Geniza Lab

Letter from Alexandria to the nasi Shelomo b. Yishay, Fustat, from one of his supporters. Around 1240. The letter mentions products that people make in Alexandria for the Nasi, such as robes, turbans, pillows, and bedsheets. Also mentions that the people of Alexandria are eager to hear the Nasi’s lessons and lectures. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #100) VMR

Memorandum (tadhkira) for a trader named Mufliḥ b. Binyamin Ibn Ahwāzī. In Judaeo-Arabic. In which he orders a scarf (radda) with his son’s name (Yaʿaqov b. Mufliḥ b. Binyamin) to be embroidered on it in Hebrew script. This fragment contains additional accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals, as well as a recipe in Judaeo-Arabic for a kind of wine (nabīdh al-dā[..]). The trader is based in Aden, as a note in Arabic script on verso reads "wazana/wuzina ilayhim fī furḍat ʿAdan," referring to a payment made in the customshouse (furḍa) of Aden. Goitein writes, "Another order for a garment embroidered with a name, pre­sented by a father to his son, written, as usual, in Arabic language, but Hebrew script, raises problems. It is an incomplete draft of a memo to be sent from Aden to Egypt. I translate in full, line by line, so that the reader may be the judge: (1) Memo from the sheikh Mufliḥ [Successful]: (2) A Dabīqī scarf (radda) (3) five cubits long and (4) five spans broad (4a) of highest quality, (5) bordered by two embroidered inscriptions (maḥshiyya bi-ṭirāzayn) (6) each running from one edge to the other (ḥiwālayn kull ṭirāz) (6a) the first (7) written in Hebrew script: (8) Yaʿqūb b. R. Mufliḥ (9) b. R. Binyamin (10) [Given] to Ibn Ahwāzī." For further information on tirāz, see Stillman, Arab Dress, 120–37. (Information in part from Goitein's attached notes; Goitein, Med Soc IV, 197–98; and Goitein and Friedman, India Traders p. 428 n. 80.) ASE