Geniza Lab

Letter from Yehuda ha-Levi (but see PGPID 9079) to Ḥalfon b. Netanel, 12th century.

Letter from Yisrael b. Natan, Gush-Halab, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. [NB volume number in shelfmark is roman numeral I, not Arabic numeral 1]

Letter. Business letter from Yisrael b. Nathan, addressed to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fusṭāṭ, sent from al-Jush (Gush Halab). Arabic script on verso. (Information from Goitein’s index card) Alternate shelfmark: ENA 76.1 He writes that while in Damascus, he plans to copy the Order Qodashim from the Iraqi Talmud, and also mentions a notebook (daftar) belonging to the head of the yeshiva - possibly a collection of responsa. (Information from Gil, Palestine, Vol 1: 233)

Letter, late

Letter, late, by Yom Tov Qashtiel, with a Hebrew signature stamp

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic to a son in a crude hand. The writer has left Sedaqa while the writer was in a terrible state. There is a mention of going to Tyre and instructions about wheat for the house.

Autograph letter from Yehuda ha-Levi, in Spain, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel ha-Levi. Dating: 1139 CE. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions the Kuzari and his intentions to travel east. (Information from Goitein and Friedman, India Book IV; Hebrew description below.)

Letter in Hebrew, late, about a woman who received payment to do something but didn't. Her sister is also mentioned.

Letter to El'azar ha-talmid, beautiful and full of blessings (among which that his brother Yeshu'a will return home safely). The hand looks like Berakhot b. Shemuel. Despite the letter being quite sizable, it is hard to get a sense of the content beyoind the numerous blessings.

Letter in Hebrew, late and beautifully written, to a communal leader. The writer seems to be a woman (although the letter has מתנפל and not מתנפלת). She has a daughter for whom she cannot provide a dowry. She asks the recipent for help. The response should be sent to Shemuel Virgash (שמואל וירגאש ) who is "the father of widows and orphans and is like a brother to me." The writer is a widow named Simha, and her duaghter is Rahel. יוסף טורישאקס is also mentioned.

"The first document is a letter (lacking, however, a few lines at the end) that was sent by an anonymous merchant to R. David Ibn Zamiro (alias Zimra).It seems that the writer was the fattore (commercial agent) of the addressee R. David Ibn Abi Zimra (1480–1573), who resided in Cairo for more than forty years, before he moved to Jerusalem in 1553. He is considered to have been the greatest rabbinical authority among the Spanish Jews expelled from Spain in 1492. In his letter, the writer describes the difficulties, which he had in marketing the feathers: על ענין הנוצה, ואע"פ שכבר הודעתי [ל]מעל[תך] עם ר' שמואל כיחלאדו, כי לפניו פתחתי אותה הראיתי אותה לכמה סוחרים, ולא מצאנו שום מכירה [...] הראיתי הנוצה לסוחרים על מאמר מתיו, ולא רצו לעשות שום דבר. 'Concerning the feathers, although I already informed you know through R. Samuel Kichlado that I opened [the parcel] in his presence, I showed them [i.e. the feathers] to some merchants. As we did not find [an opportunity] for selling [them], [...] I showed the feathers to the merchants following the advice of Matteo (Matthew), but they were not inclined to do anything.' The Italian merchants, with whom he negotiated without success, apparently were not interested in buying the feathers. And of Matteo, the one mentioned by name here, we know that at that time he was in jail in Egypt." Avraham David, Jewish Involvement in Ostrich Feathers Trade, 86–87. In addition to Matteo, a Christian merchant named Piero del [?] is discussed.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic written by Abu al-Faraj. Mentioning several personalities known from Avraham Maimonides period (Menahem, muhadhdhab, Shemuʾel and Avraham Maimonides himself) among many other names. In the end of the letter the writer apologizes for writing the letter while drinking wine.

Business letter (called tadhkira - i.e. a memo) in Judaeo-Arabic to an Ibn Sughmar mentioning, among other things, honey. On the back is an account (list of expenses? nafaqa).

Letter from Ibrāhīm to his maternal uncle Khalaf b. Ismāʿīl al-Ṣabbāgh (the dyer), in Ḥabs Bunān (Fustat). In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender had previously sent a letter with Ṣāfī, and he complains about the lack of a response. "I am not content with your greetings to me in letters to other people. My heart will be at ease when you send me letters." The addressee had sent some money (it seems with Abū l-Surūr) to help Ibrāhīm pay his capitation tax. Regards to Umm Manṣūr and R. Yiṣḥaq. "May God never deprive me of your fragrance (rīḥatkum)." ASE

Recto: Letter of appeal from a woman who "is among the captives from Palestine." Dating: both Goitein and Gil date this document to the early Crusader period (early 12th century), but see Goldman, "Arabic-Speaking Jews in Crusader Syria" (diss.), p. 37, "Many undated Geniza documents have been ascribed to the period of the Crusades simply because they relate to warfare, ransoming, refugees, and/or massacres." Content: The woman requests the help of the community (qahal). She arrived this week in Fustat from Sunbāṭ. She is "naked" (i.e., in need), with a young child to take care of. Verso contains a very faded text in Arabic script (see separate entry, PGPID 35164).

Letter (?) or other very faded text in Arabic script. This is the verso; the recto contain a Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew letter of appeal (see separate entry, PGPID 801).

Letter from a father, unknown location, to his son Abū l-Barakāt Shemuel, in Fustat. The father rebukes the son for failing to write and informs him that his mother has an eye disease. They are suffering from poverty and lack of clothing. The father wonders if business would be going better if he were in Fustat and helping manage the shop. He complains about the addressee's brother Abū Naṣr who came up with a scheme to renovate his maternal aunt's house for 2 or 3 dinars. Now, he has spent about 30 dinars, the walls are reduced to rubble, the site has had to be closed, and he is still working on it. The father asks the son to send money to his mother and to respond right away. "Do not make an excuse that the road is closed: people come and go every day by land from your location." The letter and the money should be sent to the shop of the Mumḥe or to the shop of Abū Naṣr al-ʿAfaṣī. ASE

Letter. Quite faded. In Judaeo-Arabic and some Hebrew. Addressed to a dignitary. The sender complains about his poverty and illness. Mentions people who have helped in the past. Mentions food and the synagogue. The text in the margin (the part of the letter best preserved) mentions "a staff, a table, a chair and a lamp" (2 Kings 4:10) in the context of hospitality towards needy foreigners. The sender then mentions a poor and pious relative on his father's side who comes from Ṣaffūriyya (Sepphoris) who ate only chicken (perhaps again an allusion to the generosity of a host). The continuation on verso is difficult to read. Mentions a man titled "al-Meʿutad" and a letter from him. Mentions the community of Damīra and a quarter-dinar. Also mentions Damietta and Tyre. (AA, OZ, ASE)

Letter from Farah b. Isma’il from Alexandria, to his father Isma’il, Fustat. October 22, 1050. Short letter about the money that Farah sent to his father and a request that Isma’il will sell the goods that Farah already sent him, and send him back the money as soon as possible. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #499) VMR (Alt: ENA L43)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic in a late hand - containing what looks like commercial content.