Geniza Lab

Letter addressed to Yosef ha-Sar. In Judaeo-Arabic with an Arabic address. The writer requests that the addressee give the five dirhams nuqra that al-Rayyis Abū l-Ḥasan b. al-Rayyis Abū l-Najm had deposited with him to to the bearer of the letter. Abū l-Ḥasan had already sent to the writer all the dinars owed him and in the accompanying letter mentioned that he had given five dirhams nuqra to the addressee of the present letter. There is then an instruction regarding what to do with the remaining money from the pesiqa. There are a few surviving words in Arabic script, probably the address; the first two appear to read 'bayt al-qāḍī.' Information in part from FGP.

Letter fragment addressed to the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saadya. In Hebrew.

Fragment of a business letter from Iṣḥaq b. Aharon Sijilmāssī (Fustat) to Avraham (ʿArūs) b. Yosef (Alexandria), ca. 1080. Iṣḥaq b. Aharon reports about money he sent, asks to buy laque and provides information about silk prices. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 403.)

Letter from (perhaps) Shelomo b. Moshe Lanyado to Shemuel Lanyado. Dated Shevat 5485 AM, which is 1725 CE. The letter is in Judaeo-Arabic but uses the Ladino "senyor" and "senyora" and איל שי״ת (=el shem yitbarakh; the definite article is probably Ladino because this writer consistently writes אל for the Judaeo-Arabic definite article). The writer reports on a difficult illness that befell him and his financial need and hunger and debts. A certain Yiṣḥaq Shalom helped him in his distress. He is still in great need and asks the addressee to send him money lest he die of hunger. It is possible to see how the letter was folded and what was written on each fold. On the middle fold, the name Shelomo b. Moshe Lanyado appears; this is in a different hand from the letter. It may be (but is not necessarily) the name of the writer. The address to Shemuel Lanyado appears on the outermost fold. On verso there is an ex-libris signature of the addressee (citing a barayta: "the rabbis taught (tanu rabbanan) that one ought to put his name on his books/letters. . . .). Information in part from FGP.

Letter from [Yose]f ha-Kohen in Jerusalem to an unknown addressee. In Hebrew. Late. The writer denies a claim against him. He advises the addressee to hurry to "this holy place." Information from FGP.

Letter from Yehuda Rozanes(?), unknown location, to Yosef Amarillio, in Salonica. In Hebrew (first two lines) and Ladino (remainder). Dating: Probably prior to 1485 CE. The content deals with business matters. NB: Not from the Geniza. Judge Mayer Sulzberger found this letter in the binding of the first edition of the Mahzor Roma (1485). Information from FGP.

Letter from an unknown writer, in Safed, to Yosef Mataron (מאטארון), in Fustat/Cairo. In Ladino. Mentions the Ottoman coin para. The writer reports that the addressee's son Eliezer is in Tripoli, which he knows because he received a letter from Eliezer the same day the caravan from Egypt arrived. The letter deals with business matters and shipments received, some of which were unsatisfactory: "y como me mandastes aquella ropa tan desbaratada"; in fact the writer seems quite annoyed at the merchandise he is receiving and says he does not understand what he is supposed to do with it. Needs further examination.

Letter from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to an unidentified benefactor. Shelomo asks him to help him out with the payment of the capitation tax, as he had been ill and had to spend all the money he could save from school fees paid to him on medicine and chicken. (Information from Halper Catalogue and from Goitein's notes in margin)

Letter from Moshe b. Yaʿaqov, Jerusalem, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat, c. 1045-1096.

Letter draft from an anonymous shaliaḥ, in Fustat/Cairo, to an unknown addressee, in Jerusalem. In Hebrew. Dated: Monday, 22 Raḥamim, 5595 AM, which is 1835 CE. There is some ambiguity about the specific day. If Raḥamim is Elul, the 22nd should have been a Wednesday. But perhaps Raḥamim here means Av, when the 22nd did fall on a Monday. The letter conveys a remarkable tale of the writer's fortunes ever since he left Jerusalem on a fundraising mission on behalf of a certain Kollel. He first went to Gaza (not Giza as his spelling might suggest), where he bought passage to Suez with some gentiles from Bethlehem. In Suez (or before arriving there?), he came down with a terrible fever for ~24 days. He paid a Muslim woman a qirsh a day to wash his soiled clothing in the sea. When he entered the city, he found an epidemic (cholera?). All the gentiles were trying to flee in boats to Jedda. The writer too tried to flee, but a certain officer came and commandeered the boat, kicking him and a group of Damascenes off of the boat. The writer then had a second bout of fever ("my whole body burnt, and my tongue cleaved to my palate, and I went to the doctor, who treated/cured me a second time"). By this point all his money had run out. Shortly thereafter he developed an eye disease. There follows a long tale of how he relied on the hospitality and charity of various strangers, mentioning various "polisas" (securities), various letters proving his status as a shaliaḥ that he had to present, and various people--Jews and gentiles--whom he turned to for help. Relatively early on he made his way to Fustat/Cairo, where he had little success raising money or gaining allies. The capitation tax collector (baʿal ha-kharāj) apprehended him for failing to pay for 'the third year' (he had only paid for the years '50 and '51) and he spent three days in prison, where he fell ill again for the fourth time. He got out of prison through the intercession of Muʿallim Bekhor. His subsequent luck raising money was no more successful than before. He mentions going to the Beit Midrash to sleep there, because he had nowhere else to turn. The end of this letter is a plea for the addressee to send him money. The letter ends mid-sentence, and there is no address, suggesting that it was never sent (and thus could find its way into the Geniza). ASE.

See join for description and transcription.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Calligraphically written. Addressed to a person with many titles but whose name does not seem to appear: al-Rayyi al-Jalīl al-Fakhr(?) al-Fāḍil al-Aṣīl. . .

Letter of appeal for help. In Judaeo-Arabic. Written on behalf of a woman, probably in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. "A divorced woman complains that her former husband constantly asks her to return to him. She has left for Alexandria and all the time he keeps asking her to return to him in Fustat which she is afraid to do. Even the Rabbi's servant continues to pressure her to comply (ghulām al-rav baqiya yulzi(mu)nī ʿalā al-safar) saying that “it might be good for you.” Information from Zinger's dissertation, p. 47.

Letter from an unknown man, unknown location (not Fustat or Alexandria), to his mother Umm Mufaḍḍal, in Alexandria. Written in Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. He briefly expresses concern for his mother's health, because he heard that she has been ill for one year. He then gets to the purpose of the letter, which is to solicit his mother's help in obtaining the divorce he has been wishing to obtain for a year, for he has been prevented from remarrying (presumably by the local authorities wherever he is, because they learned that he was still married to a woman in Fustat). He sent the bill of divorce with the bearer of the present letter, a man from Iraq. He asks his mother to receive the messenger richly. If the wife is still in Fustat, the messenger should continue on his way to complete the mission. If the wife has come to Alexandria, the mother should deliver the bill of divorce directly. He also asks her to send something to Ibrāhīm and to send her response with Ibn Abū l-Najm, "because we have two capitation taxes (we still have to pay)." Information in part from Zinger's dissertation, 246–47.

Letter from Meir Messina to his employer or business partner in Gaza. Written in Hebrew. Dating: Second half of the 16th century or beginning of the 17th century, based on the assessment of Avraham David. Deals with business matters, including trade in textiles and ppers. The writer describes borrowing money with interest and business dealings with gentiles. Information from FGP.

Letter to a judge asking him to summon someone to his court to be paid a certain amount of money being transmitted with this letter and to issue a release.

Letter fragment in Arabic script. Very deferential. Twice mentions "the late Mujāhid." Needs further examination.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Calligraphically written. Appears mostly formulaic.

Informal note in Judaeo-Arabic. Reminding the addressees to give the money to a certain poor man that they had promised to give.

Letter, copy. Written in poetic Hebrew. Possibly a letter of appeal for help, since the author describes his woes. Join by Dr. Ezra Chwat. See Goitein's index card.