Geniza Lab

Letter from Isma’il b. Farah, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. September 23, 1056. The letter contains details about shipments of money and goods, and several requests to send letters, as well as requests related to buying goods (mainly sugar) and selling goods (mainly silk) in Fustat. Also mentions a large shipment of wax that was sent to the government. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #490) VMR

Letter from Yosef b. Sahl ha-Bardani in Tripoli, Lebanon, to Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat, ca. 1060.

Letter from Yisrael B. Natan, Jerusalem, to Nahray B. Nissim, Fustat. Israel suggests Nahariya to get out of a deal he made and asks for money to buy clothes. The letter includes the news that the "Rosh" - Daniel B. Azarya is coming to Jerusalem, via Nablus, and about his meeting with Eliya HaCohen, son of Shelomo Gaon. August 24, 1052. VMR

Letter from Daniel b. Azarya to Avraham ha-Kohen b. Yizhak Furat. Daniel is complaining that no letter had been received from Avraham for a long time, despite their agreement. (information from Gil, Palestine and Goitein's index card). VMR

Letter from Shela bar Mevasser to 'The Rabbi' Yehuda ha-Kohen b. Yosef, Rosh ha-Seder ('Head of the Row'). The letter was written before Shela's appointment as a judge. The letter starts with four lines of Hebrew Poetry. (Information from Frenkel. For additional information see Med. Soc. 3:431). On verso there are also the opening lines from a legal document, probably a draft. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from a woman to her husband (ṣāḥib al-bayt). In Judaeo-Arabic. After the greetings, which include wishes for the husband's recovery from illness, she continues, "Don't ask what I suffered on the road due to riding. Ever since I arrived, I have been sick (mariḍa). Your father certainly quarreled with me in the middle of al-Muṣāṣa (a neighborhood in Fustat), and not all that was said needs to be repeated. Don't ask what I suffered with the wife of your father, and Abū l-Surūr who was exceedingly generous, and everyone treated me well (are these euphemisms?). May God repay each servant according to his deeds. He (it seems one of her own family members) said to me, 'Divorce him, and I will take care of all that is necessary.' Now, if I divorce you. . . ." The fragment cuts off here. Information in part from Zinger; this translation differs slightly from his. ASE.

Letter from ʿAllān b. Ḥassūn, in Sindābūr (India), to his uncle and father-in-law ʿArūs b. Yosef, in Fusṭāṭ,. In Judaeo-Arabic. He found a slow market when he arrived in Aden, so he decided to travel onward to Sindābūr ("after seeking God's guidance") with the corals and storax (mayʿa, an aromatic resin obtained from trees in Asia Minor). He complains about his cousin Yosef (another nephew of ʿArūs), who "stays in Lakhba (near Aden) with the whores (Heb.), 'the company,' and a beardless youth, who ser[ves them drinks]." He also reports on previous sales in ports on the west coast of the Red Sea: Dahlak, Bāḍiʿ, and Suwākin. In the address on verso, ʿAllān calls himself ʿAllāl (as some other ʿAllāns did occasionally), a form of endearment, imitating the speech of small children. (Information from CUDL and Goitein's edition and translation.)

Letter from Avraham b. Yitzhak al-Andalusi, Jerusalem, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat, ca. 1065.

Letter in calligraphic style from a community written by Sahlān b. Avraham. (Information from Goitein's index cards and CUDL)

Letter from ten elders of the community concerning appointment of David b. Avraham b. Maimonides as Nagid.

Letter from an unknown writer to the brothers Mevorakh b. Saadya (in office 1078-1082 and 1094-1111) and Yehuda b. Saadya (in office ca. 1065-1078) recommending a man bringing merchandise in which the sender of the letter has great interest. Dated between 1065-1078. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Manṣūr (probably Manṣūr b. Sālim) in Alexandria to his brother in Fustat mentioning that his son Moshe started to speak and has since kept repeating: 'my uncle, my uncle Musa,' referring to his deceased uncle and the sender's and recipient's brother, who bore the same name. The sender also writes about an agreement that was reached with a tax-farmer about a payment made in installments and expresses regret about the fact that a female relative who was involved in a law-suit with her husband enjoyed 'no holiday and no Saturday.' Finally, the writer requests the recipient urgently to return a note from the tax-farmer. The Verso is written in a different hand. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 235, and from Goitein's index cards)

Letter. Memorandum from Abu Zikri Kohen to Mahruz. Alexandria, ca. 1136-1149.

Recto: Letter from a physician named Abu Zikri to a senior colleague, Abu 'Ali. Abu Zikri writes, apparently from the Rīf, seeking advice on the management of three patients. The first patient has a corneal ulcer ("of the third type"), marble-like leucoma, and acute ophthalmia that is bloody and yellow-bilious. Abu Zikri has tried bloodletting and draining the ulcer with a pastille of sweet violet to no avail. The second patient has very acute ophthalmia, lachrymation, and an inveterate scaly eruption in the eye ("of the fourth type"). The third patient has an unspecified perforation "like that of the patient whom you were treating." Abu Zikri also requests that Abu 'Ali send him a black-lead ophthalmic from his own stock, since all the ophthalmics Abu 'Ali's father had sent were ineffective. He invites Abu 'Ali to spend time with him outside of the capital and sends regards to the recipient's mother, father, and Abu l-Ḥasan. On verso: Abu 'Ali responds to Abu Zikri's questions, writing in the spaces around three lines of large chancery-script Arabic. The upper part of the page is damaged. Abu 'Ali states that these are very serious conditions. Regarding the first patient, Abu 'Ali recommends the use of the "white" (ophthalmic), gradual and careful application of frankincense to clean the ulcer, followed by application of a powder from washed "shanj" (Cytinus hypocistis according to Efraim Lev, citing Issa Bey), and then administration of three ounces, morning and evening, of a potion of sweet violet and water lily or a potion of cherry. The patient must refrain from sleeping in the daytime. Abu 'Ali recommends that Abu Zikri bring him the patient so that he can examine him himself. Regarding the second patient, Abu 'Ali says that the remedy varies according to whether the ophthalmia is simple or complex. Abu Zikri must not neglect the scaly eruption, in that the use of too much ben tree or water lily or white alum can exacerbate it. Regarding the third patient, Abu 'Ali suggests the use of the black-lead ophthalmic, burnt, together with ben tree and camphor or whatever else Abu Zikri sees fit to use. Abu 'Ali recommends lightening the diet as much as possible. He alludes to a potion that Abu Zikri is already familiar with, and suggests that the patient may benefit from smelling myrtle, water lily, or dates. If the condition is refractory, Abu Zikri may give almonds or a potion of sweet violet. Finally, he requests to be informed whether these remedies work, and whether the patients have headaches or not. Information from: Ashur and Lev, "Three Fragments on Practical Medicine in Medieval Egypt." Goitein, Med Soc V, 95 and 532. Goitein's index cards. Alan Elbaum 11/2019. Technical terminology follows Oliver Kahl, The Dispensatory of Ibn al-Tilmīdh, Brill: Boston, 2007.

Letter from Natan b. Nahray, Alexandria, to his father, Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat, concerning the arrival of ships, ca. 1045-1096.

Letter from Natan b. Nissim in Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat, from 1080s. Natan sends his regards to Avraham b. R. Yaʿaqov Darʿi. (Information from Frenkel)

Letter from Sa'dan b. Thabit al-Baghdadi from Tripoli to a colleague in Cairo asking him to take care of his son, whom he had sent abroad at the son's request, and to instruct him in commercial matters. Address on the verso gives the names: Abu al-Afrah 'Ar[us] b. Yosef and Yaʿaqov b. Nissim. Dated ca. 1130. (Information from and partial translation in Goitein, Letters, pp. 255-257)

Letter from Amram b. Yosef, probably from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1075. Regarding a shipment of palm leaves that arrived from outside of Egypt. In addition, mentions purchase of wheat and a disagreement about packaging cloth that belongs to the writer but another person named Muslim (probably his Jewish name is Meshulam) denies that is his. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #679) VMR

Letter. Commercial letter from Murjī to his son, Meʾir b. Murjī, listing repayments from various individuals, including Moses [...] and David [...]. Address on verso. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Letter in a late hand. Verso: Address to Meʾir b. Murjī (מרגי). (Information from CUDL)