Geniza Lab

Letter from Mūsā b. Yaʿqūb al-Miṣrī, in Minyatayn (the "two Minyas," Ghamr and Zifta, located across from each other on one of the Delta tributaries), to Abū l-ʿAlā' Yūsuf b. Dā'ūd b. Shaʿyā, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1056 CE. The letter discusses the flax harvest and confirms the receipt of some clothes. There is a passing mention of someone's illness in the margin (line 3). (Information from Gil.)

Letter from Abū l-Surūr b. Ṭarīf to the brothers Abū l-Makārim and Abū Yaʿqub ha-Kohen. The writer describes in detail the severe fever and dysentery (zaḥīr) of the addressees' brother Abū l-Riḍā, "as if you were present." There is no expert physician in the town from which he writes, and there are no medical ingredients. He therefore asks the addressees to approach a physician, to procure medication with the four dirhams attached to the letter, and to send it back with the courier. Initially there was a "cold" fever for 50 days, followed by a "hot" fever for 8 days. The patient was then afflicted with terror (wahul) and dysentery. There follows a detailed description of his bowel movements. At first there were 'filings' but no blood, and there were solid BMs along with the filings which had a terrible smell. Then the BMs became soft, without the terrible smell. His tongue is [tied? loosened?] but he is overcome by silence (? al-sukūna) all night long. "This is the description of his illness as if you were present." (Information in part from Med Soc, V, pp. 193, 194, and from Goitein's index cards.) Postscript on verso: "Obtain a prescription for what his diet should be. If he prescribes [...] Levantine sour grapes, obtain them, for we have none here [...] and exchange them for something else." The prescription is written at the bottom of the letter in Arabic script. ASE

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Sahlan b. Avraham, end of 1042.

Letter from Efrayim b. Isḥāq, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: Ca. 1070 CE. The writer owns several apartments in Alexandria and rents an apartment to Nahray. Nahray has heard rumors that Efrayim is loaning other people books that belong to Nahray, from his apartment. The writer defends himself and admits that he loaned two books to Mevorakh b. Seʿadya, but in exchange for a receipt signed by two witnesses. The writer has business relations with the addressee and writes about selling vinegar. The writer received Nahray's letter in the ship, in the evening of its sail. He therefore wrote this letter (because in haste?) on a reused receipt—written in Arabic script—from nearly twenty years earlier (it is dated 4 March 1051 CE). The writer also inquires about his sick female paternal cousin (bint ʿammī, r3). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #710) VMR

Letter from Ismāʿīl b. Yiṣḥaq al-Baṭalyawsī (=of Badajoz) al-Andalusi, in Jerusalem, to Abū l-Faraj Yeshuʿa b. Shemuel, in Fustat. Dating: Ca. 1065 CE. Ismāʿīl asks for news of his family still in al-Andalaus. "If you obtain any letter or news, send them to me. This would be the greatest benefit for me. . . . The most likely (chance to obtain news) will be with people from Madrid (מגריט = مجريط) or from Toledo. For the people of Madrid know ['the brothers from'?] my father very well, for he travels to them. It is likely that they will have a letter if [my family] thinks I am still alive. May God increase your reward. . . You know what the wise man (Solomon) said about 'good news from a far country' (Proverbs 25:25)." Ismāʿīl asks the addressee to forward to his parents a letter that he has enclosed, perhaps with Toledan traders or Muslim pilgrims returning to Madrid from the ḥajj. Information from Gil and from Moshe Yagur (via גניזת קהיר - היסטוריה של היום-יום on Facebook, Feb 9, 2019). See also T-S 13J28.11 (the next document edited by Gil, from Ismāʿīl b. Yiṣḥaq to Nahray b. Nissim). ASE

An 18th-19th century commercial letter dated Friday 28th Adar I, mentioning Muhammed Ibn Umar who went on Hajj to Mecca, Raphael the Dragoman, Joseph פוגי, Jacob Ḥazzan, Shelomo סכאש, and the French consul in Cairo. At the head of the page are accounts related to the commercial letter. Verso: more accounts. (Information from CUDL)

Letter of Benayahu b. Musa, an Alexandrian from Maghribi origin, to Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat. The letter contains severe complaints on the local Alexandrian Jews treatment of foreigners, especially from the Maghrib. The letter sheds light on a big communal dispute which reached the Muslim authorities and almost caused the writer to convert to Islam. The letter mentions in passing Avraham al-Deri as being in Alexandria and, apparently, as being on friendly terms with the writer. Benayahu also conveys his preoccupation for the addressee, who is recovering from an illness (r3–6). (Information from Frenkel)

Letter from Daniel b. Azarya. The addressee is unknown. The writer thanks the person and mentions his own large family and its financial difficulties.(Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2 pp. 626-627, #343) VMR

Family letter sent from al-Raqqa by the mother of Dosa b. Yehoshuaʿ Ladiqi to her son, expressing her yearnings and asking him to send her letters and buy her something. (Information from Gil)

Mercantile letter from Moshe b. Yaʿaqov, in Tatai (in the Egyptian Delta) to his partner, Yosef b. David b. Shaʿya in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. Dating: March 1054 CE. Describing his business dealings. The letter mirror-image text from being folded when the ink was wet (cf. CUL Or.1080 J75). (Information from Gil and from Goitein's index cards)

Beginning of a calligraphic letter in Hebrew rhymed prose by Shemuel ha-Levi b. Eli, the gaʾon ("head of the academy of the diaspora") in Baghdad (1164–93). Gil identified this as his handwriting, but Amir Ashur and Marina Rustow believe this to be the very distinctive hand of his disciple R. Yosef b. Yaʿaqov Rosh ha-Seder of Irbil. (Information from Gil, from Goitein's index cards and from Marina Rustow)

Letter signed by Avraham b. Shemaya he-Ḥaver and Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel the Spaniard, attesting that Berakhot, a poor but pious foreigner, lacking sustenance and having a family and in debt, is bearing a letter from R.. Ḥalfon he-Ḥaver stating that what Berakhot has with him to sell meets the standards of Jewish law and thus can be purchasEd. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Request for help sent by Ya'ish b. Sahl of Nahrawan the cantor to Avraham ha-Kohen b. Haggai Hasid, mentioning the addressee's son (Abu 'Ali Ḥasan), grandson (Efrayim) and brother (Yiṣḥaq). (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Recto: Letter sent from Damascus. In Judaeo-Arabic. Goitein describes it as a lovely family letter praising the town for its opportunities to make a living (r24–26) and describing the well-being of a boy who was left by his father with relatives while he traveled to Egypt (r8–13). "He is well, comfortable with them. He reads with them, dresses with them, plays with them. He is not a stranger. Everyone loves him. They sleep in one bed." As for the writer's brother: he is overcome by weeping due to separation from the family. If he had not been sick, he would have come together with the letter. (Information in part from Med Soc III, p. 234, and from Goitein's index cards.) Verso: Letter of appeal for charity. Opening with a long Hebrew poem. A few lines of the body of the letter, in Judaeo-Arabic, are preserved at the bottom. (Information from CUDL.)

Letter from Simḥa ha-Kohen (in Alexandria) to his parents-in-law Eliyyahu the Judge and Sitt Rayḥān (in Fustat). In Judaeo-Arabic. Simḥa describes in moving terms the illness and death of his female slave (jāriya). Goitein and Motzkin understood this to refer to his daughter, however it probably means slave here, because Simḥa cites as condolence the formula from Berakhot 16b, "המ ימלא חצרונכם" (noted by Eve Krakowski, 07/2022). The physician Abū l-Thanāʾ had been caring for her in his home, and ultimately told Simḥa to take her back when her illness became hopeless. Simḥa (briefly) rejoiced because no one had expected her to walk again. A porter carried her home in a basket. She then died at home despite their hopes for her recovery. Simḥa's wife–the daughter of Eliyyahu and Sitt Rayḥān—is now in a deep depression ("the world closed itself to her") and sees nobody except Sitt Rayḥān when she visits. Simha now begs her to visit again soon. See also T-S 18J4.10. Discussed in Goitein, Med Soc II, 251.

Letter from Alexandria relating to Jewish prisoners from Byzantium who were brought to Egyptian ports. Detailed summary in Mann, Jews, vol. 1, p. 91. Recto: part of a letter, c. 1030 CE, from Yeshuʿa ha-Kohen b. Yosef the judge, in Alexandria, to Efrayim he-Ḥaver in the Great Sanhedrin b. Shemarya, in Fusṭāṭ, seeking financial help for Shabbetay b. Netanʾel, a ransomed captive who wants to return to his native Byzantium via Jerusalem. Greetings are sent to Efrayim’s son-in-law, Yosef. Verso: address in Arabic script. Information from CUDL.

Letter in Ladino. (Information from CUDL). Line 25 on Verso mentions Jerusalem.

Note to Abū Saʿd b. Moshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Draft. Beginning only. Epressing the writer’s desire to see him. Followed by one line in Arabic script and by a short text (a midrash?) concerning circumcision. (Information from CUDL.) See also Goitein's note card.

Fragment of a roll containing part of a letter, a reply written by Abu Zikri, and a fragment in verse. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from the thirteenth century. An Alexandrian cantor named Berakhot writes to a physician and poet named Yedutun (Psalms 39:1) in Fustat. (This Yedutun may or may not be identical with the well known poet and cantor Yedutun ha-Levi from the same time period.) The two used to belong to a circle of friends. The letter reflects the activity of such a cycle of friends which counted cantors, physicians and Parnasim (welfare officials) among its members. (Information from Frenkel; see also Goitein, Med. Soc. vol. 5, pp.285-6)