Geniza Lab

Letter fragment (lower part) from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, Qalyub, to a family member in Fustat, regarding small-scale business dealings. He tells the recipient what pharmaceutical goods to buy him with the money that he has probably sent with the messenger as well as whatever money the kerchief fetches: mercury; labdanum; shells of mahaleb (?).... ASE.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Little of the content remains.

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. The only name surviving in the address is Musāfir b. Hiba al-Sabīʿī, which is presumably an Arabic transliteration of the Hebrew al-Sheviʿi, 'the seventh. This person must be identical with Musāfir b. Wahb (=Araḥ b. Natan 'the seventh'), and he is probably the addressee of the present letter (compare T-S Ar.39.126 for Musāfir b. Wahb's Arabic-script signature and T-S 13J22.23 for a Judaeo-Arabic letter of his; neither hand resembles the hand of this letter). As for the content: the writer mentions the addressee's maternal uncle Abū l-Faḍl and a letter from a court to a court (or from a judge to a judge) and someone obtaining what is due him. Regards to 'all the children'; mentions someone's sister. ASE.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Little of the content remains.

Letter draft in Judaeo-Arabic. First two lines only. Addressed to 'my father Abū l-Faraj.'

Recto: Letter fragment from Manṣūr Kohen to Rabbenu Yiṣḥaq. In Judaeo-Arabic. Same writer as several other letters (see tag) addressed to Eliyyahu the Judge, giving a date in the early 13th century. Verso: Circles in magenta ink, apparently drawn with a compass or other ruler.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions a wife; the writer's suffering; regards to the addressee's wife and children; mentions Sitt Faḍā'il.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions a ḥaver. Very faded.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic addressed to some dignitary. Only the formulaic opening is preserved. In the upper margin and on verso there are jottings in Hebrew script (the words "al-mamlūk" and "from Tyre" appear).

Letter or legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions someone's (probably bad) character (akhlāq). Narrates a series of events ('on Sunday... and then...').

Somewhat mysterious text in Judaeo-Arabic. Likely a letter. The sender/narrator speaks in roundabout ways about his passion (ṣabwa) for the addressee and his shame that prevented him from doing something - so perhaps this is the preface to a request. There is something about an oath in the last two lines.

Business letter. The hand may be known. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 11th century. Mentions Ismāʿīl and indigo. The sender urges the addressee to make inquires and write with any news. Maymūn has sent the addressee a basket (quffa) of bitumen (qifār), c/o the shop of Ḥunayn(?). The sender wishes to know if it has arrived. The sender might say that he couldn't make it to Tyre this year.

Official letter. Small fragment. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic (partially vocalized). Wide space between the lines. Refers to a man who was appointed as judge and sole head of the community.

Business letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. The handwriting may be known. Dating: Probably 11th century. Mentions Abū Sahl Natan b. Yaʿaqov. Mentions the addressee's troubles with the capitation tax (? al-jawāl).

Letter fragment, addressed to some dignitary. Recto preserves the flowery introduction of the letter. In Hebrew. There is very faded text in both Hebrew and Arabic script on verso, probably part of the address.

Letter fragment, addressed to Avraham ha-Talmid. What remains is the flowery introduction, in Hebrew. Several biblical verses are cited.

Recto: Letter addressed to Avraham ha-Sefaradi. In Hebrew, often rhymed. Dating: Probably no earlier than 15th century. The writer reports on a man who wishes to marry the daughter of Avraham the Tailor and conveys some of that man's speech in this letter. It is unclear what he wants from the addressee. A learned man named Yehuda חובל is also mentioned. Verso: Alongside the address of the original letter, there is a letter in Judaeo-Arabic, perhaps the response to recto. There is also a name: Binyamin b. אנתה(?). Needs examination.

Three fragments of a Judaeo-Arabic letter, all in the same hand, probably all from the same letter. Mentions the sons of al-Baradānī and R. Natan ha-Ḥaver 'his brother-in-law.'

Mercantile letter in Arabic script. Fragment (lower half). "... he will/should sell it for him in Tyre and send him the value in the ṣalībī together with the fleet (al-usṭūl). He has appointed him to collect the value of his money/property with [...] Abu l-Faḍl Ibn al-Baṣrī: the value of sugar, the value of tamarind, ]...] and gold, a total of 3 dinars... and to also collect all the dirhams owed by Mukhtār and to send them with his merchandise in the fleet... with Yūsuf." More sums of money are mentioned in the margin. (The ṣalībiyya were the ships that sailed westward in September, named after the Coptic Feast of the Cross; see Friedman, Dictionary, 738, and Goitein, Med Soc I, 317, 481–82 note 31.)

Letter from Faḍāʾil to his father. In Arabic script. He has sent prior letters but received no response. He mentions several individuals such as Ṣadaqa, Abū l-Maʿālī, Abū Naṣr and news that has spread across the town (wa-qad wallahi shāʿa l-balad) and the ʿĀmil who possibly ruined his/their plan (kharab l-ʿĀmil). Towards the end of the letter he describes that he would rather die “mittu wa-lā ʿishtu” as no one could enter the building(?), he is also unable to fast or observe holidays. It is unclear to determine the ongoing events but it seems like they had a tax farming scheme but the ʿĀmil and the Muḥtasib intervened. Needs further examination.