Geniza Lab

Fragment of a letter by Natan b. Avraham. 1354/1042.

Legal document. Court record. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Location: Fustat. Dated: 1134. Abū Sa‘d and Abū Sahl form a partnership lasting 6.5 months to manufacture and sell glass. Half the capital (20 dinars in total) invested by Abū Sa‘d is considered a loan to Abū Sahl, who pledges title to his home as a security. This may suggest diversion from the commenda model, where the active partner is not liable for loss. But the partnership also diverges from the ‘eseq model, wherein only the active partner transacts. Both the profit/loss characteristics and the working arrangement between the partners suggests a craft partnership. Abū Sa‘d is likely the senior partner: he is identified as al-Zajjāj, “the glazier” (i.e., a known personage in the field), while Abū Sahl is given no professional designation; as well, Abū Sa‘d invests all of the capital, suggesting that he may be short of liquid assets). Finally, the partnership stipulates that Abū Sa‘d need only work two shifts a week (suggesting he may have other business elsewhere), while Abū Sahl will work the rest of the week. Maṣliaḥ ha-Kohen, mentioned in line 54, functioned as leader of the Jewish community of Fusṭāṭ from 1127 to 1139. The signatories to the document, Natan b. Shelomo ha-Kohen and Natan b. Avraham ha-Levi, signed 5 months after the agreement was initiated, for unknown reasons. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Society", pp. 17-21)

Letter from Nathan b. Abraham to one of his followers, October-November 1042. (FGP)

Letter from Yosef b. Kulayb, Ramla, to the gaonic pretender (here titled ra's al-mathība) Natan b. Avraham, probably in Tyre, May 1041. He reports the struggle between Natan b. Avraham's adherents and those of Shelomo b. Yehuda and the question of whether Yehuda the ḥazzān or Ibn ʿAlī or both should have taqdima. Information from Goitein's note card (#12248).

Verso: Letter from Efrayim b. Shemarya to Natan b. Avraham. Dating: ca. 1034. Relates to the early stages of a conflict between Natan b. Avraham and Shelomo b. Yehuda. Efrayim b. Shemarya gives his support to Natan b. Avraham. Mentions regular correspondence between the writer and the addressee. Mentions a person who arrived from Babylonia, possibly Daniel b. ʿAzarya, who was elected to the Palestinian gaonate after Shelomo b. Yehuda. (Information from Bareket, The Jews of Egypt, p. 99.) On recto there is a document in Arabic script (see separate record).

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.)

Settlement between Shelomo b. Yehuda and Natan b. Avraham, ending the four-year schism of the geonut. Drawn up in Jerusalem. In the hand of Ẓadoq ha-Levi b. Levi. Dating: Late 1042 or early 1043 CE (Goitein and Rustow); or October 8, 1042 CE (Gil). By the terms of the agreement, Natan was deposed and demoted to Av Bet Din, and Shelomo b. Yehuda was reinstated in office. "The terms lean in Shelomo's favor, except for one item: the creation of a board of five overseers to regulate the affairs of the yeshiva, including the Gaon (Shelomo) and the Av Bet Din (Natan)." Information from Rustow, Heresy, p. 321, and from Gil.

Recto: Letter from Natan b. Avraham, in which he urges his supporters to be in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, lest their party be underrepresented, mentioning the ḥaver Avraham b. Shela. Dating: summer 1039 CE. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Natan b. Avraham, Ramla, to Netanel b. Rawḥ, Fustat, July 1039.

Letter from Natan b. Avraham, Fustat, to Abu Yusuf Elazar b. Isma'il, Qus, approximately 1035.

descriptions of houses and gates, maybe for legal purposes, including the `eighth house belonging to Michael, `the commander of the army who is amputee' seems to be written by Natan b. Avraham Av

Fragment from the bottom of a legal deed, probably written by Natan b. Avraham. One of the parties is Abu al-Fadl. Signed by Yeshu'a b. Yakhin (AA)

On recto an account or a list in Arabic - needs examination. On verso Bible citatation probably written by Natan b. Avraham Av. AA