Geniza Lab

Fragment from a letter with a lengthy Hebrew introduction. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: letter to ʿArūs b. Joseph concerning business matters, mentioning Abū Sulaymān Daʾūd b. Siḡmār. Verso: jottings of accounts in the hand of ʿArūs b. Joseph. (Information from CUDL)

Letter signed by Shelomo, to his father Eliyyahu the judge, asking him to purchase something for the writer and to reply quickly. The writer sends greetings to Simḥa (ha-Kohen b. Shelomo), Eliyyahu's son-in-law. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 16th century, based on the mention of Avraham Shānjī. Concerning business matters, mentioning the writer’s brother Shemuel, Alexandria and a certain Avraham, also sending greetings to Qamar, Yaʿaqov, Ṣedaqa, AVraham Aleman, Avraham Shānjī and others. (Information in part from CUDL)

Draft of a Hebrew letter from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi to a distinguished physician also named Moshe (but probably not Maimonides because Moshe b. Levi blesses his "sons" rather than "son"). The writer just spent a week in the household of Dr. Moshe, hoping to gain a livelihood of 10 dirhams a week, as he had been struggling to support himself during this drought. However, Moshe b. Levi became embarrassed by all the trouble Dr. Moshe went to on his behalf, so he ran away. He also complains that he could not find any water with which to wash his hands. He now writes this letter begging Dr. Moshe to judge him favorably and to continue bestowing his favor on him. He reminds Dr. Moshe that he still owes Moshe half of a dirham from the book sale for the three tractates (the other draft lists Yoma, Sukkah, and Beitzah) and half of a dirhamfor Sefer Kinyan. T-S Misc.28.140 is a more developed version of the letter, with opening blessings and a signature.

Part of Nissim Gaʾon’s Ḥibbur Yafe meha-Yeshuʿa. Recto corresponds to the text from p. 474, l.5 to p. 476, l.12 in Shraga Abramson’s edition. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from the office of one of the later Maimonidean Nagids. Request to Avraham to summon ʿAbd al-Karīm to the court (apparently he ignored the first order).

Business note in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th or 12th century. Mentions the arrival of the merchants and a request that the addressee write something in his handwriting in 'the maḥḍar' (court notebook?). The sender cites his illness ("were it not for my illness and the fact that I cannot move") to excuse himself for not coming in person. On verso there is a note in Arabic script about a sum of money owed. (Information in part from CUDL)

Recto: letter to the Nagid. Verso: rhymed poetry. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th or 12th century, based on handwriting. Apparently recounting a legal situation. Excerpts: "The qāḍī took from them the document of... Ṭāhir returned from his travels... his wife to the gate of the qāḍī, and she cried out and said... until we said to them, "O people, do not write [...]"... this female slave who died... [at the time that I wr]ite these words to our master..." (Information in part from CUDL)

Beginning of a letter from the judge Elijah b. Zechariah to Abū l-Faraj. (Information from CUDL)

Letter requesting that the recipient pay the bearer some money owed to two people, whose agent in this matter he is.

Recto: widely-spaced letter (3.5cm between lines) with only a few words preserved. Begins with ליקירנו ואהובנו ובעל בריתנו. Verso: address in a different hand, stating it is from ‘David [...] son of the Nasi’. Probably from the first half of the 11th century. (Information from CUDL)

Letter sent to a Nasi in Acre, 13th century. The writer is in straitened circumstances, having been attacked by camel drivers. He asks for help. The writer refers to a judge Peraḥya and someone called Yefet (perhaps Peraḥya b. Shemuʾel and Yefet b. Elijah, two officials known to have been based in Acre). A postscript in a different hand and ink refers to Moses ‘at the synagogue’ and Yeḥiʾel. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment of a letter from Yehuda b. Sahl, probably from Alexandria, to Yeshua b. Isma’il, Fustat. Around 1050. Some mentions of trading oil and crocus. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #722) VMR

Recto: Document in Arabic script, possibly a state administrative memorandum, possibly a letter. Verso: Letter concerning business matters in Judaeo-Arabic. Continues on recto. (Information from CUDL and from Marina Rustow)

Betrothal contract between Abraham ha-Kohen and Sitt al-Ḥasan bat Arye b. Judah. Arye is the ex-husband of Karima al-Wuḥsha and Sitt al-Ḥasan may be the daughter of Karima al-Wuḥsha, as Sitt al-Ahl bint Ibrahim (presumably the daughter of Abraham and Sitt al-Ḥasan) is described as the granddaughter of al-Wuḥsha (see T-S 13J1.21, dated 1150 CE). Dated Thursday 19th [month and year are lost], in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe (1104-1138 CE). (Information from CUDL)

Letter from a certain Ḥ[alfon] (?) to Shemarya b. David requesting an appointment as a religious functionary. Egypt, 1213 (?). He cannot work because of his weak vision. The handwriting resembles that of Moshe b. Levi (d. 1212), who may have written the letter on behalf of the petitioner—but this is speculative. ASE.

Informal note from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to his 'brother' Abū Isḥāq. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Early 13th century. The sender congratulates the addressee on deliverance from some kind of danger. He asks him to let him tag along (yatbaʿ athārahū) when he sets out to buy grapes from the vineyards (ghīṭān). On verso there is unrelated text in Arabic script. (Information in part from CUDL and from Goitein notes and index card linked below.)

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Addressed to Abū ʿAlī. The sender says that "all the doc[tors] prescribed [...] for me... and after that they prescribed me the iṭr[īfal]...." On verso, assuming this is still the same letter, he complains of his old age and frailty (or perhaps poverty). He expresses gratitude to the addressee.