Geniza Lab

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic to a certain Nissim and a certain Shalom Pinḥas. The writer is in some distress and perplexity and repeatedly mentions someone "who is a youth and his wife is a small girl." He also mentions arrangements for the orphans in general, and sums of money in Ashrafīs. Possibly connected to the legal document recto, possibly not. Needs further examination.

Business letter addressed to Abū l-Faraj (Yūsuf b. Yaʿqūb?) Ibn ʿAwkal. In Judaeo-Arabic. This document appears to have been overlooked by past Ibn ʿAwkal scholars. One curious element: the letter mentions al-Jazā'ir four lines from the bottom (and al-Andalus three lines from the bottom). See Goitein's note on T-S J1.29, a dowry list from 1140 CE: "Al-Jazā'ir became the name of the town of Algiers, called so after the islets near its coast. But I have little doubt that in the Geniza the word designates the Greek islands of the Aegean Sea. Cf. EI2, s.v. "Djazā'ir-i Bahr-i-Safīd." Med Soc IV, 455.

Letter fragment, In Judaeo-Arabic. Little of the substance remains, mainly allusions to distress, good wishes for the future, and greetings to a large number of family members by name.

Recto: Letter fragment in Arabic script. The sender gives an account of his travels ("then I went out on the open sea (al-bahr al-māliḥ)...").

Verso: Letter opening or draft. In Hebrew. Filled with honorifics lines of poetry for a dignitary (ha-paṭish ha-ḥazaq, ẓofnat paʿneaḥ, etc.).

Verso, with the address on recto: Top of a letter in Arabic script. Mercantile? Dated: 439 AH = 1047/48 CE. Reused for Judaeo-Arabic accounts (see separate record).

Letter from a parent, unknown location, to a son, in Fustat/Cairo. In Ladino. The writer tells the son to write more often, which should not be so difficult for him because people arrive in his or her location every day from Fustat/Cairo (Miẓrayim). The writer asks if he received the 10 reals that she sent him with Yehuda Canbiador (קאנבייאדור, the money changer). The writer mentions the daughters of their baʿal ha-bayit (לאש מוגאגאש די מי בעל הבית)—perhaps meaning her husband, but this is not completely clear. The writer lists various items that he or she has sent to the son and how much they cost (in muayyadis). ASE.

Letter fragment by a certain Yaʿaqov recounting the episode that led him to break off his partnership with others in a wine press. While he was doing business in silk in Alexandria, his partners had sold a donkey and a mule and swindled him, however, he chose not to bring the case to court. He invites the recipient to spend the holiday with him. Mentions Abu l-Ḥasan, Abu l-Fadl, Zikri, Zikri’s nephew, and Ḥasan the messenger.

Fragment of a business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dictated.

Letter from Shemuel Erusi (? ארוסי) to Shemuel Ibn Sīd. In Hebrew. Dated: 12 Av 5374 AM, which is 1614 CE. The writer denies the accusations that he has calumniated the late, great rabbi Shemuel Kazini (? קאזני) of Crete. He asks the addressee to send letters to Shemuel's sons Moshe and Shabbetay informing them that the rumor is false. Information from Avraham David via FGP.

Business letter from Saʿāda b. Yūsuf to Yūsuf b. [... b. ʿAwkal?]. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: probably 11th century. Needs examination.

Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic, probably late. Possibly a join: ENA NS 39.21 + ENA NS 42.28.

Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic, mentioning Ibrāhīm who has not yet completed the aqāwīl, also mentioning boats arriving from all over the place and a high demand for ginger. Looks like the same handwriting as ENA 2727.57.

Recto: Large fragment of a late (18th/19th c) business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Verso: A short note signed by Yisakhar Groso (?) and Yehuda b. (?) Nissim Masīs.

Fragment of an official letter from Fustat addressed to a certain town in the Rīf (or perhaps a circular), exhorting them to be generous and assist the bearer with the payment of his capitation tax. For if they do not, he will go to prison for a long time, and it will be difficult to free him. Whatever they are able to do on his behalf, the cantor of the town should send a letter with a report. ASE

Fragment from the bottom of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic.

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 11th or 12th century. The writer asks for tidings of the Nagid Abū l-Ḥ[asan?]. Abū l-Faḍl told the writer that he had sent some dinars and some wax to the writer with a certain judge. The wax is to be given to Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm Ibn al-Iskandarānī.

Business letter. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. The name Abū Saʿīd is clearly legible in the address, and the rest might be legible with effort. Dating: Probably 11th or 12th century. Mentions various sums of money and commodities, including copper and turpeth and myrobalan.

Letter from Perahya Yiju, in Egypt, to the Nagid complaining about Avraham Ibn Yiju, probably around 1156.

Family letter in Hebrew. May be in the hand of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi. The writer sends wishes for the recovery of a woman in the care of the addressees (possibly from an illness of heart rather than a physical illness—ואתם חכמים תדעו לרפות את לבה . . . הקבה ישים רפואתה על ידכם). He adds the conventional "may I be a ransom for you." He discusses the matter of a קוטרוס—a qonṭres or writing-book? On verso he mentions someone who needs to pay the capitation tax but does not have any money; sends regards to his uncle ʿImrān and his wife and her "gevira"; and sends more well wishes to the ailing woman, רפאה שוכן {מ}רומה; and sends regards to his uncle Moshe. ASE.