Geniza Lab

Family letter sent to New Cairo. Mainly in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 14th–15th century if not later. Starting with biblical quotations and containing greetings to various people, probably relatives of the sender.

Letter sent from Qayrawan by Yosef b. Labrat al-Fasi to Yaʿaqov b. Yosef b. Awkal in Fustat, inquiring about merchandise sent to the Maghreb and mentioning Yaʿaqov b. Nissim ibn Shahin and a manuscript ordered by Ibn Awkal. (Information from Gil)

Letter fragment. In Hebrew. Dating: end of the 10th or beginning of the 11th century. From Yosef b. Yiṣḥaq Ibn Abitur, in Spain (either Merida or Cordoba), probably to Shemarya b. Elḥanan, in Fustat. Greetings are sent on behalf of the writer’s sons Isaac and Mordechai, seeking the support of the recipient. Mentions Khalfa b. Taḥkemon. (Information from CUDL; see also Goitein's index card.)

Letter from Abū l-Ḥayy b. Avraham, in Ifrīqiyya, to his uncle, Moshe b. Abī l-Ḥayy, in Alexandria. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Mid-11th century. A moving letter, describing two sieges (on Qayrawān?) by the Hijazis (the Hilal Bedouins) and further threats of persecution of the Jews. The addressee's brother is very sick. He started to improve, but is now deteriorating from 'the constriction of his akhlāq' (meaning uncertain, but see tag) and from the pain. The writer does not seem to expect him to live long ("may God unite the two of you before he leaves this world"). (Information in part from Med Soc II, 283, 588, and from Goitein's index cards.) ASE

Letter from Abūn b. Ṣadaqa al-Maghribī, in Jerusalem, to Abū Zakariyyā Ḥayyim b. ʿAmmār b. Madīnī ("Palermitan"), in Fustat. Dating: ca. March 1055 CE, according to Gil. Abūn first consoles Ḥayyim on the death of a son, and he then vehemently refutes allegations against his integrity (charges of debts to the government and the office of the inheritance up to 1000 dinars). He curses his enemies with ṣaraʿat, the biblical disease akin to leprosy, citing a rabbinic dictum: "Anyone who suspects an innocent man is afflicted in his body." Abūn wrote this letter in "bitterness of spirit." He excuses Ḥayyim's bad behavior, as he knows he Ḥayyim is not himself due to his grief; "The afflictions of Fate change one's akhlāq, especially such a disaster as that which afflicted your heart." Abūn complains that Nahray b. Nissim has received his letters but does not respond. Information in part from Goitein's note card. ASE.

Letter from Nissim b. Ḥalfon, in Tinnīs, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: August 20, 1046. The writer describes his difficulties. He almost did not collect the debt from al-Ḥarīrī (the silk merchant) in Damsīs. Selling linen was hard because a better product arrived from the Levant (Ashqelon and Arṣūf (and?) Tyre). Selling Nahray's silk was hard, as wel,l because of the superior silk the ghulām of Ibn Abī l-Zaffāt brought from Spain. It was likewise hard to sell lacquer. When he arrived back home, he found his son and daughter ill with smallpox. "When I arrive{d} I found the little one ill (ḍaʿīf). He became affected by smallpox (itjaddara), he and his sister, and people are preoccupied about him (wa-huwa taḥta shughl). May God grant relief in His mercy." Gil reads instead "itjaddada," which would simply mean that the illness was renewed and there was no smallpox. But perhaps this is less likely, because the letter does not describe any prior reprieve from the illness, and because the subject of the verb is "he and his sister," not the illness. Information in part from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #583 and Goitein's note card (#27119). VMR. ASE.

Letter sent by Ṭoviya b. ʿEli ha-Kohen, writing from the countryside to his cousin, the judge Natan b. Shelomo ha-Kohen. Dating: 1122–50, based on the dated documents of the addressee. In a mix of Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew, the latter used especially for sensitive topics. The letter describes the pillage (nahb), famine, and the persecution of the Jews it entailed and describing many other public and private issues. On verso, Ṭoviya gives a brief update on his wife's condition: she is emerging from her illness (mysterious attacks of chills and burning sensations, see T-S 12.234 and Bodl. MS heb. d.66/141), but she cannot tolerate being near fire or in the kitchen. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 106, 524.) ASE.

Beginning of the taqqanah (ordinance) of al-Mahalla, continued in T-S 16.135. See there for fuller description. Ed. Blau, Teshuvot ha-Rambam, vol. 2, 516-518.

Letter sent from al-Ahwaz by Efrayim b. Sa'id to the three senior Tustari brothers, Abu Nasr Sahl, Abu Ya'qub Yosef and Abu Sahl, in Fustat, listing textiles sent from Iran and ordering others from Egypt. Dated March 4, 1026. (Information from Gil, and from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 164)

Letter from Abū l-Faḍl and his mother, perhaps in Fustat, to his father Abū Naṣr, in Asyūṭ. In Judaeo-Arabic. Much of the letter is in the voice of the mother, though Abū l-Faḍl is presumably taking dictation. The letter complains about the hardship of the family after the father/husband had fled to Asyūṭ in Upper Egypt and left them without support. There is no one who can buy even a pound of meat for the children. A certain woman is still sick (right margin, ll. 3–4). It seems that Abū Naṣr had deposited some gold with a certain Abū l-Faḍl (a different person than the son who wrote this letter) in Alexandria "for the orphan girl." But the family has heard no news of this gold and fears it is lost, because Abū l-Faḍl's wife has died and Abū l-Faḍl himself is very sick (ʿalā khuṭṭa) (last lines of right margin, continuing into the upper margin). (Information in part from CUDL and Med Soc, IV, pp. 245, 439, 440; V, pp. 88, 89.) ASE

Letter in Ladino by Abraham Palieche to his sister, dated Elul 5324 (1564 CE). He is in Egypt/Cairo and wants her to come to meet him with the first ship to Alexandria. (Information from CUDL.) He begins by informing her that he is in Misrayim, i. e. Cairo: "Esta sera fazer vos saber komo esto aka en Misrayim. Ke por korer tanto la mi fortuna despues ke de vos me aparte . . . ." He then informs her of his wish to be reunited with her: ". . . kiera el shem itbarakh ke de aki adelante sea akabada la fortuna . . . ." He tells her to board: "la primera nave i veni vos por aki ke el shem itbarakh nos apiadara aki." He assures her that they will manage to subsist: "aki estaremos ganando . . . vos por vuestra parte y yo por la mia," pointing to a certain economic independence on the sister's part. After having thus solved any possible objections he turns to tell her what she is to bring with her: "esa tabla buena aki traeres una vasia para mi eskritura." If she does not understand she is not to worry: "vuestro hermano R. Ishaq YSU el vos enkaminara en todo esto y mira lo ke fazes no vos partais sin dinero . . . ." He ends by sending his "enkomiendas a vuestro hermano y su mujer a mi nina la bezares de mi parte el ke desea vervos mas ke eskrivirvos." He then adds a long postscript again telling her what to bring. On the journey she is to take a companion if she so wishes: "no receles de tomar algun hombre nekhbad o mujer . . . lo ke avreis menester tomares y abasares en Alexandria ke luego abasara vuestra hermana." From Eleazar Gutwirth, "The Family in Judeo-Spanish Genizah Letters," 212.

Letter from the brothers Shelomo Cesana, Ḥayyim Cesana, and Avraham Cesana to Merkado Karo and Avraham ha-Levi. Dated: 4 Shevaṭ 5566 AM, which is 23 January 1806 CE. Mentions numerous business partners, including the relatively well-known Daniel Mondolfo ha-Levi. (Information in part from CUDL and Khan's edition.)

Letter from the future Gaon Daniel b. ʿAzarya, in al-Mahdiyya, to the leader of the Babylonian community Sahlān b. Ibrāhīm (aka Abū ʿAmr Sahlān b. Barhūn), in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. Dating: Tuesday, 11 Tishrei, probably October 1038 CE (according to both Gil and Goitein). The letter congratulates Sahlān on his marriage, which we know to have taken place on 9 September 1037 CE, from his ketubba (T-S 20.6). The letter also discusses difficulties experienced by the Babylonian/Iraqi congregation of Fustat that were resolved with the intervention of Abū Naṣr Ḥesed al-Tustarī (ll. 13 and 16). Daniel is working on these matters together with the Rosh ha-Gola, at present in the Maghrib, and with the Nagid of Qayrawān (Yaʿaqov b. ʿAmram or Shemuel ha-Sefaradi). The Arabic-script address on verso references Sahlān’s late father Ibrāhīm b. Sahlān (d. ca. 1031), previously the head of the Iraqi community of Fustat, and refers to him as “Barhūn.” The letter briefly mentions Sahlān's deliverance from an illness, but this part of the letter is too damaged to discern any more information (l. 8). (Information from Gil and from S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:511; 3:118, 451.) EMS. NB: As of 01/2022, the PGP transcription is missing all of the text in the margins and on verso.

Fragment of a letter from Sharira Gaon. Around 970. The content is similar to his letters in T-S 28.24 and T-S 10 J1, in which he asks for communities’ support in his Yeshiva (Pumbedita). (Gil, Kingdom, vol. 2, Doc. #25) VMR

Letter from Ḥalfon b. Menashshe to Avraham b. Bundār. Location: Fustat. Dating: Early 12th century. Ornate thank you letter and narrative in which Ḥalfon b. Menashshe expresses gratitude for the wealthy Adeni merchants Avraham b. Bundar and the "Leader of the Congregations (either Ḥasan b. Bundar or his son Bundar II) who saved him from the debts that confronted him when he emerged from his life-threatening illness (r31–v2). "Ḥalfon was inflicted by a dangerous and protracted illness, and hopes for his recovery had already been lost. He did recover, but despite the helpfulness of the community and the devoted care of the physicians, he was forced to sell everything in the house, including his Sabbath clothing, and to incur debts to the amount of 12 dinars." Partial trans. Goitein and Friedman, India Traders, p. 44, and summarized in detail 306f.

Letter from Yoshiyyahu Gaon, probably 1024

Letter from Ya’aqov b. Nahum b. Hakhmon, from Tripoli (Libya), to Nahray b. Nissim, Alexandria. Around 1060. The letter contains details about goods that arrived from Fustat. It is hard to unload them because there are goods on top of them. The writer mentions the prices of several goods and selling goods that Nahray sent to Tripoli. He asks Nahray to send the flax he bought for him through Sicily if there is no ship that sails from Alexandria to Tripoli. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #691) VMR

Letter from Yosef b. Mūsā al-Tāharti, from Mahdiyya, written on New Year's eve to Nahray b. Nissīm, Fustat. Probably September 6, 1062. Mercantile letter regarding the shipments of goods and amounts of money that are about to be sent to Egypt, mostly flax. Mentions “the orphans of Jerusalem” for whom Yosef sends his daughter’s used cloths and a shipment towards Sfax. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #369) VMR, YU.

Letter from Avraham, son of the Gaon, to Sahlan b. Avraham, approximately 1029.

Letter from Abū Saʿīd, in Palermo, to his brother Abū l-Barakāt known as Ṭāriq, in Fustat. Abū Saʿīd reports that he had fled the unrest in Ifrīqiyya and traveled to Palermo. Prior to departing Ifrīqiyya, it seems, Abū Saʿīd's wife and two sons were sick for four months, and his 1-year-old son died. It seems that Abu Saʿid had to pay 50 Murābiṭī dinars due to the medical care and due to the delay in travel plans. The sea voyage was also ill-fated. The travelers were shipwrecked by a storm on an island known as Ghumūr, where they stayed for 20 days, living on wild nettles. "We hardly resembled human beings." They set off again from the island in four boats, of which only the writer's boat survived, which reached Palermo after another 35 days at sea. "By these letters, for our first month in Palermo we couldn't eat bread or understand what was said to us, due to what happened to us at sea." With understatement, "This is why I did not join you in Egypt this year." Abū Saʿīd adds that he has not heard from Abū l-Barakāt in three years, and though he would like to relocate to Egypt, he hesitates because he does not even know if Abū l-Barakāt is still alive. Abū Saʿīd suggests, alternatively, that Abū l-Barakāt join him in Sicily. Dating: Ca. 1060, based on the reference to Murābiṭī dinars. Information from Gil. ASE.