Geniza Lab

Letter sent from Alexandria by Yiṣḥaq Nisaburi to Abu al-'Ala Sa'id b. Munajja in Fustat, asking him to send a Byzantine scribe to Alexandria to write a Torah scroll. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Detailed letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Simḥa Naysābūrī, Alexandria, to Abū l-ʿAlā Sā'id (i.e. ʿŪllā) b. Yosef ha-Levi the Trustee of the rabbinical court of Fustat in Fustat. (Gil's ID based on handwriting.) Dating: ca.1120 CE. The main topic of the letter is a great disaster that befell the writer and many other merchants. Of a convoy of five ships, three, carrying a load to the value of about 200,000 dinars, were lost. In the ship carrying the writer's goods, there were ten Jews, prominent in their home town (most probably Tripoli), who, in addition to merchandise to the value of 7,000 dinars, lost all their money, belongings and even clothing. The writer's cargo amounted to 500 d., of which 320 d. were his own and the rest on commission. One of the Jewish travellers, Abū l-Faḍl b. Abū l-Yumn al-Dimashqī, known to the addressee from a previous visit to Fustat, perished. As the writer obviously was hit hard by that disaster, he asks his friend to take steps to coerce merchants owing him money—Siman Tav (not Tov), Abū Manṣūr, and Jaʿfarī—to fulfill their obligations. In addition, the letter deals with many other business affairs. In a postscript, the writer reports that the banker (ṣārafī, to be pronounced ṣayrafī) Abū l-Maʿālī died bankrupt, owing people about a thousand dinars, to Jews alone about 600, and to the writer 27d. Many other names mentioned. Main merchandise: silk and other textiles, corals, but also wax and millstones. Information from Goitein's attached notes.

Letter from Yiṣḥaq Nīsābūrī, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, presumably in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1045–1096. Yiṣḥaq arrived in Alexandria on Tuesday 6 Tevet and found that the markets were slow (kāsira). Only lac sold. He asks the recipient to act with regard to a ḥerem stam (Med Soc II, 602, n. 40). Mentions al-Mahdiyya. Yiṣḥaq's son Simḥa greets Nahray's son Abū Saʿd. Verso: Account in difficult Arabic script. Information from Goitein's note card.

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Appears to be the handwriting of Yiṣḥaq b. Simḥa Nīsābūrī. Dating: 11th century. Mentions ships from various places including three from al-Mahdiyya and others from al-Andalus. The writer had three successive illnesses over the last month and a half, but he is now better and back to work (al-yawm anā mutaṣarrif), "unless another one comes over me." The writer has sent with Abū l-Ḥasan al-Mazīdī a flask of quince oxymel (sakanjabīn safarjalī) and a "nice" flask containing an unripe-grape rob (rubb ḥiṣrim) and a little quince. Alas, "the ḥiṣrim here is not like the Levantine ḥiṣrim" (cf. T-S 13J23.17, also featuring ḥiṣrim shāmī). Further down, the writer discusses the price of silk.

Small fragment of a business letter from Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi b. Simḥa ha-Levi al-Nisaburi to Abū Saʿīd . . b. Shelomo al-Fāsī.

Business letter from Yiṣḥaq Nīsābūrī to ʿUlla Dimashqī. Mentions Alexandria, Ashqelon, shipments of rhubarb, and a business dispute brought to court. (Information in part from Goitein's index card and Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 209, 452.)

Letter sent from Alexandria by Yiṣḥaq Simha to Abu al-'Ala al-Dimashqi of Cairo, instructing him how to provide for the family of Abu al-Faraj during the latter's journey to the Maghreb. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Business letter from Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi b. Simḥa al-Nīsābūrī to the parnas ʿŪlla ha-Levi. The writer recommends a young Jewish man and describing him as being very good at kattan work, indicating the scotching and hatchling of flax. Also mentions the silk market and prices. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:105, 402, 418, 455) EMS

Yiṣḥaq Nisaburi writes from Alexandria a letter to the Na'ib, Sadaqa b. Yahya in Fustat. He writes about a partnership in a boat and about an alarming governmental decree regarding the inheritance of foreign Jews who passed away in Alexandria. The second decade of the Twelfth Century, according to the names mentioned in the letter. (Information from Frenkel)

Letter fragment in the hand of Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi Nisaburi about his cost in an affair concerning Abu Sa‘id Makhlūf al-Nafusi. (Information from Goitein's index cards; and Mediterranean Society, 4:413.) EMS. The writer also wants more bibles sent and warns him of any more business with Makhlūf. He mentions further matters regarding Abu l-Faraj and Abū Tahir, and sends greeting to a number of people, including Abu Sahl, Abu l-Rida and Abū l-ʿAla who are admonished for not writing for a long time. (Information from CUDL.) He also describes a prolonged illness (60 days) this winter and asks Abū l-Munā to try to obtain a drug called Abū Zīdān for him; the physicians tell him there is no alternative. Join: Oded Zinger. ASE.

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Simḥa ha-Levi al-Nīsābūrī to Abū l-ʿAlāʾ Ṣāʿid aka ʿUlla b. Yosef ha-Levi al-Dimashqī. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Ca. 1100 CE. The sender expresses concern about the lack of letters. He sent goods with Abū Zikrī Yaḥyā al-Fāsī. He heard that the addressee had arrived safely (in Fustat?) together with a group of other merchants in a letter he received from Abū l-Faraj Hiba al-Ḥamawī (whose letter was delivered by Wahb the relative of Naḥrīr). The lower part of the letter is missing. On verso there are jottings of accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals, mentioning fruit of the Syrian ash (lisān ʿuṣfūr), clove, saffron, and sugar among other items. Several other letters from Yiṣḥaq to ʿUlla are preserved in the Geniza, for example T-S 13J21.26, in which ʿUlla is asked by Yiṣḥaq to provide for al-Ḥamawī’s family while he is away on business. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Simha al-Naysaburi, in Alexandria, to 'Ulla ha-Levi b. Yosef, in Fustat. Gil identifies the author of the letter by his handwriting. The letter deals with the trade of silk and pearls and involves Muslim trade partners. (Information from Gil)

From Yiṣḥaq b. Simha al-Nisaburi to Nethanel 'ha-Sar'. Written by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe (ca. 1100-1138). Mentions 20 dinars, 'imara (repairs), and a piece of anbar (ambergris). (Information from Goitein index cards and typed text)

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Simḥa al-Nīsābūrī ha-Levi to Abū l-ʿAlāʾ Salāma b. Hillel al-Ḥalabī. The sender reports that he arrived in Alexandria on Tuesday after spending three days in Malīj. He did not press Abū Sahl Mukhtār (also mentioned in T-S 12.296v) on the matter of the "sayf" (a sword?). because he was ill. But now he has recovered. The sender also refers to the addressee's intended travel to Yemen. (Information in part from Goitein's note card). Join: Alan Elbaum