Geniza Lab

Letter mentioning Alexandria, ca. 15th-16th century. (Information from CUDL)

Letter, referring to a person who writes piyyuṭim. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from a man to his father. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 1238–52 CE, as it has to do with the removal of David I Maimonides from the post of Rayyis al-Yahūd (his tenure began in 1238, and he was reappointed in 1252 according to T-S 16.63). The sender reports on a circumcision that he performed on the 9th of Av for (the newborn son of) Mufaḍḍal al-ʿAnbarī, the paternal uncle of Muhadhdhab and Abū Saʿd al-ʿAnbarī. He then reports that the majlis of the Head of the Jews (=David I Maimonides) has been closed (the sender is on the side of David's opponents). R. Ḥananel has disappeared; some say that he went to Qūṣ, some say Alexandria, and some say he is hiding in Fustat. His son now gives public lectures on Shabbat and Monday and Thursday eves. "The ban of excommunication, the shofar, and the name of the Rayyis in the ketubba have all vanished from Fustat/Egypt." On Shabbat Devarim, the new Nasi, the brother of Shelomo, delivered the sermon. The same day, a decree was proclaimed, requiring Christians and Jews to wear a distinctive mark (ʿalāma and zunnār) under threat of life and forfeit of property. The sick son of Mardūk is improving; "the wife" is in her 7th month of pregnancy; the pressing (of grapes) has been much delayed this year. Information in part from CUDL and Goitein, "A Letter to Maimonides and New Sources regarding the Negidim of this Family" (Heb.), Tarbiz 34 (1965). ASE

Letter from Abū Saʿīd to his son. In Judaeo-Arabic. The son was ill. The letter concerns the forwarding of responsa. The writer is also in difficult straits. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter to a woman (possibly from her son in law, as it mentions her daughter), and the instruction to come quickly if she wants to come. Also refers to Syria, Fusṭāṭ and Alexandria, and complains about poverty and difficult economic circumstances. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter from an unidentified sender addressed at least in part to a woman. In Judaeo-Arabic. This is the second (or at any rate final) folio of what was originally a longer letter. Dating: ca. 13th century. This section opens with an expression of emotional distress (fa-yabqā qalbī marjūf). The wife of Surūr al-Qalyūbī has been harmed (? inḍarrat) because of the delay of the silk. The addressee should send it with the jailer (? al-sājin). Muʿammar spoke with the sender about something (a beverage?) this week, which amounted to 10 or more dirhams. "It can only be drunk in wine jugs (kīzān khamr), so lend me a dirham so that I can buy him jugs." The addressee should send a letter in Hebrew (or at least Hebrew script) to 'the rest of the community' conveying your thanks.' The addressee should send the knife (? al-sikkīna) and the tefillin, as the sender has injured his left arm "because of the throwing of the jug" (??). The sender asks the addressee and 'the mother' to pray for him. The addressee should thank Abū l-Makārim. Mentions Abū Zikrī and his brother-in-law, and regards to R. Simḥa and his wife. (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE

Fragment from a letter. (Information from CUDL)

Letter mentioning school fee. (Information from Goitein, Education in Muslim Countries, p. 106)

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions trouble with the government ('it would take too long to explain') and reporting the death of a female relative. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter in the hand of Avraham Maimonides (d. 1237) or his son David asking a cantor to arrange a collection in the synagogue on a Thursday morning for two chickens and bread for a poor, old, sick man. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 463, and from Amir Ashur; cf. T-S Misc.8.18, written in a similar hand and layout.) Dating: 13th century

Recto and verso: Begging letter from Baqāʾ the cantor to the Nagid David Maimonides, asking for support. In Judaeo-Arabic. Touching on various issues such as copying of books and composition of religious poetry, renting out of a house, and alimony. Mentions the sender's paternal aunt’s son Ismāʿīl. Join: Alan Elbaum.

Recto: letter from a father to his son. Verso: jottings in Hebrew and Arabic script, which includes names such as ‘the leader Abū l-Mufaḍḍal’. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Eliyyahu Ha-Kohen b. Shelomo Gaon to David Nasi b. Hizqiyyahu. Ca. mid-11th century.

Recto: short letter or note to Yosef ha-Sar the doctor. The writer had tried to visit Yosef several times but didn’t find him in and hasn’t heard from him. He has heard that Joseph is due to go traveling (spelled ללך). If he intends to travel to Shoresh (near Jerusalem), then the writer would like to go with him. Verso: three names are written, in the same hand: Yishay(?) Nostimos (? נושטימוש); Ḥananel Eliyya(?)ha-Kohen; and Yehuda S[…]n the elder. (Information in part from CUDL)

Recto: note in the hand of Shelomo b. Elijah to Abū Saʿīd, asking to be sent sums of money paid by Abū l-Ḥasan. Verso: list of month names, in Hebrew and Arabic. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Hilāl to his brother Abū l-Majd (aka Meʾir b. Yakhin). In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably early 13th century, as these figures are known from other documents from that time. Sent to Fusṭāṭ, to the caravanserai of al-Maḥallī, to be given to Abū Isḥāq b. Yaʿaqov, who will forward it to Abu l-Majd. Written by Abū l-Munā who also sends greetings. The writer sends condolences on the death of a child (ṭufayyil), with the description of the pain that an elderly female relative went through after hearing the news. "She remembered the grief for all who have passed away, and bore it on her heart, and she cries day and night on account of the preoccupation of your heart." Greetings are sent to and from various family members and to the teacher Yiṣḥaq. Also mentions a Ḥaver and Ibn Daʾūd, and that the silk the writer had sent arrived at Maḥāsin’s. (Information in part from CUDL.) Join by Oded Zinger. ASE.

Letter, top and bottom missing, referring to a dispute between Jews and Muslims, the synagogue, a certain Binyamin, and two physicians, one of them called Yosef. No bibliography; merits further examination. (Information from CUDL and from Marina Rustow)

Letter to Mishaʾel ha-Sar from Hiba Ibn Zaʿafrān, a poor inhabitant of Fusṭāṭ. Hiba asks for assistance paying the capitation tax, and has already been arrested and beaten for not paying it. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from a father and his family to his son, with holiday greetings to Abū l-Faraj, Khalaf, and his son. (Information from CUDL)

Letter to Abī Sālim (?) b. Efrayim and Yaḥyā b. Efrayim, replying to previous correspondence, explaining the writer’s bad situation and asking for support. In a crude hand. (Information from CUDL)