Geniza Lab

Recto: Mercantile letter addressed to a certain Ibrāhīm. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: mid-11th century (since verso is related to T-S 8J29.5, which is dated 1047 CE). Mentions people such as Abū l-Faraj Mardūk, Abū Isḥāq Barhūn, Ibrāhīm b. Faraḥ al-Iskandarānī, Abū Saʿīd, Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf, and mentioning goods such as bitumen (qifār), coral, a copper pot (al-burma al-nuḥās), and silk. The sender will probably be identifiable. This letter does not seem to have been published or cited in the literature.

Letter fragment (top only) from Yisra'el b. Natan to Nahray b. Nissim. In Judaeo-Arabic. Yisra'el tells Nahray to add the dinars to the money he owes to some person who will 'enter' soon (Fustat, probably).

Two business letters from Marwan b. Ibrāhīm al-Maghribi. The one on the left is addressed to R. Yosef b. R. Avraham al-Maghribi. The address of the one on the right is difficult to decipher. Someone named Ḥasan b. Shelomo features in both. These need further examination and transcription.

Letter addressed to Abū Yaʿqūb b. Yūsuf al-Fāsī. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th century. The writer's name may be preserved as well, but the conservators have covered it with paper. The writer gives updates on his own father and mother and broaches various business matters. He mentions the goods of Abū Isḥāq Ibn Barukh.

Business accounts, mentioning goods from India, myrobalan, and pepper, among many other things.

Letter from Khalfūn b. Benaya(?) to Abū Zikrī Yaḥyā b. Mūsā Majjānī. (The names are very difficult to read; these may be not exactly right.) In Judaeo-Arabic. On vellum. Dating: 11th century. The letter itself is very faded. An 'iqtiḍā'" is mentioned twice, and perhaps the addressee's cousin (ibn ʿamm) Abū Ibrāhīm Isḥāq. ASE

Letter from Hārūn b. Sulaymān ha-Ḥaver al-Kohen to [...] b. Ṣadaqa(?) Ibn Shaʿya(?). In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 11th century, on paleographic grounds. The writer opens with complaining about his ear illness (if that is what ʿalā aṣli udhnī means; same phrase as in MS Heb. e 45/75). Mentions a jar of rose petal jam (ward murabbā); silk; a mandīl; a Nisapuri thawb; Sulaymān; Ghulayb; and "al-jawhara." Needs further examination.

Letter from a father to a son. On vellum. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 11th century. This fragment opens with updates on the health of various people, including the addressee's mother. They heard news that the son is planning to travel to Jerusalem. The father gives various exhortations (yā bunayy...) including, 'don't gloat over your enemies' misfortunes.' Abūn sends his regards.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Looks 11th century.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Ibn al-Nagid is mentioned. There is one line in Arabic script at the bottom. From line 6 onward, written in the hand of Nahray b. Nissim. (Information from Goitein's notes.)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th century. The sender may be in Tinnīs (l. 1). He wants to borrow from “the Great Rav” (a Tunisian rabbi in Egypt) his copy of the book Megillat Setarim of the Tunisian scholar R. Nissim in order to copy it and to return it. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Family letter addressed to Moshe b. Yehuda known as Ibn Abī Kharrūba, in Palermo. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 11th century. The letter was written by one of Moshe's siblings-in-law in Fustat, to be sent to their sister (Moshe's wife). "I also inform you, O my sister, that your brother Barakāt arrived safely in Fustat... staying here, and we have spent 10 dinars on him. Do not cut off your news from me or... from your brother Barakāt, for our hearts are relieved whenever we receive news from you... and that you are in health. I and my mother pray for the elder your father-in-law day and night... the fire is in my heart on account of my separation from you... I wish to travel to you, but my mother does not allow me, for she has no one (but me)... your maternal uncle Musallam asks after you, and your maternal uncle Abū l-Faraj as well... and your maternal aunt sends her greetings and adjures you to tell your (other) maternal aunt to send her a letter of her own... to make her happy... I heard that you sent a letter to Alexandria, but it was lost and never arrived.... Abū l-Khayr sends his greetings, and your brother Barakāt, and your maternal uncle Musallam, and your maternal uncle Abū l-Faraj... I greet you and your husband Mūsā and your sons Abū Isḥāq and his brother and your daughter Sitt al-Kull and your father-in-law and your maternal aunt." Reused on verso for Hebrew literary/liturgical text. ASE

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th century. Mentions Ibn ʿAlī b. Raḥmūn al-Bazzāz, Abū Yiṣḥaq b. Sughmār, the brokers (dallālīn), and many other matters. Needs further examination.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (lower right corner of recto). Written on parchment. Likely a Maghribī mercantile letter of the 11th century. Twice refers to "my master the Third (al-shelishi)." Refers to a bundle (ruzma) containing something with "the Seventh (al-sheviʿi)" written on it. On verso there is a list of names in a different hand: Saʿīd b. Mevorakh; ʿUlla b. [...]; Avraham b. Fahd; Yefet b. [...]; Maʿālī b. Yiṣḥaq Kohen; Yosef b. Ibrāhīm; Abū l-Ḥasan.

Business letter from a Maghribī merchant. Addressed to Yosef b. Yaʿaqov and Hilāl (or at least these names appear in the address) In Judaeo-Arabic, with one line of Arabic script in the address. Dating: Likely 11th century. Mentions silk and Abū l-Khayr Mūsā b. Barhūn. Unpublished.

Business letter from a Maghribi merchant. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 11th century. Not mentioned in the literature. Avraham b. Yamān is mentioned. The sickness of Abu Zikri is mentioned. Written on parchment. Needs to be unfolded and conserved.

Maghribī mercantile letter. Dating: Probably 11th century. From Ibrāhīm b. [...], likely in Tripoli (Libya), to an unidentified addressee, likely in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. The addressee is asked to go to Mukhtār and frighten him over the 2.75 dinars, since the sender has had to pay this sum to Ibn al-Tāhertī. He mentions appointing an agent and the name Ibn Ṭalyūn and "to collect it from him, a little bit every week." Greetings to many people: the addressee's son Abū l-Faḍl; Ḥasan and his children; Ṣadaqa and his children; Abū Naṣr; Abū [...]; Sulaymān; Samīḥ; Mūsā. Written on parchment. Needs to be unfolded and conserved. Uncited in the literature.

Accounts of some sort. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Perhaps 11th century, based on the handwriting and the names (e.g. Barhūn). Needs examination.

Letter from (Abū Saʿd) Ibrāhīm b. Sahl al-Tustarī (d. 1048) to [...] b. ʿAzarya. In Arabic script. The most common [...] b. ʿAzarya in the Geniza is Daniel b. ʿAzarya, but there are also attestations of Yosef b. ʿAzarya, Efrayim b. ʿAzarya, and Shemuel b. ʿAzarya. The last of these, Shemuel b. ʿAzarya b. Mevasser, is known to have been a Qaraite leader in Fustat (he is the addressee of Bodl. MS heb. b 11/10), so he may be the best candidate here. Only the address on verso and the first two lines on recto have been preserved. Reused for something that is probably a Hebrew literary text, but could potentially be a communal letter or a copy of one. Needs examination. ASE

Legal document. In the hand of Hillel b. ʿEli? Involves Avraham b. Faraj/Yeshuʿa al-Raḥbī who is known from several other documents from the late 11th century.