Geniza Lab

Letter from Yeshu'a ha-Kohen ha-Ḥaver, an official in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim. Yeshu'a writes to raise money to free three Jews held by Italian merchants. The merchants had acquired their human cargo from Rum (Byzantine) pirates. The pirates had beaten and almost killed their captives. Jewish communities in Egyptian port towns bore the brunt of these expenses. Charitable collections were often held throughout the Jewish communities of Egypt to help free co-religionists captured in wartime or in acts of piracy. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Barhun b. Musa al-Tahirti, probably from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim and Ayash b. Sdaka, Fustat. Mentions details about shipments of flax, several ships, and several of Nahray’s business partners as Ibn Sumgar family. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #350) VMR

Letter from the schoolmaster Natan b. Shemuel, in a small town, to his brother Abū l-Ḥasan, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. The writer asks for some ophthalmic medicine, some sour-grape kohl, and an unidentified medicine (רישאנא?), because he needs them very much. If his financial situation were not so terrible this winter, he would have sent some money to cover the cost. He describes his extreme hardships, explaining that he had had to pawn garments to cover the costs of the holidays(?). He asks the addressee to meet with their in-law Abū Naṣr and thank him and seek to resolve some family matter. He worries that people are angry at him: "I think that no one likes a beggar." He then asks for the addressee's indulgence for what he had previously written. He was not himself, because of his great preoccupation upon the death of the khaṭīb of his town, who had been a great support to him. He goes on to allude to a dispute between himself and his cousin (ibn ʿamm), about whom he has many harsh words (incl. "Smoother than cream were the speeches of his mouth, but his heart was war" (Psalms 55:22); "may God save me from his evil"). He conveys greetings to various people, including R. Yeḥiel (active 1224–33). In a first postscript, he reports that Qaḍīb is severely ill with pleurisy (dhāt al-janb). He is out of his mind with worry and asks for his sister Saʿāda to be sent urgently. "May I not live to see her day [of death]." In a second postscript, he reports that actually Qaḍīb is doing much better now, thank God. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, IV, pp. 185, 413; V, pp. 242, 573, 600-601.) ASE

Letter in which Shelomo b. Elazar from a town in the Fayyum expresses the thanks of the congregation to one Shelomo for sending a parchment scroll of the Pentateuch, which arrived two days before the New Year, and asks for a scroll of the readings from the Prophets for the day of Atonement. Beautifully written. Information from Goitein's note card.

Hebrew letter, sent by Shemuel b. Shelomo of Lucena, Spain, to Mevorakh b. Saadya requesting assistance. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter of recommendation (?). "This note was cut out (?) from the book belonging to the Persian (al-ʿAjamī) staying with the Jew who speaks on his behalf (?) Elazar b. Yosef; Shelomo b. [...]; Shemuel ha-Kohen b. Berakhot; Yosef b. Yaʿaqov." (Information from Goitein's note card)

Letter from Abū ʿAlī to his father Abū l-ʿIzz. In Judaeo-Arabic. He reports that his mother and Yūsuf arrived safely after four days of travel by boat. He has sent his father a fulled maqṭaʿ cloth worth 49 dirhams and wishes to have for its price 150 jars with unnamed contents. If that sum were not sufficient, he would deliver the balance to the carrier. He alludes to his illness in passing by way of explaining why he has not done something (line 21). (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 446.) ASE

Recto: Formulary for Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew praises to an important person (peloni ben peloni) to be placed at the beginning of a letter. Verso: A Hebrew panegyric. ASE.

Letter from Toviyya b. Moshe, Jerusalem, to Perahya b. Muʾammal, Fustat, probably 1048.

Letter to a Gaon, according to Goitein, perhaps from the time of Nethanel Gaon (1160), congratulating him on his son's recovery from illness, and complaining about the cessation of correspondence. It is also a letter of recommendation for the bearer. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 294, 295, and from Goitein's index cards)

18 lines of Hebrew praises for a great dignitary (ha-Patish ha-Ḥazaq, Mordekhai ha-Zeman, etc.). The only name that appears to be preserved (possibly that of the writer) is [Y]osef b. ha-Rav Aharon. ASE.

Business letter addressed to Arus b Yosef including greetings to his brothers-in-law. Dated to the late 11th/early 12th century. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 25. 252, 482)

Mercantile letter addressed to Abū l-Afrāḥ ʿArūs b. Yosef. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address partially in Arabic script. ʿArūs had bought brazilwood and pepper for the sender, who highly praises the addressee. The sender was slandered but overcame his adversary. Reports arrival of Raḥamim and Ibn Samḥūn. A ship from al-Mahdiyya brought khiyār (=khiyār shanbar = cassia fistula?). Ships from the mīna(?) of Bijāya were reported lost with Jews in them. Greetings to the addressee's brothers-in-law and the sender's cousin (ibn khāla) Abū ʿImrān and two people called al-ḥakīm. Reused for accounts by ʿArūs, which mention al-ʿAfṣī and Ibn Nuṣayr. (Information from Goitein's notes and index card linked below.)

Letter fragment from Eli Ha-Mumhe b. Avraham, approximately 1050.

Letter to Shelomo b. Yishay, a nasi originating from Mosul but residing in Egypt. Dating: ca. 1237. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, 19)

Letter fragment: difficult to read, faded, long, in Judaeo-Arabic. The recipient is addressed as מעלתך. Legible sections include a discussion of "sarei alafim, sari asarot, and sar ha-elef" on recto, and a little bit later, "qālū raboteinu ZL, afilu..." The writer mentions "al-Rayyis." On verso he says, "As for what Sayyidnā said regarding [.....] they wait for me, I will nevertheless [? li-'umri] come, for I am right and they are not, and I have their scripts/signatures...." Toward the bottom he mentions al-sharīʿa and someone getting lashes [yuḍrab malqot]. ASE.

Letter from X b. Menahem to Elazar ha-Kohen b. Meshullam asking for assistance after losing 350 nasiri and 25 dinars at sea. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Memorandum from Yosef b. Avraham to Abu Nasr al-Halabi. Aden, ca. 1130-50.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic (right side of recto and verso) from [Ya'qu?]b b. Bū l-Faraj, probably in Alexandria, to Abū l-M[unā?] al-[ʿAṭṭār?], probably in Fustat. The writer is in difficult straits and has nothing left to sell except some drugs (ʿaqāqir), and requests the recipient's help. He also mentions the son of the deaf man (Ibn al-Ḥeresh Abū Ib[rahim?]) and Abū l-Makārim b. al-Amshāṭī. ASE.

Letter in which a son acknowledges receipt of a shipment sent by his father, along with the statement, “And paid the dinar for the capitation tax with the money earned by my own hard work.” (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 5:329, 596) EMS