Geniza Lab

Accounts in the hand of Nissim b. Ḥalfon, presented to Nahray b. Nissim; 1066 CE. Lists payments for various goods, made either directly or through others, and gives details of various shipments, some of them to Tripoli, Libya. Mentions skins, textiles, beads, sugar, red wood, ammonia, furs, lead, baked goods, wine, meat, camphor, wax, tin, cloves, pearls and laque. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 986.)

Letter from Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy, Alexandria, to his relative Abu l-Ḥasan Shelomo b. Nissim al-Barqi, containing instructions about selling goods such as textiles and lead in Fustat.

Business letter. Probably from Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Maghribī al-Tūnisī (upper right of recto). In Arabic script, in an experienced hand. Dating: Possibly Mamluk-era. On recto, the sender describes various commercial transactions (l. 15r). Toward the bottom of recto, he mentions the following: 3 aqfāṣ of antimony; lead; 7 chests of mercury and verdigris; 6 chests of soap; 7 chests of labdanum; later on, arsenic; and something "to India." On verso, he mentions [...] b. Muḥammad al-Shāṭir on two occasions (l. 1v, 17v); he gives prices for pepper and ginger; mentions the return from the ḥajj (al-nuzūl baʿd al-ḥajj); and mentions saffron. He says that he and Abū Naṣr visited the Nā'ib of Jedda, who received them graciously (l. 8v). MCD. ASE.

Recipe or instructions in Arabic script. Likely alchemical. Mentions lead (three lines from the bottom) and "it becomes elixir" (iksīr) in the next line. On verso there are Arabic letters accompanied by their numerical values.

Letter from Yeshua b. Ismaʿīl al-Makhmūrī from Alexandria, probably to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1056. In the handwriting of Yeshua b. Isma’il, with an addition in the handwriting of Musa b. Abi al-Hayy Khalila. Information about transferring money, including money that was hidden in a book cover. Also mentions different goods: lead, almonds, cloth, wood, camphor, cheese, Bible codices, flax, and incense. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #311)

Letter from Natan b. Nahray (Alexandria), probably to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat). Ca. 1062. Talks about business links with Spain. Mentions a number of commodities: indigo, lead, turbans from Susa and cloves. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 416.)

Letter from Ibrahīm b. Yosef al-Ṣabbāgh (Fustat) to Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tahirtī (Alexandria), ca. 1050. Avraham b. Yosef al-Ṣabbāgh, one of Yosef b. Yaʿaqov b. ʿAwkal’s business partners, describes the strenuous relationships between Maghrebi merchants and Jabbāra, the amir of Barqa, Libya. Avraham b. Yosef al-Ṣabbāgh expects a consignment of Sicilian lead. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 611.) Contains interesting details about the methods of piracy of Jabbāra. The writer asks the addressee to ransom his goods (especially lead) should they arrive in the pirate’s ship. (Information from Goitein index cards and notes linked below.)

Legal document. Partnership record. Dating: 1085 (per Goitein's index cards). Written in the hand of Hillel b. Eli (probable, per Goitein). This document is the end of a deathbed declaration in which the dying man accounts for the assets due a partnership in a lead foundry. Apparently the dying man kept an account book; while some assets were held jointly between the dying man, his brother Abū ‘Alī, and one Abū al-Khayr, other assets (including a claim against someone named Yāqūt for 11.5 dinars) were held only between the dying man and Abū al-Khayr. Although Abū al-Khayr may not have been the sole active partner, the document declares trustworthy concerning profit and loss, a phrase often applied to the active partner in a long-distance partnership. Perhaps he had to relinquish some control of the enterprise in his final days as he was ill. His death is recorded on lines 9-10. Although the death of a partner is a sufficient condition for termination of a partnership in Jewish and Islamic law, the typical termination clauses are absent. Rather, the dying man’s brother is to take his place and the partnership is to continue, suggesting an inheritable or transferable, quasi-corporate aspect to the partnership. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 113)