Geniza Lab

Letter of Ḥalfon b. Yiṣḥaq to the eminent scholar Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel (the Spaniard). The entire letter is a refu'a shelema for the Rayyis Abū l-Ḥasan (the Nagid Mevorakh?). Ḥalfon reports that the letter of Abū l-Ḥasan al-Ṣayrafī Dihqān arrived with the news that al-Rayyis Abū l-Ḥasan was ill. Everyone is devastated, and the writer's congregation fasts and prays on his behalf. "May he who cured the bitter waters by the hand of Moses and the evil waters by the hand of Elisha cure him." Information from Goitein's note card. ASE.

Letter, probably. In Hebrew. On one side there is a poem (panegyric?). On the other side there is the lower part of an elaborate letter, perhaps a letter of gratitude. Refers to "the salvation that occurred in Tishrei 1428 Seleucid" (=1116 CE). Ends with the phrase/motto "Yeshaʿ Rav." (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Letter from Elḥanan b. Ismaʿīl al-Tāhirtī and Barhūn al-Tāhirtī (Fustat) to Nahray b. Nissim and ʿAyyāsh b. Ṣedaqa, ca. 1050. In the hand of Elḥanan b. Ismaʿīl. The writer gives details of consignments of flax send with two different ships. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 310. See also Goitein notes linked below.)

Letter of a son, Yiṣḥaq b. Yaʿaqov, to his father, Yaʿaqov b. Yiṣḥaq, containing 20 lines of polite phrases in Hebrew, another 6 in Arabic, and 3 announcing that he was unable to locate a certain person in the ministry of finance (dār al-zimām) in Cairo; he was told that the official left to visit his father in Dalāṣ. There are also some self-pitying lines about the writer's illness and unemployment. In a postscript the writer asks 'to close the account' and regrets to be unable to travel as he had no weapons to fight with. The writer may have reused a sheet of Arabic accounts, the beginnings of ~8 lines of which are visible on verso. Information from Goitein's note card. ASE.

Letter from a man of communal standing, perhaps Daniel b. Azarya (1051-1062) bestowing the title 'Hod Ha-Zeqenim' upon the worthy elder and physician Avraham Ha-Kohen, ca. 1055. The author refers to his own decree to the Jewish community on recto, line 14: “I issued the decree (nishtevan) to my lord the Shaykh Abu l-Faraj, may God bless him, and he read it, and proclaimed it to the [congregation]."

Letter from the wife of Wahb, Tiberias, to her brother Khalfa b. Ibrāhīm al-Ṭabīb b. al-Ṭabarī, Fustat, eleventh century. She dictated the letter to her son Mubārak b. Wahb, who has an excellent hand. She refers to herself in the letter as Sitt Wahb, interestingly spelled סיד והב. She sends condolences to Khalfa on account of the tragic news of Abū l-Ḥasan and Bint Abū ʿAlī (presumably they died). Her brother had inquired about economic conditions in Palestine, and she reports that bread is a raṭl for a dirham and everything is cheaper in Tiberias than in Ramla. She encourages him to join her in Tiberias but exhorts him to bring Sitt al-Dār with him, for she has no one in the world except God and him. His letters are to be addressed to Sitt Wahb in Sūq al-Yahūd. She mentions some textiles. Her sister (or possibly Mubārak's sister) Umm Bundār sends her regards. Information from Gil. ASE.

Letter of appeal to Avraham Maimonides, begging for financial assistance, mentioning an old man who is sick and the plight of at least two daughters. Avraham Maimonides then wrote four lines, now quite faded, underneath the letter. ASE.

Letter from Moshe b. ʿOvadya, in Aleppo, to a Nagid, in New Cairo, who receives 20 lines of eloquent Hebrew praises but does not appear to be named (he may be identifiable on the basis of the titles, or if the writer or other people mentioned in the letter prove to be dateable). The writer also conveys his longing for a R. Moshe and for the entire community of Cairo. When the Nagid's third letter arrived in Aleppo, the "season/period" (epidemic?) had already begun in Aleppo and numerous Jews died, including R. Avraham ha-Dayyan the author of Etz Hayyim. Trade came to a standstill. Then the rains began: four months in which they did not even see the sun, and two-thirds of Aleppo "fell" (flooded? buildings collapsed?). Now it is the period of the capitation tax. For all these reasons, the writer was not able to respond sooner. The writing now becomes messier and somewhat trickier to understand. Possibly someone named al-ʿAjami and his son were in Damascus for 10 days, and the "deputy of al-Sham" confiscated all their property, amounting to 1000 dinars. Furthermore, a Jew from Aleppo who was in Damascus at the time reported that someone got their hands on all the money and all the books that Avraham ha-Dayyan had left in the possession of his daughter (possibly her husband was the villain). The writer plans to send another letter having to do with legal/judicial matters (?) so that the recipient can advise him. Noaḥ ha-Levi b. Shemuel ʿAḍʿāḍ added a postscript stating that he was present when this letter was being written and that he sends his respects. ASE.

Original use: Letter from Eliyyahu b. Shelomo Gaʾon to David b. Yeḥizqiyya Rosh Ha-Gola. Dating: ca. 1046. In Hebrew. Published by Gil, Palestine, vol. 3, doc. 416. The transcription below is from Mann, who only edited BL OR 5546.1.

Letter about the birth of David, the grandson of Maimonides, early 13th century (ca. 1226).

Letter fragment. In the hand of Abū Zikrī Kohen (according to Goitein's notes). Mentions Sayyidnā, al-Shaykh Maḍmūn, Ismāʿīl al-Majjānī; the kārim fleet (which travelled between Egypt and India); a letter from the sender's in-law Maḥrūz in Sawākin about 3,000 loads. A complete list of the Jews who left with the kārim is Maḥrūz [b. Yaʿaqov], Zikrī b. Sar Shalom, Ibn al-Dabbāgh; al-Maḥallī; Ibn Junūn(?); Nahray; and Ibn al-Baqqāl.

Epistle from Shemuel b. Ḥofni, in Sura, to Yosef ha-Ḥaver b. Berakhya in Fustat. In Hebrew. Dating: Probably copied in the 11th century. It discusses a conflict, it seems now resolved, over monetary donations between the yeshiva of Sura (under Shemuel) and the yeshiva of Pumbedita (under Sherira). Still, some donations are appropriated entirely by one person, and others, if they do not have a specific address or are addressed to the Sages of the Yeshiva in general, are divided 50/50 "between us and our Ḥatan." It goes on on this vein and mentions a specific donation of 150 dirhams sent by a now deceased rabbi. Shemuel urges more donations (addressed correctly this time) and tells the recipient to write to someone named Yosef b. Yaʿaqov. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.) ASE

Letter of appeal, probably. In Hebrew. Addressed to an important personage and narrating the writer's woes. There is a large, calligraphic "I speak so that I may find relief" (אדברה וירוח לי) dividing the two blocks of text. The lower block appears to begin with self-abasing phrases such as "trample my neck with your foot," and the writer conveys his deep regrets (?) over the death (?) of the recipient's son (?) 'Amram in Tevet of the year 1187/8 CE (1498 Seleucid). ASE.

Letter in Hebrew with ~25 lines of flattering praises for R. Nehoray. There is then a single line of content: "I inform my master that I am trying to leave this place."

Business letter, or possibly a letter between state officials. In Arabic script. Mentions: al-Shaykh al-ʿAfīf; Tripoli (presumably the Syrian one); that the addressee must not delay; al-Shaykh al-ʿAfīf again; Ṣamṣām al-Dawla; Rashīd; and that the addressee should honor the sender with his errands. Ends with a ḥasbala. Reused on verso for Hebrew literary text in the hand of ʿEli b. Yeḥezqel ha-Kohen of Jerusalem (d. ca. 1055). Needs further examination.

Letter or legal document. Very faded. In Arabic script, moderately wide space between the lines. Roughly 10 lines are preserved. The word "al-mablagh" appears multiple times. On verso there are Hebrew seliḥot in a distinctive, somewhat crude hand. Join: Alan Elbaum. Needs examination.

Draft of letter of condolences from Efrayim b. Shemarya on the death of Toviyya b. Daniel, February 1043 (Gil's dating).

Fragment of a letter in Hebrew. Dating: ca. 1011 CE. Mentions the deaths of Shemarya b. Elḥanan and the cantor Palṭiel, as well as the visit of Shemuel b. Hoshaʿna (known as ha-Shelishi, "the third") to Egypt. The sender, "the third," and 23 other Jews were slandered to the government and imprisoned. Complements the narrative found in Megillat Miṣrayim. Reused for piyyuṭ on verso. (Information from Gil's edition.)

Letter from Yosef Qolon b. Pereẓ, in Jerusalem, to Nissim Bibas, in Fustat. In Hebrew. Dating: First quarter of the 16th century, almost certainly 1511 CE per Avraham David. The addressee was a judge in the court of the Nagid. The writer wants the addressee to intercede with the Nagid on his behalf and secure a two-fold raise in his haspaqa (stipend for Torah study). Shemuel al-Salāḥ and Shemuel Ḥalafta have recently received a raise of 2 ducados per month, and they, unlike the writer, have no wife or children to support. If someone were to object that the writer has other sources of income (he seems to admit to some income from the winepress and the threshing floor), he swears that he has no money coming to him except the 37 ducados owed to him by Avraham b. Shānjī, who has no intention of repaying them soon. The Nagid is currently sending him only 24 ducados a year, when even 50 ducados a year would barely be enough. If it weren't for a prudent two-month business or fund-raising trip to Damascus, the writer would have had to sell all his books to defray his debts. He swears that he is selling the clothes off his back to purchase Gemarot, for his son, thank God, is currently studying Taʿanit and already studied Berakhot under the tutelage of R. Moshe the Blind. If the Nagid doesn't agree promptly, the writer will have no choice but to come to Egypt in person to present his case, and then, Yosef writes with some chutzpah, the Nagid would have to pay his travel expenses. David al-Miẓrī confirms that he received the טרחה (?) sent him by the addressee. The letter concludes with a recommendation for the bearer, Yom Tov, who was a student in the yeshiva of R. Shemuel Masʿūd. The writer's sons Pereẓ and Netanel kiss the hands of the Nagid. There are some curious doodles on verso. Information from Avraham David's edition. ASE.

Letter of request to send 20 good new poems composed by one Abu Sa'id. The writer mentions that he had already sent 7 letters on this matter. (Information from Goitein's index cards)