Geniza Lab

Letter (Information from CUDL)

Letter (Information from CUDL)

Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Recto refers to Abū l-Rabīʿ al-Levi "my friend, the ascetic (al-zāhid)"; Rabbenu Yosef b. Menaḥem; and a commentary on Lamentations. Verso seems to preserve the text of a prayer to be recited at Dammūh/Dimwa: "May the Protector of Israel, just as he protected us on the Nile when we came to Dammūh, thus may He protect us on land, and trust in Him may He be exalted... the ancestors...." (Information in part from CUDL)

Small fragment from a letter, probably by the hand of Shemuel b. Ya'aqov the French. AA

Letter or note (responsum?). (Information from CUDL)

Letter (beginning on verso). (Information from CUDL)

Letter written in the 11th century, mentioning Abū Isḥāq Barhūn. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment of a letter opening from Sharira Gaon to Efrayim b. Sadok from Fustat. Around 980. Mentions Amram b. Mishui, the Gaon’s uncle (his mother’s brother). The letter addressed to a doctor in a hospital in Fustat, that will pass it to Efrayim b. Sedaka ‘l-Mualem, probably Efrayim b. Sadok from the community in Fustat. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #26) VMR

Recto: 11th-century business letter, probably in the hand of Nissim b. Ḥalfon, mentioning the arrival of a certain Ṣedaqa and of a nephew of the writer. Verso: accounts of commodities and their quantities, and pen trials with typical letter formulae. (Information from CUDL)

Minute fragment from a letter in Hebrew. AA

Letter addressed to 'the dear son' Mūsā Ibn Sabrā. The beginning (on verso) mentions a certain Yosef. In the upper margin, complains about somebody (ווחק אלשריעה... מא כרהני אלדכול אלא ענתה ומא דכל עלי קלבי מן אלאלאם מנה בסבבכם). (Information in part from CUDL)

Recto: Arabic jottings. Verso: typical formulae from the beginning of a letter (probably a draft) and Arabic jottings. (Information from CUDL)

Letter or note, mentioning Abū Manṣūr and Abū l-Ḥasan. (Information from CUDL)

Letter about communal affairs; written on the 20th Elul. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: letter (only formulae are preserved) in Aramaic and Judaeo-Arabic. Verso: epistolary formulae in a different hand, in Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew. (Information from CUDL)

Minute fragment, only few words preserved. It can be a literary fragment, but also a poetical Hebrew verses from an opening of a letter to a notable. AA

Letter draft from the Rabbanite leaders of Fustat/Cairo to the Rabbanite leaders of Ashqelon. Dating: Summer 1099 CE. The letter recounts how the Nagid Mevorakh exhorted the Jews of the community to donate money for the redemption of captives and Torah scrolls, and how in response the Jews of Fustat have donated 123 dinars. The first transcription here is for DK 242, and the second is for T-S AS 146.3. For a detailed discussion, see Goldman, "Arabic-Speaking Jews in Crusader Syria" (diss.), 42–48.

Letter to Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq b. Neṭira. In Hebrew. In the handwriting of a certain Avraham ha-Kohen, who is known in the world of piyyuṭ scholarship as the scribe of panegyrics addressed to a certain Avraham ha-Baghdadi. Scheiber published this letter as the key to the identity of Avraham ha-Baghdadi (i.e., he was Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq b. Neṭira, from a distinguished Baghdad family—the grandfather or ancestor, Neṭira, served as banker to the caliphs al-Muʿtaḍid and al-Muqtadir between 892 and 910 CE). This letter is an appeal/petition for help. He refers to the death of 'the Maghribī man who was with me' and how he now lives in poverty and the congregations are too poor to support him. The note on verso may read, "Please te[ar] this letter, whoever reads it," according to Scheiber's plausible reconstruction. Information from Scheiber, "A Letter to Abraham B. Isaac Netira," Tarbiz 48 (1979), 352–55.

Letter probably from [Shem]uel Algıdın (? אלגידין). In Hebrew. Dating: Possibly 16th century. Much of the letter is missing, so the content is obscure. Mentions places such as Bulaq, Rashid, and Jerusalem. Mentions people such as Yaʿaqov Kohen, Yosef Malṭi ("of Malta"), Moshe ʿĀl, Shemuel, Yishamʿel, the sender's brother-in-law Shabbetay, Doña Zahra, Binyamin, Seʿadya, and Avraham Mandil. (Information largely from A. David's edition; note that he interprets the signature as meaning this is a letter from "Yoel" to "Gidaya.")

Probably small fragment from a letter. (Information from CUDL)