Geniza Lab

Introductory phrases of a letter and jottings written in a childish script. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter sent from Alexandria by Zikri b. Hananel to Arus b. Yosef in Fustat. It is a copy of a previous letter informing the recipient that the writer had already 'ascended' to al-Mahdiyya and was expecting to receive instructions as to whether or not he should carry the merchandise with him. Dated ca. 1080. (Information from Gil, and from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 313, 314)

Letter written by Efrayim b. Ishaq b. al-Zulafi in Sicily to Yaʿaqov in Alexandria concerning books. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter of appeal for charity from Yeḥezqel b. Ibrāhīm (the writer) and the former judge Moshe b. Shemarya to Abū ʿImran Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy, Segulat ha-Yeshiva. Moshe has gone blind from ophthalmia (ramad); his eye is white and he walks with a cane. Yehezqel is so infirm that he has not left his home for two years, even to attend synagogue services. They ask Mūsā to intervene on their behalf with the Nagid Sar ha-Sarim (Mevorakh b. Saadya), though they know that Mevorakh is busy with the “service of the rulers” (khidmat al-salāṭīn), see Rustow, Heresy, p. 339, and Cohen, Jewish Self-Government, p. 220. See also ENA 2805.5a, in which Natan b. Nahray informs Musa that as instructed he has given 1 dinar each to Moshe the Judge and Yeḥezqel the Alexandrian, who is sick and confined to his house. Dated after 1094. (Information in part from Goitein’s note cards) ASE

Letter from Ismail b. Yitzhak ha-Andalusi, Jerusalem, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1065. Blessings for the holiday. The writer asks to pass an attached letter to his mother and brother in Spain. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 3, pp. 285-287, #512) VMR

Letter from a father living in the countryside to his son's grandmother residing in Fustat. The father expresses his concerns that bad company is leading his son astray, for which he blames the grandmother. He urges her not to let his son leave the city before learning a craft. (Information and partial translation, Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 41, 516)

Letter from the office of Yehoshua Maimonides regarding a collection (jibaya), ordering that the addressee's 'wife' (bayt) and the wife of the beadle Sulayman collect from the women. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Yoshiyahu ha-Nasi to a dignitary whom he addresses as "Sar ha-Teʿuda" and "Nagid Erez Yisra'el ve-Yehuda." After a lengthy introduction, he reports that he has accomplished what was asked regarding the copy of the book, and he also asks the Nagid to go to the physician Abū l-ʿIzz and obtain a waṣiyya (advice? prescription?). There are some faded sections. ASE.

Letter from a certain Yosef, in Alexandria, to his brother, an India trader. Mentions people including Avraham al-Miṣrī, Abū l-Maʿānī, Abū l-Surūr, Ibn Khalaf and Ibn al-Ḍarūra. The writer conveys a great deal of concern for the addressee and writes, "if I were not worried about falling ill or wounding the heart of the old man, I would have sworn to fast in the daytime until I saw your face again." ASE.

Letter from an unknown parent to his or her son Manṣūr b. Faraj, in Fusṭāṭ. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer asks a female family member in the house, probably the writer’s wife, to cut short her visit and come back as soon as possible because the writer is all alone at home, and money is short, and "it is the season" (of diseases?). A wall has collapsed there and as a result the other inhabitants left and went to Minyat Zifta, Egypt. (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE.

Letter from Manṣūr b. Sālim to his son Abū Najm residing abroad. The father conveys a strong message to his son to return to God and stop acting in a manner pleasing only to 'fools and people of little religiosity.' He also urges him to travel only with a caravan or on a merchant's itinerary. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Late. Currencies: ashrafī. Mentioning various business matters and people including Judah and David Naḥmias and Ibn Hānī. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter from an uncle to his niece containing a last warning to the woman to return to her husband. Letter in which the husband and the paternal uncle Abū l-Faraj try to persuade the addressee, a woman in the city, to join her husband in a small countryside town. The letter includes some threats—such as the wife being left as an abandoned woman if she disobeys—and instructions on how she should go about the move. Mentions Abū l-Ḥajjāj Ibn al-Ṭabīb (son of the doctor) and ‘the judge’ (possibly Elijah b. Zechariah, as handwriting looks similar to Solomon b. Elijah, who may have acted as a scribe). C. 13th century. (Information from CUDL.)

Business letter from Farah b. Yosef in Alexandria to Yehuda b. Menashshe in Fustat concerning the delivery of goods, namely items of silver, olive oil, cheese, almonds and saffron sent from Ifrīqiya to Sicily. The writer mentions some hardship in Sicily. (Information from Ben-Sasson, Yehudei sitziliya)

Letter from a nightwatchman (?) to a dignitary requesting help. He is still owed 1 1/4 dinar from the year that ended and is afraid the coming year will be the same. Abu'l-Muna' had written to the addressee in the past on behalf of the writer. He says: 'I was unable to face writing to you...' (Information from Goitein index cards)

Draft of an appointment deed to Yeshua b. Yosef to a public role. The handwriting is that of Yeshua. According to the biography of Yeshua, the letter can be dated to the fifties of the Eleventh Century (see Frenkel, p. 54). (Information from Frenkel).

Business letter in Arabic script from Hilāl b. Ibrāhīm to his father, Abū Isḥaq Ibrāhīm b. Hillel; mentions the mother's illness. Verso: accounts in the hand of ʿArūs b. Yosef, and address of the letter on recto.

Letter from Yaʿaqov ha-Kohen b. Isaiah to Yiṣḥaq 'Hemdat ha-Yeshiva.' (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Business letter to Abu Yusuf containing information and instructions concerning various items. The letter also mentions a shipment of goods and may refer to trade with Europe. (Information from Gointein's index cards)

Letter sent in response to a message from the addressee, with well-wishes. The sender mentions the consummation of someone's marriage.