Geniza Lab

Letter (Information from CUDL)

Letter addressed to Abū l-Murajjā Sālim. Fragment (upper right corner of recto). Discussing in vague terms a situation in which the addressee needs to act beneficently: "...all doubt has now passed, and everything has become as clear as could be desired. Do not spare any effort in help and collaboration with all the other affairs of the ḥaver..." (Information in part from CUDL)

Possibly a letter or a sermon. (Information from CUDL)

Verso: Fragment from the beginning of a letter/petition addressed to the Nagid. Dating: Likely 13th or 14th century. None of the substance is preserved. Reused on recto for popular literature in rhymed Judaeo-Arabic (-nī), mentioning purchasing a scrap, a shirt, possibly an undergarment (taḥtānī), being safe from the heat (min al-ḥarr fī l-amānī), being happy (wa-anā masrūr wa-farḥānī), sending something with Manṣūr al-Hānī, etc.

Probably a prayer. Spanish hand? The first four lines are in Hebrew, and the next three lines are in Judaeo-Arabic, including the word mutafaḍḍilan, which would be typical of a letter. AA. ASE.

Letter from Khaṣīb b. Musāfir to Abū Isḥāq [...] Ḥemdat ha-Yeshiva, the son of somebody who had the title Sheviʿi. Of the letter itself, only the ending is preserved (the upper margin of recto). The addressee is asked to open and shake out some goods. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter fragment, mercantile (lower right of recto, upper right of verso; about 50% of the document is here). Several names are mentioned including an Abu l-Fadl. The handwriting is probably known (some of the writer's alephs, for instance, look exactly like large hamzehs). Someone is asked to purchase 12 ratls (6 manns) of lapis lazuli (āzuward). ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Sender and addressee are unidentified. Full of expressions of deference. The sender was distressed at 'the calamity' (al-nūba) that befell the addressee 'and joins in the preoccupation of his heart' (musāhim fī shughl qalbih). Regards from Abū Isḥāq al-Ṣayrafī and Abū l-Ḥasan al-Khāzin. The addressee should pass on greetings to Abū ʿImrān al-Kohen and tell him that his son is well and that "all the friends" were pained to hear about his illness. Mentions Abū Saʿd b. Pinḥas. Someone should try to rein in Abū l-Khayr, who 'went out' somewhere and is now unemployed and 'playing' all day long. The addressee should find a trustworthy man (rajul maʾmūn) to assist. Then: "Yours is the noble opinion (wa-lak ʿuluww al-raʾy). [Please kiss for] me the hand of my master the father." (Information in part from CUDL.) Join: Alan Elbaum.

Letter fragment (left half of recto) of appeal to "אלחבר המועלה." The writer appears to be requesting money as soon as possible and may have already asked for money from the cantor. ASE.

Letter fragment (part of the right side of recto). The scribe has a distinctive notched ב. In the margin he mentions his many worries and sends regards to Baqā'. ASE.

Letter to the judge Eliyyahu b. Zekharya requesting he intervene with the Nagid on behalf of the bearer of the letter, who had spent six months in prison and was ill. The bearer is named Abu l-[Faraj?] al-Sayrafi. Goitein deduces that the bearer was sick even before his time in prison from the language in lines 14-18: "You knew him in his prosperous and happy state and how he was at that time and what he suffered. His suffering has only increased due to his degradation and his staying in prison close to six months, sick among the gentiles. He is in the meanest state among them due to his illness." (Information from Goitein's index cards. See also card #27109.) EMS. ASE.

Draft of a letter addressed to Agustin [...]. In Hebrew. Late. Lengthy, and well preserved. Concerning business matters. Written in different directions on verso and recto. Needs examination. AA. ASE.

Letter; in the margin in Hebrew ‘to the house of Khalaf b. Mawhūb’. (Information from CUDL)

Letter(s) in Judaeo-Arabic. Possibly in the hand of Berakhot b. Shemuel. Very deferential and asking for help, including a letter on his behalf to al-Shaykh al-Sadīd Abū l-Faraj Kātib al-ʿArab. (Information in part from CUDL)

Recto: Hebrew blessing; possibly closing line of a letter. Finishes with: u-lehistofef be-beto amen sela, followed by diamond pattern of four dots. Verso: few Arabic words, among them the ‘synagogue’. (Information from CUDL)

Letter of appeal to the Nagid, Avraham Maimunides, asking for financial assistance. A foreigner named Yosef want to return to his family and place. Written by Elya b. Zekhariya. AA

Letter, written by Shemuʾel b. Aaron, mentioning Meshullam b. Hiba, also known as Ibn al-Shuwaykiyya. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: letter, mentioning Fusṭāṭ. Verso: possibly address of the letter (mentions a ‘daughter of ...’); jottings in Arabic and what appears to be part or draft of a letter written in very small script. (Information from CUDL)

Letter mentioning illnesses of the eye, the Qadi and the overseers of the doctors. (Information from CUDL)

Letter fragment (lower left corner of recto) of appeal. The writer describes himself as a poor man (סעלוך) and the tail end of Proverbs 26:3 remains. ASE.