Geniza Lab

Letter fragment from an unidentified sender, in Damsīs, to Abū l-Faraj Yosef b. Yaʿaqov Ibn ʿAwkal, likely in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: first half of the 11th century. On verso there are 5 lines of an unrelated account in Arabic script, referring to rent for a house and listing amounts and names. At the top of recto there is alphabet writing practice in Hebrew.

Fragmentary letter to a friend mentioning repeatedly the writer's gratitude. The hand resembles that of the cantor Yedutun ha-Levi, supported by his mention of his brother Musa. But needs further examination. ASE.

Fragmentary business letter anxiously inquiring about the state of the wakils and the effect of some unknown event on them and on the public. Dated to the beginning of the 13th century. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, 190)

Letter from Farah b. Yosef b. Farah in Alexandria to Abu Sa'd Khalaf b. Sahl in Fustat mentioning a shipment of coats, turbans, robes, and brazilwood. On the verso in the bottom margin is an unrelated Arabic account of 9 lines with amounts of money (in dinars) due to various people.

Letter stating that 'people who had been living in their properties give them up. When you sell the house, they will convert it into a workshop.' Ends with greetings to family members at that address. Dated ca. 1200. (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, pp. 15, 351)

Letter concerning business issues in which the writer discusses the price of silk and references a previous conversation between Abu al-Tahur and the addressee. Abu al-Muna is also mentioned. EMS

Letter from a woman to her brother in Fustat expressing her loneliness. She gives advice regarding the recipient's relationship with their other brother. "You know that he is like your son, for you raised him and you know his character. [Do not let] people divide the two of you. If he makes an error, you must bear the consequences." The recipient's ʿamma (in general paternal aunt, but Goitein interprets it as mother in this case) wants to see him before she dies. At the end of the letter, either the writer or the aunt/mother asks him to send two (ounces? dirhems?) of Isfahani kohl (antimony), since her eyes are sore and none is available where they are. Information in part from Goitein's index cards. Join: Oded Zinger. ASE.

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim (Misr) to Abi Ibrahim 'Iyash b. Sedaqa Baruch al-Maghribi (al-Quds) concerning family affairs. Verso: Address in Arabic script to Abū l-Ḥasan and jottings. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim to ʿAyyāsh b. Ṣedaqa ha-Maḡribī in Jerusalem (c. 1067 CE). List in margin on verso. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Musa b. Abi al-Hayy in Alexandria to Abu Yahya Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1057 (Gil). This is one of two letters describing a catastrophic set of shipwrecks; the other is CUL Or. 1080 J167 (PGPID 2259). Musa b. Abi al-Hayy is upset by the news of shipwrecks that had befallen some of the ships in which some of the traders from their circle (aṣḥābunā) had sailed with their merchandise. The first group of ships included: (1) the qunbār of the amīr, on which R. Maṣliaḥ, his brother, and Maymūn were sailing; (2) the ship of Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ, on which Isḥaq b. Khalaf, Tamām, and Musa's brother were sailing; (3) the qārib of the amīr headed to Tripoli, on which Khalfon, Ibn Nissim, Ḥajjāj, Shaʾul the son of Ibn Benayya's sister, Janūn, the son of the brother of Ibn al-Iskandarānī; (4) the qārib of the vizier, on which none of their aṣḥāb were traveling; (5) the qārib of al-Tarājima, which likewise contained none of their aṣḥāb; (6) the khīṭī captained by al-Dawwāma, also containing none of their aṣḥāb; (7) the khayṭī of al-Labāʾa, which was headed for Sfax and likewise contained none of the aṣḥāb; (8) the qārib of Ibn Zanbāj. In the second group of ships, the ships included (1) the qārib of Ibn al-Iskandar, on which Mardūk was traveling; (2) the qārib of Ibn Dayṣūr, on which the Kohen Ibn Hārūn and his boy were traveling; (3) the government ship (markab al-sulṭān) on which the son of Abū Yūsuf and Ibn Naḥum were traveling; (4) the qārib of al-Fāriqī, on which Abū Yūsuf, Ibn Raynāʾ, and an ailing man from Gabès (Qābis) were traveling; (5) the Ishfīlī, on which the son of the sister of Abū Ibrāhīm, Ṣemaḥ, Ḥānnān (!) and Ibn Asad were traveling; (6) the qārib of al-Jannānī, which wasn't carrying any of their aṣḥāb. This is not an exhaustive accounting of what's in the letter; also mentioned are the ship of al-Muʿizz, which was carrying the son of Abū Yūsuf, who perished, may God have mercy on him. There were other deaths, and still other people about whom the writer doesn't know whether or not they were saved. Goitein on this pair of letters (Med. Soc., 1:331) "What could happen to such a convoy is vividly described in two complementary letters, written in Alexandria around the middle of the eleventh century. Altogether, twenty-two ships are mentioned by name and the fate of each is recorded. In addition, the names of the business friends of the addressee, a total of twenty-five, traveling in them and what happened to each are reported. The convoy set sail in three successive groups, called 'sailings' (iqlāʿāt), the first two consisting of eight bottoms each. The first group consisted of a qunbār and a barge of the amir, or governor, of Alexandria; three other barges, one belonging to a vizier, two khīṭīs, one entitled "al-Ra'isa," "the Chief," owned by a lady [Gil reads this differently above, and Rustow concurs with him], and a craft called markab, the general word for ship. The second group consisted of the ship of the sultan Muʿizz of Tunisia, a ship and a barge belonging to a man from Seville, Spain, and several other craft among them one qunbar (as in the first group). These ships sailed on Monday before Pentecost (month of May), but two days later were overcome by a storm, in which the ship of the sultan and another boat perished; the writer of our letters and the addressee both had goods and friends in those ships. The convoy took refuge in two anchoring places on the North African coast, one of which, (Ra's) al-Kanāʾis, is frequently mentioned in our records and is still operating today as a local harbor. (The late King Faruk had a summer palace there, and since Ra's al-Kanaʾis means 'Cape of the Churches,' he renamed it Ra's al-Ḥikma, 'Cape of Wisdom.') Only five ships belonging to the first group succeeded in passing out into the high seas, for in addition to the storm just mentioned, there was another calamity. The enemy, certainly the Byzantine navy, 'which had complete mastery over the sea,' captured one boat and only because of its being busy with it did the rest of the convoy escape. The remaining ships had to return to Alexandria, however, where the governor ordered them to be unloaded, obviously because he did not see any possibility of sending out a second convoy."

Beginning of a letter mentioning the arrival of a letter from the addressee.

The fragment preserves the opening of a letter to an individual, which is prefaced with eleven short lines of biblical quotations (arranged as a pair of quotes on each line). There are traces of faded Hebrew text on verso. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from David b. Nahum in Alexandria to Ismail b. Farah al-Qabisi in Fustat. The letter deals with goods and money. The writer also refers to slanderous and insulting remarks made in another letter. Address on verso. Only the beginning of the letter is preserved.

Letter to the Nagid by a woman who had taken steps to convert to Judaism requesting that he accept her conversion, which, she assures him, she did not seek for material gain. (Information from and translation in Mediterranean Society, III, pp. 309-310)

Letter from Ṣāliḥ b. Bahlūl, probably from Mahdiyya, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. December 18, 1061. Mentions Barhun b. Musa al-Tahirti that is in the Maghreb and his brother Yosef is in Susa (in the Maghreb as well). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #781) VMR

Letter from Natan b. Nahray, from Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1065. Alexandria is influenced by the declining value of dirhams. The writer mentions a sweater that someone is weaving for Nahray in Alexandria. Also mentions ruby. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #424) VMR

Letter from Yusuf b. Yefet to his relative Abu Nasr congratulating him on the birth of a son. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Abu Amr b. Hilal to Abu al-Faraj b. Ibrahim in Alexandria concerning the status of a house or household.

Recommendation letter describing the letter-bearer as an 'excellent person.'

Letter from a merchant from Sunbat demonstrating his dedication to the community by relating how he had once traveled at a time of cold and rain to take care of a long overdue circumcision. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 101-102)