Geniza Lab

Business letter in Arabic script from Mūsā b. Dāwūd al-Levi al-Miṣrī to Mubārak/Mevorakh bar Avraham b. Sabrā about the shipment of various commodities, including gold.

Business letter in Arabic and Hebrew script from Avraham b. Ṣadaqa to Abū Saʿīd Netanʾel b. Ṣadaqa in Fustat.

Letter draft from Barakāt b. Abū l-Faraj al-Dayyān (=Shelomo b. Eliyyahu) to al-Shaykh al-Rashīd Abū l-Ḥasan. In Arabic script. The writer asks for a loan of forty dirhams against a turban as collateral. He also conveys condolences on the death of the addressee's brother. Information in part from Werner Diem's edition via the Arabic Papyrology Database. The identification is based on the exact match of the name Barakāt b. Abū l-Faraj al-Dayyān. The word Dayyān is an uncommon Arabic word and a very common Judaeo-Arabic word for 'judge'. Moreover, the opening formula (yuqabbilu l-arḍa ṭā'iʿan lillāhi. . .) appears in exactly one document in the APD database and in two documents in the PGP database, one of which is T-S 10J8.2, a letter by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. The identification is all but clinched by ENA 3927.1, which is a letter from Barakāt/Shelomo addressed to Abū l-Ḥasan (presumably the same as in P. Heid. Arab. III 42, but written at a different point in time), asking for a loan of 20 dirhams against his turban as collateral in order to pay the capitation tax for himself and his father. Note that P.Heid.Arab. III 43 (a request for 20 dirhams from Abū l-Najā) and P.Heid.Arab. III 44 (sympathy for a sick woman, addressed to Abū l-Maḥāsin) are also by Barakāt/Shelomo. ASE.

Letter from ? Rosh Ha-Gola b. David to Yehuda Rosh Ha-Seder b. Avraham, February 1021. There is also a lot of writing in Arabic script.

Memorandum from Khalaf b. Isḥāq al-Yamanī. In Arabic script, with additional notes in Judaeo-Arabic. Ordering pharmaceuticals from Egypt. There is an entire short book devoted to this document (Albert Dietrich, Zum Drogenhandel im islamischen Ägypten, 1954). This document is summarized in Goitein and Friedman, India Book 2, ב50, but Goitein and Friedman did not edit it. NB: The images of this document may be accessed on FGP under the shelfmark p. Heid. Hebr. 12. However, it is more often cited as p. Heid. Arab. 912.

Letter in calligraphic Arabic script, with some Hebrew mixed in. Writer and addressee are unknown. The writer chastises the addressee at length, quoting Quran 12:51 along the way. He is pained by what happened with Abū Saʿīd. Mentions ha-Rav (هراب) Moshe in the margin. On verso, somebody has copied out love poetry by Yehuda ha-Levi. There is an edition and detailed discussion by Werner Diem.

The recto is a letter in Hebrew characters from Barakāt b. Abu al-Faraj al-Zayyāt to "the Friend [of the Academy al-rāsūy]" (probably the parnas, Ulla ha-Levi), asking for a loan of thirty dirhams using a turban as collateral. The verso is a letter from the same Barakāt, written in Arabic characters, to Abu al-Hassan asking for a loan of forty dirhams using a turban as collateral. The writer references that the addressee's deceased brother (the addressee from the recto) used to grant him this deal. He writes that the brother had returned the turban, although he had yet to repay the loan in full. (Information from Goitein’s index card.) NB: Goitein's description above is outdated. This document is now known as P. Heid. Arab. III 42, and it has been edited by Diem. See PGPID 31584.

A letter about a shipment of four maṭars of salted fish. The writer asks not to be charged 2-3 dirhams per maṭar. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Letter from the beginning of the 12th century to Abū Saʿīd Netanel b. Sedāqā, the perfumer, from a scholar and muqaddam. The scholars writes to inform him that he is resigning from his position, as he didn't find it profitable. He asks to be put up in Fustat for two months, until he finds a permanent domicile. The writer switches frequently between Arabic and Hebrew script. (Information from Goitein’s index card) This document has been edited by Diem, and a transcription is available on the Arabic Papyrology Database under “P.Heid.Arab. III 49.”

Letter from around 1100 written by Mūsā b. Daʾūd Levi to Mevorakh b. Avraham b. Sabra about consignments of silver bars and silver ornaments. The letter is written in Arabic characters and the address in Hebrew characters. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

A letter from a merchant to a group of Jewish merchants which outlines his own services. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Letters. Among the small handful of Judaeo-Arabic papyri. Labeled "papyrus XI" (for recto) and "papyrus XII" (for verso) in the classification of Blau and Hopkins. Dating: Probably 9th century or earlier. Unlikely to have come from the Cairo Geniza; it is possible that most or all of these documents derive from a commercial circle in Ushmūn. Recto: Very damaged business letter, which mentions Bint Shuqayr, four dinars, oil, and an Abū Yaʿqūb. Verso: Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Avraham to Abū ʿAlī Ḥasan b. ʿUbayd. Concerning the fleeing of villagers from an unspecified threat. (Information from Blau and Hopkins.) NB: The document does not appear to be digitized on the University of Michigan papyrological information system, but, "A description and the picture of the papyrus is in C. Sirat, Les papyrus en caracteres hebraiques trouves en Egypte, Editions du centre national de la recherche scientifique, Paris 1985, p. 105 and planche 30 and 31." Also, there may be Goitein notes on this fragment which have not yet been attached to this record.

Letter in Arabic on paper mentioning 150 dinars, a substantial sum of money. Possibly late 10th or 11th century. Letter is on recto, address at top of verso (with a secondary use below it; see PGPID 35237). Image: https://findit.library.yale.edu/catalog/digcoll:2759172. Note: non-geniza; sold to Yale by Abraham Shalom Yahuda in 1951 (see provenance notes at https://beinecke.library.yale.edu/research-teaching/doing-research-beinecke/introduction-yale-papyrus-collection/guide-yale-papyrus).

Letter on paper in Arabic script. Appears to be secondary use, on the verso of another letter (PGPID 35236), under the address. Ink is faded. Image: https://findit.library.yale.edu/catalog/digcoll:2759172. Note: non-geniza; sold to Yale by Abraham Shalom Yahuda in 1951 (see provenance notes at https://beinecke.library.yale.edu/research-teaching/doing-research-beinecke/introduction-yale-papyrus-collection/guide-yale-papyrus).

Letter by Yehoshua Maimonides to a physician known as al-Muhadhdhab, dated Heshvan 1646 (=1334 CE), from Cairo to another city. The letter has to do with the son of the addressee, a cantor in Cairo, who subsequently added his own postscript.

Letter from Avraham b. Farrāḥ/Peraḥya, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat, 1 May 1052. Contains details about the sailing of ships from Alexandria. The letter contains an order of payment for 40 dinars to be paid by Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥman al-Ṣāʾigh (Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ) to Nahray b. Nissim. Also mentions a vizier. (Information from Goitein's index card and Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 813.)

Letter from Avraham b. Farrāḥ, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Dated 27 Iyyar, which Gil renders 1 May 1052. Contains details about the sailing of ships from the Alexandria port. The letter contains an order of payment for 40 dinars to be paid by Abū ʿAlī Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Raḥman al-Ṣāʾigh (Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ) to Nahray b. Nissim. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 813.)

Letter from Abū Sahl Levi, in Fustat, to his son Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, in Qalyūb. In Judaeo-Arabic. "As for the news of your paternal uncle, your brother Abū l-Ḥasan (Yedutun) is looking after him, and thank God, he has turned the corner and is recovering, and there is no longer cause for fear. As for traveling, the bible codex was consulted and it came out good/auspicious for you, and I too saw for you that it would be good. But as you know, no one knows the unknown except God the almighty and exalted. My son, you know that if you stay in Qalyūb, you would earn money ("a dinar") in the same time that you would be traveling, and I would lead a good life, hearing your news every hour. But if you travel, you know that the traveler has no control over his own fate, and we fear that the winter will come, and you will be delayed longer than you intended. May God guide you to the best choice. Your siblings and mother and I send our greetings." On verso he offers an excuse for why Moshe's brother (presumably Yedutun) has not come to visit (Abū Khalaf told him not to travel ṭarīq al-khawḍ(??)). Then, "As for news of Abū Zikrī (=possibly the Gaʾon Sar Shalom ha-Levi), he met with me but did not tell me anything. If you have need of anything when your brother comes out, let me know." ASE

Draft of a letter in Hebrew, ca. 1043, from Efrayim b. Shemarya to Shelomo b. Yehuda, the Gaon of Jerusalem. Efrayim requests Shelomo to thank “the dear and righteous elder Hesed [al-Tustari], the respected dignitary” for the powerful aid he affords him, and then details the strife occurring in his community. Efrayim directs the Gaon to strongly reprove the disputants and impress upon them the need for unity, furthermore asking Shelomo to write a letter to Hesed thanking him for his part in bringing peace. (Marina Rustow, Heresy and the Politics of Community (Ithaca, 2008), 321; and Jacob Mann, The Jews in Egypt and Palestine under the Fatimids (New York, 1920-22; reprint 1970), 1:108-9) EMS

Letter from Ibrahīm b. Yosef al-Ṣabbāgh (Fustat) to Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tahirtī (Alexandria), ca. 1050. Avraham b. Yosef al-Ṣabbāgh, one of Yosef b. Yaʿaqov b. ʿAwkal’s business partners, describes the strenuous relationships between Maghrebi merchants and Jabbāra, the amir of Barqa, Libya. Avraham b. Yosef al-Ṣabbāgh expects a consignment of Sicilian lead. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 611.) Contains interesting details about the methods of piracy of Jabbāra. The writer asks the addressee to ransom his goods (especially lead) should they arrive in the pirate’s ship. (Information from Goitein index cards and notes linked below.)