Geniza Lab

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to one of his brothers. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (upper right corner). The remaining text suggests that the addressee had suffered an attack of colic (qawlanj) but is now feeling better. Yefet also mentions "the large notebook of seliḥot."

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother Abū l-Surūr Peraḥya b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (upper left corner). Mentions: female dyers (? ṣabbāghāt); someone who had a bit of flax with him; and the small salted fish (ṣīr) which either Yefet or Peraḥya had requested.

Letter fragment (lower left corner) in Judaeo-Arabic. In the hand of Yefet b. Menashshe. Mentioning business dealings ("pay him five dirhams... sell the indigo and buy with its price...") but mainly preserving the closing greetings.

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother Peraḥya. Fragment (upper left corner). In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script. Yefet has purchased a quarter-mann of muql (this refers either to the gum resin called bdellium OR to the edible fruit of the doum palm — see Bos et al, Marwān Ibn Janāḥ, entries 294, 521, and 1044). He gives instructions regarding what to purchase, including sorrel seed (bizr ḥummāḍ), and what not to purchase.

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (thin strip from the right side of recto). Mentions: a Maghribī; Abū Saʿd b. [...]; "a bit of Armenian bole (ḥajar armanī)"; [...] b. Ayyūb.

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother Abū l-Surūr Peraḥya b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions: that Peraḥya's letter arrived with ʿAyyāsh; 17 dirhams; a woman (their mother?) praying for Peraḥya; a (capitation tax?) receipt (barāʾa) for 1/2 dinar; the addressee's preoccupation on account of a woman; Abū Saʿd; the government (al-ṣulṭān); and someone living in Fustat. The letter also deals with a fūṭa garment and some dirhams; something was intended for the addressee's mother. The crux of the matter is that the addressee should send something, because ʿAyyāsh says that he forgot that thing with Khiyār. There is also a qāḍī mentioned near the beginning of the letter. Yefet refers to "your mother and your sisters" and sends greetings to Abū Saʿīd (probably Ḥalfon) and Sitt Naʿīm. Join: Oded Zinger. Needs further examination now that the letter is complete.

Letter in the hand of Yefet b. Menashshe probably to one of his brothers. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (lower part of recto). Mentions various business matters. He reports that 'your mother and sisters' are well. He sends regards to Ḥalfon's wife Sitt Naʿīm. He has sent with the bearer Abū Saʿd b. Abū l-Faḍl(?) b. ʿUmayr 3/4 mann of Byzantine wormwood (afsantīn rūmī), and "inside of it" there is a qirṭās inside of which there is scammony (maḥmūda). He has also sent נגאב ערבי with this letter for Abū l-Ḥasan the in-law of Ibn al-Qaṣabī. Someone made Yefet take an oath about something (istaḥlafanī).

Fragment (narrow sliver containing the beginnings of the lines) of a letter by Yefet b. Menashshe b. al-Qaṭā'if

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother Peraḥya b. Menashshe. Fragment (upper left corner). Only the opening greetings are preserved.

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe b. al-Qaṭa'if to his brother Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Yefet has sent with Efrayim a vessel containing 20 dirhams of lizard droppings and Ḥalfon is to try to sell them. There are lots of other instructions about small transactions and letters to be forwarded. Yefet mentions the person (Yūsuf al-Qallā'?) "who was your doctor in Fusṭāṭ." Yefet sends greetings to Sitt Naʿīm, who it seems is none other than Ḥalfon's wife (see Wagner, E. (2007). Ḥalfon’s wife, Mosseri Ia.29. [Genizah Research Unit, Fragment of the Month, July 2007]. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.40294). ASE.

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to one of his brothers. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (upper right corner of recto). Yefet previously informed him about the arrival of Yaʿaqov and the salt. The addressee is asked to pass on regards to Abū l-Surūr from his son.

Letter in the hand of Yefet b. Menashshe perhaps to his brother Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (lower left corner of recto). Someone arrived from Abyār. Yefet says he can't do something "for numerous reasons, not least of which is the shop. I can't (leave it) for a full week, and he knows it." He is in need of a friend who will do him a favor for the sake of ʿaṣabiyya. He mentions people who traveled with somebody; someone who was with him in the shop; his isolation and abandonment; "Muslims and Jews"; al-Qāḍī al-Muwaffaq; how he can no longer sit in his shop because of [...]. Regards to Sitt Naʿīm (Ḥalfon's wife).

A letter to Halfon (Khalaf) b. Menasse from his brother, Yefet. Image not available (data by Oded Zinger FGP)

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother or brothers. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (upper right corner of recto). He complains about separation and neglect. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter in the hand of Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script. Fragment (upper left corner of recto). He confirms receipt of the previous letter which mentioned that Ḥakam had a dabīqī item and its cushions (mikhāddhā) and that he wished to have them cut (? qaṣārathum) — cf. Moss. II,123.1.2. Ḥakam said that he would send something to Dimyāṭ (Damietta). Regards to Abū Manṣūr Ibn Qasāsa. There is a needle piercing at the center of the top of the page. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother Abu l-Surūr Peraḥya b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (left side of recto). Mentions: something that was in the bag (kharīṭā); white giant fennel (? kalkh abyaḍ — see Gerrit Bos et al, Marwān Ibn Janāḥ, nos. 460, 797); a request to purchase 'Judaic stone' (ḥajar al-yahūdī — ibid., no. 363), long pepper (dār filfil), some more commodities which are difficult to decipher (חב כלא? שירכשך?) and seed of the marking nut (ḥabb balādhur). Regards to Abū l-Khayr.

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother Peraḥya b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Large fragment (missing mainly the upper right corner of recto). There are greetings for the high holidays. He thanks Peraḥya for the 10(?) dirhams that he sent for their mother, who thanks and prays for him (cf. T-S 13J22.29). The gum (ṣamgh) has arrived. Mentions incense (nidd/nadd). He refers in vague terms to some good news or advice and urges Peraḥya to act on it.

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe ha-Levi b. al-Qaṭā'if to his brother Peraḥya discussing business matters, the illness and recovery of Abu al-Muna, a forwarded letter, and conveying greetings. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 239, 477, and Goitein's index cards.) The description of Abū l-Munā's illness is particularly vivid. "What he had turned out to be pure pus (? qayḥ kāmil). It ruptured (infajara), and there emerged from it what cannot be mentioned. Great pits (ajwār) developed in his thighs (or hips, awrāk). It flowed so much that his robe was changed two or three times a day. Then God willed. and the flesh began to build up, and he could walk and work again." ASE.

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother Abū l-Surūr Peraḥya b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. This is a complete and well-preserved letter, which is rare in the Yefet corpus. Goitein's note card points out that Yefet and Peraḥya are the two brothers of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi Ibn al-Qaṭāʾīf and that the brothers also had at least two sisters. In this letter, Yefet thanks Peraḥya for the 10 dirhams for their mother and conveys her prayers for him and for Ḥalfon (from this Goitein deduces that Ḥalfon and Peraḥya regularly supported their mother and sisters in the Rīf, but note that in other letters the mother and sisters appear to be in Fustat). Yefet reports that the cassia fistula (khiyār shanbar) and gum (ṣamgh) arrived. Yefet sent to Ḥalfon the bitumen (uṣūl(?) al-qifār) which he had requested. Regards to Sitt Naʿīm (Ḥalfon's wife). ʿIwāḍ told Yefet that Peraḥya complained about Yefet's failure to write him letters, which Yefet now strenuously denies: "[I write to you] even when I have nothing to say except to ask after you and your health." VMR. ASE.

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother Abū Saʿīd Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (upper right corner of recto). There are a lot of deferential expressions of gratitude, but little of the substance is preserved. (Information in part from CUDL)