.

Letter from Abū Zikrī Kohen to Abū Saʿīd Ḥalfon b. Moses, trustee of the Yeshiva. (Information from CUDL). Should be added to India Book V. AA

Two fragments of a letter written by Madmun, and belong to the addenda to India Book II. AA

A mirror imprint of T-S AS 219.129 - but much easier to read. A business letter, much damaged and faded, but certainly belong to India Book. Madmun, Abu Zikri and [Isha]q Nafusi are mentioned. A public auction of silk is mentioned (see also CAJS 344, IB H89), and a shipment to Alexandria. AA

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Yemeni hand? Very damaged and faded. Dating: 12th century. Some of the names mentioned are related to India Book II, such as Yaʿaqov al-ʿAdanī and Maḍmūn. In fact it may be addressed to Maḍmūn ("...yā Maḍmūn lā talūmūnā ʿalā..."). Also mentions the names Sulaymān and Manṣūr. At least part of the letter concerns a shipment of silk. AA. ASE.

Commercial accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals (with the name of the month מרחשון written in Hebrew script three times). Written on cloth. The other few documents written on cloth in the Geniza are from India, which is suggestive but not proof that this is also from India. Information from recto: The 'thānī' at the top of the page indicates that this is the second folio of the account. It was written in a year when 4 Ḥeshvan fell on a Thursday. Seems to be a detailed list of expenses for construction work on a house over the course of ~5 days. Red brick and the bricklayers are mentioned several times. The sums seem low, in the tens of dirhams. There is one entry apparently for "four game boards" (alwāḥ alʿāb). Another is an expense for "the Jews" for 5 days of water flow (sayl al-māʾ). Information from verso: The unit of measure farāsila is mentioned twice (typical for India trade documents). "The elder Ibrāhīm" is named in four different places, including the header ([...] ḥawāʾij Ibrāhīm); it seems very likely that this is Avraham Ben Yiju, and the account is being prepared on his behalf. At the bottom, there is a list of debts owed to Ibrāhīm including one from "his father-in-law al-Shaykh Kardār." See India Book, III, documents 18–21 for other commercial accounts coming from the same milieu (in Judaeo-Arabic). (Information from Amir Ashur, who identified the document as related to the India trade, and Alan Elbaum.)