Geniza Lab

Fragment of a letter in Hebrew, in an elevated register, in which the writer narrates something that happened at a synagogue where he was surrounded by ignoramuses.

Letter to Eliyyahu the judge. Fragment (first ~6 lines only). Dating: early 13th century. The sender may be named [Abū l-Ḥa]san. Almost none of the substance is preserved. (Information in part from CUDL.)

The beginning of a letter to David b. Shekhanya (beginning of 11th century), sent from Fusṭāṭ (מן מצר) and mentioning the wife of Abū Naṣr. Prefaced with בשם ייי. Address on verso. (Information from CUDL)

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Describing the sender's unfortunate dealings with a government bureau (דיואן). Apparently Ibn al-Farārījī tried to shake him down for money, claiming that "everything we (=the sender) do is disobedience, i.e., that we let you (=the addressee) build," to which the sender said, "Sir (yā wajīh), you can't take our property on these grounds, and we're not scared of that." It escalated, and the government officer confiscated 6 irdabbs (of wheat). An officer called al-Najīb tried to get the sender to sign for 100 dirhams (an outrageously low compensation for 6 irdabbs), but the sender swore that he wouldn't take any less than 110, which the officers refuse. Someone threatens to go to the amīr and accuse the other side of not cooperating, and ʿIzz al-Dīn intervenes here and tries to mediate a settlement. Some of these details are not very clear. Needs further examination. (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE

Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic in which the writer reports how he left al-Maḥalla, either taking or intending to take 'the little ones' with him, but setbacks ensued. Needs further examination.

Letter to Yehoshua Maimonides (1310–55) reminding him of somebody who was excommunicated when his father Avraham II Maimonides (1245–1313) was Nagid. The letter is rather faded and difficult to follow. Needs further examination.

Letter from Yeshua b. Isma’il al-Makhmuri from Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1065. Regarding silk and flax. Mentions that his brother’ son (his nephew) had great damage. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #313) VMR

Letter from Bū Naṣr to Abū Zikrī Yehuda ha-Kohen b. Yosef. Fragment: only the upper margin and the address are preserved. Mentions Abū Saʿd b. Ṣaghīr and Abū ʿUmar. Mentions various business matters. Conveys good wishes for the holidays.

Letter from Avraham b. Farrāḥ, Alexandria (probably), to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Ca. 1066. Mentions a number of goods: ṭarṭar (a kind of mordant or fixative, presumably for use in textile dyeing), honey, soap and silk. Avraham b. Farrāḥ also mentions that Abū ʿAbdallah (Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ) came to visit him in Alexandria. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #557)

Letter of appeal for charity. Addressed to someone titled al-Amīniyya. Probably from a cantor, although theoretically al-Ḥazzān could be part of the addressee's name. In Judaeo-Arabic. Recto is entirely greetings and good wishes for the holiday. Verso presents the writer's case and his pressing need for money for the holidays. He sends regards to Abū l-Ṭāhir Amīn al-Dawla.

Letter from the cantor Yedutun ha-Levi, Fustat, to his brother Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, Qalyub. Narrow strips were torn from both the left and right sides of the paper, making the contents obscure. Yedutun refers to several matters known from their other correspondence: he says that ibn al-Taffal continues to slander Moshe to Abu Zikri (the Gaon Sar Shalom ha-Levi), but Abu Zikri does not believe him (cf. T-S 13J20.18 and T-S 8J10.16). The daughter of Berakhot is suffering from a “mental illness,” with spells of relief from hour to hour; he [presumably Berakhot] consulted the brothers’ paternal uncle Imran about this. Abu l-Yusr sends his regards. ASE.

Fragment from the beginning of a letter to a dignitary.

Letter from Judah b. Ḥalfon to the Nagid (Abraham Maimonides), with a partial address, inverted, on verso. Verso also contains a list of the community of Fusṭāṭ’s weekly expenses, in Judaeo-Arabic. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment from the end of a letter in Hebrew. There are three words in Arabic on verso.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Neither sender nor addressee are named. The first half consists of good wishes for the addressee's recovery from illness and the writer's excuses for not coming to see him. He then asks, "Whenever al-Shaykh al-Ṭāhir al-Nā'ib visits you, make sure to detain him and send word to me so that I can come and ask him about something that some people told me that he can take care of."

Letter by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to an elder relative (wālid, but not his father, as he writes that both he and his father serve the addressee). He mainly reports that he has fulfilled the order to send a Bible to somewhere. The margins and verso are full of jottings. There is also an address on verso, difficult to read.

Fragment of a letter in calligraphic Judaeo-Arabic, reporting on "the Jews of this country" and dangers and how the writer fasted and did not go to a certain dukkān and wanted to go to the synagogue "to offer a yoẓer or to take [the Torah] out." On verso are several abbreviations (לבהרד איב תשצג), and it is tempting to read the last as the date 4793 = 1032/33 CE. But this is uncertain.

Official letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Probably from the office of one of the 13th or 14th century Maimonidean Nagids, based on the motto and the hand. It orders ʿAbd al-Karīm to do something involving the qāḍī Shams al-Dīn and reporting to somebody.

Letter from Yosef to Eliyyahu the Judge, it seems regarding a maqṭaʿ cloth currently with al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab. The writer greets Abū l-Barakāt (Shelomo) and sends good wishes for the holidays (al-ayyām al-sharīfa).

Fragment of a letter in Hebrew to the community of Malīj.