Geniza Lab

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic addressed to Abū l-Ḥasan Sar ha-Bina. Bitter complaint of a sugar-maker that the addressee did not send him the material for his workshop (qalīl sukkar aṭbakhahu). (Information from Goitein's index card)

Letters in Judaeo-Arabic. Late. Concerning family and business matters. One letter is probably the response to the other. Needs examination. Information from Baker/Polliack catalog.

Letter in Arabic script. The sender is a man from Alexandria who was forced to flee from that city because he was unable to pay the capitation tax for his little boy. He asks the Nagid Avraham Maimonides to instruct the judge Eliyyahu to help. He had been unsuccessful in obtaining work. See verso.

Letter in Hebrew. Late. Needs examination.

Business letter. Introduction in Hebrew, body in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions the arrival of the Yemeni merchants (v3). Also mentions R. Shemuel Ismāʿīl b. Yūsuf and someone named Ibn ʿAddād: "I mentioned the matter of the dinar, and he went crazy and swore באלילו"—by his אליל? Goitein read this as signifying that Ibn ʿAddād must be Christian or Muslim, but his notes do not reveal specifically how he understood this word.

Informal note in Arabic script. (Addressed to a dignitary according to the Baker/Polliack catalog, but this does not seem to be founded.) "By God, man, I heard..." (billāh yā sīdī balaghanī...). The margins and the remaining three pages of the bifolio are filled with Judaeo-Arabic poetry.

Recto: Letter fragment. In Arabic script. Includes the phrase "anā al-ghāʾib wa-anta al-ḥāḍir." The sender set sail on a boat/ship.

Letter of appeal for charity from Sālim of Tyre to an unidentified addressee. The letter (in Judaeo-Arabic) is on verso, while recto is a poem (in Hebrew) by Yizḥaq b. Khalfūn (in the same hand as the letter). The content of the letter is brief and quite formulaic (misfortunes, want, illness). There is some unusual orthography: גזקי ומלי for רזקי ומאלי. Information in part from Baker/Polliack catalog.

Letter fragment from Barhūn b. Yiṣḥaq al-Tāhirti. The letter is addressed to someone who is younger than the writer (he calls him “my son”). Mentions a big loss in business because of goods that got wet. Also mentions his brother ʿAṭā, his cousin Yūsuf b. Mūsā, and the ship al-Laki. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #386) VMR

Letter from a man to his son. In Judaeo-Arabic. In rudimentary handwriting and orthography. He reports that the 10 dirhams have arrived and that he is in good health. The only reason he didn't write before now is that he was waiting for the money. He reports that he is hoping to purchase or redeem (? אשתריה או אסתרהנה) 5 pawned books (asfār, later tafātir for dafātir), in which case he would need more money. The tragacanth (kathīrā') is with Muslim. The father objects to the son's order to purchase gallnuts (ʿafṣ), perhaps because Muslim has some already that are neglected (? muhmal). The letter is addressed to the dyer (אצבג = אלצבאג) in נוא (= No Amon = Alexandria? or maybe פוא for Fuwwa?). The Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic jottings filling the remainder of verso are mysterious; the bottom four lines in terrible handwriting are roughly the same as the first lines of the actual letter.

Letter of appeal for charity. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. From Yehuda b. Shelomo, the cantor of Damsīs, to an unidentified addressee, who is asked to induce Abū Zikrī to make a gift of provisions for the holiday. On verso there are four lines in Arabic script, possibly a note from the addressee to Abū Zikrī or somebody else, trying to fulfill the request of Yehuda: "What will the noble masters do for Yehuda...?" ( ما يتفضل السادة الاجلا على يهودا ال. . . . . ). (Information in part from Goitein’s index card)

Official Hebrew letter, perhaps a circular (עתה אחינו...). Wide space between the lines. Only a small piece of the original is preserved here, with no clear identifying information. This is the reverse of the usual case: an official Hebrew letter has been reused for Arabic-script accounts.

Letter from a man to his father or teacher. On a bifolium. The first half is in Hebrew and the second half in Judaeo-Arabic. The handwriting evolves significantly from the beginning to the end, but this may simply be due to writing faster and with less care; it does not necessarily mean that there are two different scribes. Dating: no earlier than 1141 CE, as Yehuda ha-Levi is dead; if 'al-Nezer' refers to Natan b. Shemuel, that would date the letter to no later than ~1153 CE. In the Hebrew portion, the sender repents of having scorned the addressee's wisdom and education, offers eloquent praises for the addressee, and mourns the absence between them. In the Judaeo-Arabic portion, he asks for copies of a number of liturgical poems, including 5 or 6 "ʿAmmānī ghurabā'(?)" raḥamim. He adds, " Ever since I have left Damascus, I intend to devote myself to the calling of a cantor. For this purpose, I have borrowed the diwans of Shelomo the Little (the famous Ibn Gabirol) and of Yehuda ha-Levi—may their memory be blessed—and made excerpts from them for my use" (Goitein, Med Soc II, p. 221 n. 10). He has also borrowed a siddur and has been studying the prayers in it. He asks the addressee to send the requested items with Sālim the ghulām of al-Thiqa. Whatever the cost of the paper and the copyist, the sender will reimburse it. He adds that on Tisha b'Av, al-Muhadhdhab and al-Nezer and his brother approached him and asked him to compose a dirge based on אשתונן ואתאונן (it seems referring to Aharon Ibn al-ʿAmmānī's dirge with the same opening: see BL OR 10594.4). The sender then records his own version of אשתונן ואתאונן at the bottom of the letter, "based on a laḥn I learned from you." It does not appear that the dirge here is the original אשתונן ואתאונן or that this sender is Aharon Ibn al-ʿAmmānī himself (whose handwriting is known from T-S 13J14.25). ASE

Goitein suggests that this letter was addressed to Arus b. Yusuf al-Arjawani because reference is made to 'Allan, his sister's son, and to his partner Siba. The writer is about to embark on an Andalusian ship to go to Spain. Wool is mentioned, the price of which is six dinars per qintar. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from a man to his son-in-law. In Ladino. Dating: Perhaps on the earlier side, 16th or 17th century (based on hand and vocabulary). The left side is torn off, so the content is difficult to reconstruct. There are business instructions, perhaps dealing with jewellery (anillos + las dos piedras). The sender may also mention his daughter once or twice. Mentions the currency 'ducado' (last line of the margin). There may be a name in the lower right margin: it looks like פייגוז אבו סבאק, which may be the sender's mercantile company.

Autograph letter from Maimonides to his pupil Ṭoviyya. The letter consists entirely of a detailed prescription of a regimen (tadbīr).

Letter in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 12th or 13th century. The sender complains about the terrible distress of the congregation "from the beatings and the 'wazn' (payments?) in the daytime...." There is a group of enemies and at their head are the children of al-Najīb. There is a "writ (waraqa) in the amount of 8,000..." There are specific people who are evidently being targeted to make payments (maṭlūbīn). Everyone is in a state of fright. The sender cites the ʿal ha-nissim prayer to wish destruction on the ringleaders of this scheme: יפר עצתו ויקלקל מחשבתו וישיב] גמולו בראש. Information in part from Dotan Arad, "Let's Learn Turkish" (2017).)

Letter addressed to Abū l-Faraj and Abū l-Ḥasan. In Judaeo-Arabic, with extremely rudimentary spelling and and handwriting (e.g. אכדיל אלכום for ادخل اليكم). This is a letter of appeal for charity. The sender bemoans his and his family's poverty. He asks for hospitality until after the holiday (this is not the first time he has asked). He also asks for some wine for qiddush.

Rhymed invitation to a festive event on the 29th of the month at 3:00 at the home of Nissim Lumbroso (נסים לומברוזו). Dating: 19th century. The invitation is copied out two and a half times, so probably this is merely a writing exercise.

Short note from a father to the teacher of his son. Only if the boy memorizes biblical passages which he will be able to chant in public will he be prepared to learn. Information from Goitein's note card.