Geniza Lab

Recto: business letter from Abraham Monsun to David, in Egypt (16th–17th century). Verso: calculations, probably accounts. (Information from CUDL)

No image available. A letter to Menahem and Elazar Hakohen, 17th century. (FGP)

Letter, possibly. In Hebrew. Narrating a story.

Letter, possibly. Or literary work. In Judaeo-Arabic. There are interlinear corrections. Mentions Ismāʿīl and [...] b. She'elti'el. Also mentions al-Shām and Damascus and Yemen and heretical people (yastabshiʿū/lā yatbaʿū).

Letter from Yaʿaqov b. Ben[yamin] to a dignitary called "Nagid," [...] b. Yefet. In Hebrew and Aramaic(!). Only the first few lines on recto and the address on verso are preserved. (Information in part from CUDL, where it is suggested that the addressee is Mevorakh b. Seʿadya and Yefet might be a brother.)

Letter from Yaʿaqov b. Salmān al-Ḥarīrī, in Alexandria, to his mother and father, in Qayrawān. Dating: ca. 1050 CE. The address bears the name of the writer's father Salmān b. Ibrāhīm, whom Yaʿaqov addresses at the end of the letter, but he addresses his mother for the bulk of the letter. The writer expresses his disappointment in the Maghrebis in Egypt, who did not assist him as he expected when he was newly arrived in Fustat and very ill for one month. He recovered and is now healthier than ever. When he returned to Abū l-Faraj Ibn ʿAllān who had previously promised to employ him, he found that Abū l-Faraj had lost his mother and his sister, "and was too preoccupied for me" (ishtaghala ʿannī). Yaʿaqov set out on his own and started to trade flaxes. He is planning to travel to the north, perhaps to al-Lādhiqiyya (a plan he carried out: see CUL Or.1080 J17, which he wrote from Tripoli, and T-S 8J19.27, which he wrote from Ramla). But he will wait in Alexandria until he learns what his family thinks of this plan, and he will follow their counsel. The end of the letter has the curious line, "Abū Yaḥyā is well, in complete health, and aṣḥābunā are in complete health, no one died except Abū l-Khayr b. Barukh in Tinnīs" (verso, lines 22–23)—which, along with the illness of Yaʿaqov and the deaths in Abū l-Faraj's family, suggests that there was then an epidemic. Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #661. See also ENA 2738.34, a very similar letter which Yaʿaqov wrote at the same time and addressed to his sister. VMR. ASE.

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Yeḥiel. Dated: Friday, 23 Ḥeshvan 5310 AM, which is 1549 CE. In Hebrew, with phrases in Yiddish and many words in Judaeo-Italian. The sender rebukes the addressee for various lapses in business correspondence, including for sending partial documents and writing in terms of the currency "perahim" instead of "gerushim." This letter mentions Avraham Kolon (the sender of ENA 2727.45, Moss. IV,93, and HUC 1034). See also T-S Ar.30.232 + T-S NS 83.19, an account register by Yiṣḥaq b. Yeḥiel from later in the year 5310 AM (spring of 1550 CE). And see Avraham David's transcription and extensive notes on FGP.

Memorandum by Khalfa b. Ishaq b. Menahem from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1045. Regarding a large deal of beads. The writer addresses Nahray’s sense of responsibility, because of the writer’ special connections with Nahray’s cousin, Barhun b. Ishaq al-Tahirti, and because of the fact that he “raised” Nahray. He asks to inform Hesed b. Yashar ha-Tustari with the deal’s details. One of Nahray’s assistants added several details about the shipment in the bottom of the letter. Nahray wrote on the other side account details regarding Khalfa b. Ishaq. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #560) VMR

Letter from Yosef ha-Kohen b. Shelomo Gaon to Ephrayim b. Shemarya, ca. 1035.

Copy of a letter sent from one of the Syrian communities to Damascus. In Hebrew. Conveying their distress at the imminent arrival and encampment of "the Germans" (ha-Ashkenazim, i.e., the Crusaders) and a plea to pray on their behalf and write to other communities. (Information from CUDL.)

Letter from the office of one of the later Maimonidean Nagids addressed to a certain Avraham. In Hebrew. With an undeciphered motto in the header (same as in BL OR 5561B.6). Begins with a mention of two wicked men who have been spreading slander, one named Yosef b. Abū l-Faraj. Also mentions Yehuda. Needs further examination. Verso contains a medical recipe in very faint Arabic script. (Information in part from CUDL)

Draft of an appeal for Shemuʾel b. Nissim and his wife, the daughter of Joseph (the space for her name has been left blank), in the handwriting of Yefet b. David. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Letter to Abū l-Faraj, reporting that the writer has met with R. David; it also mentions Abū l-Riḍā, Yosef and 157 dirhams. (Information from CUDL) Lower right corner only; approximately half of 9 lines plus three marginal words.

Verso: Autograph note from Moshe Maimonides to al-Shaykh al-Wathīq. In Judaeo-Arabic. Informing him that there will be a gathering of the elders on Shabbat and warning him not to be late. He says that the addressee's note arrived but was too wet to read.

Letter from Mufaḍḍal, probably in Fustat, to Abū l-Majd al-Melammed, in Qūṣ. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Uncertain, but perhaps ca. 1230s CE, since T-S 13J26.6 (1234 CE) is a letter from Abū l-Majd in Qūṣ to Abū l-Mufaḍḍal in Fustat requesting guidance from the capital on communal affairs; if this decade is correct, plausible options are 1230 and 1237 CE (since the letter was written on Thursday, 1 Tammuz). Concerning a distinguished physician, evidently also the Head of the Jews ("Sayyidnā al-Rayyis") whose burdensome medical responsibilities affected his ability to respond to the needs of the Jewish community. This physician is likely Avraham Maimonides based on the above identifications as well as corroborating evidence (cf. T-S 10J14.5 and Cohen's discussion of this possibility, pp. 134–35 in his article). The sender reports that two different queries for legal opinions (fatwās) had been sent to the physician in the Egyptian capital. He had misplaced the first query and had recovered it only after the second arrived. The sender informs the addressee, who had submitted the two questions, that the physician had composed an answer (jawāb) to both and it was enclosed it the present letter. The verso contains greetings from Abū l-Faraj, Abū l-Riḍā, Yosef, Hiba, and their mother, as well as the address. Upside down, there is also a list of medicinal herbs in Arabic script, unrelated to the letter. The scribe of this letter has distinctive handwriting with very tall, hooked lameds. (Published by Mark Cohen, “The Burdensome Life of a Jewish Physician and Communal Leader,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 16 (1993), 125–36.) Join: Alan Elbaum. EMS. ASE

Letter of appeal for charity. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Interesting format: the opening praises are written in large blocky Hebrew, with the remaining content in smaller letters in Judaeo-Arabic in the margin. The writer initially left large space between the lines but crammed them together by the end. He is perishing on account of the tax collectors demanding the kharāj (probably capitation tax in this context) and needs help.

Recto: Fragment of a letter from Shemuel Gaon b. Hofni to one of the main members of the community in Fustat. Dated: Av 1319 Seleucid, which is July 1008 CE. In the handwriting of Yisraʾel ha-Kohen b. Shemuel b. Ḥofni (according to Gil). The sender asks the addressee to keep sending him letters. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #55.) VMR

Letter from Ḥalfon b. Menashshe to the Gaon Maṣliaḥ b. Shelomo ha-Kohen. Small fragment. (Information from CUDL.)

Letter of appeal from Yeshuʿa b. Yosef to an unknown addressee. The first 2/3 consists of rhymed Hebrew praises for the addressee. In the body of the letter, in Judaeo-Arabic, he explains his (conjunctural) poverty and asks for help. On verso are also piyyutim/qinot.

Letter from a woman requesting help in receiving her share from her late husband’s inheritance, with various signatures of support. Mentions government interference as well as her husband's other (simultaneous) wife, the daughter of Abū l-Ṭāhir. Long, well-preserved, and full of interesting details. Should be edited. (Information in part from CUDL)