Geniza Lab

Letter from Natan b. Nahray (Alexandria) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat), ca. 1065. Mentions a silk cloak ordered by Nahray and shoes that were sent to him but did not arrive. Natan b. Nahray asks Nahray to send him some wine. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 426 and from Goitein notes linked below.)

A short, but complete note to Nahray from one of his brothers-in-law, ca. 1045-1096.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic probably from Ibrahim to Hayya ha-Kohen the teacher in Palermo (i.e. same writer and addressee as T-S 8J16.25). Nothing of substance is preserved, only the end of the introductory praises and the very beginning of the content. ASE.

The upper part of a short Judaeo-Arabic letter in the handwriting of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi. Written shortly before Hannukah. Moshe asks the recipient, probably a family member, to send him lamps for the holiday because he has none. He also asks to know if the kerchief pleased them, and they should hurry up and buy... It cuts off here. ASE.

Recto: The lower part of a letter mostly in Arabic (concluding blessings in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic) from a father to a son. He asks for a nice kerchief for a man in the family for the holiday. He says he is depending on him. He instructs him to look after his siblings at all times so that they don't have to depend on anyone else. Verso: accounts in Arabic. ASE.

Letter from Bū l-Khayr to an unknown addressee. In Judaeo-Arabic. About the sending of garments and an artisan and other matters. (Information in part from Goitein's index cards.)

Letter of appeal for charity. In Judaeo-Arabic. Well-written. Refers to "three breads (akhbāz) a week." (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Letter from Nahray b. ʿAllān in ʿAydhāb to his son ʿAllān b. Nahray in Alexandria concerning shipments. Based on a letter from another India trader (ENA 4020.8) and the fact that the date on the letter is for the 8th of Sivan, the letter was probably written on May 16, 1141 CE. Nahray is frequently mentioned as a contemporary and associate of Maḍmūn, the merchant representative in Aden, and Abū Zikrī Kohen, the equivalent in Fusṭāṭ. Nahray writes that he is traveling with both Muslim and Jewish on the boat of al-Dībājī ("the brocade dealer"). In ʿAydhāb , the merchants sold part of their goods and otherwise traded them for products from eastern markets. He describes that they were nearing the time when they needed to set sail, and so the merchants broke up into two groups to cover more ground, with the Muslim traders making purchases at the pepper and brazilwood bazaars and the Jewish traders at the lac bazaar and otherwise selling off some of their goods for cash. Nahray purchased 330 pounds of lac (resin from the lac insect used in varnish, wax, and red dye), paid two dinars needed to arrange packing, canvas, and ropes, and made a few other purchases, including a sari that was to be a gift; all of this ultimately left him without cash for further shipments. Additionally, he paid Abu ʾl-Faḍl b. Abu ʾl-Faraj al-Dimyātī ("from the Egyptian seaport of Damietta") a dinar for expenses for the lac. al-Dimyātī was to deliver the lac, a copy of the account, and the distribution list to Abū Zikrī Yehuda, the Kohen, who will sell the shipment and distribute his portion to his partners before delivering the remaining balance and the account to ʿAllān. Nahray also mentions that Yaḥyā b. Sar Shalom ("Prince of Peace") was carrying a second shipment consisting of two bales of brazilwood weighing two bahārs (equivalent to 600 pounds) and 70 pounds, two bales of cowrie shells measuring one mudd (likely the Jerusalem mudd or similar, which was equivalent to 100 liters), five manā (equivalent to about two pounds) of ashbāh wood, and half a manā of old camphor. There were also ten Qaṣṣī robes that would be sold to cover customs dues and other related expenses. Yaḥyā was to write an account, deduct customs and other expenses, and then to sell as much as seemed appropriate, but then inform ʿAllān , who was to instruct as to whether they would sell the entire shipment or only part of it; he mentions, for example, that they might sell the cowrie shells in Spain. Nahray sends regards to ʿAllān, his grandsons, his own wife, ʿAllān's wife, his brother, and his nephews, and urges ʿAllān to take care of the family. He tellsʿAllān to hold onto letters that he had left behind, as they contained accounts. Nahray concludes by saying that he didn't expect the voyage to produce much profit; he ultimately sent 100 dinars to Maḍmūn with the hopes that it might more successfully return gains. He instructs ʿAllān to set aside 15 dinars for when he returns, and then to take a tenth of profit from the above shipments and use it to make further profits. (Information partially from Goitein's index card and partially from Goitein's Letters of Medieval Jewish Traders)

A note written by Avraham b. Farrāḥ Iskandrānī to Yaʿaqov b. Avraham on 21 June 1054, as an addendum to his letter written the previous day (see ENA NS 22/1). Complements the information in the main letter and provides additional details about the sale of the writer’s merchandise in a public auction. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 825-826.)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Most of the folio is preserved, but the text is faded and damaged. Probably concerning communal affairs. Mentions Abū l-Faḍl b. Pinḥas and "sayyidnā Av[raham?]." (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Letter in Judaeo-Persian. Dating: possibly eighth century. The letter concerns trade in sheep and other items, the ruler (ispahbud) of Tabaristan, cattle, slaves, strings of coins, horse-riding paraphernalia and various commercial transactions. The document is fragmentary; it was discovered in 1901 by Marc Aurel Stein in Dandan Uiliq (an archeological site in the Taklamkan desert, approximately 120km north of Khotan). Zhan Zhang, who is editing and translating the document as of 2021, describes the language as embryonic or Early New Persian, containing grammatical and/or lexical elements from Middle Persian, Sogdian, Hebrew, Arabic and Chinese.

Letter in Judaeo-Persian. Dating: possibly eighth century. The letter concerns trade in sheep and other items, the ruler (ispahbud) of Tabaristan, cattle, slaves, strings of coins, horse-riding paraphernalia and various commercial transactions. The document is fragmentary; it was discovered in 1901 by Marc Aurel Stein in Dandan Uiliq (an archeological site in the Taklamkan desert, approximately 120km north of Khotan). Zhan Zhang, who is editing and translating the document as of 2021, describes the language as embryonic or Early New Persian, containing grammatical and/or lexical elements from Middle Persian, Sogdian, Hebrew, Arabic and Chinese. The letter was published in Margoliouth, "An early Judaeo-Persian Document from Khotan, in the Stein Collection with other early Persian Documents," The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1903): 735–60 and revisited in Bo Utas, "The Jewish-Persian fragment from Dandan-Uiliq," Orientalia Suecana 17 (1968 [1969]): 123–136; Zhang is re-editing it in light of advances made over the past half-century in the study of Iranian languages.

Letter from Bu Nasr b. Ibrahim to Abu l-Rabi' Sulayman ha-Kohen b. Abu Zikri Kohen, Fustat, the square of the perfumers. Bu Nasr is irked that his preceding letters to Abu l-Rabi' or to Abu l-Fakhr never arrived, otherwise they would have known that Abu l-Fakhr was to pay Abu l-Rabi' 6 1/3 dinars (this seems most the most likely interpretation of "he should pay him" but the pronouns are not clear). He then turns to a situation with a certain Moshe, who is the one who brought the letter of Abu l-Rabi' and insisted that Bu Nasr entrust him with goods for delivery. Bu Nasr is irked by this too, because he had no way of knowing that Moshe was trustworthy, moreoever Moshe's manners were those of a boor and an ignoramus. He then briefly discusses the matter of a turban. A letter to "al-Kohen al-Siqilli" is mentioned. ASE.

Letter from Farajallāh to the judge al-Shaykh al-Sadīd Naṣrallāh. In Judaeo-Arabic with occasional Hebrew and with the address in Arabic script. Dating: Late, probably no earlier than 14th century. The letter deals with the complicated legal case of R. Ḥasday, which the sender already described in a previous letter and repeats here. Ḥasday had made a deposit in ʿAqraba (near Nāblus?) but there was no record of it in the daftar, and the depositee died and the deposit was lost. There follows a very convoluted story. The sender refers to his main opponent as ʿAmaleq. Also mentions Amīn al-Dīn; ʿAbd al-Dā'im, Ibn Ḥabashī; the arrival of somebody from Cairo; Ibn Fayrūz; Ibn al-Fallāḥa; Saʿdallāh al-Ḥalabī; Ṣadaqa al-Ṣayrafī; Mūsā; Ajīr b. Fayrūz; al-Ḥanbalī. The sender gets to his request from the addressee and from Sayyidnā Moshe ha-Ṣefati about halfway through the text on verso (where the writing becomes larger). He wants them not to permit somebody (presumably "ʿAmaleq") access to something. He concludes with updates on various other matters the addressee had asked/ordered him about. Needs further examination.

Report about selling merchandise in Qayrawan, from the beginning of the 11th century; probably for Ya’aqov b. Yosef b. Awkal. Mentions several different products, including indigo, food, wax, and pearls. It is not clear who are the owners, but mentions the names of Abu al-Bishr and Salah. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #114) VMR

Recto (with address on verso): Letter in rhymed Hebrew prose and calligraphic script (which deteriorates over the course of the letter) to Mevorakh b. David ha-Bavli ("the leader of the Babylonian congregation," line 15) from Yehuda Sofer b. ʿEli. The main purpose seems to be to apologize for a failure to respond. The writer sends regards to Avraham ha-Rofe b. ʿEli. He adds a postscript in Judaeo-Arabic, asking Mevorakh to forward a letter to Abū ʿImrān b. Yaḥyā al-Raqqī, who it seems will then give Mevorakh a gift from the writer's son Abū l-Ḥasan. Verso: In a different hand, detailed accounts regarding transactions in lāsīn silk. The main block of text has to do with a purchase from Abū l-ʿAlā. The remaining text names many women, including the wife of Ibn Ghallāb; Sitt ʿAlam; Umm Faḍā'il; the daughter of Umm Dāwud; Umm ʿAzīza; and the sister of Tāj al-Maʿānī. ASE.

Letter of thanks from Ḥalfon ha-Levi b. Menashshe to Khalaf b. Yiṣḥaq. Fustat, ca. 1120s.

Letter dated September 1040 (Gil), sent from al-Mahdiyya by Yahya b. Musa al-Majjani to Zechariah b. Tammam in Fustat. The letter deals with a financial dispute between the writer and Abu al-Faraj Yaʿaqov b. Avraham Ibn Allan. The Qayrawan Nagid Yaʿaqov. b. Amram and Rabbi Hananel b. Hushiel are mentioned in this matter. The letter also mentions mail that was sent and the state of Mediterranean maritime and land transport. (Information from Gil, Vol. 4, p. 87)

Letter from Yisrael b. Natan, from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Qayrawan. Around 1045. The writer is still in Egypt (before he moved to Byzantium) and his cousin, Nahray, did not leave the Maghreb yet. Israel writes information for Nahray about purchases he made in Egypt. He bought goods from Abu Naser, who is Hesed b. Yashar ha-Tustari. Mentions details about several people and trades, mainly of pearls and beads. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #408) VMR

Letter dated ca. 1050, sent by Sedaqa b. Zakariyya from Alexandria to his partner Barhun b. Salih al-Tahirti in Fustat. The letter mentions shipments of lacquer and specifies amounts of money available to the addressee. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 567)