Geniza Lab

Letter from Moshe Yehoshuaʿ Ashkenazi, in Alexandria, to Alalas y Sahlon, in Cairo (spelled Cairro). Dated: Sunday, 21 Adar II 5480 AM, which is 1720 CE. In Ladino. There is a great deal about business transactions and trouble with the customs office, specifically with a certain accursed Jirjis. Commodities include linen or flax, coral, and kermes (a red dye). Moshe reports on the arrival of a ship from Marseilles bearing wool, raisins, paper, tin, and kermes, among other things. Moshe seems aggravated: "as there are other things to be doing, I will be brief" (ll. 29–30), and "I have carried out a thousand contrabands but have never had so much trouble as with this one" (in standardized Spanish spelling: mil contra bandos hice nunca me tomé tanto ṣaʿar como esto") (l. 33). See "Alpalas y Sahalon" tag for other documents from the same group. (Information from Grace Masback's Princeton senior thesis, April 2021.)

Letter from Yosef קוכו and Shelomo Amarilio, in Salonica, to the judge Yiṣḥaq b. Ẓahal, presumably in Egypt. In Hebrew. Dated: 5480 AM (שנת אקים את סֿכֿתֿ דוד), which is 1719/20 CE. The writers heard that David Miranda (דוד מיראנדה) of Salonica recently died and that the addressee had taken custody of his estate. They inform the addressee that David left impoverished orphans, so they ask him to send the money with a trustworthy merchant of Salonica in the form of a polisa (פוליסה) as soon as possible. They have also heard that Avraham Barukh and a certain Sarsūr owed money to the deceased (the latter because he was selling garments (? רופאש) on commission/consignment for the deceased), so they ask the addressee to investigate. On verso there is a lovely illustration of two birds.

Letter draft from an anonymous shaliaḥ, in Fustat/Cairo, to an unknown addressee, in Jerusalem. In Hebrew. Dated: Monday, 22 Raḥamim, 5595 AM, which is 1835 CE. There is some ambiguity about the specific day. If Raḥamim is Elul, the 22nd should have been a Wednesday. But perhaps Raḥamim here means Av, when the 22nd did fall on a Monday. The letter conveys a remarkable tale of the writer's fortunes ever since he left Jerusalem on a fundraising mission on behalf of a certain Kollel. He first went to Gaza (not Giza as his spelling might suggest), where he bought passage to Suez with some gentiles from Bethlehem. In Suez (or before arriving there?), he came down with a terrible fever for ~24 days. He paid a Muslim woman a qirsh a day to wash his soiled clothing in the sea. When he entered the city, he found an epidemic (cholera?). All the gentiles were trying to flee in boats to Jedda. The writer too tried to flee, but a certain officer came and commandeered the boat, kicking him and a group of Damascenes off of the boat. The writer then had a second bout of fever ("my whole body burnt, and my tongue cleaved to my palate, and I went to the doctor, who treated/cured me a second time"). By this point all his money had run out. Shortly thereafter he developed an eye disease. There follows a long tale of how he relied on the hospitality and charity of various strangers, mentioning various "polisas" (securities), various letters proving his status as a shaliaḥ that he had to present, and various people--Jews and gentiles--whom he turned to for help. Relatively early on he made his way to Fustat/Cairo, where he had little success raising money or gaining allies. The capitation tax collector (baʿal ha-kharāj) apprehended him for failing to pay for 'the third year' (he had only paid for the years '50 and '51) and he spent three days in prison, where he fell ill again for the fourth time. He got out of prison through the intercession of Muʿallim Bekhor. His subsequent luck raising money was no more successful than before. He mentions going to the Beit Midrash to sleep there, because he had nowhere else to turn. The end of this letter is a plea for the addressee to send him money. The letter ends mid-sentence, and there is no address, suggesting that it was never sent (and thus could find its way into the Geniza). ASE.

Accounts related to commerce in silk on a bifolium that is undated yet can be estimated as late-18th to early-19th-century given the presence of Meʾīr ben Naʾīm's name and the general paleography of the document. The monetary sums are expressed in silver "פצה" coinage. Many partners in trade are listed such as: Avraham Yaʿabeṣ, Ḥajj Ḥasan Miʾmar[?], Yaʿacov Portos, and Moshe Hakīm. On the left page of the bifolium the financial instrument "polisa / פוליסה" common in moneylending is mentioned. Date: 18th c or 19th c. MCD.

Letter from Avraham Kolon (קולון) to Yosef Ardiʿa (ארדיעה). In Hebrew. Dating: Thursday, 12 Kislev [5318 AM], which is 1557 CE (see A. David's article for explanation of the date). Mentions a huge shipment of merchandise. "They say" that apart from the 200,000 peraḥim (which typically refers to Venetian ducats) there are 74 cases of coral, 14 cases of קארבה(?), a thousand copper ingots of one kind and 400 of another, 60 cases of hats, 60 cases of silk garments, and 100 packages ("balas") of clothing. Also mentions Francisco Grisolin (פרנסיסקו גריסולין). Address on verso. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter from an unidentified sender, in Hebron, to his 'brother' Yeḥezqel Ḥefeṣ, in Cairo. In Hebrew. Dated: Sunday, 17 Av [5]529 AM, which is 1769 CE. It is a reply stating that it is possible that the writer will return to Egypt. Reference is made to documents and a security (polisa / פוליסה). The verso is on the back page of the bifolium. Both middle pages are blank. (Information in part from CUDL and Dotan Arad.)

Non-Geniza. Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Shelomo, in Chufut-Kale, to Simḥa b. Shelomo, in Istanbul. Dating: Second half of the 18th century.r Regarding monetary and legal issues.