Geniza Lab

Fragment of a trade letter in mixed Hebrew and Arabic script (Arabic for sliding blessings only) requesting a suftaja. Gil attributes tentatively to Daniel b. Azarya. Mentions Abū l-ʿAlāʾ al-Mubārak b. Isḥāq. (MAR)

Recto: Letter from an unidentified distinguished man to a judge or communal leader. In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender's hand might be known (resembles T-S Misc.28.88, another "mice ate my stuff" letter). Dated: Thursday, 29 Tishrei [4849] AM, which is 1088 CE. But there is a difficulty with this precise date, because 29 Tishrei was actually a Tuesday and because a note on verso states that the letter was received "in the first decade of Tishrei." Based in part on the information from verso, we can deduce that the letter concerns a dispute over a dilapidated wall between the sender's property and that of his neighbor Abū Saʿd. The sender is distressed because some of his key evidence "was in the document which was eaten by the mice." He asks the addressee to try to dig up any documentation that will support his case. His legal adversary has refused to accept testimony except from certified trustworthy witnesses (al-thiqāt). The sender complains about a long history of having to sink money into this house on account of his neighbor. He asks the addressee to treat the house just as he would treat his own house and not to neglect this matter. At the end, he briefly mentions other business matter, including an unpaid suftaja. Verso: The response from two judges, Yeshuʿa b. Avraham and [Sal?]mān b. Elʿazar. They have drawn a box around the response and signed their names at the top of the note. Outside of the box, there appears the date already mentioned: first decade of Tishrei 4349 AM, which is 1088 CE. They address the original sender with respectful terms and explain that the dilapidated wall must be fixed. Its benefit is shared between the two houses, while its base is located on the ground owned by Abū Saʿd. They do not explain the legal consequences of these facts; maybe they simply consulted the court's own records and are providing factual evidence to be used in the ongoing litigation. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.) ASE

Letter from Yeḥezqel b. Eli ha-Kohen b. Yeḥezqel, in Jerusalem, to Eli ha-Kohen b. Ḥayyim (aka Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAllūn b. Yaʿīsh), in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic. Dating: second half of the 11th century. See also T-S Misc.28.171. The writer expresses his relief at the news that the addressee recovered from his illness. He devotes much space to excusing himself for failing to send any letters until now. He asks the addressee to remind 'the Rayyis' (probably identical with al-Rayyis Abū l-Ṭayyib in T-S Misc.28.171) to remind his son to fulfill the money order (suftaja) that had been sent. In a postscript, he conveys the news that the sister of Hiba ('who is with Shimʿon al-Rav') died, who was also the mother-in-law of Abūn b. Ṣedaqa. Information from Gil. ASE. NB: The first Goitein note card (#6240) belongs with DK 228.4 (PGPID 31342).

Letter from Ismāʿīl b. Faraḥ to Nahray b. Nissim.

A letter from Faraḥ b. Ismaʿīl, probably in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat, 5 June 1056. Deals mainly with financial matters, mentions bills of exchange, a letter sent to Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ, and sending a pouch containing 83 1/2 dinars as cash. Also talks about a sale of tin and reports the arrival of a ship from Palermo with worthless goods. (Information from Gil)

Letter from Avraham b. Farrāḥ, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Dated 27 Iyyar, which Gil renders 1 May 1052. Contains details about the sailing of ships from the Alexandria port. The letter contains an order of payment for 40 dinars to be paid by Abū ʿAlī Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥman al-Ṣāʾigh (Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ) to Nahray b. Nissim. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 813.)

Letter from Avraham b. Farrāḥ/Peraḥya, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat, 1 May 1052. Contains details about the sailing of ships from Alexandria. The letter contains an order of payment for 40 dinars to be paid by Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥman al-Ṣāʾigh (Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ) to Nahray b. Nissim. Also mentions a vizier. (Information from Goitein's index card and Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 813.)

Legal document. Record of release. Dating: April 1076. Location: Fustat. Ṣedaqa b. Muvḥar and Shemuel b. Aharon ha-Kohen al-Ṣayrafī ("the money-changer") are released from a partnership between Ṣedaqa’s father and Aaron, apparently at the death of Ṣedaqa’s father. Unlike trading partnerships, which often include allusions to consignments in general or traded commodities in specific in their release clauses, this release includes mention of both bills of exchange (suftaja) and vouchers (khaṭṭ). Apparently the partnership had encountered some difficulties (a "streak of ill fortune" is mentioned). The signatory Yefet b. Avraham b. Yaʾir the Judge is identified in other documents as a money-changer as well; perhaps the court contained expert witnesses who could testify to the probity of the parties in their line of work. Other signatories include Yaʾir b. Elʿazar and Ghālib b. Ḥalfōn al-Zayyāt (the olive-oil dealer), both known from other contemporary documents, and Yaḥyā b. Avraham ha-Levi he-Ḥaver. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 149)

Recto: A letter in Arabic script regarding a suftaja (bill of exchange) and mentioning Abū Saʿd al-Tustarī and [...] b. Yaʿqūb al-Tustarī. Verso: Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic for three different types of indigo: jūdī, sindānī, and ʿamtānī. Information from Goitein's note card.

Letter from Yeḥezqel b. Eli ha-Kohen (identification based on comparison with DK 233.2), evidently in Jerusalem, to Abū ʿAlī Ḥasan b. Isḥāq al-Ṣārifī (!), in Fustat. The letter is in Judaeo-Arabic and the address is in Arabic. Dating: second half of the 11th century. Apart from the handwriting comparison, there are at least two other reasons to identify the writer as Yeḥezqel b. Eli: (1) the suftaja (money order) of the rayyis is mentioned in line 17 of this document and line 19 of DK 233.2, and (2) the same bearer is listed underneath the address, ʿUmar b. Yūsuf and his son. Whereas DK 233.2 is dated 21 Adar II, this letter does not bear a date, but mentions a letter from the addressee that arrived on 22 Heshvan. Probably DK 233.2 and T-S Misc.28.171 were not sent together. The writer reports on the epidemic (dever) raging in Jerusalem. The first letter of the word דבר is mostly missing, and it bears the wrong vowel, but the context supports the reading of דבר. It is only Wednesday, and already there have been five funerals this week. The writer mentions children, women, and his paternal uncle "in their number" (the sick? the dead?). He adds, "Many people are ʿalā l-qibla." This phrase does not appear in the Judaeo-Arabic dictionaries. Perhaps it means "praying," or specifically praying in the area of the Temple. The writer touches on various things that he wants the addressee to do for him in Fustat (one of them is reminding the Rayyis Abū l-Ṭayyib about the money order), sends regards to Umm Wahbān, reports that he received the medicine (dawā') sent with ʿAmmār, and reports that he has sent the amulet (? this word looks very much like קמיע but the reading is not certain) of Ibn al-Kohen to the addressee, along with a sealed letter from him. ASE.