Geniza Lab

Recto: fundraising letter from the leaders of the Jewish community in Hebron to the leaders of the Jewish community in Egypt (16th-17th century). Verso: jottings and the imprint of a seal in ink, bearing the name ‘Jacob [...]’. (Information from CUDL)

Letter in Ladino from Sidon from Joseph b. Joyya and Masʿūd Bunan to Abraham Monson and Judah Aseo in Cairo concerning community financial matters. Dated Nisan 5518 of the Era of Creation (= 1758 CE). Mentions Abraham del Bedere and Abraham Sagri. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: letter from Abraham Masʿūd, dealing with trade in silk and linen, and mentioning Elijah Saloniko (אליא שלונקו). Verso: accounts. (Information from CUDL)

Letter to the (male) writer’s paternal aunt, mentioning other relatives including Abū Manṣūr and Sitt al-Yumn, and cities such as Alexandria and Damascus. (Information from CUDL)

Letter in Judeo-Arabic to Sitt al-Nas bint Moses b. Josiah from a female cousin (both are also in-laws), the daughter of Joseph b. Josiah, asking her to live with her after the death of her husband. On verso is an Arabic love poem (in a different hand). (Information from CUDL and Cecilia Palombo)

Letter of a refugee from Acre, who lives in Alexandria and who is experiencing problems with the community there, to Yosef b. Yahya, Fustat. Approximately 1115.

Letter to Yaḥyā ha-Sar. In Judaeo-Arabic, with an elaborate opening in Hebrew. In the hand of one of the 13th-century Mosul Nasis? (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter in which Shelomo b. Semah, Ramla, describes the earthquake, probably to Efrayim b. Shemarya, or to the community of Fustat, December 1033. The letter details the terrible effects of the earthquake and its aftershocks on the inhabitants of Ramla and remarking on how many more would have died had the earthquake happened during the night. The initial earthquake is said to have taken place on Thursday, 12th Ṭevet (= December, 1033 CE). The reaction of the victims was to fast and cry out to God for mercy and the writer comments how the mercy of God was demonstrated in that there were survivors. The survivors are still living outside the city in difficult conditions. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Simḥa ha-Kohen (Alexandria) to his father-in-law Eliyyahu the Judge (Fustat), explaining a recent incident involving two cloaks worth 109 dirhams and a brush with the police. He congratulates Eliyyahu on the upcoming wedding of his son Abū l-Barakāt (=Shelomo). Simḥa has been unable to fulfill an obligation to Eliyyahu because his wife (Eliyyahu's daughter) has been sick for the last year, and he has been unable to travel. See also T-S 13J24.10.

Congratulation letter from Eli Ha-Kohen b. Ezekiel, Jerusalem, to Avraham Ha-Kohen b, Yiṣḥaq b. Furat, Cairo, approximately 1055.

Letter addressed to the Nagid Mevorakh about irregularities and inefficiency in the administration of the synagogue of the Iraqians in Fustat. The writer especially complains about the beadle of the synagogue. Dated ca. 1105. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 83, 85 and from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Jalal al-Dawla in the name of Jesse b. Shlomo to the Nasi (president) Shlomo b. Ishai, Fustat. January 10, 1254. The letter regarding a book that was found in Abu al-Fatah’s estate after his passing. Ishai declared that the book belongs to his uncle, the Nasi Yoshiyahu b. Ishai so it cannot be sold, but ha-Kohen Nafis al-Davla is interested in buying it for his son. They ask the addressee, which is in Damascus, for instructions what to do. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #101) VMR

Letter from Moshe b. Yiṣḥaq, a Jerusalemite Karaite, to the brothers Yiṣḥaq and Benjamin b. Yosef in Warjalan, July 1039.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Avraham b. Shelomo Ha-Paqid, Fustat, approximately 1050.

Recto: part of a letter, c. 1039 CE, written by Abraham b. David b. Siḡmār, on behalf of the Jerusalemite congregation in Fusṭāṭ, to the Nagid Yaʿaqov b. ʿAmram, in Qayrawān, concerning the conflict between the Gaʾon Shelomo b. Judah, and his rival Nathan b. Abraham, and asking the Nagid, who had previously petitioned the Muslim official Abū l-Qāsim Ibn al-Ukhuwwa on Nathan’s behalf, to show his renewed support for the legitimate Gaʾon, Shelomo. The writer also mentions the arrival in Fusṭāṭ of the Nasi Daniel b. ʿAzariah, grandson of the Exilarch Shelomo, and his efforts to reform the conduct of the Egyptian Jewish communities in respect of owning female slaves and enjoying secular music. Verso: Judaeo-Arabic letter. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Avraham, son of the Gaon, to David b. Aharon, Fustat, probably fall 1025. Avraham gives brief details of a recent visit to Damascus, explaining that he had already written to the recipient during the feast (probably of Tabernacles), but that the letter had been delayed due to local disturbances. He mentions the arrival of Ṣedaqa b. Menakhem, from Fustat, who praises the recipient for his kindness towards him. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Khalaf b. Yiṣḥaq in Aden to Avraham Ibn Yiju in India, probably from 1146. The letter contains much information on their commercial transactions. T-S 18J4 18 is the original letter written in the hand of Shemuel b. Moshe b. Eleazar. III, 13 and III, 14 are fragments from the same copy made from the original (III, 13 matches with lines 13-36 and III, 14 matches with lines 36-49). The copyist made a few corrections in the copying process without correcting the original. The other side of III, 13 was used by Ibn Yiju to copy a piyyut of Yiṣḥaq b. Giyat. In the other side of III, 14 Ibn Yiju wrote a business account (see III, 25). III, 13 = T-S NS J21 III, 14 = T-S 8.19

Letter, mainly about shipwrecked goods, from Khalaf b. Yiṣḥaq to Ibn Yiju, India, Aden, almost certainly 1146.

Letter by Shabbetay b. Avraham dayyan of Minya Zifta to Yehuda b. Elazar Kohen, complaining that Abu al-Makarim b. Abu al-Dimm, an outsider from Cairo, had opened with two partners a store of medical potions, thereby doing harm to the Jews. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, PP. 48, 67, 68, 533)

Letter from Shelomo b. Ḥayyim b. Shelomo to Avraham ha-Sar b. Natan ‘the Seventh’. Dating: Ca. 1100 CE. Information from CUDL. There is a rhymed Hebrew introduction (~10 lines) and a Judaeo-Arabic body (~6 lines plus margins). The bulk of the letter is taken up with good wishes for the addressee's recovery from an illness. It briefly touches on financial dealings, e.g., the writer has obtained nearly 4 dinars of the money owed to the addressee by Ibn Shuwayʿ. The writer twice sends regards to the Nagid Mevorakh, urging Avraham to tell him of Shelomo's "iftiqād" (preoccupation/solicitude, especially during illness) for him. ASE.