Geniza Lab

Letter fragment. In Hebrew. Wide space between the lines. Most of the content is missing. Written at the end of Sivan. The sender's name seems to be [...] b. Ḥalfon (ZL).

Recto and verso are two versions of a similar letter concerning the same issues, recto in Arabic and verso in Judaeo-Persian (with occasional Arabic). Dating: Late 10th or early 11th century. There are several names and place names in Arabic script (e.g., Abū Naṣr, al-Fāḍil Abū ʿAlī, Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan (b.) Zakariyya, Damascus, and Baghdad. It seems the sender is aiming to force a business partner to pay an outstanding amount. The document is labeled "L5" in Shaul Shaked's (unpublished) classification of Early Judeo-Persian texts. (Information in part from CUDL) OH

Informal note in Arabic script. Addressed to a certain 'al-shaykh al-fāḍil.' Possibly from a woman? The sender's information looks like "al-ʿabdatuhā" (which would be ungrammatical but an understandable error). The note needs further examination for content. On verso there is a note in shaky Arabic script (with one word in Hebrew script) giving the date as Rabīʿ II 496 AH (with a helpful legend in Judaeo-Arabic underneath). Possibly mentioning the rent (ujra) for that month.

Letter from Ḥayyūn to 'the noble merchant, the noble Kohen.' The sender has sent the 'qaḍīb'(?) along with 4 dinars with Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf. A certain Yehuda has sent 11 dinars. The sender gives instructions for what do with his business deals and with the money. Abū Surūr adds his greetings at the bottom. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter in Hebrew. Fragment: right side only. The sender is asking the addressee to enlighten him about various theological/philosophical matters, e.g., the significance of the trappings of the Mishkan. He cites something said by Rabbi Nissim and there is also mention of Eliyyahu (ZL).

Recto: Letter from Abū Sahl Levi to his son Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi. He has sent: parchments (ruqūq), scissors (miqaṣṣ), a belt (zunnār), a razor (mūs), and a hook (? khaṭfa). He blames ʿUthmān for the delay: he spends every day looking around trying to find him. Mentions Ṣāfī and Khalaf. Verso: Letter from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, presumably to his father Abū Sahl Levi. He asks for news of three different women (perhaps related to BL OR 12186.12, in which his father offers him the choice of several brides?). These identifications are based on handwriting and typical content and phrases. ASE

Letter sent by a certain Shelomo, mentioning the Nagid [...] b. David, Moses, Egypt and Cairo. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Mevorakh b. Natan ha-Ḥaver (judge in Fustat, 1150–81) to Shabbetay b. Avraham (judge in Minyat Zifta, 1135–78). Concerning (1) a muqaddam who has been causing trouble and making light of notables; (2) a question submitted to the physicians in the capital by Shabbetay's son Abu Saʿd: all the physicians reply that they must see the patient, hear his words, and see his (urine) flask before prescribing an effectve remedy; (3) a recommendation for the bearer, a brother of the late Judge Menaḥem. Information from Goitein's note card. ASE.

Letter fragment from Shelomo b. Yehuda, in the hand of Yosef Ha-Kohen b. Shelomo Gaon.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment: bottom half. The sender complains that the bustān is ruined: the livestock have died of hunger and the produce has dried up, and al-rayyis Abū Isḥāq has taken possession of the bustān. No one remains except for the guard. Someone has cried out (istaghātha) and said, 'the bustān is ruined!' The sender urges some action on the part of the addressee.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions: Hillel b. Abū [...], the mint (dār al-ḍarb), Damascus, Alexandria, reaching the city/fortress (thaghr) of the sulṭān Sayf [...]; Abū l-Munā Ibn al-Dumyāṭī. The name Shelomo appears on verso (part of the address?). (Information in part from CUDL.)

Recto: Lower part of a note from an unknown sender to unknown addressee. In the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu (like verso)? It seems this is a response to a request for medical prescriptions. There is written ויצף לה ("there is prescribed for him") followed by a blank space, but this is followed by "I showed them... to the noble ones, and these are the papers of his prescriptions....," which is followed by blessings for a speedy recovery.

Letter from a father to his son. "I heard that you are diligent with your teacher and honoring your mother... My son, you are no longer small. Others of your age are already married. All that I ask of you is to look after your siblings...." He mentions 5 dinars. Greetings to the son's mother, brothers, and sister, and to the teacher who is a ḥaver. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter from Yosef b. Musa al-Tahirti, from Mahdiyya, to Yeshua b. Isma’il al-Makhmuri, Fustat. February 2, 1063. Mentions a disaster in the sea, and that the ships of b. al-Awad and b. Shiblun were involved in it. The writer does not have any details about what happened and about the losses. Also mentions details about a shipment in the sea from and to the Maghreb. The letter contains details about the political and security situation in Sicily even though the trades with Sicily are still going on. Mentions that Mahdiyya is secure. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #372) VMR

Letter from Yūsuf b. Mūsā al-Tāhartī, to Yeshuaʿ b. Ismāʿīl al-Makhmūrī (according to Gil) or to Nahray b. Nissim (Ben-Sasson) in Fustat. Mentions Abū Ibrāhīm (Isḥāq) b. Khalaf, who had written to tell al-Tāhartī that he had sent a pouch containing 500 rubāʿiyya (quarter-dinars) in Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ's ship (r, II. 10–11); also mentions details of maritime transport to and from the Maghreb, a ship accident, and the security and government situation in Sicily, whereas by contrast al-Mahdiyya under Tamīm b. Muʿizz is safe. Dated end of Shevaṭ; Gil notes that the same events are discussed in T-S 16.163, which is dated 8 Elul and mentions the year 453H, and so dates this letter to February 2, 1063. T-S 13J23.18 is the lower part; the upper part (lines 1-4) is T-S AS 145.81. (Information from Gil and Ben-Sasson)

Small fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The addressee is called 'my brother.' Unusual handwriting and wide space between the lines.

Letter from Avraham Baronito to a communal dignitary. Dating: Second half of the 16th century. The sender is known from ENA NS 49.20 (a legal deed dated 1563 CE) and T-S 8J14.28 (as the addressee of a Ladino letter from Yiṣḥaq Baronito). He asks for financial help, as the tax collector has detained him in the 'mishmar' (perhaps house arrest).

Letter fragment (bottom half). In Hebrew. It is not entirely clear how this relates to the letter on verso. Both recto and verso are appeals for charity, each one in slightly different handwriting but plausibly by the same person. The sender says he traveled to Damietta intending to go on to Safed but could not find a ship, so he returned and arrived home on Friday night only to find his wife and two sons sitting in the dark on account of their poverty. He asks for charity.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. Addressed to Abū Ṭāhir Barakāt b. ʿAlī al-Baghdādī. The layout is somewhat unusual. It opens with blessings and longing and mentions the passing of time (not a person named Mar al-Zamān). Mentions a woman who has died (raḍiya Allāh ʿanhā). Mentions Abū l-Faḍl R. Maṣliaḥ. The last words in the upper margin are 'they have taken the money/property.' In addition to the address, verso contains the remains of an earlier letter or letter draft addressed to a woman. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter of congratulations to Sar Shalom ha-Zaqen (perhaps Sar Shalom ha-Levi, r. 1173–95) and to the groom and the bride and the whole congregation. In Hebrew, with rudimentary handwriting and orthography. There is a date, but the year is difficult to decipher (Tuesday, 20 Nisan 1[...] Seleucid). Or perhaps this is not a letter at all and rather the copy of the beginning of a ketubba, made by a child or a very untrained scribe.