Geniza Lab

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer defends himself against someone's accusations, extols his own devotion to the halakha, and cites a number of Talmudic passages in support. There are numerous corrections. On verso there is the beginning of Genesis in a rudimentary hand. Needs further examination.

Letters in Judaeo-Arabic. Quite faded. Dating: Probably Ayyubid or Mamluk-era, based on the hands and the layout. The letter on recto mentions a deep regret for leaving [...]. The letter on verso is addressed to 'adonenu' and is signed by Moshe b. לתק.... It mentions that the messenger sent by the addressee only arrived after al-Shaykh al-Ṣafiyy went to Cairo.

Recto, with address on verso: Letter of appeal. In Judaeo-Arabic. From a certain Yiṣḥaq, in Malīj, to a certain Nissim, probably in Fustat. Goitein identifies the addressee as Nissim b. Nahray b. Nissim. Dated: ca. 1090 CE, per Goitein. The sender is in great distress ("the knife has reached the bone") and has no clothing to wear, on Shabbat or otherwise. Efrayim suggested to the sender that the addressee could get him a letter from the Rav (whom Goitein identifies as Nahray b. Nissim) and from the Nasi (whom Goitein identifies as David b. Daniel), recommending collections to be arranged on behalf of the petitioner in al-Maḥalla and Alexandria. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 508.)

Recto: Letter fragment from Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi (who signs his name at the bottom). In Judaeo-Arabic. Greetings are sent to Abū ʿAlī, al-Talmid al-Jalīl, and the addressee's wife. On verso there is literary text.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Dealing with business matters. This is the recto of folio 3; the other five pages are literary.

Recto: Letter in Arabic script. On verso there is an unidentified text in Hebrew. Needs examination.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. This is the end of the letter. The writer invokes the 'covenant of salt' (brit melaḥ) between him and addressee.

Letter from an unknown writer, in Qūṣ, to al-Shaykh al-Asʿad, probably in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 13th century, based on Goitein's assessment. The writer reports on how he has fared trying to sell the rose conserve (ward murabbā). The good quality kind was offered for 18 dirhams for 10 of a certain unit. The writer tried to sell his own for 14 dirhams 'per 10' but found no buyer. Likewise none of the oil (duhn) has sold at all. The writer plans to leave the goods in Qūṣ and return to Fustat. Greetings to Abū l-Khayr and others. Information from Goitein's note card.

Recto: Letter or petition from Bū Saʿīd. Written in Arabic script. On verso there are several lines in Judaeo-Arabic, it seems about the woman with the seven martyred sons.

Letter formularies or copies in Hebrew. Written on a bifolium. One of them mentions Palermo, Constantinople, Barqa, and apparently Qayrawān as well; also "so-and-so the captive."

Letter draft from Jerusalem to the community of Palermo. In Hebrew. Dating: 11th-century, from the time of Daniel b. ʿAzarya Gaon (who also bore the title Nasi and seems to be the person alluded to in line 8). The letter deals with the death of an Egyptian merchant and his inheritance. On the other side there is a treatise on the laws of ritual slaughter.

Letter. Possibly from Yaʿqūb b. Isḥāq to his mother (l. 3: "I ask God that He decree the good health of my mother"). But these identifications are tentative. Written in Judaeo-Arabic with the basmala in Arabic script. The entire letter, or at least what is not too faded to read, is an order for many types of materia medica. On verso there is literary text, including one segment on the laws of sale and another on the laws of carrying.

Letter addressed to Abū Zikrī b. Eliyya ha-Dayyan, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer addresses Abū Zikrī first (figuratively) as his 'father' and later as his cousin (ibn ʿamm). Most of the content is missing. The writer sends regards to his uncle (Eliyyahu the Judge), Eliyyahu's wife, the ṣughayyira, and Samḥūn (=Simḥa ha-Kohen). Verso: Apart from the address, also contains a list of Jewish names in Arabic script.

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Probably a letter of appeal for charity. Mentions [the synagog]ue of the Iraqis.

Letter fragment addressed to Abū Sulaymān Dā'ūd b. Isḥāq. Unknown writer. Mentions Ibn al-Jazzār; a wicked person; the house of a wedding; the late Rabbenu [???]; someone who wants to excommunicate someone in the synagogue.

Letter from an unknown sender to Eliyyahu the Judge (called Abū l-Faraj al-Dayyān), in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script ("[to be delivered to] Ibn al-ʿAjamī who should give it to the judge Abū l-Faraj"). The sender complains about a female slave (al-jāriya) and says that he only went to the trouble of bringing her to Fustat because it was Eliyyahu's idea. He asks Eliyyahu to take possession of her from Abū l-Makārim and pass her on to Abū l-Munā b. Ṣāʿid ("I heard that he is a (slave?) broker, and he is my friend, and he will do his best with her in accordance with his manliness and nobility and benefaction...."). He repeats the instruction to obtain the slave from Abū l-Makārim and to thank him. Possibly mentions a woman (קמטה?) who gave birth (but this is not at all clear), and then urges Eliyyahu to help him "for God's sake." He reports that Eliyyahu's sons—Abū Zikrī the physician and Abū l-Barakāt—and Eliyyahu's wife (ahl baytak) are well. The reason Abū Zikrī has not yet come in person is that he has "a touch of ophthalmia" (ramad yasīr). Join: Alan Elbaum.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely Tammuz 1232 CE, and almost definitely 1232–37 CE. See below for explanation. Writer and addressee are unidentified. The writer dictated the letter to his son. They were evidently affluent merchants and suppliers to the army. The letter is mainly about the controversy over the prayer reforms of the Nagid Avraham Maimonides. The sons of the Sixth (the family members of the previous dynasty of Nagids) submitted a petition against Avraham to the Sultan al-Malik al-ʿĀdil, to which Avraham responded with a counter-petition signed by almost 200 people from the community, testifying that he had not forced his prayer reforms on anybody. The writer maintains that all those who signed in favor of Avraham testified falsely and deserve to be punished by the shaving of their beards, for he claims that Avraham certainly did force his prayer reforms on the community in their synagogues. The writer goes on to report on recent deaths, including that of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu (who predeceased his father) and Yūsuf b. al-Kharrāz (who ate dinner and went to sleep and died; in the morning, his face was "black as ink"). There is a section on the prices of various commodities, a section on relations with the military officer Kātib al-ʿArab, and greetings. As for the justification for the dating: Avraham Maimonides died in 1237. There were two sultans named al-Malik al-ʿĀdil. The first was the brother of Saladin and reigned 1200–18. The second was the grandson of the first (the son of al-Malik al-Kāmil) and reigned 1238–40, after the death of Avraham Maimonides. However, during the years 1232–38 when al-Malik al-Kāmil lived in Syria, al-Malik al-ʿĀdil the Younger sometimes represented his father in Egypt. Goitein determined that the reference must be to al-Malik al-ʿĀdil the First, which would date the document to 1204–18. But the plot thickens, because Shelomo b. Eliyyhau—whose death is reported in this document—was still alive in the month of Av in 1231 CE (Med Soc II, 575 n. 60) and Heshvan 1231 CE (Freer F 1908.44H). The present letter is dated Sunday 5 Tammuz. This narrows the window to 1232–37 CE. The trouble is that the 5th of Tammuz can never fall on a Sunday.... so either the scribe was off by a day or meant to write 15th of Tammuz. The latter option is supported by the phrase "may its sadness be turned to joy," which might refer to the upcoming 17th of Tammuz fast. (Information mainly from Friedman's article on this document; see also Mediterranean Society, I, p. 141; II, p. 485).

An instruction about the payment of the salary of the judge Yaʿaqov b. Yosef ha-kohen for January 1165.

Letter from Isma'il al-Tahirti to Abu al-Bishr Yaʿaqov b. Yosef b. Awkal (from Ifrīqiya to Egypt). Mentions "the remnants of an illness" (athar al-ʿilla) in l. 4

Mercantile letter from an unknown sender, possibly in Sicily, to Abū Zikrī Elḥanan b. Ismāʿīl (al-Andalusī). In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (vertical piece from the middle). Dating: ca. 1050 CE, per Gil. Concerning consignments of copper, lead, silk (jīzī, lāsīn, and dimunshī/Demona silk). (Information from Gil and from Goitein’s index card.)