Geniza Lab

Recto: Letter in Arabic from Isrā'īl al-Ṣayrafī to Yaʿqūb al-Ṭawīl, appears to be dated 6 February 1797 (8 Sha'ban 1211). Verso: There is the remnant of the address of the letter on recto. There are also, in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic numerals, accounts listing names and corresponding sums of money.

Letter in Arabic script. Dating: Uncertain, maybe late Mamlūk/early Ottoman. The name Abū Ḥamza (?) can be read in the place of the tarjama. Mentions al-Rayyis Yūsuf, a vessel (markab), and the condition of young boys/children. "I inform you, do not ask me what the boys/children are going through everyday....for their sustenance..very little, a piece of bread in the morning and another (in the evening?)." Seems like a plea for the children for not getting enough to eat. On verso there are accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. Needs further examination

Letter in early Judaeo-Persian. Dating: ca. 790. Matters discussed include the local ruler and his daughter, a trade deal or gift exchange with them involving sheep, Sogdians, slaves, capers, musk, silk, sugar, and news of Kashgar, including the capture or killing of Tibetans in battle. The dating is based on political events in western China to which the letter seems to be alluding. The variant of New Persian in which the letter is written is, according to Zhan Zhang, very early, containing grammatical and/or lexical elements from Middle Persian, Sogdian, Hebrew, Arabic and Chinese. The letter surfaced in China in 2004 and is now housed at the National Library of China. Zhang published an edition and Chinese translation in 2009: “Yijian xinfaxian Youtaibosiyu xinzha de duandai yu shidu ⼀ 件新发现犹太波斯 信札的断代与 [Dating and interpretation of a newly-discovered Judaeo-Persian letter]," Dunhuang tulufan yanjiu 敦煌吐番研究 11 (2008) [2009], 77–99. An English translation of Zhang's Chinese translation appears in Valerie Hansen, The Silk Road: A New History with Documents (2012). Zhang is working on a new edition and a new English translation as of 2021.

Fragment of a letter by Natan b. Avraham. 1354/1042.

Late, formal, communal letter, likely from the community of Jerusalem, mentioning their shaliaḥ R. Ḥananya b. Barhūn (l.6), to a group of people including R. Moshe [the rest of his name is cut off]. The opening words of each line disappear into the crevice where this fragment is bound to the preceding one, so the original has to be examined. The writers strenuously contradict a claim of the recipients in a previous communication (l.7-8). The gist of the matter seems to be that the recipients used to send almonds and pomegranates to Jerusalem as charity for the sick and poor, in expectation of receiving certain blessings in return. Possibly they have ceased doing this, claiming that the blessings are not in order. The writers insist that they are not ungrateful, the blessings are in order, and they plead for the charity to resume. Signed by Yisrael Binyamin (perhaps Yisrael Binyamin Zeevi who died in 1688?) and three others whose signatures are stylized and somewhat difficult to read. Yiṣḥaq Ṣabāḥ adds a postscript reiterating the main points of the letter, also mentioning the merit of sending lulavim in this time. ASE.

Letter fragment (lower right corner of recto). In Judaeo-Arabic. Dealing with business matters. Full of expressions of urgency (wallāh allāh al-surʿa. . . min kull bud). Mentions two waybas of something and various other commodities. Also mentions the oculist al-Kaḥḥāl al-Maghribī; either that name or the handwriting may allow eventual identification.

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother Abū l-Surūr Peraḥya b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (upper left corner). Mentions: female dyers (? ṣabbāghāt); someone who had a bit of flax with him; and the small salted fish (ṣīr) which either Yefet or Peraḥya had requested.

Letter of condolence. In Judaeo-Arabic. The hand may be known. It is not out of the question that this could be a formulary.

Business letter, fragment. In Arabic script. "Have you sent me the maqṭaʿ (cloth) or not?"

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. "The matter is out of my hands. . . . the situation is rotten." The rest is quite faded but potentially decipherable.

Letter fragment (top only) from Yisra'el b. Natan to Nahray b. Nissim. In Judaeo-Arabic. Yisra'el tells Nahray to add the dinars to the money he owes to some person who will 'enter' soon (Fustat, probably).

Cheque of Abū Zikrī Kohen.

The closing of a family letter in Arabic script from ʿAzīza to her daughter Zubayda, dated the 23rd of Sha'ban [ ]57. ʿAzīza sends regards to Zubayda's siblings, her husband Sulaymān, 'amm Ibrāhīm, and the teacher Khiḍr and his daughter ʿAwda (?). She particularly urges Zubayda and her husband to take good care of their niece Kaḥla. ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Persian. Needs examination

Letter from ʿEli b. David ha-Kohen to Abū l-Qawām Thābit. In Judaeo-Arabic. Only the formulaic opening and the address are preserved.

Informal note from Abu ʿAlī, apparently accompanying the remainder of the 40 dirhems as the recipient had ordered.

Informal note from Yeshuʿa (or from a communal leader with the ʿalāma "Yeshuʿa"). In Judaeo-Arabic. It says that Abu Saʿīd should report to the court with his opponent without delay.

Letter fragment in Hebrew. Late. There are drafts of letter openings in both Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic on verso.

Recto: Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions Rabbenu Yeḥiel.

Letter addressed to Nissim Majjānī. In Hebrew. Late. Only the address is preserved.