Geniza Lab

Letter from Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim. Offers details of ill-fated ships that were destroyed in a storm or met with the Byzantine navy. Of the ships that had been in al-Kanāʾis (a port in western Egypt), the only ones that had made it all the way to Alexandria were 7 ships of al-Ishfīlī, and one qārib apiece of Ibn Dayṣūr, Ibn Sindūr, Ibn al-Dajdāj, Ibn al-Jannānī and al-Jazūla — 12 in all. An unnamed enemy stopped one ship, and the others fled; and only 5 ships managed to set out on their way. Gil connects this with the 15 ships mentioned in T-S 8J27.2, his #447, and therefore understands this letter to imply that the ship of Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ was among those that hadn't yet returned to Alexandria). Musa is preparing to go to Palestine; he asks Nahray for a letter of recommendation (this part translated in Udovitch, "Formalism and Informalism"). Also mentions the fayj, and a tax receipt for the khums related to a consignment of raisins. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, vol. 3, #448, and from ibid., vol. 1, sec. 315, fn) There is a companion letter to this one, T-S 8J27.2 (PGPID 2084); see there for further details of the same events.

Letter from Yosef b. Shemuel al-Dani in Palermo to Isma’il b. Avraham in Damsis. The first part of the letter deals with the tragedy that happened in the sea, near Gabes (Qābis), on the way to Sicily. After the writer arrived in Sicily, he found out that he had been expelled from his house. In the other part, Yosef writes about his wife that is still in Egypt. He wrote her a divorce certificate in case he will not be able to come back. He is willing to sell his land and take the risk to come back to Egypt, to take her and their son to Palermo, if she swears she will go with him. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #173) 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.

Letter reporting the sinking of a ship in the Red Sea, dating probably from the 14th century or later based on the mention of the port city of al-Tur, which rose to prominence after the decline of al-Quṣayr. AA

Letter in the hand of Yefet b. Menashshe probably sent to his brother Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (lower right corner of recto). Refers to a shipwreck (cf. ENA NS 77.148, which isn't a direct join) and two people who survived (Khulayf and Ibn ʿŪdī). Regards to Sitt Naʿīm (Ḥalfon's wife).

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to one of his brothers. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (upper right corner of recto). Seems to refer to a shipwreck (cf. ENA 2739.3, which isn't a direct join) in which 30 dinars worth of goods and 13 fellow Jewish merchants (aṣḥābnā) drowned.

Interesting, late letter in Judaeo-Arabic from "the land of the Christians" to al-Muʿallim Yūsuf, the shammas of the synagogue, Cairo. The writer narrates in brief how he left Cairo with spices to sell overseas, was detained in Alexandria for a time due to an illness, spent 6 months (!?) at sea, getting lost and nearly getting drowned, first stopping in Turkey and then continuing the land of the Christians. At some point they also stopped in Tripoli (Lebanon?) and purchased more goods. "When we entered the city, the representative of the Amir was deposed (?) and the elders אתפרת (?)." (This sentence is not at all clear. The word נאיבו in fact looks more like נציבו and could even be the name of the city. What the elders did is also not clear.) The writer then describes his difficulties selling the goods from Cairo and Tripoli, mentioning the currencies dinar and muayyadi. He sends regards to Muʿallima Sara. He tells Yūsuf to expect the arrival of ʿAmmī Zikrī al-Quṣamṭīnī and his wife, who are poor. He asks Yūsuf to help them with the capitation tax and to help them get settled. He sends regards to the family (dār) of Rashīd; and the family (bayt) of Ḥakīm Shams Ḥanūna (?); and the cousins of the Muʿallima; and R. Avraham; and Khalaf; and the family of the syrup-maker (? ṭābikh al-sharāb spelled טבך אשרב) and his wife (ahlihi). The writer's wife and children send regards, as does the addressee's brother Barakāt (at the beginning of the letter). He concludes with greetings to Hārūn Jamal and his wife and children and reports that Hārūn's mother and brothers and sisters and maternal aunt are all well. Someone else added underneath the letter, "Greetings to ʿAyyād!" ASE.

Letter from Saʿīd b. Marḥab on behalf of the court, in Aden, to the druggist Hillel b. Naḥman (aka Sayyid al-Kull), in Fustat. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Adar I [1]467 Seleucid, which is January 25–February 23, 1156 CE. The letter gives a uniquely detailed report on a shipwreck, as the addressee's son-in-law Hiba b. Abū Saʿd was on board, and the addressee had requested verification of his death and details about the retrieval of his possessions. The sender devotes the entire letter to the former and adds only one brief sentence in the margin of verso, about the possessions, which were confiscated by the sultan. The ship belonged to the Nagid Ḥalfon b. Maḍmūn b. Ḥasan. Most of the cargo on the ship belonged to him, though every Jewish trader in Aden had some cargo on it. There were only four Jews on board. It was called the Kūlamī ship as it set out for Kūlam aka Kollam aka Quilon on the Malabar Coast. The court of Aden here presents all of the available evidence for the shipwreck: eyewitness accounts, secondhand reports, and legal pronouncements. The main source of the information that the ship sank came from the Barībatanī ship which sailed together with it, i.e., the ship for Valapattanam aka Valarapattanam aka Balyapattanam, a port five miles from Cannanore aka Kannur, which is north of Kollam. During the rest of that year and the following year, travelers arrived in Aden coming from all over India, from East Africa ("the land of the Zanj"), from Somalia ("the inland region of Berbera"), from Abyssinia and its provinces, and from the south Arabian regions of Ashḥār and Qamar, and the accounts of all travelers were consistent with the Kūlamī ship having been wrecked. The court in Aden had ruled that the evidence was sufficient to free Sitt al-Ahl, the daughter of Hillel b. Naḥman, from being an ʿaguna, but they defer to the authorities in Egypt, as this was a lenient and tenuous ruling. The sender of this letter, Saʿīd b. Marḥab, is incidentally the earliest known Yemeni Jewish poet. (Information from Goitein and Friedman, India Traders; see analysis and translation there for further details.)

Recommendation letter for an Iraqi merchant who lost everything in a shipwreck. He is advised to write to Abu al-Bishr and his cousin. (Information from Goitein's index cards, and Goitein, Mediterranean Society, I, p. 409)

Letter from Abū Saʿīd, in Palermo, to his brother Abū l-Barakāt known as Ṭāriq, in Fustat. Abū Saʿīd reports that he had fled the unrest in Ifrīqiyya and traveled to Palermo. Prior to departing Ifrīqiyya, it seems, Abū Saʿīd's wife and two sons were sick for four months, and his 1-year-old son died. It seems that Abu Saʿid had to pay 50 Murābiṭī dinars due to the medical care and due to the delay in travel plans. The sea voyage was also ill-fated. The travelers were shipwrecked by a storm on an island known as Ghumūr, where they stayed for 20 days, living on wild nettles. "We hardly resembled human beings." They set off again from the island in four boats, of which only the writer's boat survived, which reached Palermo after another 35 days at sea. "By these letters, for our first month in Palermo we couldn't eat bread or understand what was said to us, due to what happened to us at sea." With understatement, "This is why I did not join you in Egypt this year." Abū Saʿīd adds that he has not heard from Abū l-Barakāt in three years, and though he would like to relocate to Egypt, he hesitates because he does not even know if Abū l-Barakāt is still alive. Abū Saʿīd suggests, alternatively, that Abū l-Barakāt join him in Sicily. Dating: Ca. 1060, based on the reference to Murābiṭī dinars. Information from Gil. ASE.

Letter apparently from Abū Zikrī Kohen, in Fusṭāṭ, to an unidentified addressee, apparently in Alexandria. In Judaeo-Arabic. Containing news about Aden. Commodities include: pearl (luʾlūʾ), ivory (ʿāj), musk, tusk (? nāb), and a siddur—or rather the lack of a siddur; Abū Zikrī Kohen even checked the bill of lading (tadhkira) and found that it was never shipped. "As for what you said about Ben Yiju, there is no need to postpone the letter, because it is a heartrending situation, and it won't do you any good: every penny that belonged to him drowned with the ship of Maḍmūn, for the ship foundered when it was entering (India) and nobody survived. Likewise, three other ships for Bharuch foundered when they were entering, and not a soul survived." Goes on to mention Maḥrūz; a judge; a fatwā concerning a house; and on verso detailed instructions about garments to be made. (Information in part from CUDL and Goitein's attached notes.)

Letter from Musa b. Abi al-Hayy in Alexandria to Abu Yahya Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1057 (Gil). This is one of two letters describing a catastrophic set of shipwrecks; the other is CUL Or. 1080 J167 (PGPID 2259). Musa b. Abi al-Hayy is upset by the news of shipwrecks that had befallen some of the ships in which some of the traders from their circle (aṣḥābunā) had sailed with their merchandise. The first group of ships included: (1) the qunbār of the amīr, on which R. Maṣliaḥ, his brother, and Maymūn were sailing; (2) the ship of Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ, on which Isḥaq b. Khalaf, Tamām, and Musa's brother were sailing; (3) the qārib of the amīr headed to Tripoli, on which Khalfon, Ibn Nissim, Ḥajjāj, Shaʾul the son of Ibn Benayya's sister, Janūn, the son of the brother of Ibn al-Iskandarānī; (4) the qārib of the vizier, on which none of their aṣḥāb were traveling; (5) the qārib of al-Tarājima, which likewise contained none of their aṣḥāb; (6) the khīṭī captained by al-Dawwāma, also containing none of their aṣḥāb; (7) the khayṭī of al-Labāʾa, which was headed for Sfax and likewise contained none of the aṣḥāb; (8) the qārib of Ibn Zanbāj. In the second group of ships, the ships included (1) the qārib of Ibn al-Iskandar, on which Mardūk was traveling; (2) the qārib of Ibn Dayṣūr, on which the Kohen Ibn Hārūn and his boy were traveling; (3) the government ship (markab al-sulṭān) on which the son of Abū Yūsuf and Ibn Naḥum were traveling; (4) the qārib of al-Fāriqī, on which Abū Yūsuf, Ibn Raynāʾ, and an ailing man from Gabès (Qābis) were traveling; (5) the Ishfīlī, on which the son of the sister of Abū Ibrāhīm, Ṣemaḥ, Ḥānnān (!) and Ibn Asad were traveling; (6) the qārib of al-Jannānī, which wasn't carrying any of their aṣḥāb. This is not an exhaustive accounting of what's in the letter; also mentioned are the ship of al-Muʿizz, which was carrying the son of Abū Yūsuf, who perished, may God have mercy on him. There were other deaths, and still other people about whom the writer doesn't know whether or not they were saved. Goitein on this pair of letters (Med. Soc., 1:331) "What could happen to such a convoy is vividly described in two complementary letters, written in Alexandria around the middle of the eleventh century. Altogether, twenty-two ships are mentioned by name and the fate of each is recorded. In addition, the names of the business friends of the addressee, a total of twenty-five, traveling in them and what happened to each are reported. The convoy set sail in three successive groups, called 'sailings' (iqlāʿāt), the first two consisting of eight bottoms each. The first group consisted of a qunbār and a barge of the amir, or governor, of Alexandria; three other barges, one belonging to a vizier, two khīṭīs, one entitled "al-Ra'isa," "the Chief," owned by a lady [Gil reads this differently above, and Rustow concurs with him], and a craft called markab, the general word for ship. The second group consisted of the ship of the sultan Muʿizz of Tunisia, a ship and a barge belonging to a man from Seville, Spain, and several other craft among them one qunbar (as in the first group). These ships sailed on Monday before Pentecost (month of May), but two days later were overcome by a storm, in which the ship of the sultan and another boat perished; the writer of our letters and the addressee both had goods and friends in those ships. The convoy took refuge in two anchoring places on the North African coast, one of which, (Ra's) al-Kanāʾis, is frequently mentioned in our records and is still operating today as a local harbor. (The late King Faruk had a summer palace there, and since Ra's al-Kanaʾis means 'Cape of the Churches,' he renamed it Ra's al-Ḥikma, 'Cape of Wisdom.') Only five ships belonging to the first group succeeded in passing out into the high seas, for in addition to the storm just mentioned, there was another calamity. The enemy, certainly the Byzantine navy, 'which had complete mastery over the sea,' captured one boat and only because of its being busy with it did the rest of the convoy escape. The remaining ships had to return to Alexandria, however, where the governor ordered them to be unloaded, obviously because he did not see any possibility of sending out a second convoy."