Geniza Lab

Fragment of a document in Judaeo-Arabic narrating the situation of communal leadership in Minyat Zifta and Minyat Ghamr. "R. Moshe. . . on marriage and divorce due to his learning and excellence, he is the original muqaddam and authority in Minyat Zifta and Minyat Ghamr. Avraham ha-Kohen is the one whom we have left in charge of the prayer and slaughter. . . . We have received many letters from the haver R. Moshe regarding the letter which we wrote. . . ruling that except for marriage. . ." Though it deals with current events, the fragment has the layout of a literary work. Perhaps it is a copy of a letter. ASE

Letter from a certain Moshe to his son, the physician Avraham. Fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. What remains is largely taken up with expressions of the preoccupation of the writer and his wife for their son's health. If they receive good news of Avraham, his mother rejoices, and if they receive bad news, she becomes sad and distressed. Moshe and his wife seem to be concerned because Avraham is traveling frequently (r11–15), and perhaps because of something to do with his wife (rm1). On verso, there are repetitive instructions about not allowing a certain man (Avraham's brother?) to go anywhere without taking Avraham's mother with him. At the end of the letter, Moshe reports that he has obtained the ophthalmic medications (ashyāf) from the physician Abū l-Faraj as requested, and has forwarded them along with a letter from the same Abū l-Faraj. Several towns of the Delta are mentioned in the letter: Bilbays, Minyat Ghamr, and—if this a place name—al-Ṣāliḥiyya. Avraham responded on the same piece of paper, writing nothing more than that he read the letter and thanked God for the health of his father and mother and the children. There are also some Arabic jottings on verso. ASE.

Legal document from Minyat Ghamr concerning a debt; during the holiday of Passover 1537 sel., mid-April 1226 CE. Reshut of Abraham Maimonides. Ḥalfon b. Elazar known as ben al-Meshorer received from Nadiv b. Shelomo fifty dirhems in "Egyptian cash," to pay back in four half-monthly installments. (Information from Goitein's index cards) VMR and EMS

Recto: Letter in the hand of Avraham Maimonides, mentioning Yosef. Verso: Letter by Moshe b. Peraḥya, the muqaddam of Minyat Ghamr, concerned with a legal dispute over an inheritance, mentioning Ibn Kamāl from Bilbays and Minyat Ghamr. (Information from CUDL.) See also Goitein's index cards. Joins by Mordechai Akiva Friedman. (AA)

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Might be from a provincial teacher. "...that which we were hoping for from benefiting the children... on Passover... he brought a teacher with him from Fustat named Ibn [...]... did not heed his words... returning your son to this... what I expected from them... I have sent you (pl.) (letters) from Manṣūr(a?)... (and) from Damīra... (and I have not received a) response, please send me a letter informing me... in Minyat Ghamr, for they said to me, 'Stay... they will make arrangements for you'... (if [...]) I will stay with them, and if not I will enter (Fustat)...." Might also mention al-Maḥalla in l. 2.