Geniza Lab

Letter from Abu Zikri the physician (in Jerusalem?) to his father Eliyyahu the judge in Fustat. Abu Zikri is terribly worried that he will die before seeing his father again, and he begs his father to forgive his offenses. He has sent many letters already with the same purpose. Apart from a hidden illness that he cannot divulge in a letter lest it fall into the hands of his enemies, he suffers from a weak liver, an enlarged spleen, indigestion, lack of appetite, and fatigue with the smallest exertion. He only goes to the market once or twice a week to obtain necessaries, and even that is with difficulty. ASE.

Calligraphic letter sent by a young cantor to his brother. The sender was away from home successfully seeking an appointment in another town and expresses genuine love for his little girl he calls Sitt al-Bayt. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 229)

Letter from Fustat to Sadoq Ha-Levi b. Levi, head of the Palestinian yeshiva. Ca. 1030

Letter from Avraham b. Ḥabīb, in Alexandria, to Abū Zikrī Kohen, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Goitein's attached notes include discussions of how this letter was likely copied by a scribe (an unskilled and careless scribe, in his view). The letter opens with congratulations on the engagement of Abū Zikrī’s son, blessings for a successful wedding, and a request for confirmation of this happy news. It continues with the news that a Byzantine (Rūmī) ship arrived from al-Mahdiyya. The sender reports that all is well with the ship of Nājī. There is no news from the Maghrib except that Ibn Maymūn set out with 17 ships in the great wilderness(? maybe בר is an error for בחר, and this simply means Mediterranean). He hopes that the government's ships will arrive soon. He learned that the Byzantines plundered large sums of money from the Jewish traders when they arrived in Sicily. The victims who made it to Alexandria wish to receive a letter (or document? kitāb) from 'sayyidnā al-qāḍī' and go up with it to Cairo (seeking redress against the Byzantines?). See Goitein's attached notes for transcription and further discussion.

Letter from Ya’qūb b. Ismāʿīl al-Andalusī, Sicily, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1065. Mentions cinnamon, silk and linen; Abū l-Surūr b. Avraham Ibn Sighmar; the ship of Abū Abdallāh (Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ); the demand for Byzantine coins; and the passing of the Jewish judge of Palermo Maṣliaḥ b. Eliyyahu. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #576) VMR

Letter from Moshe b. Yefet/Ḥasan to the ḥaver ʿEli b. ʿAmram. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Reporting that Mufarrij b. Ḥusayn b. Shuʿayb appointed Abū l-ʿAlāʾ Yosef b. ʿAbdallāh over his business affairs abroad. It is not immediately clear if this was a will or merely an appointment of an agent. The six witnesses to the appointment: Wuhayb b. Ḥasan; Efrayim b. Abū Yaʿqūb; Ṣāʿid b. [...]; [...] b. Sulaymān; Moshe b. Ḥasan (the scribe of this letter); and Shelomo b. Ḥasan. On verso (apart from the completion of the letter and the address), there are two additional validations, confirming that the sender of the letter, Moshe b. Yefet, came and confirmed that the letter was in his own handwriting. The first is written and signed by Zarʿa b. ʿAmram and the second by Yaḥyā(?) b. ʿAmram ha-Levi. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.)

Letter from Salama b. Nissim b. Ishaq al-Barki, from Busir, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1053. The writer is in Busir for the business of Nahray. He deals with purchasing flax. He mentions the intermediary Kasim. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #641) VMR

Letter from Abū l-Faraj the father-in-law of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to his son-in-law Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. In Judaeo-Arabic. Admonishing him to treat his young wife, Sitt Ghazāl, well and admonishing her to obey her mother-in-law and to be as industrious as her own mother had been. The writer adds that if the Muslim divine Jamāl al-Din travels to Fustat, he (Shelomo?) should accompany him. (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 360, and from Goitein's index cards.) Previous description for CUL Or.1080 J125 (old PGPID 8895): A loss of 54 1/4 dirhems on house repairs reported to Shelomo by Abū l-Faraj of Alexandria-- see Goitein Nachlass material. Joins: Oded Zinger.

Letter from Natan Ha-Kohen b. Mevorakh from Ascalon to Eli Ha-Kohen b. Hayyim in Fustat. 26 October 1093

Letter from al-Fayyumi b. Saadia, probably addressed to Moses Maimonides.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Avraham Ha-Kohen b. Yiṣḥaq b. Furat. Ca. 1030

Letter from the yeshiva to Eli ha-Parnas b. Hayyim, Fustat, approximately 1065.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Abraham b. Sahlan, noting that in a previous epistle he thanked Abraham for the donation the Fustat community had sent through the elder Shelomo b. Sa‘adya, to Levi b. Menahem. The Gaon writes this current letter on behalf of a certain Sadaqa b. Menahem, who eulogizes Abraham for his kindness and repents his former misdeeds, furthermore relating that the "mighty elder" had promised to write to some his representatives to find Sadaqa some employment in Egypt. The Gaon requests Abraham to interest himself in Sadaqa. (Jacob Mann, The Jews in Egypt and Palestine under the Fatimids (New York: Ktav Pub. House, 1920-22; reprint 1970), 1:118, 2:134-5) EMS

Letter from a Karaite to his community, asking for the proclamation of a ban against certain people who suspect him of stealing.

A hybrid letter/account beginning, "My master, may God extend your life, you asked me for the noble (?) account of Mawlāy al-Shaykh, but I could not find it." The writer explains various other business circumstances and then recreates the accounts requested (wa-hādhihi sharḥ ḥisābihi. . .).

Letter from Zikri b. Hananel, from Alexandria, to Arus b. Yosef, Fustat. Around 1080. The writer is about to travel to Mahadiya and Spain. He asks the addressee to send him power of attorney to deal with his goods that need to be send from Alexandria to Mahadiya. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #785) VMR

Fragment of a letter, mentioning many names and small sums of money (between 3–10 dirhams). A father is wished that God may increase his numbers and let him see the wedding of his sons. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below and Goitein, MedSoc, Vol. 3, p. 474n19.)

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya, 1040.

Short note in dreadful handwriting in which the writer orders some wine, because he has just had blood let (wa-qad ukhrijtu l-dam). The name Avraham appears at the top.

Letter from a certain Dāʾūd to Eliyyahu the Judge. In Judaeo-Arabic. Concerning alimonies (15 dirhams and 3 waybas per month) which the wife of Faraḥ was being paid during the period she was nursing a boy. After she weaned the boy, the family of Faraḥ said they would pay only the money, not the wheat. The sender is fighting with them about this. The brother of Faraḥ, Sālim, left and went to the army camp (al-ʿaskar). The sender asks Eliyyahu to bring up this matter with 'sayydinā' (probably Avraham Maimonides).(Information in part from Goitein’s index card)