Geniza Lab

Recto: Formulary for a bill of divorce (get). In Hebrew and Aramaic. Upper margin and verso: several lines of Arabic script. The verso reads, "Yashūʿā b. Yūsuf (=Yeshuʿa b. Yosef) wrote this in Kislev (?? كسلوف) on the day that the Amir Nāṣir al-Dawla besieged Alexandria after killing 1000 people there. This was in the year 454 [AH = 1062/63 CE]." This is very interesting since these events were supposed to have taken place two years later according to Ibn Taghrībirdī’s al-Nujūm al-zāhira fī mulūk Miṣr wa-al-Qāhira (5:74). ASE, YU.

Letter from Mūsā b. Yiṣḥaq in Sfax to Yehuda b. Moshe Ibn Sughmar in Fustat. Contains details about shipments of coins, oil and soap from the Maghreb to Fustat. The recipient is asked to buy goods, mainly flax, in Fustat. (Information from Gil, Kingdom)

Letter from Avraham b. Farah, Alexandria to Yeshuaʿ b. Ismāʿīl, Fustat. The letter deals with the shipping of goods and money transfers. The writer describes the movement of ships between Alexandria and Sicily and mentions that he intends to sue a few silk workers as well as the son of the qadi for debts they owe. Mentions that Abū ʿAbdallah (Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ) has come to Mazāra overland (presumably from Palermo). Dated 11 October 1056.

Recto: Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, likely sent from Alexandria. Very faded. Concerns a dispute between groups within the community and mentions the synagogue. One group turned to the amir "Nāṣir al-Dawla wa-Sayfuhā" to intervene. There was a person who went to Fustat "to execute the rescripts from the king" (wa-kharaja ilā Miṣr fī injāz al-tawqīʿāt al-musallama min al-malik). Mentions someone from Tripoli (al-Iṭrābulsī) in the margin. It is hard to extract further details. Verso: Two distinct text blocks in Arabic script. The upper one is a record about the height of the Nile flood. The lower one, at 90 degrees, mentions a qāḍī. Needs further examination. (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE

Letter sent from Alexandria by Ibrahim b. Farah to Yehuda b. Musa b. Sighmar in Fustat, dealing with merchandise sent to Sicily, describing the itineraries of ships and mentioning some letters. (Information from Gil)