Geniza Lab

Letter, in Arabic script. Begins with a basmala and ends with a ḥamdala. The contents of the letter are not immediately clear but the writer in l9 asks that he replace the addressee for a certain task "iʿlamanī bihā li-anuba ʿanka". Needs examination.

Letter from a man, in Damietta, to his brother Abū l-Majd, in Damīra. (The sender's name may be legible in the Arabic address.) In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script. The sender had sent an invitation with Hiba al-Kohen for the addressee to come celebrate the holidays in Damietta, and he is sad that he did not come. The sender mentions a house and his cousin (the daughter of his maternal aunt). He orders an item from Damīra that should be "blue, veiled with white," and price is no obstacle.

Letter from Eli Ha-Kohen b. Ezekiel, Jerusalem, to Eli ha-Kohen b. Hayyim, Fustat. [NB volume number in shelfmark is roman numeral I, not Arabic numeral 1]

Letter. Faded. Addressed to Abū l-Majd. It may be from Yehuda b. Aharon b. al-ʿAmmānī, in Alexandria, to Abū l-Majd Meir b. Yakhin, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender reports that he met with Ibn Bū l-Zakkār; mentions Sayyidnā al-Rayyis; and reports that Hilāl (perhaps Meir's brother of the same name) honored him with his son Maʿānī (perhaps by hiring him as a teacher). At the bottom of recto there is a cryptic passage about someone who said, "You are one of us. We will not reveal our secret to anyone except you. Then when I saw that the matter was going to end badly, I wrote it...." The text in the margin is difficult to read but ends with the sender's distress over "the state of [your] sister." He elaborates on verso, "she is wretched, like a phantom on the bed (cf. ENA 4020.49). . . and the old woman (presumably her mother) is there with her and in even greater distress on account of the sorrow and the poverty, may God look upon them [and have mercy]." These may be the same women who are very sick in T-S 8J22.31. The continuation mentions a funduq and Abū l-Rabiʿ Sulaymān. ASE

Letter in Arabic script with some of the lines marked (erased?) in red ink. On the other side is a Hebrew piyyut

Letter from Yehuda b. Moshe b. Sughmār, in Alexandria, to Abū Bishr Azhar b. Manṣūr (aka Avraham), in Fustat, ca. 1075. Mentions a shipment of silk to Fustat that got wet. The writer cannot come to Fustat, and he asks the addressee to handle some business and money matters for him. The reason for this is that he has numerous illnesses (amrāḍ shattā), the least of which is the jarab (probably trachoma, but the word can also refer to skin diseases), and so he cannot sit or ride. Furthermore, factoring in travel expenses, he does not think the gains will outweigh the losses in his money and his health. But if the addressee thinks it is absolutely necessary, he will bear the 'fasting and difficulty' and make the trip. Meanwhile, a rumor spread in Fustat about Yehuda b. Moshe b. Sughmār, somehow involving Abū l-Faraj Dā'ūd b. Shaʿyā and the ruler Sayf al-Islam (=Badr al-Jamālī?). However, the person who was said to have been the source of the rumour publicly denied it in the synagogue, swearing truthfulness on pain of excommunication. A court decision denying the rumour was also issued. (Information from Gil.) ASE.

Letter from Ismaʿīl b. Barhūn al-Tāhirtī (Mahdiya) to his nephew Barhūn b. Ṣāliḥ. Describes a dispute between the sender and another merchant, Abū Yaʿqūb. Mentions that the family house of the Tāhirtis in Qayrawān(?) requires repairs. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 336.)

Letter, apperently by Perahya b. Yosef to Saadya. the glory of the merchants, Abu al-Fakhr b. Ibrahim known as Ibn al-Amshati. The letter starts with Hebrew rhymed blessings and then switches to arabic and mentions Passover and Pentecost (shavu'ot).

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions a ḍamān, a ruqʿa, a letter sent with the son of the Qāḍī of Qalyūb (probably), excuses bad manners by appealing to the constraints of time, reports that al-Rayyis Abū l-Bayān is in excellent health, reports that someone has had a child that would make someone want children even if they had never wanted children before, and mentions ṣāḥib al-khammār (perhaps the friend of the vintner).

Letter from a certain Yiṣḥaq to Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm. In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender had asked for a piece (qiṭʿa) of something, but it didn't arrive in time, and now the need has passed. He now asks for malāff(?) ẓāhiriyya(?) from Dār al-Bayḍ ("Casablanca"), perhaps a type of garment. Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm b. ʿAbdallāh al-Baghdādī should send it to him with the muleteer (ḥammār).

Letter from Khiyar b. Ya'aqov to Abu al-Mufaddal Hibat Allah b. Yeft. The letter seems to discuss ome dispute between various parties which may end up in Muslim court. Names mentioned: Abu Zikri son of the Hijazi woman, Abu Faraj Nissim b. Atiya. and Avrahahm (al-Qal'i?)

Letter from Saʿīd, in Alexandria, to his brother Bū l-Majd Meir b. Yakhin the cantor, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Rudimentary hand and phonetic spellings throughout, including the use of the alif-lam ligature as a lam-alif. Dating: First quarter of the 13th century. Saʿīd complains about the lack of letters from Meir and reminds him that their mother is critically ill (marīḍa ʿalā khuṭṭa), and that she is only sick on account of the fact that she will not see Meir before she dies (mā maraḍhā illā sababak alladhī mā tarāk min qabl an tamūt). Saʿīd inquires about the clay vessel (burniyya) he had sent containing medicines (or ink for the inkwell? this part requires further decipherment). He has heard that Meir's daughter's daughter has died, and he sends his wishes that she be replaced with a boy. He continues, insensitively, "My wife has given birth to a daughter." Then, "Do not ask about my illness, which you know about." The economy is bad in Alexandria and prices are high (bread is five dirhams). Bū Saʿīd the son of the Qa[ḍī?] has died, and Ibn Ghulayb is likewise ill. Saʿīd sends his regards to Meir's wife. Their other brother (Hilāl), Maʿānī, and Maḥāsin and his son Abū l-Najm all send their regards. ASE.

Letter from Barhūn b. Iṣḥaq al-Tahirtī, in al-Mahdiyya, to ʿAyyāsh b. Ṣedaqa, in Fustat. Dating: 21 October 1049. The writer asks ʿAyyāsh to step in for Nahray b. Nissim who is about to travel to Būṣīr to buy flax. Discusses various family matters. The writer mentions his plans to write to Abū Naṣr Ḥesed b. Yashar al-Tustarī, demonstrating that the latter was killed in 1050 rather than 1049. On verso is an addendum in the hand of Nissim b. Iṣḥaq, the writer's brother. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 293-294.)

Letter probably dealing with communal matters. The writing is very faded and the content is unclear , al-Rasha' (the evil one) is mentioned.

Letter from Umm Abū l-Munā to her 'father.' He is sick and she is worried about him. She and her family are also suffering from poverty and difficult times. Mentions Abū Naṣr and Umm Barakāt.

Letter in Hebrew to the communal leaders of Sicily (maybe Palermo?). On the back is a writing trial from the book of Esther and some sort of large text boxed in by a line.

Letter from the French rabbi Shemuel b. Yaʿaqov to Avraham Maimonides. Published and discussed in Friedman, "The Nagid, The Nasi and the French Rabbis" Zion 82 (2017), especially pages 238–42.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (bottom only). Dated: 23 Ḥeshvan 1539 Seleucid, which is 1227 CE. Sending greetings from Abū l-Faḍl and asking the addressee to write them back.

Recto: Accounts (or prescription?) in Arabic script. Sepiolite (zabad al-baḥr), 2.5 dirhams; rock salt (milḥ andarānī); white lead (isfīdāj); pepper (filfil); long pepper (dār filfil); sanbal/sunbul (spikenard). Verso: Note from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to Berakh'el ha-Talmid (incomplete).

List of what Mahfuz collected from the properties of the pious foundations. The year 1183 is mentioned. On the back the year 1184/5 is mentioned in connection to the garden around the holy site of Dammuh. published in Ora Vaza Molad MA Thesis.