Geniza Lab

Letter addressed to ʿEli ha-Kohen ha-Parnas. What remains of the letter is the introduction consisting entirely of biblical verses.

Letter fragment addressed to a certain Nasi/exilarch (nesi'enu, rosh galiyot kol yisra'el). In Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew. Also mentions various other distinguished people: the judge of judges (qāḍī al-quḍāh) and the Nagid David—more likely David I Maimonides (1222–1300, held the office after 1237) than David II (1340–1410, held the office after 1355). Also mentions a certain Menaḥem, a Persian (al-ʿajamī), and Alexandria.

Recto: Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Most of the content is missing; the writer mentions shame/embarrassment, and seems to be apologizing for some delay in doing what he was supposed to do. Verso: Accounts in a cryptic shorthand.

Letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. May be too damaged to extract much of the content.

Informal note. Scrap of paper with the beginning of a draft of a letter by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to his brother.

Letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer is under house arrest (tarsīm) and is embroiled in a court case with a wicked man. He asks the addressee to take care of the wicked man.

Business letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th century. Mentions Abū l-Faraj Yeshuʿa b. Ismāʿīl al-Makhmūrī. Needs examination.

Letter fragment. In Ladino. Mentions R. Nissim. Very faded.

Letter to Yiṣḥaq Ḥevroni on financial matters. Dated: 1559 CE. (Information from FGP.)

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Addressed to a family member, instructing the addressee to make sure that the boy continues to practice his Arabic and Hebrew writing, and dealing with a wayba of wheat.

Letter fragment, probably. In Judaeo-Arabic. Some of the lines rhyme.

Letter from Yosef Binyamin, in Rashīd, to Shemuel Samḥūn(?), in Fustat/Cairo. A certain Yiṣḥaq adds a postscript with his greetings. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 18th or 19th century. The writer reports that he arrived in Rashīd. Mentions various business matters. Regards to Moshe; Eliyya; Moshe Ḥefeẓ; and Yiṣḥaq Shami.

Letter addressed to ʿAmram. In Hebrew. Dating: Probably no earlier than 16th century. Shemuel b. Sīd(?) is mentioned in the first line. Very faded.

Recto: Letter. In Arabic script. Needs examination. Verso: Letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Extremely faded.

Letter from Akhlābū Kohen b. Aharon, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1045. In the handwriting of Ibrāhīm b. Faraḥ. Regarding one dinar and a quarter that Abu Zikrī needs to get from Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb, after he sent it to him by Abu Naṣr, who passed away meanwhile. Mentions many people and sends his greetings to them. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #764) VMR

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 1 Tammuz 5439 AM, which is 1739 CE. Mentions several people, including Yaʿaqov b. Ḥabīb. Needs examination.

Public letter urging every person to pay the collector what he had promised (for freeing a captive?).

Letter from a woman, in Rashīd, to Yom Ṭov al-Buḥayrī (it seems her son-in-law) and his wife Esther (it seems her daughter), in Fustat/Cairo. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably no earlier than 16th century. The specific relationships are not entirely clear. She seems to use masculine verb endings when addressing each one of the two; she opens with "salām allāh taʿālā ʿalā a[l]-ṣihr(?) al-ʿazīz wa-ʿalā al-bint al-ʿazīza Esther min ummik" and there is no clear alternative to eading ṣihr, which can mean son-in-law as well as brother-in-law; but she also writes "greet your mother-in-law" (with masculine verb ending), a statement that has to be addressed to her own child. In any event, she congratulates them on acquiring a female slave (if אכצתי is indeed to be read as אכדתי) and urges one of them (presumably the daughter, but the verbs are masculine) to "take it with a gracious word" (khudhu bi-kalima ḥilwā). The remainder of the content is obscure. Greetings to Doña Sh[..]; to the aforementioned mother-in-law; and to Khuḍayr and Manṣūr. ASE.

Letter from Shemuel b. Sīd. In Hebrew. Dating: 1600–35 CE, based on Avraham David's assessment. It is unclear whether Shemuel wrote this letter while still living in Egypt or when living in Jerusalem (as he did from the 1620s until his death in 1635); David leans to the latter option, based on the reference to the 'donation for Jerusalem.' Shemuel provides a recommendation for a teacher named Ḥayyim who is in need. He also asks the addressee to send him a donation of 50 grossos (? גורושוש) 'for Jerusalem,' for he has a debt of this amount. He also asks to be sent the money from "the sale of the knives, for it is not hidden from you that the period has arrived of dispersing (funds) more than fifths." (Information from FGP.)

Letter. In Hebrew. Dating: Probably no earlier than 17th century. Appears to be a form letter of recommendation filled out on behalf of one Seʿadya Ẓami'el ('who lives in Fez'?). But needs further examination.