Geniza Lab

Recto: Letter draft addressed to Seʿadya b. Natan(?) ha-Dayyan. Or perhaps just a poem composed in his honor. Verso: Rhymed praises for somebody in Judaeo-Arabic. Perhaps related to recto.

Letter from Shelomo [...], in Damietta (Kapotakia), to a certain Me'ir, in Fustat/Cairo. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Perhaps Tevet 5569(?) AM, which would be 1808/09 CE. Needs examination for content.

Letter of friendship from Moshe, in Damascus, to Yosef b. Eliezer, probably in Jerusalem. In Hebrew. Dated: [5]148 AM, which is 1387/88 CE. See FGP for further information.

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dreadful handwriting. The entirety of recto is occupied with praises for the addressee, whose father appears to be named Moshe. The addressee's own name might be Khalaf, as in the address. Verso might mention Aden, but this is unclear. The business has to do in part with dābiqī linen. Needs further examination.

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Rudimentary handwriting. Involves pepper.

Letter addressed to Abū Saʿīd Ibn al-ʿAfṣī ("the gallnut merchant") al-ʿAṭṭār, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. The addressee is known from several other letters. The writer calls him "my son." The writer also refers to "my house in Shubrā [=Shubrā Damsīs]." Mentions Khalaf in al-Maḥalla. Needs further examination.

Letter in Arabic script. The lower ~10 lines are preserved. Faded in places. Some phrases: "...if he is still alive..." (l. 4); "going up to Jerusalem" (ll. 4–5); "the two congregations" (al-jamāʿatān) (l. 7). Ends with a ḥamdala and ṣalwala (prayers for the prophet Muḥammad). Reused for Hebrew piyyuṭ on verso. Needs further examination.

Letter from Mūsā b. Yaʿaqov al-Miṣrī, in Malīj, to Yosef b. David b. Shaʿyā, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1056 CE. The writer deals with selling and buying goods for the partnership between the two. Mentions several names of people who are involved in their business. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #684) VMR

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Appears to be the handwriting of Yiṣḥaq b. Simḥa Nīsābūrī. Dating: 11th century. Mentions ships from various places including three from al-Mahdiyya and others from al-Andalus. The writer had three successive illnesses over the last month and a half, but he is now better and back to work (al-yawm anā mutaṣarrif), "unless another one comes over me." The writer has sent with Abū l-Ḥasan al-Mazīdī a flask of quince oxymel (sakanjabīn safarjalī) and a "nice" flask containing an unripe-grape rob (rubb ḥiṣrim) and a little quince. Alas, "the ḥiṣrim here is not like the Levantine ḥiṣrim" (cf. T-S 13J23.17, also featuring ḥiṣrim shāmī). Further down, the writer discusses the price of silk.

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 11th century. Possibly the same handwriting as T-S AS 146.206. Content difficult to understand without a join. Mentions Mūsā al-Maghribī.

Letter addressed to the brothers Shemuel and Yehuda. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably no earlier than 14th century. Includes the curious information that "all the goods are in the hands of the Franks." Needs further examination.

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. This is a sizeable fragment, but little specific information is preserved. Mentions a certain Maḥāsin and an Amīn al-Dawla.

Business letter. In Judaeo-Arabic, wtih the address in Arabic script. Dating: possibly 11th century. The name of the addressee may be legible (Saʿd al-[...]?). People mentioned: Avraham b. [...] Rabīʿ; Ibn al-Ṣabbāgh. Verso: In addition to the address of the letter, there is an list in Arabic script.

Business letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 11th century. This seems to be the last sheet of (or addendum to) what was was originally a longer letter. Needs examination.

Letter from Ibrāhīm Dhabbāḥ to Shelomo ha-Ḥazzan. In Hebrew (for the ornate introduction) and Judaeo-Arabic (for the body). Dating: After 1425 CE, as one of the currencies mentioned is the ashrafī. The addressee had sent 200 "maghribī" (dinars?). Ibrāhīm was able to sell them to the Qaraites for 122 ashrafis per 100 maghribis, so he now has 244 ashrafis. Then a group of Muslims showed up, and the Qaraites offered them 12[.] ashrafis per 100 maghribis.

Letter from Yosef ha-Levi to Yosef Bagilyer. In Hebrew. Dating: First half of the 16th century. Concerning tax farming. Mentions two rich and famous figures of the Jewish community: Avraham b. Shānjī and Yaʿaqov b. Shānjī.

Letter addressed to Abū ʿImrān, in Zuqāq al-[...], Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Of the body of the letter, only the lower right corner remains. Difficult to determine the content. Mentions various family members and either the king (al-malik) or the property (al-mulk).

Letter from an unknown writer, in Rashīd, to the sage R. Badosa, in Fustat/Cairo. In Hebrew. Dating: Second half of the 16th century. The writer describes the fear in Rashīd that an epidemic will break out. In the continuation it becomes apparent that the epidemic is already in Fustat/Cairo. The writer heard from Yiṣḥaq Ashkenazi and from Yeshuʿa Zimati(?) that for five days there has been no new case (in Fustat/Cairo). The writer is about to embark on a journey to flee the epidemic. He has hired passage to an unnamed location on a ship from Damietta (? דמאת) together with Yosef Ṭaffār and some other "good Jews." They plan to leave on Friday. If the addressee should wish to come to Rashīd, he should not carry any money with him, because the roads are dangerous. The writer's sister will remain Rashīd until the addressee arrives; in the meantime, the writer has made all necessary provisions for her. Information in part from FGP. ASE

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Draft of the first few lines. Addressed to a cousin (ibn al-ʿamm). Draft. Dating: late.

Letter of appeal addressed to Rabbenu Yiṣḥaq. In Hebrew. The writer's place has been destroyed and some people have been sold by the shaliṭ/sulṭān (into slavery), and "the shoḥad (perhaps ransom here rather than bribe) that they took. . ."