Geniza Lab

Letter from Nissim b. Ḥalfon to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat), ca. 1055, sent as an addendum to an earlier letter, which has not been identified. Nissim b. Ḥalfon sends rose water and raisins, enquires about textiles prices and asks Nahray to sell the silk (lāsīn) that he had sent to Fustat. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 960.) Informs Nahray that the fleet of ships that sailed from Tyre is expected to arrive this week. (Information from Goitein notes linked below.)

Letter from a judge to Avraham Maimonides, reporting about a case that came before him in Adar I 1529 Seleucid (which is 1218 CE). About 32 lines, partly effaced but mostly legible. There are 6 lines of (autograph) response in Avraham's hand, but these are mostly torn away or effaced. Mentions people including Ismāʿīl b. Maʿālī and Abū l-Ḥassan al-Levi and someone's first return from the Levant. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Letter from Netanel b. Moshe ha-Levi ha-Shishi to two of his friends (Yosef b. Ḥalfon ha-Kohen and 'my brother Elʿazar), during his confinement to his father's house for the sake of private study. The closing greetings are in Arabic script. "For studying at home I received 25 dinars, on condition that I do not leave the house—even to visit the public bathhouse. Dear brother, you cannot imagine what I suffer by being separated from you and from our friend the Devil (Abū Murra), the Bird of Jinnies (ʿUsfūr al-Jinn)...." See also T-S K25.64. (Information from Goitein's note card and Med Soc V, 428, 628, no. 66.)

Letter from Mardūk b. Mūsā to Nahray b. Nissim. In addition to some words about the trade of clothes, Marduk asks Nahray to assist a man who is coming to Fustat soon; the man's name has been lost.

Business letter from Shelomo b. Mūsā al-Mahdawī, possibly in al-Mahdiyya, to his cousin Peraḥya b. Yosef, in Fustat. In Arabic script.

Letter from a certain Yehuda to Yosef b. Yaʿaqov ha-Kohen. In Judaeo-Arabic. Highly calligraphic. The letter concerns people who were captured in Palermo and also some issues of inheritance. Mentions "the Byzantines—a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand" (a reference to Deut. 28:49). (Information from Goitein’s index card.) Almost completely unmentioned in the literature (at least according to the FGP bibliography); should be edited.

Business letter in Arabic script to Nahray b. Nissim, possibly to Nissim b. Ḥalfon (Aodeh), in Arabic script. On verso, Nahray's notes.

Letter in Arabic script from a father to his son Abū l-Majd. "The fire was in our hearts because of you, how you spent shabbat over bread and cheese (i.e., without meat). If it weren't for Yaʿīsh and how he asked the Rayyis to 'send them something to eat,' we wouldn't have found anyone to bring you anything.... If every shabbat you get up and come on Friday, spend shabbat with us, and travel back on Sunday, the way is long...." On verso he mentions that he has managed to send a sweet (ḥalāwa, v2) and possibly peaches (khawkh, v3). "I want to come to you, but I don't know the way." He has also sent something which he wants the son to work on very carefully (wa-ʿaqlak bi-l-ghalaṭ) for Abū l-Faraj Ibn al-Dujājī, evidently for Abū l-Faraj's son, since he then writes that "his son's name is—"; he then switches into Hebrew for the blessing for a son (ha-malʾakh ha-goʾel) and reveals the name to be Shelomo b. Yeshuʿa ha-Levi.

Recto: Letter to Elʿazar he-Ḥasid Tifʾeret he-Ḥasidim. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 13th century. The handwriting has Andalusī alephs, some words almost like the handwriting of a Maimonides. Might be a draft. Mentions the matter of 'our colleagues in the little apartment (al-quwayʿa)' and explains why something is impossible (wa-māniʿ dhālika min wajhayn). The letter seems to trail off mid-sentence, and the last two lines are in a different hand. Verso: Another letter in Judaeo-Arabic, it seems in a different hand. This one is a draft of a letter of appeal for help or charity. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Addressed at least in part to R. Yaʿaqov; also mentions Meʾir, Yiṣḥaq, Yosef, and Shemuel. Fragment (middle part). Dating: Late, likely 14th–16th century. There is some business accounting in the middle of the letter with mysterious words.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic to al-shaykh al-jalīl Abū l-F[...] (Faḍl or Faraj). Fragment. Mentions people who are "hungry and naked."

Letter to Abū Saʿd ('the dear boy'). In Judaeo-Arabic Contains inter alia a disquisition on lashon ha-raʿ and a detailed order for an ʿarḍī cloth worth 60–70 dirhams. Information from Goitein's note card.

Letter from Ṣadaqa to the Abū l-Najm the Parnas, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender announces his intention to travel to Sicily (in "Bilād al-Rūm") and asks the addressee to help him settle the payments of the capitation tax ("al-mas"). On verso there is a note in another hand (that of Abū l-Najm? preceding the letter on recto?), requesting that the addressee send a letter regarding his need for deliverance from the capitation tax (jāliya), "lest you once again blame me when I have no fault." Information in part from Goitein's note card.

Letter (tadhkira, memorandum) on two sheets of paper, written and signed by Menashshe b. David al-Ṣayrafī, probably in Fustat, probably to Nahray b. Nissim, perhaps in Qayrawān. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1050 CE. Gil deduces that the addressee is Nahray b. Nissim from the fact that the letter mentions that Ukhuwwa (the Muslim ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz) wished to do business with the addressee and with Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tahirtī, and the latter was Nahray's most established business partner (and his cousin). The letter deals with problems communicating with people in Alexandria by letter, and mentions a consignment of oil. Menashshe opens by asking the addressee to intervene on his behalf with Abū Ibrāhīm Ismāʿīl, who had cut off his correspondence with Menashshe for the last year. "If it is due to something I did or a fault of mine, perhaps it is something I can rectify or apologize for, and if it is the 'neglect due to illness' or the like, I have seen his letters to other people, such as to Maṭar and to you, many of them" (recto of the first sheet, lines 6–11). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 499. See also Goitein notes linked below.) ASE.

Fragment of a trade letter in mixed Hebrew and Arabic script (Arabic for sliding blessings only) requesting a suftaja. Gil attributes tentatively to Daniel b. Azarya. Mentions Abū l-ʿAlāʾ al-Mubārak b. Isḥāq. (MAR)

Letter from Yeshuʿa b. Ismāʿīl (possibly al-Makhmūrī). In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions Avraham b. Nuṣayr; Abū l-Faḍl b. al-Dhahabī; Abū Isḥāq; Abū ʿImrān al-Segullat and Abū l-Faḍl b. al-Dhahabī. He wished to stay at home (or should have?) but someone made him go to the market. Mentions the price of the chebulic (myrobalan); mentions Alexandria and that 'the other ships are well.' (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)

An official order/letter from the head of the Jewish community or a high-placed dignitary. The main document is in Judaeo-Arabic, and the message is repeated underneath in Hebrew. Dating: Perhaps 14th–16th century; this can likely be narrowed further. It is addressed to the members of money-related trades, including the moneychangers and qubbāḍ and ʿaddādīn. They are commanded to cooperate in all respects with the party of the amir Muṣṭafā b. Masīḥ, with regard to "whichever kinds he wants, small or great.... For we are among his servants (khuddām)." A stern warning against disobeying the order is repeated several times. The postscript in Hebrew elaborates on the message. "Be very careful and ensure that no one takes even a penny from them, neither Amīn nor anyone else... even if you repay it from the funds of the dīwān, therefore you must be careful." Each section is signed (by the same person), and there is a fairly vivid stamp in which the name Sulaymān is legible. ASE

Letter from Shūʿā b. Yūsuf. In Arabic script. Short. Fragment (missing the left half of recto and the right half of verso). (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Recto: draft, probably, of a letter in Arabic. The opening few lines convey the writer's dismay at how the recipient makes light of death and how he must return to God. Verso: a Judaeo-Arabic letter in very rudimentary handwriting addressed to "my mother (?) Sitt Ghazal." After the blessings, the writer says he/she received Sitt Ghazal's gift, but does not understand why Sitt Ghazal was angry and does not know what fault he/she needs to beg forgiveness for. Then, "I sent you the notebooks, so send me the notbeooks." Then, "what you said to me that day... the head of the Yeshivah..." Needs further examination. ASE.

Letter from Yaḥyā b. Meshullam to his brother-in-law. In Judaeo-Arabic. He has arrived safely; Rabbenu has treated him well; now he is just waiting for God to deliver him from Abū l-Ḥasan, and then he will come; "tell Abū l-Faraj and Abū l-Surūr to buy a half-dinar—or better a dinar—of wheat until I can come and repay him." Regards to various people. He offers to buy something for somebody with a dirham.