Geniza Lab

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. In a rudimentary hand. The addressee failed to do something that he had promised, and the writer is telling him to do it. On verso there are jottings (phrases from letters) in Arabic script, Judaeo-Arabic, and Hebrew.

Letter from Mufaḍḍal b. al-Ḥaver to Abū l-Maḥāsin [...] al-Maḥallī. In Judaeo-Arabic. The letter is very faded, but much of it should be legible with effort. Awaits further examination.

Letter draft in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Possibly 11th century. Beginning only. The writer reports on previous letters that he had sent with the fayj to the addressee and to Abū l-Ḥasan. He brings up the heartache that the addressee had given him with a letter full of blame and rebuke. The draft ends here.

Letter from a Qaraite religious authority to a pupil. In Judaeo-Arabic. Containing the answers to a number of queries that the addressee had sent him. Chief among them is the proper interpretation of beginning the counting of the Omer on "the morrow of the Sabbath" (Leviticus 23:15–16)—a famous bone of exegetical contention. Rabbanites interpret it as the day after the first yom ṭov of Passover, while Qaraites interpret it as the day after the shabbat that falls during Passover. This writer presents various arguments and proofs and says, "And no one can dispute this with some tradition (i.e. Oral Torah) that they know of. . . because they did not see the messenger, and they are just deriving it (?yastamiddū) from us." There follows a somewhat cryptic analogy to whether or not we believe what a clothier says about the price of his merchandise. There are several additional exegetical issues broached here, and verso reads, "the answer/responsum to the query on 'the morrow of the Sabbath.'" ASE

Letter probably from Sulaymān al-Maghribī, in Gaza, to his brother-in-law ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Ṣā'igh, probably in Fustat/Cairo. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Late, after 1425 CE because the currency ashrafī is mentioned; likely 15th or 16th century. Among other matters, the writer complains that a certain woman passes the holiday with her own family and not with the writer. This is a very long and nearly complete letter. Needs further examination. Information in part from Goitein's note card. ASE

Letter fragment addressed to a woman. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Perhaps late 12th or early 13th century, based on the handwriting. The writer accuses her of having ruined the honor of her family and his family, although he does not believe the more serious rumors about her. Information in part from Goitein's note card.

Letter from Avraham b. Natan, possibly in Tyre, to a tenant of his, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Gil identified the sender based on his handwriting. Dating: ca. 1094 CE. The sender tells the addressee to pay the rent that is due to Nahray b. Nissim (called both "Rabbenu" and "Gadol ha-Yeshiva"), who will forward it to the sender, who needs it to pay his own rent. The addressee and his wife must be very careful in looking after the house, and especially must not sublet it to anybody who will mess it up. They should send an update on it, and inform the sender about who is living on the lower floor. The lower floor must not be let to a Jew, "because a Jew will want an oven (tannūr) and kitchen (maṭbakh)," which is not feasible on the lower floor. "You know that I let it ONLY to you. Comply(?) with the terms and pay the rent which you owe to Rabbenu Nahray." (Information in part from Gil's edition and Goitein’s index card.)

Letter in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu (per Goitein) to an unidentified person. In Judaeo-Arabic. The addressee's mother and sister were involved in an affair of 220 copper dirhams belonging to the widow of Abū l-Surūr who had 'screamed' against her 'oppressor.' The qāḍī had already dealt with the matter which was a "desecration of the name of God in public" (חילול השם בפרהסיא). Information from Goitein's note card.

Letter fragment. In Arabic script, with the Hebrew names (Shabbetay b. [...] and Barukh) written in Hebrew script. Mentions Shavuʿot (al-ʿAnṣara) and a Christian named Buṭrus and al-Mawlā Ibn al-Sabīʿī (="the son of the Seventh").

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. In an unusually calligraphic style with some space between the lines. Very damaged. Mentions someone named Bū Manṣūr. Note that there are two fragments under this shelfmark; the other one is literary ("the first Hebrew phrase from each verse of Psalms 95:1-101:8,102:4-103:22").

Family letter from a son to his father, Abu al-Muna al-Muwaffaq. Two main family matters are discussed. First, the son states that his brother-in-law, a Rumi, has stolen the Ketubba (marriage contract) of his sister. The son had intended to bring the Rumi to the head of the police or to the rabbinical court, but he had already run away. Secondly, the writer asks his father to allow his brother, Abu Ishaq, to spend the holidays with him. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 114, and from Goitein's index cards)

Bifolium containing Hebrew literary text (evidently lists of haftarot) as well as a single page containing drafts for a letter addressed to Abū l-Fakhr b. Abū Isḥāq b. Abū l-Fakhr al-Amshāṭī. This letter draft is in calligraphic Arabic script; there is also some Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew in the space around it.

Family letter in Arabic script. Mentions Cairo and the writer's mother and an amir. Needs further examination. On verso there is an Aramaic text, apparently (per FGP) Zechariah 3:2, 9; 4:2 (tosefta to the haftarot).

Possibly part of a letter. (Information from CUDL)

Possibly part of a letter. (Information from CUDL)

Possibly part of a letter. In Arabic script. The first words of about a dozen lines are preserved. (Information in part from CUDL)

Possibly parts of a letter. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment of a business letter in Arabic script (wa-innamā katabtu... al-ḥisāb...).

Official letter headed by the ʿalāma (motto) of the Nagid Yehoshuaʿ Maimonides (d. 1355) and written in the typical hand of his clerk (compare Moss. IV,37.1). Issuing an order about a suwayqa (little market?). Every Jew is forbidden from doing [...] without the permission of the court. The elders should be informed that if they [...] or [...], a ban of excommunication will be placed. More information might be extracted with further examination. On verso there is Zechariah 1:16–17; 8:7–8. AA. ASE.

Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions dinars, writing a book(?) for Abū l-Surūr; the details (? nuqūṭ) of someone's wedding;