Geniza Lab

Beginning of a letter in Hebrew to two people, one of whom is Shabbetay the cantor.

Letter to Yefet b. Sason (aka Ḥasan b. Surūr) who is described as 'the Modest' (הצנוע). Mainly in Judaeo-Arabic, with the introductory blessings in Hebrew and the address in Arabic script. The sender has a son named Eliʿezer. Mentions the addressee's meeting with a Nasi ("the scion of the tribe of Davidites"). Ends with greetings to several persons.

Personal letter from Yehuda b. Ya'qub (Yehuda b. Yaʿaqov) to Abu 'Imran in very poor spelling.

Fragmentary letter. Dated to the late 11th century. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Natan ha-Kohen b. Mevorakh of Ascalon to 'Allun al-Parnas b. Ya'ish with a request to intercede on behalf of two men with the 'Head of the Diaspora,' David b. Daniel (ca. 1082-1094), and to convey their acknowledgements and thanks for his favors. This letter is written in the top margin of an earlier letter in Arabic script, all of which is now lost except for the basmala and part of the address in the top right corner. The address refers to 'al-Parnas al-Jalil'. Dated to the late 11th century. (Information from M.R. Cohen, Jewish Self-Government, pp. 207, 321) Top margin, diagonal lines.

Copy of a letter of appeal for charity. In Hebrew. In exquisite script and high style. Addressed to Pinḥas b. Peʾer ha-Qehillot. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Long letter from someone who has traveled to Minyat Zifta, with instructions to his wife concerning her attire and other issues. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Nissim b. Ḥalfon, from Tinnis, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1055. Regarding shipment of cloths that the writer sent to Nahray, including two expensive cloths to Muslim, Abu Imran Musa b. Hakam. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #593) VMR

Letter from Yaʿaqov to his father. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer had not received a letter from the addressee for some time (arjū shughl khayr). It seems he heard bad news about the addressee from the ghulām of [...] and was very worried. Someone else came down with a terrible illness (maraḍa maraḍ shadīd), but he is now in good health. This person cried out (yastaghīth) "sīdi, sīdi!" all day long. The writer mentions Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAllān. A third person was sick for 20 days with a fever, but he too is better now. It appears that the father began his response on verso. ASE.

Fragment of a letter mentioning proudly the writer's son and reporting the affairs of two men (perhaps brothers or traveling companions).

Fragment of a letter informing the recipient about the arrival of the sender's uncle at Fustat from Alexandria, to whom the recipient should deliver cash on the writer's account. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter fragment from Yosef to Abū l-Faḍl b. ʿAmrīṣ. In Judaeo-Arabic. Containing remarks about business transactions including the delivery of a consignment of glass.

Letter apparently referring to Crusader persecutions. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably no earlier than 14th century. The letter consists essentially entirely of formulaic phrases, and it may even be a formulary or draft based on the appearance of "fulān" twice at the bottom of verso. However, Abū l-ʿAlā' is greeted in the margin of verso.

End of a letter from the Iraqi Gaʾon Shemuel b. Ḥofni to a friend who traveled to Fustat. Dated: Ḥeshvan [1]310 Seleucid, which is November 998 CE. He asks the addressee to convey his gratitude to the Persian Qaraite David b. Bābshād (a.k.a. Bapshād). He also asks his friend to influence the Maghreb community in Fustat to improve their relationships with the Gaon. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #48) VMR. This was published by Goitein, “A Letter of the Gaon Samuel b. Hofni, Dated 998, and its Implications on the Biography of the Spanish Poet Isaac b. Khalfon,” Tarbiz, vol. 49, no. 1-2 (October 1979 – March 1980): 199–201 (Hebrew). It is discussed in depth in Rustow, Heresy, pp. 148–50, where there is a partial translation: “I would like to have there [in Fustat], may God be your support, something like what I have here [in Baghdad], [a means] to prod the notables to make contributions,” he wrote. “If you have dealings with or see any of our colleagues [aṣḥābinā] from the Maghrib, may God be their support, please do on my behalf as is your custom among them in prompting them and reminding them about contributing [to the yeshiva] according to their positions of merit. For it is among the punishments that God has visited upon me that He has weakened my position among them.”

Verso: Letter in Arabic script. Probably related to the legal document on recto, since some of the same names appear. At the top the names Bishāra and ʿAllān b. Saʿīd appear. The letter mentions: someone's in-law Abū Isḥāq; Abū Saʿd al-Ḥalabī; collecting money from someone; Yūsuf; and various business reckonings and instructions. Concludes by mentioning a letter for Sayyidnā al-Rayyis al-Nāsī. Needs further examination.

Letter of appointment of Eli b. Yiṣḥaq Ha-Kohen Ghazal for a position of a beadle synagogue of the Babylonians in Fustat in the year 1099.

Letter from Makhlūf b. Mūsā to Abū ʿAlī Yeḥezqel b. Netanel Dimyāṭī. Accusing him and Abū Naṣr b. Elishaʿ of conspiring to cheat him out of money. (Information from CUDL.) See also Goitein's index card.

Letter from Barhun b. Musa, in Alexandria, to his father in Fustat. Dated ca. 1055.

Letter from Mūsā b. Yaʿqūb, in an unknown location, to Abū l-Surūr Isḥāq b. Barhūn, it seems in Alexandria, mentioning the arrival of the recipient (or another 'shaykh') and a 'young man' (slave, freedman or employee). Much of the letter has to do with instructions for when the ghulām arrives, and urging someone named Hilāl to assist him. There is a mention of wheat in the context of food that belongs to the government. The writer is preoccupied on behalf of Abū Ibrāhīm who encountered difficulties while traveling to Rashīd. Ismāʿīl is mentioned several times. The writer has enclosed another important letter, to a certain family (al-Faṭṭūma?), from their agent ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, and he asks the recipient to ensure that it reaches its target. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.) Join: Alan Elbaum.