Geniza Lab

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Simha al-Naysaburi, in Alexandria, to Ulla ha-Levi b. Yosef, Fustat. Dating: around 1080. Concerns trade in saffron and other spices, and in silk, and lists prices. Mentions some details about ships. The writer mentions a third partner. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #739) VMR

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.)

Trousseau list to accompany a marriage contract. Groom: Abū Naṣr Elʿazar ha-Kohen b. Yaḥyā. Bride: Sitt al-Maʿālī bt. Abū l-Ḥasan al-Simsār. Real value: 57 dinars. Including a female slave (unnamed) worth 20 dinars. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Letter from a man, in Fustat, to his mother, unknown location. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 12th or maybe 13th century. He speaks about his children (he probably also had a wife). He had been in al-Maḥalla for 2 months, then came to Fustat intending to stay only 5 days, but it was impossible to leave on account of the children. He now sends her 40 dirhams with Ibrāhim Ibn al-Ashqar. She should pay 5 to Abū ʿAlī and buy 10 dirhams of wheat (qamḥ) for the children. He gives further difficult-to-understand instructions for what to do with the rest of the money—maybe orders for spinning (istighzāl)? He is staying with Abū Naṣr b. Karīm at Qaʿāt al-Fāḍil. (Information from Goitein’s index card.)

Letter from Ayash b. Ṣedaqa, Alexandria, to an unknown addressee. Dating: January 1051. Lists of goods that were bought or sold. Some details about the market and credit conditions as well as details about shipping. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #486) VMR

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.

Important business letter sent from Alexandria to Fustat by a Maghribi merchant named Nissim who, coming from al-Mahdiyya, had arrived in Alexandria at time of a civil unrest. The writer describes the difficult situation in Alexandria and al-Mahdiyya, attaches valuable price lists and assures the addressee that his wife and baby daughter are perfectly comfortable. Dated 1060-1070. (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 168; V, pp. 50, 51, 519.) A letter from Alexandria, in the hand of Salāma b. Mūsā b. Iṣḥaq Safāquṣī, to an unknown recipient. Summer of 1062. Lists prices in Alexandria. Mentions trade links with Byzantium, Genoa, Crete, Sicily, and Spain. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 445-446.)

Letter from Ḥayyim b. ʿAmmār b. Madīnī (Alexandria) to Yosef b. Mūsā al-Tāhirtī, ca. 1062. The sender explains why a load of a medicinal herb greater celandine has not been sold: the price for it is currently low but might go up when a ḥajj caravan or ships from Spain arrive. There is more demand for the herb in Fustat. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 165.)

Fragment of a business letter from Iṣḥaq b. Aharon Sijilmāssī (Fustat) to Avraham (ʿArūs) b. Yosef (Alexandria), ca. 1080. Iṣḥaq b. Aharon reports about money he sent, asks to buy laque and provides information about silk prices. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 403.)

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic that feature a wide array of price-related calculation that may date from the 18th century based on the paleography and the mention of Venetian coinage. The recto is very faded yet on the verso the entry structure of the bifolium is more clear in that each set of calculations is designated by individuals, such as: Ḥayyim Tawīl, Yosef Mod[aʿ]?, and Maʿallam Saʿad. Some of the entries where prices are mentioned also reference types of coinage. On the upper right of the verso, line 2, the word "בונדוק / bunduk" appears which is in all likelihood a quantity of gold Venetian ducats. In the same column below that, the term "מתקיל / metqil" appears and elsewhere on the verso as another form of coinage. Based on the structure of this bifolium and the small tears along the inner spine, it may originate from a broader private ledger. MCD.

Advertisement of prices for types of groceries and wine – 1931CE – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 285) – in Arabic. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 67). MCD.

Letter from Salāma b. Mūsā Safāquṣī (Alexandria) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat), ca. 1062. Contains information on the movement of ships, and on a significant damage to one of the ships, causing losses to Nahray. Salāma b. Mūsā Safāquṣī hopes to find out from Nahray b. Nissim prices of oil, flax, pepper. He laments the death of Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tāhirtī. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 450 and Goiteins notes linked below.)

Letter from Zakarya b. Yaʿaqov al-Shama (Tripoli, Libya) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat), ca. 1050. The letter discusses the movement of goods from Tripoli to Fustat and vice versa, as well as the state of the market and prices in Tripoli and in the region of Ifriqiya. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 206.)

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim in Alexandria to Abu Ishaq Avraham b. Hananel, known as Awad, in Fustat, in which the writer asks for information about prices of goods in Fustat, ca. 1045-1096.

Letter from Benaya b. Musa in Ibyar to Abu l-Ḥusayn Ṣedaqa b. Nissim in Fustat (sūq) al-ʿAṭṭārīn (Dated 1046 according to Gil). Mentions a shortage of grain and inquires about an apartment. He also mentions a sea voyage he had planned to Sicily which had not taken place and expresses concern for a certain Abu `Imran, urging him to take care of his wife and child. He mentions that he did not buy wheat and beans because the price in Fustat was much lower than in the countryside. "And inform him that I did not purchase anything for him because of the prevailing hunger (jūʿ) and food shortages in the countryside (al-Rīf). One and three-quarter waybas of wheat and beans...whereas an irdabb of wheat (in Fusṭāṭ) sells for 2 dīnārs."

Letter from Mūsā b. Abī al-Ḥay (Tinnīs) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat), ca. 1062. Mūsā reached Tinnīs by land because he was scared to travel by ship while carrying money. The letter contains a detailed account of wares that he sold or bought, especially pellitory (Anacyclus Pyrethrum) and flax. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 509 and Goitein notes linked below.)

Beginning and end of an important business letter written after the arrival of the sender from Mahdiyya to Alexandria, containing a list of prices. Dated to the end of the 11th or the beginning of the 12th century. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 221, and from Goitein's index cards)