Geniza Lab

Letter, very faded, in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic, mentioning an Abū Avraham b. [...] and an Abū Sahl and "the boys."

Letter from a certain Moshe to his son, the physician Avraham. Fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. What remains is largely taken up with expressions of the preoccupation of the writer and his wife for their son's health. If they receive good news of Avraham, his mother rejoices, and if they receive bad news, she becomes sad and distressed. Moshe and his wife seem to be concerned because Avraham is traveling frequently (r11–15), and perhaps because of something to do with his wife (rm1). On verso, there are repetitive instructions about not allowing a certain man (Avraham's brother?) to go anywhere without taking Avraham's mother with him. At the end of the letter, Moshe reports that he has obtained the ophthalmic medications (ashyāf) from the physician Abū l-Faraj as requested, and has forwarded them along with a letter from the same Abū l-Faraj. Several towns of the Delta are mentioned in the letter: Bilbays, Minyat Ghamr, and—if this a place name—al-Ṣāliḥiyya. Avraham responded on the same piece of paper, writing nothing more than that he read the letter and thanked God for the health of his father and mother and the children. There are also some Arabic jottings on verso. ASE.

Fragment of a letter from Alexandria, probably from Avraham b. Yosef al-Sabag, to Yosef b. Ya’aqov b. Awkal, Fustat. Contains information about merchandises that have been sent from Egypt to the Maghreb, including silver, pepper, and linen. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #208) VMR

Perhaps three letters of recommendation for Yaʿaqov b. Yehuda. The first was written in Istanbul and signed by Nissim Yaʿaqov [...]. The second is difficult to read; the writer's name may be Gavriel. The third was written by Hayyim David Hazzan, the Hakham Bashi of Jerusalem, 1861–69. His large blue seal in Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin characters is preserved next to his signature. Underneath one of the other two entries (it seems the second one) is a different Hakham Bashi seal in Arabic and Hebrew characters. The date is 1864 according to the Worman catalog. ASE.

Letter from Avraham b. Farah, Alexandria, to Abu Ishaq Barhun b. Musa al-Tāhartī, Fustat, dealing with shipments of goods, ca. 1053 (Gil). Mentions the qarib belonging to Abū ʿAbdallāh Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ (recto, margin). (Information from Gil)

Fragment of a letter from a mother in the Maghreb to her merchant son in Fustat. The beginning of the 11th century. Including information about shipments and ships. Seems like the tax collectors are after the mother but the reason for that is unclear. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #239) VMR

Letter, late, in Judaeo-Arabic from Avraham [...] to Hayyim [...]. Needs further examination.

Statement concerning contributions to a public appeal in Minyat Zifta, a small town in the Delta, written in summer, 1266. A special drive was arranged in the town from September 1265 through April 1266 in support of the Jewish community of Cairo. Eighteen people contributed a total of 1,024 and three/fourths dirhams. The statement begins with the words, “We the congregation of Minyat Zafta Jawad, make the following declaration: When in the month of Av 1576 [1265], the decree of the King [that is, God] came upon us because of our many sins, necessitating a collection, we extracted strength from weakness and joined Israel in its tribulation, despite our inability to do so, our poverty and indigence.” (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:44, 137-8, 501, 531, 532, 549, 606) EMS

Letter from ʿAyyāsh b. Ṣedaqa, from Alexandria, to the Tahirti family, Fustat. May 27, 1050. ʿAyyāsh returned from Busir where he bought a large amount of flax, for Nahray, to the cousins (the Tahirtis) and several others. There were some accidents with the goods, several shipments got wet and several others were stolen. ʿAyyāsh mentions deals of silk and pearls with Abd al-Rahman the jeweler, and several other goods. Verso: Draft of an account regarding flax and other goods, as well as details about the expenses for ship rental, bribe, and taxes. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #485) VMR

Letter fragment (upper right corner). Addressed to the writer's father. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions a young man from Aleppo and a medicinal syrup. The letter is written in rhymed prose, like many of Abū Zikrī b. Eliyyahu's letters, and the handwriting is actually quite similar.

Letter from Avraham b. Shabbetay, the judge of Minyat Zifta, to Abu Ishaq, the jewelry-maker discussing gambling, news and other issues. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 45, 531)

Business letter from Fustat to Alexandria in which Musa b. Yahya al-Majjani writes his business friend Abu al-Faraj Yehoshuaʿ b. Ismail that he had dissolved his partnership with his former 'master.' Dated 21 March, 1029. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 371)

Letter/petition from a woman to Yakhin Rosh ha-Qehillot. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. She asks for help for her son, who suffers in prison due to cold weather and mistreatment. (Information from Goitein's note card.) Join: Oded Zinger.

Letter on behalf of a Byzantine woman named Rachel, in Alexandria, to Eliyyahu the Judge, in Fustat. The main part of the letter (in Judaeo-Arabic) is scribed by the teacher and court clerk Yehuda b. Aharon Ibn al-ʿAmmānī; there is a postscript (in Hebrew) added by Shemuel (a.k.a. Kalev) b. Yaʿaqov. Dated: 19 Adar 1538 Seleucid, which is 1227 CE. The letter concerns Rachel's husband, Yosef of Barcelona, who is about to marry a local woman, leaving their children orphans in their lifetimes (and "pieces of meat"). Eliyyahu is asked to relay her case to the Nagid Avraham Maimonides (1205–37), to intervene and prevent Yosef from doing this to her. Yehuda switches to writing in his own voice on verso, line 3. He sends various respectful greetings and adds that Rachel's eyes (or those of her mother?) have developed ophthalmia (ramad) from all her weeping. The postscript in the hand of (and signed by) the French rabbi Shemuel b. Yaʿaqov corroborates the story in the body of the letter and blames the husband's mother, who tempted him to do these bad things, and also "his wife, the snake, who married him against his will"—which makes it sound that Yosef has already married the local woman. Shemuel seems to conclude by saying that he has taken on the name "Kalev" (or vice versa?) on account of his illness, evidently an effort to change his fortune by changing his name. ASE

Letter from Eli Ha-Kohen b. Ezekiel, Jerusalem, to Eli Ha-Kohen b. Hayyim, Fustat. Discusses the matter of the 18 dinars owed to the poor of Jerusalem. Daniel b. Azarya is on his way back to Jerusalem. Possibly alludes to the drought and epidemic in Fustat ("I am very preoccupied about your situation," verso, line 2), and mentions several people in difficult straits.

Letter to Abu Imran in which the writer, a perfumer and judge in Minyat Zifta, describes repairs to the local synagogue along with news of other matters. The writer also notes payment of capitation tax at the rate of 2 dinars. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:46, 276, 532, 546, 586; Geoffrey Khan, Arabic Legal and Administrative Documents in the Cambridge Genizah Collections, 370-1) EMS

Letter sent from Alexandria to Fustat regarding an inheritance of a widow and her orphans. Dating: ca. 1080 CE. The local Jewish judge (Heb. dayyan) issued a ban (Heb. ḥerem) against anyone who withheld information about property belonging to the orphans, but the ban did not help. Apparently there was also an attempt to take over the property by an appeal to non-Jewish courts. The writer of the letter asks the recipient to ask the Nagid, Mevorakh b. Saadya, to intervene. Join: Oded Zinger. NB: The letter does not seem to be dated; 1080 CE was Goitein's estimate.

Letter to Mevorakh b. Saadya (Nagid 1094–1111) from an official (muqaddam) and cantor in a community near Alexandria, who asks the Nagid to send a replacement for him, so that his community will allow him to leave and join his family, who are enduring financial hardship. The death of a certain Ṣadoq is mentioned. Information from CUDL.

Letter from the office of Yehoshua Maimonides (d. 1355) warning against a traveling preacher, popular in the community, who "speaks of secrets whose meanings he does not understand, like a parrot who speaks and does not know what he says. Moreover, he does not know what is forbidden and what is permissible." Goitein suggests that the reference is to a Jewish preacher with Sufi inclinations, whose influence at this time is also evident in the well known letter published as "A Jewish Addict to Sufism in the time of David II Maimonides."

Letter from Natan b. Nahray, from Alexandria, to an unknown person, Fustat. Around 1080. Information about a big tragedy that happened to the Nagid, Mevorakh b. Se’adya. Mentions wheat, linen and other goods. In addition, mentions Abu Sad- who is Nissim b. Nahray b. Nissim, and it seems as he is managing his father’s business. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #440) VMR