Geniza Lab

Sermon in Judaeo-Arabic based on a narrative of real events. Dated: shortly after Kislev 1460 Seleucid, which is 1148 CE. The writer may be Mevorakh b. Natan (or may be named Zakkay, as written between lines 1 and 2 of recto). On recto he writes "this is a drash (sermon) that I recorded/composed while in mourning for my son Moshe. I heard this on Friday, 13 Kislev 1460..." There are further details here about the date and the day of the week (he notes in the margin that it is a good sign to die on erev shabbat) and the Torah portion that coincided with the shiva in both Fustat and al-Maḥalla (parashat Vayishlaḥ). The sermon begins on verso. "One Friday, 13 Kislev 1460, I was sitting in al-Maḥalla copying books as is my custom, with the boys studying Torah before me. I heard them talking about an ugly business. I said to them, 'What's this that you're talking about?' They said, "Just what we heard." I said, "Who did you hear it from, and on what authority?" They said, "from the family of the cantor" ['bayt' can also mean wife, but here it is marked as a mixed/masculine plural]. I said, "And where did the family of the cantor hear it from?" They said, 'From their relative Maʿānī in Fustat." I sent for Maʿānī, and as God knows, I was present but absent, estranged, alone, and lonely due to the remnants of an illness and [due to being] surrounded by enemies who await my public downfall..."

Letter from a scribe. In Judaeo-Arabic. He reports that after much travail he has finally completed a Torah codex (muṣḥaf) "in the name of the Nagid." This muṣḥaf has no peer, except for the one which he had written for the addressee himself. He had been working on it for many nights. Abū l-Munajjā will deliver it together with letters, and the addressee is asked to give it personally to the Nagid. (Information from Goitein's note card.)

Letter from Yosef b. Yaʿaqov b. ʿEli ha-Bavli Rosh ha-Seder to his brothers ʿEli and Yiṣḥaq. Mainly in Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 1476 Seleucid, which is 1164/65 CE. The sender gives his name in several short lines at the top of the leaf, followed by a quotation from Psalms 121:2. Identification of the sender was made by Amir Ashur and Mordechai Akiva Friedman, who add that he signs with his motto/ʿalāma (the same as that of Shemuʾel b. ʿEli, whose disciple he was): הא̇ לא̇ למו̇ (Psalms 68:21). In the letter, Yosef reports that he has sent the requested book in his handwriting. As for what one of them said about his mother missing him, he misses her even more. The next part is the upbringing and education of Yiṣḥaq (evidently the younger brother). ʿEli had complained about how Yiṣḥaq constantly disobeys him. Yosef gives an instruction that may be about corporal punishment and which involves the word "al-muqallib." Then: "You must exert authority over him (tusalṭin bih) and remind him of what the Torah says, 'Honor thy father and thy mother....' As for what you said about him cursing you—his teacher!—I cannot believe that about him." He then cites a couple more biblical verses and tells ʿEli to try to forgive Yiṣḥaq. As for Sameaḥ(?) al-Qaṭṭān and his reneging on a (legal?) agreement and not giving the addressee anything—the addressee must go to him and demand an explanation. The sender is pained that the addressee has not told him what he and Abū l-Barakāt have been reading, nor about his livelihood, nor about "how much gold you have gathered for me." Yosef mentions a letter he received from their father and how he responded to both the addressee's and the father's letter in a single letter. He then rebukes the addressee for his bad handwriting (kawn khaṭṭik manḥūs) and how he botched the 5 quires (apparently homework) that he copied. He must do it again, and also also supervise Yiṣḥaq in this task. Yosef gives further instructions about the Torah portions that they must copy. There follow numerous greetings, including for: Abū l-Faraj al-Baghdādī, Moshe Rosh ha-Qahal, Yosef's mother, ʿEzra the judge, and Binyamin ha-Ḥaver. There is a postscript written with a different pen expressing happiness at the news that Yiṣḥaq recovered from his illness. The letter keeps going on verso with additional greetings. As for the instructions Yosef received to purchase a niqāb and large miqnaʿa (scarf or veil) for his mother in Erbil (ארבל)—it is too late, he has already left Erbil. ASE

"A scribe informs his father that a piece of parchment which he acquired was sufficient for four quires less one leaf. But the ink with which he had written one quire was bad, he either had to "cook" another one or to buy one. He asks his father to meet Manṣūr the agent of the judge in an urgent matter connected with a partnership. (Information from Goitein's note card)