Geniza Lab

Letter in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Late 17th or early 18th century. Mention is made (ll. 17, 21, 25) of The Nazir Joseph ha-Levi (d. 1713), an emissary from Hebron who settled in Cairo and served as the head of its court. In his responsa Mate Yosef, (Istanbul, 1717-1726) he is often approached to deal with questions related to collection emissaries ([ש[לוחי] דר[בנן) (A. Yaʻari: Sheluḥe Erets Yiśraʾel / Abraham Yaari. Jerusalem : Mosad ha-Rav Ḳuḳ, 1977, p. 932). Also mentioned is an agent collecting for Safed named Ḥayim Ravuaḥ (l. 13). One of the subjects here is the issue of the transmission of a divorce bill. Information from FGP.

Pledges for ransom of captives. A pledge-drive (pesiqa) for the man from Antioch for the ransom of his children. In four columns divided further into six sections. The sums are astoundingly small. The total, which must have been less than 10 dinars, was far less than the amount. needed to ransom one captive. The man from Antioch, which was taken by the Crusaders in 1098, might have been ransomed by money given by a notable, partly to be restituted by the community. Our list might have been drawn up for such a purpose. There are other possibilities, too (see Goitein). The Hebrew term ransom of captives was also applied to many different states of hardship, e.g. a man in prison for failure of paying taxes. [Abu] Sa'd the katib (government official) pledges a quarter gold dinar. Around 1100. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 507, App. C 135.) There are numerous fragments in the hand of the same scribe, e.g., T-S Ar.34.186; see Penn catalog (https://openn.library.upenn.edu/Data/0002/html/h466.html) for the list.

Letter in Arabic script. Maybe addressed to [...] al-Ḥakīm. The writer twice says "wa-ḥaqq al-Tawrā" ("by the Torah!").

A poetic letter? referring to the head of the congregations. On vellum. AA

Business letter from Avraham Kolon (קולון) to Yosef Ardiʿa (ארדיעה). In Hebrew. Dating: Monday, 5 Adar [5318 AM], which is 1558 CE (see A. David's article for explanation of the date). The sender was delayed 8 days in Rashīd, as he could not find any camels/cameldrivers to hire, so he sent his perfumes/spices by Nile barge (גרמי). He and R. Yosef have found no buyers for the (ostrich) feather or for the ginger, but he has managed to sell some of the addressee's indigo (אנייר = añir = añil, originally from Arabic al-nīl). If there is a difficult epidemic in Fustat/Cairo, the addressee should put all the goods of Yaʿaqov לוחמית and Yiṣḥaq פורדוניל in storage (? באוצר), as this is not the time to leave any goods with any person. (Information from Avraham David's edition.)

Fragment of an anonymous letter emanating from Babylonian Geonim or members of the schools. The content emphasizes the need of communal leaders and includes biblical citations from Ezra 7.28, Ezekiel 10.11, and Proverbs 16.20. (Jacob Mann, Texts and Studies in Jewish History and Literature, Vol. 1, Hebrew Union College Press, 1931, 185-6, 194) EMS

Letter from Ṣadoq ha-Kohen, in Sunbāṭ, to Peraḥya ha-Kohen, probably in Malīj. Reporting on the substance of a legal case that came before him in the city of Sunbāṭ. The case was dated Wednesday, middle third of Ṭevet 1460 Seleucid (=1148/49 CE), under the authority of the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya. It was a lawsuit between Abū l-Faḍāʾil Shela b. Natan, on one side, and Seʿadya b. Yosef and his wife, on the other. Someone's father Natan died, and there is a disagreement about a deposit; the city of Malīj is mentioned. (Information from Goitein's notes.) There are photostats and an edition in Goitein's notes (to be uploaded).

Letter from a son, unidentified location, to his father, in New Cairo. In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender is anxious for news of Abū l-Majd, and how he fared after leaving Bilbays. The addressee should inquire about him from any caravan that arrives from Syria. This letter should be forwarded to Abū l-Majd if possible. (Information from Goitein's notes.) There are photostats and an edition in Goitein's notes (to be uploaded).

Letter from Labrāṭ b. Moshe b. Sughmār, the chief judge in al-Mahdiyya, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: Ca. 3 August 1057 CE (Gil) or 1061 CE (Goitein). Goitein explains, "Our letter was written after 1057, the date of the ruin of Qayrawān, when R. Nissim (b. Yaʿaqov) and other inhabitants of that city had found refuge in Sūsa, a seaport on the Tunisian coast north of al-Mahdiyya. R. Nissim died in 1062.The reference to the Sicilian city whose male inhabitants were put to sword by the conquering Normans fits the fall of Messina in 1061." Labrāṭ extols the great rabbinical authority R. Nissim b. Yaʿaqov, and his pupil the enigmatic "Rav" of Egypt. At the time of the writing of this letter, R. Nissim lived in Sūsa. There he supervised the copying of his writings, which was done for the Qayrawān scholar, Nahray b. Nissim, who then lived in Egypt. The letter relates how R. Nissim's writings were transferred to Egypt, an important detail, which sheds light on the value of the Geniza fragments of these writings, which have been published by Sheraga Abramson. Labrāṭ reports on the progress of the court case that Nahray b. Natan brought against his brother Yisrael b. Natan (both of them the cousins of Nahray b. Nissim) regarding the inheritance of their father's estate. The letter hails the zeal and progress made in Jewish learning by a son of R. Natan b. Avraham, Av ha-Yeshiva, the sometime Gaon of the Palestinian academy. The letter concludes with a report of the conquests made by the Normans in Sicily. The reference is to their taking of Messina by assault, and the losses suffered by Jews and, in particular, by Muslims. The writer expresses apprehensions with regard to the import of grain from Sicily, since Tunisia itself, a primarily agricultural country, had been laid waste by the invasion of the Arab tribes. Labrāṭ opens the letter with copious well wishes to Nahray because of his eye disease (wajaʿ ʿayn and ḍuʿf ʿayn) and conveys well wishes to Nahray on behalf of R. Nissim (r4–11). Goitein cites this letter as an excellent example of the convention of expressing preoccupation for a sick correspondent and conveying congratulations upon his recovery: "After having read the bad tidings in Nahray's missives, [Labrāṭ] had become disquieted and frightened, and passed his sleepless nights in asking God to accept himself as Nahray's ransom and to heal him. He had also passed the news on to "the Light of the World" (the spiritual leader of the Tunisian Jews), who was also very worried about it; his prayer for Nahray, Labrāṭ is confident, would be accepted. Finally, the merchants arriving from Egypt reported that Nahray was well and his eyes restored, whereupon Labrat praised and thanked God. He would be set at rest, however, only by a personal letter from Nahray confirming this happy turn of events" (Goitein, Med Soc V, p. 111). Labrāṭ goes on to describe the serious illness of R. Nissim himself (r14–18). All had despaired, "but God looked upon us and did not afflict us and blind our eyes." R. Nissim recovered, but the remnants of the illness did not leave him for a long time. Information from Goitein and Gil. There are photostats and an edition in Goitein's notes (to be uploaded). ASE.

Letter from Salāma b. Mūsā Safāquṣī, probably from Mazara, Sicily, to Yehuda b. Moshe b. Sughmār (Alexandria), ca. 1055. Salāma b. Mūsā intends to buy a house in Mazara. The letter describes the writer’s conflict with local Jews who are plotting against him, and mentions a ban of excommunication declared against them. Salāma b. Mūsā asks for goods to be sent with various people and expresses a wish to renew the partnership agreement with Yehuda b. Moshe b. Sughmār. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 431. See also Goitein notes linked below.) There are photostats and an edition in Goitein's notes (to be uploaded).

Letter addressed to Eliyyahu the Judge. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions business in fava beans, vetch, cucumbers, and wheat. Mentions Bilbays. Mentions people such as David ha-Dayyan, Bū l-Ḥasan Ibn Nufayʿ, and Mufaḍḍal Ibn al-Maqdisī. "In an eloquent letter a traveler details all he had sent: 6 irdabbs of wheat (making 36 waybas per year, or 3 per month, as so often reported up to now), 4 "gold dinars," and several smaller remittances in silver, totaling 51 dirhams; here one or two lines are lost, no doubt containing the remaining 30 or so dirhams which could make a grand total of 6 dinars, again half a dinar per month. The writer gets very excited. "I should neglect my wife?!" he exclaims, adding: "Has not God said [Proverbs 11:17]: 'He who wrongs his flesh [meaning: wife, Genesis 2:23] is a cruel one?!" and, quoting Proverbs 22:23, he invokes God to punish those who give him a bad reputation." (Translation from Goitein, Med Soc III, p. 194 note 164.) There are photostats and an edition in Goitein's files (to be uploaded).

Letter from Yehuda Ibn al-ʿAmmānī, in Alexandria, to Eliyyahu the Judge, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 23 Nisan 1532 Seleucid, which is 1221 CE. There is a lengthy opening with expressions of longing and pleasantries. The addressee is asked to convey a legal query (fatwā) to Avraham Maimonides. Yehuda reports on the death of Hilāl b. Thābit b. Munīr, the brother of the cantor Bū l-Majd (Meʾir b. Yakhin). “[Hilāl] went to rest in the evening and did not awake in the morning. It was the first day of the holiday, and he was buried on the same day; he left a fine boy of sixteen, who studies with me" (trans. Goitein, Med Soc II, 220 and V, 155.) There are photostats and an edition in Goitein's notes (to be uploaded).

Letter in Ottoman Turkish. Needs examination.

Letter or legal document. Small fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. One side: "[...] 1 dirham or more, and I am [content?]... Jews..." The other side appears to contain the end of a letter, with wa-l-salām and instructions to kiss somebody on the sender's behalf (tabūs ʿanī...).

Business letter. Addressed to Shimʿon Frances and Merkado Karo (شمعون فرانسيس والمعلم مركادة كارو) in Fustat/Cairo (Miṣr). In Arabic script. Dated: Shaʿbān 1223 AH, which is 1808 CE. The logo of the sender's company is derived from ع ك — it appears in the address and also in line 4 on recto. Mentions Damietta and two traders named Mūsā Naqūla(?) and Jirjis Karma(?). Needs further examination for content.

Commercial letter. In Arabic script. Dated: 123[6?] (which would be 1820 CE). The letter is torn at the top and the right margins. Alexandria and Rashīd are mentioned. There may have been some misunderstanding between the two parties regarding the merchandise (there are at least two references to irreligion—qillat dīn). (Information from JRL catalogue.)

Letter in Arabic script. Fragmentary. Includes the phrase "al-dukhūl ilā awsāṭ al-bilād" ("entering into the heart of the country"), then refers to Byzantium (bilād al-Rūm).

Letter addressed to Abū Manṣūr M[...] b. Saʿīd. In Arabic script. Mentions children being healthy. Quite faded. Needs examination.

Informal note addressed to mawlāy al-dayyān. In Arabic script. Asking him to pay a certain amount of money. Crossed out with vertical lines. On verso there are two words in Hebrew script, possibly a name.

Letter addressed to Abū Saʿd b. Abū l-Munajjā, in Fustat. Only the address remains, which is in Arabic script.