Geniza Lab

Letter perhaps from the community of Tinnīs (mentions the synagogue of Tinnīs in the first preserved line), to the Nagid (ḥaḍrat sayyidnā al-rayyis), with about 10 signatures. Dated the end of Adar [1]480 = 1169 CE. Lower right only, reused for letter drafts in calligraphic Arabic script. ASE/MR

Large letter from "the two congregations" of Alexandria to the Palestinian community of Fustat, and particularly to Efrayim b. Shemarya, regarding fundraising for the ransom of captives. They convey gratitude for 200.5 dinars that had already been sent. The tale is rather convoluted, but they are clearly in need of money again. In particular, "one of the Arabs" named Yubqī (or Yabqā?) b. Abī Razīn recently arrived with a new set of seven Jewish prisoners from Byzantium (מארץ אנטאליה), four Rabbanite and three Qaraite, demanding 33 1/3 dinars per captive. The head of the Alexandrian community, Netanel b. Elazar ha-Kohen redeemed one of them and suggested writing to all the communities of Egypt to raise the remaining total. Thus they have sent letters to both Rabbanite congregations and the Qaraite congregation of Fustat, to the elders in general, and to the Rabbanite and Qaraite congregations of Tinnīs and Damietta and Ṣahrajt. Some of the sermon included in the remainder of the letter seems intended for public reading in the synagogue (an insight from Frenkel, ha-Ohavim ve-ha-Nedivim, p. 190). There are ~17 signatures in addition to that of the scribe, Yeshuʿa ha-Kohen b. Yosef ha-Shofeṭ, and that of the head of the community, Netanel ha-Kohen b. Elazar. ASE

Ketubba (marriage contract). A four piece join from an early 11th century Palestinian style ketubba from Tinnīs. Groom: Mevasser b. Yiṣḥaq. Bride: ʿAzīza bt. Ḥasan. Location: Tinnīs (Egypt). Written by Ṣemaḥ the cantor. Dating: Between 942/43 and 1033/34 CE.

Letter from a certain ʿEli, unknown location, to the cantor Isḥāq, in Damietta. Addressed specifically to the shop of Abū l-Surūr al-Ṣayrafī. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. Dating: ca. 1100 CE, based on Goitein's assessment of the handwriting and the people mentioned. The letter is interspersed with learned quotations of poetry, Bible, and Talmud. The sender apologizes for neglecting the addressee's letters. He reminds the addressee. to send him items he had left with him, including the little thawb (thuwayb), the scarf or turban (radda), and the kerchief (mandīl). He says that the judge Abū Isḥāq al-Rayyis has written several times to Abū l-Surūr and that Nissim b. Naḥum also came (from Damietta?). He particularly wants the collected poems of Yiṣḥaq Ibn Khalfūn (an Andalusi Hebrew poet of the late 10th–early 11th century), either his copy that is with the addressee, or a new copy that the addressee has made. It seems that someone else borrowed another copy, 'was ashamed to give it back,' and took it with him to Yemen. He also wants "my letter/epistle and the poems(?) of the Parnas who/which went to Tinnīs," or copies, since his brother Avraham wants to study it (the letter is torn in the key phrase in this sentence, and this translation is not certain). In a postscript on verso, he wants the addressee to get half a dinar from al-Mawṣilī and purchase bees' honey with it. (Information from Goitein’s index card and from Goitein, "Ibn Khalfun's Collection of Poems in 11th Century Egypt and Yemen," Tarbiz 29 no. 4 (1960), 357–58.)

Agreement between Yiṣḥaq b. Yefet ha-Kohen and his divorcee al-Ḥasana bt. Moshe, from Tinnīs. She releases him from something. Signed by Yaʾir b. [...].

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic from [Yosef?] ha-Kohen b. Yiftaḥ ha-Kohen, in Tinnīs, to Abū l-ʿAlā' Ṣāʿid b. al-Munajja al-Dimashqi (perhaps the same as Abū l-ʿAlā' Ṣāʿid b. Najā who features in T-S 12.591, a 1080 letter). The writer sends holiday wishes and reports that he has already met with Abū ʿImrān as requested, who said that he already sent the addressee letters of his own with what he needs to know. As for the copy of the Targum, the scribe (Abū ʿImrān or a different person?) needs four more dirhams. The writer seems very apologetic about this. He then launches into tales of "the zaqen's" underhanded business dealings. There are a few tricky words, and the specifics need further examination. Apparently the zaqen appointed the writer's uncle as his agent for one dinar. He then claimed that a certain batch of silk was stolen from the tax/customs bureau (? masrūq min al-maks). "This is completely unfounded. If it were true, would we have the receipt (? ḥujjat al-ḍamān)? There is nothing to be done about him, because he is an incorrigible man." The writer has also written to Abū l-Mufaḍḍal about these events, אולי יש תקוה. The writer sends regards to Abū l-Munā and Abū l-Maʿālī. Written the 4th of Adar. ASE

Business letter from Nissim b. Ḥalfon b. Benaya (Alexandria) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat), ca. 1050. Nissim b. Ḥalfon left two money poaches in Tinnīs, to be sent to Fustat. He asks Nahray b. Nissim to pass on to Tinnīs a letter enveloped in the present letter, and to pass on to him any letters that may have arrived for him from Tinnīs. Nissim b. Ḥalfon, together with his partner Abū Saʿīd b. al-Tahirtī, sent two loads of tin and he asks Nahray b. Nissim to supervise their sale. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 956.)

Interesting letter in calligraphic Judaeo-Arabic, probably 15th century or later, full of creative spellings, probably from someone whose mother tongue was not Arabic. The writer is probably Yosef פלקון (line 3), but someone named Yiṣḥaq Sūsī also 'speaks' in the first person starting 4 lines from the bottom. In any case, the letter was sent from Alexandria to Shemuel b. Avraham מחיץ, in Tinnīs. The content of the letter is not as interesting as its context and form; it mainly consists of inquiring about family news and small transactions. The writer sends regards to the addressee's mother Doña Dolsa—addressed as al-Ḥurra al-Jalīla—and to Simḥa and Seʿadya and Esther and Ḥanna and the little ones and big ones and Bū Najwā (?). The addresee is to forward some letters in "Frankish" (Spanish? Ladino?) to בונאנד (?). ASE.

Marriage contract (ketubba) probably from Tinnis, Egypt, early eleventh century.