Geniza Lab

Letter probably from Yedutun ha-Levi, in Fustat, to his brother Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, in Qalyūb. (Identification is tentative, based on handwriting and typical phrases and names.) Someone, possibly ʿImrān (but not their paternal uncle of the same name), recently died in or around the addressee's location. The 'kabīra' (old woman?) has arrived back safely. Abū Zikrī (=Sar Shalom??) is making a big fuss and swearing that he saw Moshe in Cairo on Wednesday with two baskets of apricots. Yedutun complains about how everyone repays him with ingratitude, and he seems to refer to his activities as a physician (although Goitein read יטבהם in line 9 as יכצהם). Yedutun had to swear to Abū Zikrī that he must have been mistaken about seeing Moshe in Cairo and that Moshe doesn't know Ben Shaʿya either. Abū Zikrī apparently gave an exceedingly long sermon (דראש) on Shabbat. Tāhir is asking about Moshe's news and wants him to know that the new wālī is a relative of the old wālī, and he will take revenge on people who defy him (or defied his predecessor?), so Moshe should watch out. Moshe should also pass on Yedutun's prescription to Yaḥyā al-Khuḍarī, because Yedutun owes him a favor. He is very sad about ʿImrān and can't even eat bread (a standard phrase to express grief). He asks Moshe to pass on condolencees to ʿImrān's brother. And if Moshe wants the family to come visit him at the end of the month, he should let them know with a day's notice. Previous description: Warm letter by a man in Fustat to his brother in the countryside, mentioning an old woman, probably the bearer of a message, best not confided to paper. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 338). ASE

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic to a certain Abū Ṭāhir containing interesting technical details of the capitation tax administration. The writer heard from Manṣūr al-Dimashqī "may God protect him" (possibly identical with the recipient Abū Ṭāhir—otherwise how is Abū Ṭāhir connected to the story?) that he has been drawn into the matter of Mūsā b. al-Maghribī's capitation tax. Mūsā had been selling off his qumāsh (household furnishings? his wife's dowry?) when he went to the governor (al-wālī), possibly of al-Benha, and said "this man [presumably the letter writer] is my guarantor (ḍamīnī), and I make my payment in Malīj." The governor said, "Impossible! Show me your acquittances (barāwātak)." Mūsā brought the acquittances. The sequence of events becomes blurry around here due to the missing ends of lines. A speculative reconstruction is as follows: The governor said that he had been ordered to collect the capitation tax from a group of people who still owed it for "years 8 and 9" but it then transpired that the record (al-jarīda) in the tax bureau (al-dīwān) showed that someone else had already collected their capitation taxes—perhaps because they, like Mūsā, were registered elsewhere? The governor then says he will take the list to the authorities (al-sulṭān) and report that these people actually live in his district. The text in the margin is fragmentary but mentions the capitation tax farmer in Malīj (ḍāmin al-jawālī bi-Malīj) and, later, "let him pay it in al-Benha." The upper margin is lost. When the story resumes on verso, someone—perhaps the governor of al-Benha—is saying, "I will not let you off without a capitation tax payment for year 8, as the authorities (al-sulṭān) have ordered." The writer continues, "We are in a difficult situation with him [perhaps the tax farmer of Malīj]." The writer concludes by beseeching Abū Ṭāhir at least twice not to "oppose (tuʿāriḍ). . . [something or someone] that is in al-Benha." The meaning of this is not immediately clear. Perhaps the writer, in Malīj, is now facing trouble with the local tax farmer, because the governor of al-Benha is trying to transfer the tax revenue to his own district, and the writer wishes Abū Ṭāhir and Mūsā would not stir up any further trouble with the authorities. See Moss. IV,7 (L 12) for another use of עארץ in relation to the capitation tax. The references in this letter are quite opaque, and there are probably many other interpretations consistent with what remains of it. ASE.

Letter from an unknown sender, in Fustat, to his nephew (ibn ukht) Mūsā, in Qalyūb. Dating: Unknown, but perhaps dateable on the basis of the reference to Rabbenu Yiṣḥaq or on the basis of the capitation tax policies described in the letter. Subject: Mainly dealing with the case of an unhappy (maghbūna wa-maẓlūma), newly married young woman. The writer urges his nephew not to come to Fustat. He reminds him of the education given to him (tarbiya), the obligations towards his family (ahliyya), and the love between them (maḥabba). Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 25. Further information from Goitein's note card: The writer had made peace between a young man (perhaps the son of the addressee) and a young woman (perhaps the sender's own daughter or granddaughter). Then the young man fell ill. His capitation tax was restored (?) to him by the authorities (the letter mentions arbāb al-dawla, al-sulṭān, al-ṣāḥib, the qādī of Qalyūb, and the wālī) on condition that the young man remain in Qalyūb instead of traveling to the Levant as he had intended. ASE.

Letter from Mevorakh b. Natan to Thiqat al-Mulk. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mevorakh describes his financial difficulties and asks for help obtaining wheat. He complains that al-Shaykh al-ʿAfīf Masarra had failed to provide wheat to Mevorakh's family during his absence on a journey (r9–11). When Mevorakh returned, he found his family sick and perishing of hunger (r6–7). (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, pp. 243, 439)

Nearly complete letter in Judaeo-Arabic regarding dealings with the government. The writer inquires if Ibn al-Rifʿa is home, and if so, he should take the tawqīʿ (signed decision) and bring it to a certain official named al-Sayfī. Then, people should gather together and call for help (yaghūthū) at al-Sayfī's gate. The remainder is rather obscure and mentions the governor (wālī) of Fustat, who may have refused to talk to anybody until he had personally met with al-Sayfī. Needs further examination. ASE.

Letter from Muḥammad and Ḥammād(?). In Arabic script. In which they report that they have met with Abū Makhlūf according to the addressee's wishes, and Abū Makhlūf said something about the town of Bahnasā' and the governor (wālī). Needs further examination.

Letter concerning several business matters. Contains details about prices of grain. The writer also mentions the local wali (chief of police) and 'amil (finance official). (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 435, and Goitein's index cards)

Question submitted to "sayyidnā," it seems the Head of the Karaite community, about a case that had come before the governor/chief of police (wālī) of Alexandria. One of the writer's opponents was Ibn al-Laḥḥām, who had been under a ban of excommunication for 25 years for having a child with a woman lacking kashrut (according to Karaite law). The son is now a member of the community. Information from Goitein's index card.

Letter in which a Naib of Alexandria in the days of Saladin reports to the Nagid of Alexandria of two cases he took care of. The first a case of a Jew who publicly offended the religion and was punished by the Muslim authorities. After deliberating whether to bring the case to the qadi or the wali, the writer sent a secret message to the muhtasib (to whom he was not personally known) asking that the offender be lightly punished. The muhtasib then had the offender brought before the wali, who ruled that the man should be publicly flogged. He was then dragged around Qamra, a Jewish quarter of Alexandria, while the wali's messengers announced his crimes against religion to the public.The second the matter of two brothers who pressured, through threats and blackmail, the previous fiance of one of them not to engage to someone else. The letter reflects the organization of authority and management in the city. (Information from Frenkel and CUDL)

Letter from Surūr, in Bilbays, to his widowed mother, in Cairo, who lives with her two other sons Faraj Allāh and Rashīd. The letter deals with a case to be brought before the Nagid Yehoshua Maimonides (1310–55) b. Avraham II (1245–1313) b. David (1222–1300) b. Avraham (1186–1237) b. Moshe (1135–1204), containing circumstantial evidence (amāra) and details sustaining it. The first part of the letter (r1–17) includes lengthy apologies for failing to visit when he heard that his mother was sick. He was unable to come because of the expense of renting an animal, the danger of the journey, and because he was suffering from ophthalmia ('but now, thank God, I am better'). In the next part of the letter (r18–v1), he informs his mother that he remarried four months earlier, to a beautiful virgin who shares all of his mother's good traits and who is the fulfillment of his mother's prayers for him. His wife is distressed on behalf of her mother-in-law's illness and wishes to come to visit. Goitein suggests that the key to why Surūr neglected to tell his mother or ask her permission prior to the marriage lies in his neglect to mention his wife's name or that she comes from a good family. Most likely, she did not come from a good family, and his mother would have disapproved. In the third part of the letter (v1–27), he gets to the main purpose of writing: he had loaned a siddur to a pilgrim to Palestine named Fakhr against a security of 6.5 nuqra dirhams (containing three times as much silver as regular dirhams). Now that Fakhr has returned to Cairo, he has heard that family members already returned the silver, but Fakhr refused to return the siddur. The writer wishes Fakhr to be pressured to return the siddur. He suggests first that his family tell Sulaymān al-ʿAṭṭār, who mediated the original loan/security, "So-and-so [Surūr] says such-and-such to you with the following signs." He then recounts the story of how Sulaymān and Fakhr stayed in the khān in Bilbays with six other pilgrims (al-Shaykh Muwaffaq the cantor, Saʿīd b. al-Kātib, Nāṣir b. Ṭayyib, Yehoshua b. al-Ghāriq, Mūsā b. Mardūk, and Ibn Abū Saʿd al-Khādim), and how they were stranded there over Shabbat when the caravan left. If Sulaymān's intervention doesn't work, Surūr's brother Faraj Allāh should approach the Nagid Yehoshua. He then gives "signs" to remind the Nagid of his case: how, when he visited Bilbays, he spoke with Surūr about the copy of a Bible belonging to Yaʿqūb the brother of the teacher; how the Nagid was involved in Surūr's divorce from his first wife; and how the Nagid went to see the head of police (wālī) of Bilbays, who directed him to the Qadi, who was not available. If this doesn't work, he suggests that his brother go to Yaʿqūb the brother of the teacher and solicit his help. Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 337, 601 and from Goitein's Tarbiz article on Yehoshua Maimonides. ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer mentions Minyat Zifta; urges the recipient not to delay with something; mentions the wālī, the qāḍī and the mushrif; mentions a letter from the Nagid; says he will arrive in place of his letter as soon as he can; urges the recipient to bring a petition before the wālī of Damietta (רפע תוקיע); and offers congrulations for the holidays. The letter is addressed to Abu Isḥāq Ibrahīm.

Letter from Avraham b. Saadya the Hebronite, (the muqaddam of?) Bilbays, to Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel the Sefaradi, Fustat, beginning of the twelfth century. Discusses in detail the communal problems that arose around the proposal of tearing down the synagogue and rebuilding it. The Muslm governor said that a synagogue may not be built under the reign of al-Mawla al-Afḍal. Verso has been reused for drafts of Arabic medical writings. CUDL description: Recto: letter in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic from Abraham b. Saʿadya he-Ḥebroni, on behalf of refugees from Hebron that are now in Bilbays. Abraham writes to Isaac b. Shemuʾel ha-Sefaradi (active ca. 1090-1130 CE) in Fusṭāṭ, concerning the building of a new synagogue in Bilbays, replacing an old synagogue that had been torn down. The entire community joined forces to dismantle the synagogue and rebuild the new building. The letter lists the donations given by members of the community, and describes in detail the surrounding properties and their owners. A muslim judge initially objected to the construction of the new synagogue, so the community tactically rebranded their construction as a ‘home’, to which the judge had no objection. Verso: jottings of an Arabic philosophical text. (Information from CUDL)

Letter in Arabic script from Naṣrallāh (he begins the letter "mamlūkuhu akhūhu Naṣrallāh," line 2) to his brother Sharaf al-Dīn (line 3). The writer seems to be a provincial official of some sort. He reports awaiting the arrival of al-Qāḍī al-Ẓahīr (?) (named in lines r5, r10, and rm1). When the judge arrived, it seems that he started hearing the suits (? jihāt) of the locals. As the local tax assayer (mushārif) was new, he knew nothing of these (wa-dhālika anna l-mushārif jadīd lā yaʿrif jihat aḥad). The writer therefore prepared a register that the judge approved of (ʿamiltu lahum jarīda istaḥsanahā l-Qāḍī al-Ẓahīr). In the margin he is pleased to report that the Qāḍī plans to continue employing him and to promote his interests and to speak well of him to the governor (. . . yaqṣad an yastakhdimanī ʿindahu . . . wa-l-ẓāhir annahu yastakhdimunī fīhā wa-yaqṣad fī ḥaqqī wa-yashkurunī ʿind al-wālī). On verso he seems to describe a waterwheel on the Nile, for some reason of interest to his brother, that he found broken (. . . sāqīya ʿalā -baḥr fa-innī wajadtuhu kharāb bi-bāb. . .). He asks his brother to keep him informed about "the story of the Ra'īs." He sends regards to ʿAlā al-Dīn b. [...] and to their mother, among others. ASE.

Letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated 2 Nisan 1551 Seleucid (1240 CE). The writer seems to be asking the addressee to assist a certain man against his wife (inṣāfuhu min zawjatihi). If the man and his wife cannot reach an agreement, the man should deliver the writer's letter that is in his possession to the military governor (? al-wālī al-ḥarb) of Ashmūm. If they do reach an agreement, that letter should not be delivered.

Letter from Shemuel, in Damietta, to Abū l-Mufaḍḍal Hibatallāh b. Faraḥ, perhaps related by marriage through the latter's sister. The handwriting is often ambiguous, so much of this analysis is tentative. Shemuel opens with the bare minimum of formalities, then, "As for what you mentioned about the events in Damietta, very ugly things came to pass. They took your sister to the ḥujra (barracks?). Then they brought her to the administrative complex (dār al-imāra), and they brought a basket to sit her in it and beat her. I pled and pled (? lam azal ashḥad—this verb is used for beggars, but perhaps he is using the Hebrew meaning: to bribe) until God had mercy and they brought her back to the ḥujra, without saying a word to her. I did not cease . . . until I got her out of the ḥujra to the house of Hilāl. Hilāl stood guaranty for her after a period of house arrest (? baʿd an aqām mudda fī l-tarsīm). He lost 13 dinars. They sold everything that was in the house. They left nothing worth even a half dirham. They took your sister's copper and sold it. No one was harsher than the secretary of the head of police (wālī) in Damietta, who supervises the inheritances. I sent him 10 gold coins with Abū l-ʿAlā' Muslim." The next line is tricky and involves something called "kutub al-sulṭān." At this point the writer switches to beseeching the addressee to do his utmost to protect the interests of his own family and of the writer: "Go to the amir Sayf al-Dīn, and to the owner of the house, and meet with Sayyidnā al-Rayyis. Let him go and meet with all of the amirs and bring up these matters that interest you and me." They are also to go to al-Amīr al-Ṭahīr (? אלטהיר. There is a qāḍī with the same epithet in the Arabic document T-S Ar.41.9. But perhaps it is al-ẓahīr). The subject matter on verso becomes still more obscure. The writer tells the addressee not to begrudge a certain payment, "for the amir Fakhr al-Dīn has promised me every good thing in the world. He has bestowed favor on me beyond description. He does not take a penny; others do." There follows another obscure passage: perhaps the writer obtained a loan of 30 gold coins from the amir that he needed for a bribe (shaḥadtu bihā, the same verb used during the beating). He then goes back to describe how the house was completely emptied; not even a nail was left behind. Finally he relates the episode described by Goitein as follows: "In Damietta, the Egyptian seaport, a makhzan was located in a dihlīz, or entrance hall [of the house of Abū Saʿd]. A jug containing a thousand gold pieces was discovered there and, of course, confiscated by the government." Med Soc IV, 79. Goitein mentions this letter one other time: "As with government offices in general, there was no clear-cut and fixed division of duties among the various branches of the judiciary and the security force. Thus we find, for example, in Damietta, the office of the chief of police (wālī) dealing with cases of inheritance, normally the prerogative of the qadis." Med Soc II, 371, referring to recto, lines 12–14. ASE.

Letter from Araḥ b. Natan, also known as Musāfir b. Wahb, in Alexandria, to his brother, Avraham b. Natan the seventh, in Cairo. Dating: 1094–1111 CE. Avraham was an associate of the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saadya. In the letter, Araḥ reports of serious riots in Alexandria and a drunken brawl that ended only with the intervention of the chief of police (wālī), although he also accuses the other faction of having alerted the wālī, in addition to the drunken brawl having drawn his attention. The writer praises the local muqaddam who managed to free those involved with the brawl. He also complains of inappropriate fetishization of official decrees, and is so annoyed at the behavior of his fellow Jews that he reports it to the governor, Fakhr al-Mulk. For his brother’s benefit, he adds that the appropriate way to fetishize a decree is, as everyone knows, to kiss it and put it on your eyes, which is what the governor does. But “the Jews,” he complains, “take it around from place to place” and "wave it around like a banner." There is a passing reference to his illness ('I will tell you about it when my spirit recovers from this illness,' v1). It is likely that he is attributing his illness to the events described in the letter (wa-qad lazimanī minhu mulzim), though Frenkel understands this sentence to mean simply that there is some matter that is incumbent on him. (Information from Miriam Frenkel, Alan Elbaum and Marina Rustow)

Letter from Araḥ b. Natan, also known as Musāfir b. Wahb, in Alexandria, to his brother, Avraham b. Natan the seventh, in Cairo. Dating: 1094–1111 CE. Avraham was an associate of the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saadya. In the letter, Araḥ reports of serious riots in Alexandria and a drunken brawl that ended only with the intervention of the chief of police (wālī), although he also accuses the other faction of having alerted the wālī, in addition to the drunken brawl having drawn his attention. The writer praises the local muqaddam who managed to free those involved with the brawl. He also complains of inappropriate fetishization of official decrees, and is so annoyed at the behavior of his fellow Jews that he reports it to the governor, Fakhr al-Mulk. For his brother’s benefit, he adds that the appropriate way to fetishize a decree is, as everyone knows, to kiss it and put it on your eyes, which is what the governor does. But “the Jews,” he complains, “take it around from place to place” and "wave it around like a banner." There is a passing reference to his illness ('I will tell you about it when my spirit recovers from this illness,' v1). It is likely that he is attributing his illness to the events described in the letter (wa-qad lazimanī minhu mulzim), though Frenkel understands this sentence to mean simply that there is some matter that is incumbent on him. (Information from Miriam Frenkel, Alan Elbaum and Marina Rustow)