Geniza Lab

Letter from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to Abū l-Bayān, requesting that he let him copy a volume of responsa, either bringing it to Shelomo or having Shelomo come to his house to copy it. The tone is slightly confrontational ("because if a person says something, he must fulfill it"). On verso, a note by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu, registering his expenditure for a Friday, mainly on foods. Also a note to deliver this slip to his mother (? Sittī al-Ra'īsa, with lots of honorifics). Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, 231-2. ASE.

Letter of request to send 20 good new poems composed by one Abu Sa'id. The writer mentions that he had already sent 7 letters on this matter. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Legal document about an agreement to write a copy of a codex of the eight Prophets.

Narrow vertical strip of paper. Instructions to a scribe according to Goitein's index card, but seems more likely to be an inventory of existing documents in someone's possession. "The release of [...] and a document concerning the receipt from Tinnīs. And a document in which he attests about receipt—Hebrew. And a document for the wife of the physician, in which he attests about receipt of 25 dinars.... the question(?) of the warehouse and accompaniment(?) to Syria (al-Shām) and visiting/solicitation of Yiṣḥāq al-ʿAjamī."

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Written on parchment, in a scribal hand, in a narrow column on the verso of a page of piyyuṭim (in the hand of the same scribe?). Most of the letter consists of polite formulae. The sender urges the addressee to help him in something involving cutting parchment for a bible.

Legal deed, draft, regarding the estate of Avraham ha-Levi the teacher b. Yosef b. ʿAnan, which had been deposited by the Beit Din with ʿEli b. Efrayim b. ʿEli al-Tinnīsī. Mentions Yehuda b. Meshullam b. Zekharya the scribe b. ʿAnan and Jāliyya bt. Zekharya the scribe b. ʿAnan. The traces of writing between the lines and in the margins appear to be additions to the text and, perhaps, traces of an earlier text. On Yosef b. ʿAnan, a scribe whose copy of a codex of ketuvim still survives in Cairo, see Meital in JQR 2020. (Information from Goitein's index cards). Verso contains rhymed Hebrew verses.

Recto: Letter from Yehuda b. Aharon b. al-ʿAmmānī, in Alexandria, to Abū l-Majd Meir b. Yakhin, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated 23 Shevat, 1208 CE. Yehuda copied for Meir dirges (qinnot) and liturgical poetry (piyyutim). The whole letter deals with the exchange of professional news and information between the two cantors. In particular, R. ʿOvadya the cantor from Damascus was meant to deliver certain piyyutim, but he departed suddenly without warning, which is why Yehuda is sending them with the present letter (r6-12). Yehuda rebukes Meir for sending him vague requests without specifying the opening lines of the piyyutim, which cools Yehuda's ardor for fulfilling his requests (r12-17). He also asks Meir to send back the note about the reading of Deut. 1:44, which Yehuda had seen in the Tāj (the Aleppo Codex) (r17-19). He also wants Meir to send him the fatwa that relates to Yehuda's court case against a judge (r20-22). He asks if ʿOvadya is planning to travel again (r23-24) and concludes with greetings. See Goitein, Med. Soc. II, 548 n. 59, for an explanation of the date in this letter and in T-S 16.287. Yehuda writes 168, with 4800 implied, so the year is 4968. On verso is a draft of a legal query in a different hand. Information in part from Frenkel and from Goitein's note card. ASE.

Letter in which a notable to whom Abu al-'Izz b. Imran owed about 60 dirhams proposes, as a charitable act, to let him work off his obligation. A copyist had been copying quires of the Torah for the letter-writer, but had left for Palestine. Knowing that Abu al-'Izz has a good handwriting, the writer now wants to have him discharge his debt by taking over the project. He asks the Nagid to order him to do so, at a rate of at least two quires per week. (Information from Goitein's index cards and from Cohen)

Autograph texts by Joseph Rosh ha-Seder b. Jacob. Recto: a draft relating to the copying of the Mishna and the Gemara. On the bottom of the page and written upside down in relation to the other text there is a, presumably draft, colophon stating that Joseph Rosh ha-Seder copied a Siddur of Saʿadya Gaʾon in 1201. Verso: opening lines of the Epistle of Rav Sherira Gaʾon with minor variations in wording. The text is entitled ‘Collected Benedictions of Rabbenu Sherira of blessed memory’ and begins with one line of verse, vocalised and decorated. (Information from CUDL)

Legal agreement. Location: Fustat. Dated: 4754 AM, which is 993/94 CE. Two cantors, Naḥum b. Yosef al-Baradānī and Palṭiel b. Efrayim, divide up liturgical and communal responsibilities (and wages) between them. Among other things, they are appointed to draw up marriage contracts and bills of divorce. The former, Naḥum b. Yosef al-Baradānī, is otherwise known from the writings of R. Hayya Gaon. (Information from Friedman, "Palestinian Ketubbot from the Geonic Period," Teʿuda 1 (1980), p. 68). On verso there are liturgical instructions in Judaeo-Arabic.

Letter in the hand of the professional scribe Shelomo b. Shemuel b. Seʿadya (fl. early 13th century). In Judaeo-Arabic. Possibly a draft. He is reporting on his progress completing various commissions. He has "fulfilled the rights..." of "the noble Majlis," and he has sent with the Parnas Abū l-Najm 18 quires (kurrās/karārīs) out of the two volumes (al-juzʾayn) in his possession. He has had difficulty in buying parchment for the purpose which he had previously mentioned to the addressee. He asks 'Sayyidnā' to send an advance of 25 dirhams toward the price of the quires (the remainder of the price of the two volumes to be paid upon completion). The only reason he has not finished before Rosh Hashana is that he has been exerting himself trying to find parchment. There follows another similar update on a different project. On verso there is liturgical text (the birkat ha-mazon for weekdays) in the same hand. ASE