Geniza Lab

Letter from Eli Ha-Mumhe b. Avraham, Jerusalem, to Efrayim He-Ḥaver b. Shemarya, Fustat, approximately 1045.

Recto: "The remainder of an epistle to an important dignitary. The first four lines preserved are in verse but the metre is very faulty. . . The person thus eulogized was evidently a Levite and was influential at the court" (Mann). The writer prays that he will find favor in the eyes of the king, the deputy, the ladies of the court, the eunuchs, the ministers, the nobles, and all who see him. Verso: Targum of Samuel.

Letter from Ṣedaqa b. Aharon (?) the druggist to Abū Saʿīd the druggist, ordering materia medica, including, fine Iraqi saffron; aloe wood (ʿūd); aged camphor (kāfūr); Iraqi turpeth (turbid); Iraqi sulfur (kibrīt); and something Hamadānī (?). He adds a recommendation for the bearer ('from a good family') in a postscript. ASE.

Letter from Shelomo, a ritual slaughterer in al-Maḥalla, to the judge Zakkay (probably the father of Shelomo b. Zakkay who was active in the period of Maimonides). The sender feared losing his job for having only memorized a handbook on his profession, instead of studying the sources, when a new judge, Menaḥem, arrived in al-Maḥalla. Verso is covered with various jottings, including the possible date of arrival of the letter: 12 Ḥeshvan 1462 Seleucid, which is 3 October 1150 CE. (Information from Goitein’s index card and Friedman's article on Zuta, pp. 484–85.)

Letter from Ḥalfon b. Netanʾel ha-Levi, in Alexandria, to Yiṣḥaq Ibn ʿEzra, in Spain. In Judaeo-Arabic. The letter deals with the death of Ḥalfon's brother and other notables and the series of disasters that struck Ḥalfon and the community. Dating: probably January 1140 CE (though Goitein originally believed it to be 1129 CE, he later revised his dating and Friedman agrees). (Information from Goitein and Friedman, India Book IV.) Goitein summarizes the letters as follows: "A perfect picture of the influence of emotions on physical and mental health is found in the long letter written by the noble India trader Ḥalfon b. Netanel nine months after his return to Egypt from a long sojourn in Spain. As expected from a man like him, he dedicates the first twenty lines to the praise of his gracious and learned hosts, whom he so greatly missed. Then he goes on to bemoan one after another the disasters that disturbed his mind: civil war, anarchy, the high cost of living in Egypt, the death of the Head of the Jerusalem Academy (which then had its seat in Cairo) and of several luminaries of the Jewish spiritual and social upper crust; hardly had the months of mourning for those passed when Halfon's misfortune was topped by the demise of his eldest brother, who was the president of the Jewish High Court of Justice. He found himself unable to act, even to supervise the unloading of his goods, and let the perishables rot. During his long stay in Alexandria his body and soul never enjoyed full health, but he was also unable to bring himself to go up to Cairo: how could he visit the place vacated by his brother? Family and friends came down to Alexandria to induce him to return home, but he did not find in himself nahḍa, energy, to do so. For this reason, he was also not in a position to send to his friends in Spain (mostly physicians) the pharmaceutical plants promised, for these were to be had only in the capital (the terminal of the India trade), not in the Mediterranean port. Nor for the time being was he in a frame of mind to continue writing the learned discussions that were started during his sojourn in Spain. He concludes with a refined twist; he really did not want to send this letter but he was overcome by yearning for his Spanish friends, and asks them, considering his state of mind, to overlook his shortcomings in style and script (in that order)." (Goitein, Med Soc V, pp. 243–44.)

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim (Misr) to Abu Ishaq Barhūn b. Salih at-Tahirti (Busir).

Letter from Musa b. Abi al-Hayy, from Alexandria, to Yosef b. Musa al-Tahirti. Around 1045. The situation in Alexandria is very complicated. The writer mentions details about shipments of goods. Contains a copy of a receipt for goods that Alal b. Nahray b. Natan sent to Fustat. Mentions details about the process of weaving and bleaching linen. )Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #458) VMR

Fragment of a letter from an imprisoned government official. 12th century.

Letter from Eli Ha-Kohen B. Ezekiel, Jerusalem, to two persons in Ramla.

India Book I, 17: Letter from Yehuda Ibn Sighmar, at Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, at Fustat, from the year 1097. The letter contains three parts: First, blessings over Nahray's recovery from illness. Second, a survey of the dealings between Yehuda and Nahray, the details of which remain unclear. Third, the lawsuit of Moshe b. Labrat, the nephew of Yehuda, against Yosef Lebdi. Yehuda, the writer of the letter, was the intended recipient of the gift that Moshe b. Labrat sent with Lebdi from the west. It is clear that this letter was written before the first court session was held.

Letter preceded by a Hebrew poem consisting of three verses, from Shemuel b. Moshe to Abū al-Ḥajjāj Yūsuf Yehosef (Manbij), the tax-farmer of the local market and judge of the Jews, who is also addressed as head of the congregation (rosh ha-qahal). The writer asks whether the addressee and the community still cling to their resolution or have changed their mind – which was nothing to be ashamed of. Includes many greetings. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below and Goitein, MedSoc, Vol. 2, p. 75.)

Letter from a son to his father; same writer and addressee as T-S 10J7.3 and T-S 13J21.13 and T-S 13J21.14. He reports that Abū Isḥāq has recovered from an illness; that he has sent several garments; mentions Abū l-Ḥasan and Abū l-Faraj; mentions potash (ushnān) in the upper margin; and mentions Sitt Abū l-Ḥusayn in the closing greetings. ASE.

Letter from Natan b. Nahray, from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Probably 1063. Natan wrote the letter 10 days before Passover. The writer is upset because a deal (probably for spices and beads) did not go as expected. He blames Abu Zikri b. Menashshe. Also mentions a matter of inheritance in the Tahirti family. The writer’s son was sick and his sight was impaired. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #426) VMR

Letter from Eli Ha-Kohen b. Ezekiel to Eli Ha-Kohen b. Hayyim, Fustat, ca. 1060

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Avraham Ha-Kohen b. Hagay, Fustat.

Business letter from the North African merchant Benāya b. Mūsā (Alexandria) to Shelomo b. Mevorakh (Fustat), containing inter alia information about the movement of ships and referring to several India traders. Benāya b. Mūsā asks his correspondent to intercede on his behalf with head of the Jews Mevorakh b. Saʿadya, seeking the latter’s assistance in arbitrating a dispute to which the merchant’s son was a party. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below and Cohen, Jewish Self-Government, pp. 238n96 and 250-251.)

Letter from Yaʿaqov the physician, possibly in Granada, to Ḥalfon b. Netanel, in Almeria. Dating: 1138–39 CE. Same sender as T-S 13J17.22. The sender says that he assuages his longing for Ḥalfon by singing his praises in private and in public. This letter is primarily a recommendation for the poet Abū Ayyūb b. Sahl. Apparently the three men—Ḥalfon, Yaʿaqov, and Abū Ayyūb—had all been traveling companions until they parted ways in Almeria. After Abū Ayyūb returned to his hometown, he composed a panegyric for Ḥalfon. It was originally attached to this letter but has not survived (or at least not been found). Greetings to Yosef Ibn ʿEzra and Avraham b. Muʿṭī of Tilimsān. (Information from Goitein and Friedman, India Book IV; Hebrew description below.)

Letter from Avraham b. Abū l-Ḥayy, in Alexandria, to his brother Musa, probably in Fustat. Dating: Ca. 1075 CE. 10th of Elul, a few weeks after the death of the writer's father. Avraham writes that Abū l-Ḥayy died after his ~6-month illness. Avraham writes that his expenses amounted to 25 dinars. He had to give his turban as collateral; and he still owes 32 dirhams to various parties (r12–14). Avraham complains to Mūsā that ʿAllūn, who was in charge of the money of the family, refused to disburse any money without word from Mūsā, and then covered only a small part of the expenditure after Abū l-Najm Hilāl had intervened in the writer's favor. Avraham needs more money to pay the debts and expenses. Information from Gil, Kingdom, III, p. 574. ASE.

Letter from Yaʿaqov b. Aharon ha-Kohen to Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAllān b. Yaʿīsh ha-Kohen, a parnas. It is a letter of recommendation for the conjuncturally poor bearer (min ahl al-satr) who is worthier than others to receive charity because of the depradations of time. The writer also sends regards to the addressee's son Abū Kathīr, also a parnas. ASE.

Extremely polite business letter dealing with a consignment caraway dispatched from Fustat. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 340, and from Goitein's index cards)