Geniza Lab

Letter from Nissim b. Ḥalfon, probably from Tinnīs, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Dating: Probably from November 17, 1046. The letter contains personal information: the destruction of the writer’s house and his illness. Mentions Sahlān b. Avraham. Also mentions shipments of money and goods: honey, crocus, linen, linen fabrics, and “lāsīn” silk. The illness passage (v12–16) reads as follows: "My lord, I have a great pain (wajaʿ) in my thigh (bi-fakhdhī), and I lack the strength (ʿayītu). . . a medicine for me to drink (dawā' nashrabuhu). I went (wajjahtu) {to} the doctor, but it/he was of no avail. When I go to the bazaar, I am forced to sit on the road five times and more. I have ceased all my work. May God have mercy on me." The translations of Goitein and Gil diverge significantly. Goitein reads "bi-kabdī" (in my liver) and Gil reads "bi-fikrī" (in my estimation) instead of "bi-fakhdhī." Both read "mayyit" (incurable, fatal) instead of ʿayītu, but as the next word is almost illegible, the only way to decide between the two readings is via comparing it with Nissim's other מs and עs. Goitein reads "wajba" instead of "wajjahtu" and understands it as "the prescription of the doctor." Goitein suggests that he is "sitting on his heels" five times or more in order to urinate, whereas Gil remains agnostic about why he has to sit down. Perhaps it is simply to rest. Information from Goitein's note card (#27131), and Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #585. VMR. ASE.

Letter written by Saadya to Shemuel the Nagid conveying information about flax and other items kept in store at the request of the addressee. This information was probably needed for an inheritance case. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Incomplete letter to a physician asking him to intervene with the Nagid concerning a complaint about a teacher from Tiberias who is accused of influencing several pupils' mothers to transfer their boys from the school of the plaintiff to his own. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 187 and 559, and from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Ayash b. Sdaka, from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. August 4, 1045. Ayash writes about the ships movement from Mahdiyya and Sicily, and about trades with the Tustaris and with Muslims. Also mentions that Yosef b. Musa al-Tahirti is about to travel to Spain by ship. )Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #476) VMR

Letter from Labrat b. Yitzhak from Qayrawan, to Yosef b. Danash, Fustat, in the handwriting of Nissim b. Yitzhak b. Alsahl. Both the sender and the addressee are probably from Fez, and have business with the Maghreb and Egypt. Labrat might be Nissim’s brother. The writer asks the addressee to send money that he owes another merchant, Avraham b. Barukh, which is waiting for the money before he can return to Spain. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #228) VMR

Letter from Mūsā b. Iṣḥaq b. Nissim al-ʿĀbid (al-Mahdiya) to Avraham b. Daʾūd al-Raḥbī (Fustat), ca. 1030. The writer supplies goods from the Maghreb, including oil olive, fruit jam, spices, etc. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 683.) Contains a list of prices of local goods: pepper, laque, spices, sugar, precious stones and pearls. Letter written in the evening after the fast of the day of Atonement. (Informations from Goitein index cards linked below).

Letter from Efrayim b. Maymun, probably from Qayrawan, to Ishaq b. Eli al-majani, probably from Mahdiyya. 1039. The writer asks the addressee to write him letters. Also mentions the disagreement he has with Yosef b. Farah b. Avraham Alfasi. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #639) VMR

Letter from Harun b. Yosef al-Ghazzal, Qayrawan, to Yosef b. 'Awkal.

Letter from Nissim b. Yitzhak b. al-Sahl to Avraham b. David. From 999. It seems that the two have an argument about sending dinars. The writer apologizes and asks to move on with their business, because of the friendship that was between their families in the previous generation. Seems like they are from Fez. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #225) VMR

Letter from Elḥanan b. [...] (or Ṣāliḥ b. Barhūn Taherti according to CUDL?) to Mūsā and Isḥāq b. Barhūn Taherti, concerned with business matters. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th century. On parchment. Gives instructions about a construction project. Mentions people including Abū Isḥāq Ibn al-Waqqāf(?), Abū l-Dhahab, Abū Saʿīd, Ibn Ḥasan, Khulayf b. [...], Yaʿaqov, Sitt al-Kull, and Daniel the teacher. (Information from CUDL and Goitein's attached notes.)

Letter from Yisrael b. Natan, probably from Qayrawan. Around 1040. The addressee in unknown, maybe it is Israel’s brother – Nahray, or another younger relative. The addressee traveled to Fustat and has difficulties to adapt so he considers going back to Qayrawan. At the same time, one of his daughters considers coming from Qayrawan to see him in Egypt. Israel writes that if he decides to come to the Maghreb he will have to decide to stay there. Also mentions Israel’s brother in-law or son in-law, which took from Yisrael a Mishna book and 1,000 dirhams and traveled to Israel. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #407) VMR

Fragment of a letter from Musa b. Ishaq ha-Safakusi, probably from Mazar, to Yehuda b. Moshe b. Sugmar. Summer 1059. Contains orders. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #746) VMR

Letter from Isma'il b. Yosef b. Abī 'Aqaba, Palermo, to his maternal uncle Yosef b. 'Awkal and to his brothers. (PGP) Fragment of a letter from the brothers Yosef and Nissim, sons of Berekhya, in Qayrawān, to Yosef b. Yaʿqub Ibn ʿAwkal in Fustat, ca. 1015-1017 CE. Similar letters are found at T-S 13J29.9, T-S 16.42, T-S 16.64, T-S NS J388, and Mosseri IV.10. (Information from CUDL.)

Fragmentary resolution of a community in provincial Egypt, dealing with the relations with Muslim authorities, Sivan 1519/May 1208.

Public letter in Arabic script. An appeal to the community, to be read in the synagogue, against a certain 'Rayyis' who had let to one Ibn al-Maṣmūdī, a Muslim, a newly acquired house behind the Iraqi synagogue, which was adjacent to the secret doorway through which 'the wives of the Jews and their daughters' ascended. See Med Soc II, 293 note 12 and V, ch. X, B, 1, note 47. Goitein's translation: "O ye Jews! How can you face God?! You allow the Rayyis to let Ibn al-Maṣmūdī live in the recently bought house behind the synagogue of the Iraqians, which is adjoining the secret doorway through which the wives of the Jews and their daughters ascend (to the women's gallery). May God burn the house of the man who lets him live there and does not avert this predicament. O ye Jews! You are inflicting disgrace upon your womenfolk by Ibn al-Maṣmūdī. How can you face God?! If you want to let him live there, or if this is the wish of the Rayyis, shut the secret doorway up, so that no one can get through it. God will summon the man who does such a thing to the public. Where is your self-respect?! Your sense of honor has obviously gone altogether. And peace!"

Letter from Natan b. Avraham, Ramla, to Netanel b. Rawḥ, Fustat, July 1039.

Letter written on behalf of and signed by the Gaʾon Sar Shalom b. Moshe ha-Levi ("Head of the Yeshiva of Ereṣ ha-Ṣevi"). In Hebrew. Dating: Probably 1170–71 or 1173–95 (during Sar Shalom's tenures as Head of the Jews). Addressed to a dignitary named Moshe b. Ḥalfon ha-Kohen ("Chief of the Priests"). Sending greetings and asking that the addressee send him a prayer shawl. The addressee is in the habit of doing this whenever he returns safely from a commercial journey. (Information from CUDL.)

Copies of formularies for letters, by the head of the Babylonian academy (probably Saʿadya Gaʾon), who is residing in Baghdad. Contents include letters of greetings and thanks, a letter of condolence, a request for funds and instructions to send questions to the academy, and a detailed defence of the Rabbinic tradition against the Karaites. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from the ḥaver ʿEli b. ʿAmram to the physician Avraham b. Furāt ha-Kohen. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 1151–62 CE, as Daniel b. ʿAzarya is invoked as gaʾon. ʿEli opens with a long rhymed poem in honor of the addressee, then goes on to complain about his loneliness and apologize for not being able to come to the addressee in person, as he is unable to leave his office (dukkān) unattended and nobody can take his place. Mann originally published this letter and interpreted dukkān as "shop"; Goitein pointed out that it can also mean the office of a communal leader.

Fragment of a letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya, approximately 1040.