Geniza Lab

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to the community of Tatay, approximately 1030.

Letter sent by Shabbetay b. Kaleb to the three welfare officials (parnasim) of Fustat, Avraham, Yaʿaqov and Abu Sa'id, informing them that he has arrived safely and sending special regards to Shelomo. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from the Nasi Zakkay b. Yedidyahu to the doctor Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq ha-Kohen the doctor. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Consists of poetic praises and greetings. (Information from CUDL.)

Letter to Abu al-Ḥasan 'Allun the parnas (Eli b. Yahya, dated documents 1057-1107) about a case of inheritance, with a recommendation for a bashful young Jewish man as a flax worker. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, p. 199, and from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from ʿAmram b. Yiṣḥaq, in Alexandria, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel, in Fustat. Dating: 24 Elul [1451] Seleucid = 8 September 1140 CE. The writer expresses his worries after he did not hear from Ḥalfon for a long time. He describes his sorrow on account of the death of ʿEli the judge (Ḥalfon's brother), and on account of his wife's severe illness. This is the first of three surviving letters in which ʿAmram provides a detailed description of this illnesses of his wife. In this letter: "As for my state and my illness, and the illness of that wretched woman who dies before my eyes a thousand times a day. She has developed, in addition to her infinite illnesses, an illness in her ear for 20 days now, to the point that we have forgotten all the illnesses that came before..." ʿAmram also complains about his own "swollen" (muntafikh) state and his ophthalmia: "I cannot see where I place my pen." He also informs Ḥalfon that Yehuda ha-Levi is on the ship that has just arrived in Alexandria. (Information in part from Gil and Fleischer "Yehuda Ha-Levi and his circle", pp: 420–26). See also India Book 4 (Hebrew description below). VMR. ASE. Alexandria; Monday, 24 of Elul, 1451; September 8, 1140 Description from PGPID 964: See PGPID 9116. Description from PGPID 9148: See join for description (PGPID 9116).

Letter, fragmentary, to Judge Eliyyahu, mentioning issues in connection with the Muslim authorities: writer mentions fatwa to the Nagid, wants a tawqi from the Sultan.

Family letter sent from Qal'at Ja'bar on the Euphrates River Syria, by a man to his brother, saying that he had learned about the death of his father and about his brother's marriage and about the birth of his son only from his brother's letter. The letter contains orders for both a turban and a robe. Dated ca. 1100. (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, pp. 159, 398; V, p. 541)

Letter addressed to Nahray b. Nissim from Marduk b. Musa about a shipment of threads sent from Fustat to Alexandria. Marduk notes that a baqyar (large-sized turban) 25 cubits long was made for Nahray, along with a shuqqa cloth 20 cubits long. He further reports that ‘Atiyya b. Shamma‘ brought to him a blue kerchief containing cotton, [linen] yarn, and unraveled flax, which would be combined with yarn previously sent - and currently in the hands of the artisan - to produce another cloth for Nahray. Alexandria, ca. 1070. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:90, 105, 125, 379, 412, 418, 429; 4:159, 179, 398, 409; and S. D. Goitein, Letters of Medieval Jewish Traders, 134) EMS

Letter from Shelomo b. Ḥayyim, in Alexandria, to Abū l-Faḍl Maṣliaḥ b. Yosef, in Fustat. Dating: Ca. first half of the 12th century. The writer had been informed that the boat from Cairo to Alexandria, on which the addressee was aboard, had been turned back by the qāḍī. The addressee is expected to return to Alexandria soon. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 611 and Goitein's attached notes.) After making some purchases in Fustat, the writer realized that he lost some gold, whether in Fustat or while in transit. In the margin, he excuses himself from returning to Fustat and seeing the address in person because he was ill. He hopes that the addressee will be able to see his state when they are reunited (perhaps he has some medical expertise?). In the meantime, the son of the Rayyis, Ibn Naḥūm, has seen him and will give a report on the writer's state to the addressee. ASE.

Calligraphic letter from Ya'qub to someone named Ismail in Alexandria, asking urgently for some cloth. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Eli Ha-Kohen b. Ezekiel, Jerusalem, to Evyatar ha-Kohen b. Eliyyahu, Fustat, April 1071.

Letter sent by a haver to Abu Ishaq Ibrahim (Avraham) b. Natan the seventh, complaining that he was snubbed by the latter's son-in-law. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 291, 589)

Letter from Yosef b. Ma'la to Nethanel Abu Sa'id b. Sadaqa. The letter opens with a full-fledged congratulation, referring also to the Feast of Tabernacles (following close after the Day of Atonement), and discussing business matters. Written ca. 1110. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, p. 351; 617)

Letter of greetings from Sedaqa he-haver to Yehuda or to Mevorak Nagid (1095-1112).

Letter from Mūsa b. Yaʿqūb, in Damascus, to Abū l-ʿAlāʾ Yūsuf b. Dāʾūd b. Shaʿya (aka Yosef b. David), in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. The sender states that he issued two bills of exchange on Yūsuf’s account for 250 dinars and gave them to Ibn Hazar as a prepayment on paper that contains the watermark of one Ibn Imām, a Damascus-based paper maker (Gil, Palestine I:235). Mūsa writes also that he turned over camel loads to Salāma b. Jaysh the week prior. Mūsa requests in the letter sixty golden boxes, to be packed with leather bottles, and sent to him immediately in a warship; along with a container of flax oil and information about the price of borage ("oxtongue"). (S. D. Goitein, Letters of Medieval Jewish Traders, 89–91.) EMS

Letter from a Mevorakh b. Avraham from Sham (Syria). The addressee's is name not given. The writer asks for a shirt (qamis) because he is clothing-less. 'Mubarak b. Azarya and his brother-in-law Abu al-Tayyib know about the situation I was in in Syria...' (Information from Mark Cohen)

Letter sent by Ḥalfon b. Yiṣḥaq to Avraham b. Natan the seventh, referring to a rudder ordered by a notable, presumably for his Nile boat, and mentioning an order for a sword. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 299)

Long letter containing rhymed prose and biblical quotations, sent by Yehezkiah b. Shelomo 'the Frenchman' to Yosef ha-Kohen requesting help. In the manuscript small dots appear between parts of the lines. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter sent from Alexandria to Fustat, by Avraham b. Farah to Nahray b. Nissim, reporting on the arrival of ships in Alexandria and dealing with commercial affairs. Dated July 1053 by Gil and 1050-1055 by Ben Sasson. (Information from Gil and Ben Sasson)

Letter from a young man named Sibāʿ, in Alexandria, to his mother, in Fustat, but addressed to his brother Abū l-Najm. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Possibly early 13th century, if Abū Saʿīd b. Thābit al-Ḥazzān mentioned at the end is identical with the brother of Meir b. Yakhin (aka Bū l-Majd b. Thābit). The letter describes the troubles the writer encountered from a capitation tax official on his travels in a Nile boat and saying he had arrived safely in Alexandria. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 299, 300.)