Geniza Lab

Document of legal import for a woman who has appointed a wakil. Composed in letter form and addressed to the community in Jerusalem. Probably late 13th century. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Circular by the Nagid Shemuel b. Ḥananya to all the authorities in the Rif to bring to court in Fusṭāṭ one Avraham b. Manṣūr who owed to Hillel b. Ṣadoq 500 dirhams. Information from Goitein's note card. There is also a note in Arabic on verso (mentioning Damietta?).

Letter from a weaver to his wife including family news and instructions, and notifying her of his dispatches to them. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 92, 413; III, p. 240)

Abū ʿAlī b. ʿImrān, Alexandria, writes to the son of his dead sister, to Abū Mūsā Hārūn b. al-Muʿallim Yaʿaqov, Fusṭāṭ, the shop of Abū Naṣr al-Tilmīdh. See T-S 8J17.22, same writer, same recipient. "The troubles caused by agnates—but endured with resignation—are vividly brought home in a letter from Alexandria, addressed to the sons of a dead sister in the capital. The writer must have had a number of children, for he reports the death of the youngest, a boy, only in passing, adding drily: "May God preserve the rest." Two aged sisters lived with him, together with an orphan boy from a niece whose recent death is also reported. Another niece staying with him had a suitor whom she could not marry because she was a divorcee and had not received the legal documents (barā'a) needed for the new marriage, probably proving that she did not possess anything from the property of her former husband. The main purpose of the letter to the nephews was to secure the missing papers (perhaps one of them had been married to the unhappy woman). As though that were not enough: two sisters of those nephews lived in a house belonging to their family in Alexandria. The house was ill-omened (mayshūm), probably because someone had been killed there, or had died an unnatural or premature death. No one came to visit the girls, and they lived in complete solitude, "the most miserable creatures in the entire city with no one to care for them." The writer was prepared to invite these nieces to stay with him, but their brother would not permit them to move, probably in order to have someone to look after the property. Having already been ill for five months, during which time he was able to go out to the bazaar only once, the writer had entrusted one of the sons of his dead sister, Ḥassūn, with some of his business, but he had completely wrecked it. "The complaint is to God alone" (for what can one do against a close relative?). Several other relatives are mentioned in the letter in a rather sarcastic vein." Med Soc III A 3, n.2 (p.34).

Letter from Eliyyahu Ha-Kohen b. Shelomo Gaon, Jerusalem, to Efrayim b. Shemarya, Fustat.

Recto: Letter from a woman to her son Abū l-Faḍā'il al-Yahūdī al-Bawāridī ('the maker of cooling or cold vegetables') in al-Qamra, Alexandria. She describes a dangerous journey on the Nile ("we nearly drowned three times, but the end was good. God willed that we meet with the Shaykh Abū l-Makārim, and I stayed with Umm Hiba.") She advises her son to redeem the copper lamp that had been pawned for 3 1/8 (dirhams?). "Do not ask about my state and my illness, about which you know. I left with the fire in my heart on account of Futūḥ and his illness. Do not ask what weighs on Makārim's heart on your account. By God and by the breast which nursed you, do not neglect your son Sulaymān." She sends regards to Ḥasab (?) and his children, to her brother, and to Umm ʿAzīza. Verso: Apart from the address, there is a postscript in a different hand (with rudimentary script and spelling), from another family member who had traveled with the mother from Alexandria. This writer says that everyone is fed up with Karīm. The qumāsh which they brought with them from Alexandria has now been pawned for 40 dirhams. Karīm has not paid a penny of his capitation tax. He even pulled a trick to make his brother have to pay his debt. He is not working. Sulaymān (probably his brother) is working instead, and the writer was forced to accept public charity (kashaft wajhī) to pay off the debt. The next couple lines are tricky. Maybe: 'After all this, he regards me as idle. I do not even have enough water to drink because of him." Then: I regret leaving Alexandria. Regards to you and your family. Send us news of Umm Maʿānī quickly. Information in part from Goitein's note card and Med Soc, I, p. 424; III, pp. 246, 480. ASE.

Letter from the daughter of Rafi al-Hariri to the Nagid asking for a new veil for the holidays. She also asked him to appoint someone to make a collection for this purpose. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 37, and Goitein's index cards)

Business letter from Seʿadya b. Avraham b. Sasson of Alexandria to his relative Ṣedaqa b. Ṣemaḥ of Fustat, a maker of Sūsiyāt textiles. Seʿadya opens by inquiring about Ṣedaqa's ill health. "I was tranquil when I received frequent letters from you, and when they ceased, I became distressed due to imagining (? tajwīzī) an illness or something else. May God protect us from what we fear. Then my cousin (ibn ʿammatī) arrived and informed me that you had become ill, and that you had begun to recover, and I and those with me rejoiced and thanked God for that." Saadya also Ṣedaqa if he wants to secure passage on the Byzantine ship that had just arrived. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 31; V, p. 103; and Goitein's index cards.) ASE.

Letter from Natan ha-Kohen b. Yosef to Yiṣḥaq ha-Kohen b. Yaʿaqov the judge, whom he calls his son. He writes about some small business matters and asks about his sick wife (wajaʿ al-bayt, r8–9). (Information from Goitein, Mediterranean Society, III, p. 160, and Goitein's index cards.) Alternate description: Letter to ‘my son’ Isaac ha-Kohen b. Jacob the judge from ‘his father’ Nathan ha-Kohen b. Joseph (obviously not father and son in the strict biological sense, as he also sends greetings to Jacob the judge, the actual father), concerned with business matters, for example the trade of indigo. Mentions people including Abū l-Riḍā, Abū l-Ḥasan, Judah, Aaron and ‘my son’ (Abū l-)Wafā. (Information from CUDL.)

Letter from Toviyya ha-Kohen b. Eli ha-Kohen ha-Me'ulle to his brother-in-law, the judge Natan ha-Kohen he-haver ha-Me'ulle b. Shelomo ha-Kohen he-Hasid, regarding various errands concerning textiles and other matters. He also refers to a stepdaughter as 'bint al-mara.' (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 311, and Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Judge Eliyyahu to his two sons Abu Zikri and Shelomo. He wants them to come back from Jerusalem. 13th century.

Letter from Barhun b. Salih Tahirti in Fustat to his cousin and partner, Barhun b. Moshe Tahirti in Alexandria, reporting about merchandise sold in Fustat and requesting that more be bought in Alexandria. He also has some personal requests. The letter was written over a period of five days. It also deals with the market fluctuations for the period. In a postscript Nahray b. Nissim writes that he is moving from the Tahirtis' house into a rented space of his own. This indicates a dating of the latter around 1050, from the early years of Nahray's involvement in the commercial life of Fustat after his arrival there ca. 1045. (Information from Goitein's index card)

Letter from Shabbetay b. Moshe to Peraḥya b. Sasson 'ḥemdat ha-yeshiva'. Mainly in Hebrew, with a few phrases in Judaeo-Arabic and part of the address in Arabic script. The reports on the shipment of linen and asks for a shipment of glass. He cites his illness to excuse his tardiness (margin, ll. 1–5). (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Unfinished business letter sent by Mubarak b. Natan to Mubarak b. Ibrahim in Tyre, to whom he had already written three letters. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter sent by Mubarak b. Musa b. Ibrahim to Rabbi Nissim b. Shela, informing him that he was going to send to Tinnis the goods that he had ordered. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter sent from Damira by Abu al-'Ali ha-Kohen to Tiqva b. Yeshua, asking him to inform the Nagid about trouble that had occurred in Damira caused by someone named b. al-Wasiti. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 496, and from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Yeḥezqel b. Netanel, in Qalyūb or Fustat/Cairo, to his brother Ḥalfon b. Netanel, probably in Alexandria. Dating: November 17, 1140 CE. In Judaeo-Arabic. Probably written after Ḥalfon traveled to Alexandria to meet Yehuda ha-Levi. Yeḥezqel writes about the fear that gripped him when Ḥalfon left and boarded the boat, while ill and without any companion. The body of the letter deals with business matters, especially recounting disputes with others regarding debts. Yeḥezqel was helpled by Abū l-Waḥsh Sibāʿ. One of these disputes was with the 'youths' (ṣibyān) who owed money to Yeḥezqel. These youths recruited their Muslim neighbors against Yeḥezqel and threatened that their mother would appeal to the state authorities (al-sulṭān) to exempt them from repaying the debt until ('God forbid!' interjects Yeḥezqel) they recover from their illness. Yeḥezqel had already involved two trustees of the court and the Nagid himself, but the youths too appealed to the Nagid. Yeḥezqel continues with the matter of a certain aristocrat named Razīn al-Dawla, who is angry because he had given Yeḥezqel to purchase a garment for the winter, and the order had not been fulfilled. Yeḥezqel asks Ḥalfon to make haste in obtaining the garment, which should be in a beautiful yellow. It may be sent to Yeḥezqel in Qalyūb or to 'the Jew' (the tax farmer) in Shaṭnūf, which is the iqṭāʿ of Razīn al-Dawla. Yeḥezqel asks for news of Ḥalfon's arrival in Alexandria and asks him to convey an apology to Yehuda ha-Levi for not having written to him or come to Alexandria to greet him in person. Information from Goitein and Friedman. ASE. Probably Qalyūb; Sunday, 5 of Kislev; November 17, 1140

Letter addressed to She'erit ha-Ḥazzan, the cantor in the Palestinian synagogue. The writer thanks She'erit and his wife, Umm Shemuel, for their hospitality, and asks him to sell books which the writer had left with the cantor. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from the community in Ashkelon to the community in Fustat. Dating: Probably 1025 CE. Mentions praises to two of the Fatimid governors in Ashkelon. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2 pp. 574-575, #314) VMR

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to a personality in Fustat. Dating: Ca. 1030 CE.