Geniza Lab

Letter of ʿEli ha-Mumḥe (‘the Adept’) b. Abraham in Jerusalem, to Efrayim b. Shemarya in Fusṭāṭ (c. 1045 CE), with the continuation and, inverted, the address on verso. Also on verso, Arabic jottings, part of which are written transversely across the page. (Information from CUDL)

Personal letter in Hebrew. Fragment. Recto consists of blessings. Verso mentions ha-Sar ʿOvadya, "your relative," and that he should be told something to do with Aleppo (צובה). (Information in part from CUDL)

Recto: Draft of a letter. "If your brother Abū Saʿīd does not have this amount, let him approach Abū Naṣr, and let the two of them return with this amount. . . . Tell him that as soon as it arrives, he should take it to Abū Zikrī." Verso: Lists of names (Bū Naṣr, Bū ʿUmar) and goods in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic.

Letter fragment. Probably addressed to Abū Ṭāhir Shemuel al-Ṣayrafī, in Fustat (sent to "al-murabbaʿa"). In Judaeo-Arabic. Only the upper right corner of recto and part of the address are preserved. (Information in part from CUDL)

Fragment of a letter to 'my brother.' In Judaeo-Arabic. Mostly urgings to write back and expressions of longing. Mentions the shop of Abū l-Majīd. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic the recipient of which is unknown, but this individual is referred to with an honorific form of address (l.2-3). The letter is dated in late 1764 CE (Cheshvan 5525 AM) and in the first lines there is mention of wine "חמריו" (l.6r), possibly as an object being sold: "באלסוואל מעה באיעה בחמריו" (l.6r) and "אטבאעכום אלחמרה" (l.7r). Lines 14-17r feature a discussion of the language used in the sender's and recipient's correspondence. In the final lines we find the sender using the polite phrase of kissing the hands "תקבל איאדיכום" (l.24-25r). The signature is elaborately embellished to the extent of illegibility, yet some letters emerge in the surname that might suggest "Saragosi/[?]סאראגושי". MCD.

The middle part of a letter written by Shelomo b. Yehuda, around 1025. Announces the passing of the Gaon, his predecessor. From the letter it is clear that two Gaons died at the year, probably Yehoshiyahu and Shelomo ha-Kohen. (Gil, Palestine, vol. 2, 97, Doc. #56) VMR

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya, with address inverted on verso; fragment. (Information from CUDL)

Letter fragment (the end only) from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya. Refers to a debt.

Possibly a fragment of a writ of appointment in Hebrew (FGP).

A letter in the handwriting of Shelomo b. Judah announcing the deaths of the former geʾonim, Josiah, and Shelomo’s immediate predecessor, Shelomo ha-Kohen, who died ‘six days before Rosh ha-Shana’ (in 1025 CE). (Information from CUDL)

Fragment of a responsum in the hand of Shelomo b. Yehuda, regarding bread baked by Gentiles (pat shel goyim). Information from Gil and CUDL.

An autograph letter by Abraham b. Maimonides to the community of Bilbays. (Information from CUDL)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Conveying instructions regarding business transactions in al-Mahdiyya.

A highly formulaic letter in Hebrew. Faded.

Recto: Very brief letter of appeal. "May [God] except you, my lord, last year you gave us a dinar, the price of two robes (maqṭaʿayn). This year please do the same. The children need a blanket for sleep, and she who raises them needs [it ends here]." Verso: pen trials.

Fragment of a letter in Hebrew. The writer is mourning a death in the family (perhaps of one of his sons?) and asks "the whole congregation" to pray for the long life of his son Netanel. There are several more letter fragments by the same writer (identified by Oded Zinger; see T-S 8J14.13, JRL SERIES B 3311, Moss. II, 150, and Moss. VII,143.2), but it is not obvious that they come from the same letter.

Small fragment of a business letter from Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi b. Simḥa ha-Levi al-Nisaburi to Abū Saʿīd . . b. Shelomo al-Fāsī.

Tiny fragment of a letter by Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, including the phrases, "I took a vow" and "if [al-Shaykh] al-Yesod were not with me. . ."

Fragment of a letter by Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, including the phrase, "let al-Yesod spend the holiday in the house of [my?] daughter."