Geniza Lab

Letter from Barhūn b. Yisḥaq al-Tāhirti to Nahray b. Nissim. Dating: 1045–96 CE. The sons of the late Nagid, who are owed favors, have asked Barhūn to help their cousin (ibn khāl) travel to Alexandria. Barhūn wonders if Nahray might take him along when he travels. Barhūn has already asked a certain Abū Isḥāq (apparently another Barhūn) to give the cousin 50 dirhams. Nahray should make sure Abū Isḥāq has done that, and perhaps he can also contribute some money of his own. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, pp. 303-304.)

Letter from an unidentified Nagid to R. Aהraham regarding an insubordinate cantor. Given this shelfmark's prior identification as late and Dotan Arad's attribution of the letter to a Nagid, it likely dates to the 14th-early 16th centuries (no later than 1517CE). Date: 14th c, 15th c, 16th c. MCD.

A deed of acquittance, in which Sedid b. Saʿadya releases Fakhr bat ʿAlam. Signed in Cairo near Fustat, at the time of the Nagid ʿAmram, on Friday, 9 Nissan 1688(?) Seleucid (1377CE). (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below and Assaf, Toledot ha-Yehudim, p. 22.). In the edition from his dissertation (p.366) Dotan Arad confirms the dating as 1377CE. MCD.

Fragment of a letter of a cantor describing the visit of the Nagid in a town, probably Alexandria, during the holidays. The Nagid visited the synagogue of the Babylonians. 300 persons were present. Also lists prices of wheat and bread and reports that the oppressive measures had been slightly relaxed. (Information from Goitein notes and index card.)

Business letter from the North African merchant Benāya b. Mūsā (Alexandria) to Shelomo b. Mevorakh (Fustat), containing inter alia information about the movement of ships and referring to several India traders. Benāya b. Mūsā asks his correspondent to intercede on his behalf with head of the Jews Mevorakh b. Saʿadya, seeking the latter’s assistance in arbitrating a dispute to which the merchant’s son was a party. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below and Cohen, Jewish Self-Government, pp. 238n96 and 250-251.)

Letter (with Fatimid petition/report formulary) sent by the shammash (beadle) of Sunbāṭ in the center of the delta to Shemuel ha-Nagid (1140–59) describing a brawl and accusing the opponents of having arranged with the wali beforehand to look the other way. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 368, 369, and from Goitein's index cards)

Copy of a letter from an as-yet-unidentified Nagid, describing inter alia his appointment by the caliph. The interpretation of this document has been controversial ever since its original publication by Elkan Nathan Adler (with numerous errors) in "The Installation of the Egyptian Nagid" JQR (1897), 717–20. Most recently edited by Shulamit Sela, "The Headship of the Jews in the Fāṭimid Empire in Karaite Hands" in Masʾat Moshe, ed. Fleischer et al. (Jerusalem, 1998). See also the bibliography on FGP for discussions of this document by Cohen and Friedman.

Letter from Shemarya b. Maṣliaḥ, in Fustat, to the Nagid Yaʿaqov b. ʿAmram, in Qayrawān. Dating: probably spring or summer of 1039 CE, and in any case 1038–42 CE, the period of conflict between Natan b. Avraham and Shelomo b. Yehuda over the gaʾonate in Palestine. The letter drafts on both recto and verso are about that conflict and the question of the loyalties of the community of Qayrawān. Signed by Shemarya but from a group of people; Shemarya's signature is in a different hand from the letter itself, and according to Gil, the scribe is Ghālib b. Moshe ha-Kohen, the son-in-law of Efrayim b. Shemarya. Both Gil and Cohen assume that additional leaders of the Fustat community were planning to sign the letter. This letter covers some of the same ground as the letter on verso; we additionally learn that the support that Natan b. Avraham claimed to have secured in the Maghreb came from the elders of Qayrawān. Jacob Mann published T-S 18J4.16, and Mark Cohen discovered the join with ENA 3765.10 and the significance of this pair of letters. (Information from Goitein, Cohen, Gil, and CUDL.)

Letter from Avraham b. David Ibn Sughmār (according to Gil), in Fustat, to the Nagid Yaʿaqov b. ʿAmram, in Qayrawān. Dating: Probably spring or summer of 1039 CE, and in any case 1038–42 CE, during the period of conflict between Natan b. Avraham and Shelomo b. Yehuda over the gaʾonate in Palestine. The letter drafts on both recto and verso are about the conflict and the loyalties of the community of Qayrawān. The sender asks the Nagid, who had previously petitioned the Muslim official Abū l-Qāsim Ibn al-Ukhuwwa on Natan’s behalf, to show his renewed support for the legitimate gaʾon, Shelomo b. Yehuda. This letter also mentions the arrival in Fusṭāṭ of the Nasi Daniel b. ʿAzarya and presents him as a great reformer, banning the ownership of female slaves, excommunicating miscreants, and cracking down on music. As an afterthought, the sender alludes to terrible wrongs being inflicted by Natan b. Avraham's relatives. One remarkable thing about this letter is that it was written at least a decade before Daniel b. ʿAzarya served as gaʾon (beginning in 1051 CE after the death of Shelomo b. Yehuda). It's also one of the key sources for Daniel b. ʿAzarya's lineage: it says that his father was the exilarch ʿAzarya b. Shelomo b. Zakkay, whose elder son Zakkay (Daniel's brother) established the dynasty of Nasis in Mosul whose descendants crop up throughout the Geniza documents of the next two centuries. Jacob Mann published T-S 18J4.16, and Mark Cohen discovered the join with ENA 3765.10 and the significance of this pair of letters. (Information from Goitein, Cohen, Gil, and CUDL.)

Letter addressed to Sulaymān the beadle. In Judaeo-Arabic. Regarding fundraising for captives, asking the addressee to take charge of it, and also "to collect something from the women." There is some sort of registration mark at the top of the page, which resembles those used by the offices of Yehoshua Maimonides (d. 1355) and David II Maimonides (d. 1410). The handwriting resembles that of the clerk of Yehoshua Maimonides. Needs examination

Letter from ten elders of the community concerning appointment of David b. Avraham b. Maimonides as Nagid.

Letter from a man of high standing to the Nagid Shemuel (in office 1140-1159), dealing with a case of clothing, and a man who had been forced to sell his female slave. She was now living with the man's sister, and he continued to spend most of his time with her. Verso: Account fragment in Arabic script with Coptic numerals.

Fragment of a letter (written by Ṣedaqa Nes), to the head of the exile, Natan ha-Kohen Sholal (d. 1502) in Cairo (the penultimate Nagid), concerning a fraudulent cheese seller who was fined by Yosef ha-Nagid, a predecessor of Natan, for selling non-kosher cheese as if it was kosher. Also mentions Samuel and his brother Isaac, the Persians, and Moshe Abū Shaʿra. (Information from CUDL; see also Goitein's index cards.) Earlier description for CUL Or.1080 J174: Confidential letter sent from Jerusalem by Yiṣḥaq to his brother in Cairo. In Hebrew. Dating: Late. The writer complains that a certain Yaʿaqov with the help of a certain non-Jew has stolen a portion of his money, which belonged to Yiṣḥaq's brother, and promises to send the remainder of the money by a messenger or bring it to Cairo himself. (Information from Goitein's index cards.)

Fragment of a letter sent from Alexandria to the Head of the Congregations, perhaps R. Eliyyahu the Dayyan, describing a meeting of about fifty elders headed by R. Shemuel, the Dayyan and Ras al-Jaliya (the Nasi). Regret is expressed about a letter sent by the Nagid Avraham, and about letters by the addressee (Information from Goitein's index cards) Letter to someone addressed as ‘Adon ha-Tora Sar he-Te'uda Rosh ha-Qahal Yehid ha-Dor', concerned with community matters, sent to the perfumer's market to Abu l-Faraj (?). Mentions people and titles including the Nagid Abraham, Sulayman, Shemuʾel and ‘al-Nasi Shams al-Din Rosh ha-Galut'. (information from CUDL)

List of sundry expenditures made for the Nagid, mentioning items for his kitchen and marking prices using Coptic numerals. Dated to the early 13th century. (Information from Goitein, Mediterranean Society, IV, pp. 245, 440)

Letter to a Nagid mentioning Jewish communities in various towns and villages of Galilee. The first five lines are very faded.

Letter from the office of the Nagid Yehoshua Maimonides (d. 1355), to the Jewish community in Cairo. He is ordering them to pay back to the public collection for the money (150 dirhams) that was taken from it to the capitation tax, for the poor that could not pay. This amount of money was taken from the "food for the poor" section in the collection. Mid 14th century (Ashtor estimation). VMR

Letter from the Nagid David I Maimonides (d. 1300) to the community of Ashmūm. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Concerning someone named Yosef who was in a dispute with Abū [...].

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Yoshiyahu ha-Nasi to a dignitary whom he addresses as "Sar ha-Teʿuda" and "Nagid Erez Yisra'el ve-Yehuda." After a lengthy introduction, he reports that he has accomplished what was asked regarding the copy of the book, and he also asks the Nagid to go to the physician Abū l-ʿIzz and obtain a waṣiyya (advice? prescription?). There are some faded sections. ASE.

Letter from David Kohen to the Nagid R. Natan Sholal, the penultimate Nagid of Egypt. Dating: end of the 15th century.