Geniza Lab

Letter from a Jewish notable who had previously been minister of finance in Egypt, seeking assistance from the Jewish community in Constantinople. This very long letter begins with many lines of poetry and greetings to the Constantinople community, after which the writer describes his fall from favour and how he has now been supplanted by a new Christian minister of finance. The recently deceased Nagid Mevorakh b. Saadya's elevation by the Vizier al-Afḍal is described, and the very high regard in which he was held at court. The Nagid's death had presumably left the writer and other Jews in high positions exposed to court intrigue. Dated to soon after 1111 CE (when the Nagid died). Information from CUDL. The writer spells out Greek words in vocalized Hebrew script: "το πατριαρχη" (the patriarch) and "εἰστό Ταμίαθι" (in Tamiathi = Damietta = Kaftor).

Legal document. Partnership. Dating: 1100-1138. Location: Fustat. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. This undated fragment concerns a partnership in money-changing; the active partner was Abū al-Surūr Peraḥya b. Menashshe, brother of Ḥalfōn b. Menashshe. The woman Nasab, mentioned on lines 10 and 13, is Peraḥya’s (and Ḥalfōn’s) mother. Peraḥya handed over some amount to his mother, which she acknowledged and recorded as a debt. These funds seem to have been a loan out of partnership capital, indicated by the mention of “the funds in his hands”. On the other hand, no description of the partnership itself is preserved here. The name of Peraḥya’s partner is also not preserved, though it may have been Ḥasan Eli b. Maṣliaḥ (mentioned in line13). It is unclear what role Eli played in the transaction. The signatories are not preserved. But the title "Mordecai of his time" (see line 1) is applied to Moshe b. Mevorakh alone; thus, although his name is not preserved, this document may refer to Mevorakh b. Saadiah and his son Moshe. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture", 277-278)

Letter fragment. Beginning of a solemn letter addressed to the community, apparently of al-Mahalla, probably by Mevorakh ha-Nagid b. Saadya (1094-1111). Verso: Arabic jottings including the basmala (twice). (Information from CUDL) (Some information from Goitein's index cards).

Letter from the cantor Elazar ha-Hazzan b. Avraham to Mevorakh b. Saadya, before he became Nagid (thus, before 1078). Informing that three pieces of copper, a lamp, and one other item belonging to the sister of Abu 'Ali Husayn b. Yosef have been delivered in the presence of witnesses, and sends wishes for the holidays. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from 'Amram b. Moshe al-Barqi, sent via Alexandria, to Mevorakh b. Saadya (1094-1111) asking for assistance, which the recipient had already granted in the past to the writer's uncle and father, and congratulating him on the birth of a son (late in Mevorakh's life). (Information from Cohen, Jewish Self Government, pp. 151-152, and Goitein's index cards)

Letter from a penniless woman, the widow of Abū Surrī, to Mevorakh b. Saadya (1094–1111). She begs him to come to her rescue in a litigation brought against her by the relatives of her deceased son-in-law for a modest amount. Her daughter was married to Yosef b. Asad b. Qirqas who left her to travel three and a half years ago. That was prior to al-Afḍal's siege of Alexandria in 1094. The daughter was then ill two years while the mother used her dowry (רחלהא) for nursing her in her illness and for the burial when she died. It has recently become known that Yosef was killed in Nastaro (an island between Damietta and Alexandria), and his cousin claimed his estate—which was non-existent. (Information from Goitein's note card and from M. R. Cohen, Jewish Self Government, pp. 221-260.) For a detailed discussion of the geographical situation of Nastaro, see Khan, "A Copy of a Decree from the Archives of the Fāṭimid Chancery in Egypt," BSOAS, Vol. 49, No. 3, 1986, p. 444.

Letter to 'al-haver al-Me'ulle Hakkam ha-Yeshiva' (the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saadya, 1095-1112) regarding business matters. Verso: Petition to a caliph.

Respectful note to Eliyyahu the Raṣuy of both Yeshivot, informing him of the writer's safe arrival, and how the first thing he did was to report to the house of the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saadya. Along with Mevorakh's usual impressive titulature, he is styled "sar ha-sarim" and "deputy of the king of Egypt" (I.e. the vizier al-Afḍal). "Quite likely, at the time of Mevorakh's restoration, al-Afḍal honored him with the high-sounding Arabic title, ra'īs al-ru'asā', held by the Coptic patriarch, and the Jews, taking cognizance of their leaders exalted status in the government, translated it into its Hebrew equivalent, sar ha-sarim." Cohen, Jewish Self-Government, p. 221. ASE.

Rescript of the judges of the court appointed by the Nagid Mevorakh to the community of al-Mahalla, advising the community in strongest terms to take back their judge who had left. Dated ca. 1105. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, 193, 561; V, 49, 519, 542 and from Cohen)

Letter of complaint. In Judaeo-Arabic, calligraphically written, with wide line-spacing. Against an adversary who denounced the sender to the government, gave false witness against him in qāḍī courts and told the Nagid Mevorakh that the sender alowed his cows to be grazed on Shabbat by Gentiles. Same scribe as T-S 13J34.5 (Alexandria, 1090 CE). (Information from Goitein's note card.) Same scribe likely also wrote T-S H10.171. Verso contains a seliḥa for the New Year (יי שמעה בקולי ראה), with alphabetic acrostic (information from CUDL).

Letter from Saadya b. Natan Ha-Kohen, Jerusalem, to Mevorakh b. Saadya, Fustat, approximately 1070.

Legal settlement in the hand of the addressee, written between the end of the letter and the address. The senior partner Khallūf b. Mūsā the goldsmith, who is described here as Ḥamawī, that is, native of Ḥamāh in Syria, but still as resident in Palermo, Sicily, had made Moshe Samarqandī his attorney against Yeshuʿa. The matter came before the court of Mevorakh b. Saadya, later Nagid, or head of the Jews in the Fatimid empire, but was finally settled by "elders," who took the trouble to go through all the accounts and came up with a complicated settlement. Since the draft is in the hand of Yeshuʿa, we do not know whether this was the end of the story. (Information from Goitein, Letters, p. 134.) ASE

Petition of a cantor, son of a judge, who is sick and poor, asking God and a Nasi for help (the Nagid Mevorakh per Goitein's identification of the writer). See Oded Zinger, Women, Gender, and Law, 83, 324; S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society 2:109. EMS. "I have become chronically ill. I cannot move from my place more than a span without pains and screams. As God is my witness, I cannot even stand to pray. I have entered serious straits because of my illness and poverty. By Moses and Aaron, I have no silver except what I receive from the synagogue on Mondays. My illness requires a lot of money. I beseech you to aid me and address my situation, like you address the situation of strangers and converts and captives. If you delay, I will perish and die, lost." ASE.

Letter draft from Hillel b. ʿEli, in Tyre to the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saʿadya, in Fusṭāṭ. Ca. 1094 CE. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Shela b. Mevasser to Mevorakh b. Saʿadya. (Information from CUDL)

Minute fragment. A beginning of a letter addressed to Mevorakh b. Saadya written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi. AA

Later text: Brief note from Hillel b. Eli to Mevorakh b. Saadya saying that he has sent him Levantine parchment. Goitein's note card contains a full transcription.

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Drawn up under the authority of the Nagid Moshe b. Mevorakh (ca. 1112–26 CE). It is a testimony that was delivered before the two permanent judges in Fustat who were appointed by the late Nagid Mevorakh b. Seʿadya and by his son Moshe (for similar examples, see Cohen, Jewish Self-Government, p. 275 note 13). Concerning what happened after the death of Abū l-Faḍl ʿAmram b. Raḥamim. The continuation is mostly missing. Mentions the blessed congregation of Fustat; a woman who paid a large sum out of her own money; the mother of Abū l-Faḍl who is a widow; and someone called al-Rayyis al-Jalīl.

Fragment from a legal deed from Mevorakh b. Sa'adya's period (1094-1112) regarding a quarrel between Aharon Hakohen b. Shemaryah and Abu Sa'd about merchandise sent to Fustat in order to be sold there. AA

Page from a court ledger with some legal documents written by Avraham b. Nathan Av. One of the court records is dated to the year 1099 and deals with items belong to Abu Ya'aqub. The record is starting on verso; left side and there is a reference to אלוף הבינות that is Mevorkah b. Saadya. Signed by [Avraham b. Shma'aya nin] Shma'ayahu Gaon. On the left page of recto a court record between Ma'ali and b. al-Sukari (the sugar maker). Signed by Ishaq b. Sh[muel the Spaniard] together with Avraham who is mentioned above. Verso, right side is written by a different hand regarding Ya'aqov and 'Imran(?). AA