Geniza Lab

Letter from Masliah b. Yehuda of Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim in which he asks for help retrieving some money that his associates in Fustat still owed him. EMS

Letter from Hillel b. Yeshuʿa he-ḥaver the cantor, in Tiberias, to Shela/Sahlān b. Avraham he-ḥaver, in Fusṭāṭ, regarding help for the leper community in Tiberias. Dating to late 1034 CE. (Information from CUDL.) See also Goitein's index card. L-G Misc. 25 and T-S 10J12.22 are two copies of the same letter.

Letter in Hebrew (possibly the upper part). Many lines of poetic-sounding Hebrew, then homage to a woman starting 6 lines from the bottom, then "our righteous master" starting 3 lines from the bottom, then it is torn off. Verso continues in the same vein as the beginning of recto. ASE.

Letter in which a physician, probably named Abū l-Baqā', writes from somewhere outside of the capital to his son-in-law (?) Abū ʿImrān, probably in Fustat, who shared living quarters with him (?), complaining that a Christian physician is ruining his livelihood, writing: 'he behaves like a charlatan.' The letter also touches on several small business matters. The letter starts with two biblical quotations (line 2, Prov. 3:26, line 3, Dt. 7:15). (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 164, 462, Goitein's index cards, and CUDL.) Further interesting elements: The writer is upset about the lack of letters ("is this anger? why this great hostility?"). He supplies the addressee with a potential excuse by saying that he is very worried on account of his eye illness, and became still more worried when the messenger Raḥmān b. Ḥaydara returned with no news. "He who is absent imagines the worst. . . . If only the lady of the house [my wife] were with you. She is in the most dreadful state, fasting and weeping day and night. After describing the charlatanry of the new Christian physician, he asks the addressee to find out if the head physicians in Fusṭāṭ will do anything about it: "Go to al-Shaykh al-Sadīd al-Ṭabīb. . . so that he will tell our lord ʿAlam al-Dīn, who will not approve of this, for he is against their (charlatans'?) purposes. If you hear anything from our lord ʿAlam al-Dīn, write to me." Apparently moving on to the matter of grain that has yet to be "released" (already mentioned earlier in the letter), "The judge Jalāl al-Dīn, the fiscal adminstrator (ṣāḥib al-dīwān), has arrived and seen the situation for himself. I have explained this matter to him, and al-Faqīh al-Mudarris has also met with him regarding this. He wished to release the grain, but had to travel suddenly. May God make the end good." Umm Sulaymān sends her regards and rebukes. The writer sends regards to Sitt Misk and inquires about her daughter and about R. Menaḥem. Goitein does not explain why he identifies the addressee as the writer's son-in-law or when/where they would have shared living quarters. It also seems possible that this is his actual son, particularly with the description of his wife's heartsickness on account of what they fear about the addressee's illness. ASE.

Letter in the hand of Shemu’el he-Ḥaver ha-Meʿulle b. Moshe he-Ḥaver, in Tyre, to Efrayim he-Ḥaver b. Shemarya he-Ḥasid, in Fusṭāṭ, concerning two sisters, Sittān, wife of Ṣedaqa b. Ezra, and Sarah, wife of Ḥalfon ha-Levi b. Yefet, of the Tyre Jewish community, who are trying to claim their inheritance after their father, Ḥalfon, died in Fusṭāṭ, as well as other financial affairs involving members of each community. Dated to c. 1045 CE. Samuel writes his name surrounded by a motto at the foot of the page. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat to Abu Ishaq Barhun b. Musa in Busir. Contains multiple references to jahbadh fees, as well as mention of a rūznāma (variant of rūznāmaj).

Recto: Letter addressed to Avraham Maimonides, asking for a letter of recommendation to the head of the Palestinian Yeshiva (which at that time had its seat in Syria) for a relative of the writer called Barakāt b. Ismaʿīl al-Bazzāz (the cloth trader), who intends to travel to Damascus. This letter is crossed out. Verso: A second letter, possibly a copy or draft, possibly related to recto. This letter appears to be in the hand of Berakhot b. Shemuel (who could have scribed it for somebody else). It may be addressed to a Rosh Yeshiva (right side, l. 2). It is filled with profuse apologies ("I have never felt such pain as the pain that I felt because I was late...). The sender is also upset about how people have judged him harshly, which was only because of his great humility (qillat al-makbara wa-l-anafa). But the fault is no one's but his own (he says). He specifically asks for intercession with al-Shaykh al-Rashīd. He has enclosed the remainder of the rent. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter. Request to Avraham Maimonides to write a recommendation to the head of a yeshiva in Damascus for Barakat b. Isma'il the clothier, from Alexandria, who is a relative of the writer. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter of apology.

Letter from Abū l-Manṣūr b. Abū l-Faraj al-Qubaybiyya(!) to his mother in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. He apologizes for not visiting the house while he has been away on a business trip, probably from Fustat to the Ṣaʿīd (upper Egypt). He also writes that his business trip was successful, despite some difficulties, and that she should not worry. (In a postscript: "If you are thinking of my journey the time I visited you in Dalāṣ(?) with the camel(?) with its tail cut off—this journey was not like that journey"). He conveys greetings also to his own wife whom he calls ṣāḥibat al-bayt. Goitein reasonably assumed that the word Qubaybiyya referred to the mother, and he noted that two villages in the Aṭfīḥ district are called Qubaybāt. However, the word appears with Abū l-Manṣūr's name rather than his mother's, and the word is unambiguously part of his own name in ENA 2806.4, his petition to Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon. It may be a toponym referring to one of the villages called Qubayba near Jerusalem, especially if this is the same man called al-Muqaddasī/al-Maqdisī in T-S 6J4.12. The feminine ending remains unexplained; maybe it is actually a plural (equivalent to al-Qubaybiyyīn) indicating both his father's origin and his own origin? (Information in part from Goitein's index cards.) ASE

Letter to al-Shulal b. Avraham and to a physician informing them that some people had died. In Hebrew (very late). 15th-16th century. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter concerning several business matters. Contains details about prices of grain. The writer also mentions the local wali (chief of police) and 'amil (finance official). (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 435, and Goitein's index cards)

Letter in Ladino by Joseph [...], dated 5500 (= 1740 CE). (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Moses Ghaylioun (גאילייון) to Meʾir ben Naʿim, mentioning Abū Simeon. Dating: ca. late 18th century. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from an unknown writer, in Jerusalem, to his in-law (גיס) Saʿīd Bardaʿ, in Fustat/Cairo. In Hebrew. Dated: Thursday 28th Maṭmonim (=the Omer), which is 13 Iyyar. The year is כי תבואו אל הארץ, but it is unclear which of these words are meant to be counted (if all of them are counted, the year is 2012 CE). The hand of the letter and the currencies mentioned (gurush, dinar, real) suggests 16th or 17th century. The addressee *may* be identical with the Sehid/Seid Barda of AIU VII.E.240 and AIU VII.E.241. The letter is an update on the fortunes of the writer traveling to Ḥebron and thence to Jerusalem. He complains a great deal about the evil Zidan (זדאן/זידאן) who took the writer's woolen coat and is no longer to be trusted. He describes the costs associated with traveling and gives advice to the addressee should he decide to travel to Jerusalem. He describes some legal trouble with the parnas of Jerusalem; it seems that the writer failed to uphold the condition of his sheliḥut by sending a certain sum of money (קק גרו) each year. He sends regards to several people, including Mordechai קיבה(?), Moshe Bardaʿ, Ḥayyim, Avraham Yona, and Ḥanna and Lea. There is an elaborate signature of which only the word Levi is legible. ASE.

Letter from Abraham to Ṭurkiyya and his sister Masʿūda, concerning money. He sends greetings to his mother and to Aaron al-Ḡarbī. Mordechai sends greetings to his family and Saul. C. 17th century. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Letter from Futūḥ the cantor to Shemuel and Hayyim and Nasir and their cousins Sadaqa and Yiṣḥaq, congratulating them on their safe return and requesting their help in the form of a gift that would solve the writer's problem of being imprisoned after being unable to pay the capitation tax. The letter starts with a biblical quotation (l. 1, Ps. 33:1). The letter is in Hebrew, beautifully written and styled. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 352, 490; III, p. 436, and Goitein's index cards) Verso: Arabic document and jottings. (Information from CUDL)

Letter concerning business matters. Deals with the forwarding of 15 dinars and an order for three ounces of ink and other smaller items. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from the teacher Abū l-Khayr, in Minyat Zifta to his brother Abū Naṣr Maḥfūẓ, the brother-in-law of Abū l-Bishr(?) Ibn al-Abzārī(?), in Darb al-Dahhān, Ḥārat Zuwayla, Cairo. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. The sender has partnered with Abū l-Munā b. Ḥiyya in teaching, but they are earning only 6 dirhams each every week. They wish to know if there are better prospects in Cairo. The addressee is urged to come quickly and to bring wheat with him. If he cannot find passage from his location, he should walk to Banhā and catch a boat to Minyat Zifta for 1/2 dirham. The sender asks about the prices of fleawort, purslane seed, and caraway. (Information in part from Goitein's index cards and CUDL)

Letter. Petition in Hebrew of which only the first 20 lines, containing introductory wishes, have been preserved. The letter contained a request for help. The letter is written by Tamim b. Tobias from Aleppo around 1036-1037. (Information from Goitein's index cards)