Geniza Lab

Petition for assitance due to poverty to Netanel ha-Levi (putting us in the secnd half of the 12th century). On the back there is a draft of a piyyut.

Letter of congratulations to the Hizqiyahu the Qaraite Nasi and his 3 sons on the birth of a boy from a certain Shemuel.

Letter by Sahlan ha-mumhe (b. Avraham) discussing the meaning of difficult words in a piyyut by ha-Qalir.

Letter from the Jerusalemites to Bishr ibn Ghalib, the parnas of Fustat, apparently 1024.

Letter sent from Busir by Musa b. Abu al-Hayy to Abu al-Afrah Arus b. Yosef in Fustat, containing details about flax and other goods. Dated August 1084. (Information from M. Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 556)

Letter from Musa b. Abi al-Hayy, from Busir, to Abu al-Ifrah Avraham (Arus) b. Yosef, Fustat. August 5, 1084. The letter contains details about the purchase of linen. Mentions that a Christian person from the Delta region sends money to his wife in Fustat, with Musa. In addition, mentions some goods as rose extract, and money transfers. )Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #468) VMR

Letter from Yehuda ha-melammed b. Aharon ha-Rofe to Yehiel ha-Rav. The year is given but is hard to read (in Friedberg it is read a 1526=1215). In the verso f the letter some monetary dispute is discussed involving a ban, Dina demalkhuta dina and the wife of Sadoq.

Letter from Yoshiyyahu Gaon to the banker (ha-Shulḥani) Netanel b. Aharon, Fustat (?). Dating: ca. 1020 CE.

Letter from Damascus, from a Maghribi who intends to go to Jerusalem, to Avraham Ha-Kohen b. Hajay, approximately 1035.

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Aharon Sijilmāsī, in ʿAydhāb, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel. Dating: 25 Iyyar [4900] AM, which is 14 May 1140 CE. Yiṣḥaq b. Aharon Sijilmāsī wrote this letter from ʿAydhāb nearly 4 months after he departed from Fustat to Aden, as described in document ח65 (where he is called Abū Isḥāq Sijilmāsī). He stayed in ʿAydhāb for a time before traveling further south (he wrote this letter after boarding the ship in ʿAydhāb). In the interim he already sent one letter to Ḥalfon and received one letter in response. The present letter asks Ḥalfon to help the bearer, a fellow man of Sijilmāsa, with some mercantile matters. Yiṣḥaq also reports on (and curses) two Jews who reported him to the government in ʿAydhāb, claiming that he cheated on customs dues for some coral. One of the accusers later drowned. On verso there are also several lines of piyyuṭ. (Information from India Book 4; Hebrew description below.)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Sa'adya b. Avraham to Sedaqa b. Semah. The letter contains many of the epistolary motives common to Geniza documents. It revolves mostly around commercial matters and mentions a large jar (zir) sent with Ben Banyas.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Tuvya b. Eli to Natan ha-kohen b. Shelomo dealing with commercial matters regarding fabric and mentioning many locations in the Rif (Minyat Zifta, Sunbat etc). It also deals with communal matters and a pesiqa. Berakhot, [...] b. Avraham, Abu al-Ḥasan Rosh ha-qahal are all mentioned. On the back of a letter there is a large vocalized piyyut.

Letter by the scribe Ḥalfon b. Menashshe to his brother in law, with a long narrative about the difficulties he encountered procuring a tax receipt (bara'a) and the connections he used in order to procure it, some more useful than others. Also congratulates his brother in law on his sister having delivered a boy and a girl. (Information from Marina Rustow and from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 22, from Goitein's index cards; Goitein also has an English translation of this, to be uploaded soon.)

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Yiṣḥaq Ha-Kohen b. Furat written in his own hand. (Gil) 1029.

Letter by Sahlan b. Avraham to Menashshe b. Hayyim, congratulating him on his marriage. Dated ca. 1030. (Information from E. Bareket, Shafrir misrayim, pp. 181, 182, 234)

Petition to Shelomo ha-Nasi from a man whose name is missing, reporting that a pesiqa (pledge drive) in his favor had brought a substantial sum, but more than a month had passed without his getting the money. Dating: Probably ca. 1230s, if this is the Shelomo ha-Nasi known to have been in Egypt at that time. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 106, 544, n. 13 and from Goitein's index cards) On verso, part of a book list mentioning responsa, as well as a couple lines of accounts in Arabic script.

Letter sent by the head of the Jews, Sar Shalom ha-Levi Gaon b. Moshe, to the community of Qalyub confirming Moshe b. Levi as slaughterer, cantor and teacher. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Fragment of a letter from Shelomo ha-Kohen Gaon b. Yehosef. Spring 1025.

Letter from Farah b. Isma`il b. Farah (Busir/Abusir) to Abu Zikri Yehuda b. Moshe b. Sigmar.

Letter from Jalal al-Dawla in the name of Yishai b. Shelomo to the Nasi (president) Yishai b. Jesse, Fustat. January 10, 1254. The letter regarding a book that was found in Abu al-Fatah’s estate after his passing. Yishai declared that the book belongs to his uncle, the Nasi Yoshiyahu b. Yishai so it cannot be sold, but ha-Kohen Nafis al-Dawla is interested in buying it for his son. They ask the addressee, which is in Damascus, for instructions what to do. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #101) VMR