Geniza Lab

Letter in which the writer asks the addressee to intervene with Sar ha-Sarim, probably Mevorakh b. Saadya, to retrieve his nephew's estate. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Barakāt al-Kohen to the cantor Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi (d. 1212). Barakāt has sent the volume which he found of al-Faraj baʿd al-Shidda. He found another copy with his brother's son in al-Maḥalla and plans to go get it and send it to Moshe. He will also send the two 'little qawls' (piyyuṭim?) which he'd mentioned, on the subject of love. On verso, he asks Moshe to send him two pots with dates, for those he received were spoiled, and he discarded them in Minya Zifta. He also sends his greetings to Abū l-ʿAlāʾ and Abū l-Maʿālī. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 411, and from Goitein's index cards)

Letter (draft?) in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Late, ca. 16th–18th century based on handwriting and format. In the margins and on recto reused for accounts in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic, with Hebrew numerals. (Information in part from CUDL)

Poetic Hebrew. Might be piyyut or opening of a letter. Too dark

Opening of a faded letter written (and signed) by Avraham Maimonides, addressed to the the Great Dayyan [...] b. Yosef - probably Anatoly b. Yosef. AA

The original document is a Judaeo-Arabic letter addressed to Eliyyahu the Judge, in Fustat, from his "family" (ahl baytih, which can also mean "wife"), in Alexandria. Little of the content is preserved, but it mentions something belonging to a woman named Rivqa. At the top of recto, in a different ink and different hand (the hand of Eliyyahu?), a few words in Judaeo-Arabic including the name Abū l-Ḥasan b. Abū l-[...].

Letter to the Nagid. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (upper right corner). Dating: Likely 13th or 14th century, based on handwriting. Mentions the amir Sayf al-Mulk and the synagogue of Damīra. Introduced by a quotation similar to Micah 5:8. (Information in part from CUDL)

Recto: small fragment from the beginning of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Verso: Hebrew quotations, similar to Psalms 137:6. (Information from CUDL)

Minute fragment, few words from the end of the name [...] b. Yishai. AA

Letter from Ibn al-Naj[era] to [Ḥalfon b.] Netanʾel ha-Levi. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1138 CE, as it seems to belong with documents 32ח to 34ח (T-S 12.285, T-S 8J18.3, and T-S 13J14.21). It is very faded. The address appears at the top of recto. This scribe represents ط as צ, sometimes with a dot over it. Scattered phrases: "... I encountered Abū Ibrāhīm... mithqāl(s) from Tilimsān... Almeria, and the silk... I entered Granada...." Belongs in the addendum to India Book IV. ASE

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Simha al-Naysaburi, in Alexandria, to 'Ulla ha-Levi b. Yosef, in Fustat. Gil identifies the author of the letter by his handwriting. The letter deals with the trade of silk and pearls and involves Muslim trade partners. (Information from Gil)

Small fragment from the bottom of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Might be asking for a remedy to administer to a sick person (בשי אן אמן . . . אן אסקיה. . . .), but it is too fragmentary to be certain.

Recto: opening of a Hebrew 11th-century letter. Verso: has an unidentified Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic text. (Information from CUDL)

Letter, probably to a certain Shemuʾel. (Information from CUDL)

Minute fragment from an opening of a letter to a notable. AA

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Only a small corner remains. The writer seems to be a woman: "When I remained a widow (tarammaltu). . ." Also mentions "the ruin of the daughter (or house?). . . raising her children. . ."

Letter to the Nagid (or at least to a dignitary titled [...] ha-Yeshiva, probably the same Yaḥyā ha-Sar named in line 7). The sender asks for help on behalf of a woman. He describes her circumstances and meager resources and then refers to Rabbenu Moshe and a public collection (jibāya). May mention Peraḥ[ya] in the margin. Reused on verso for Arabic poems, including one referring to colors and stones. (Information in part from CUDL.)

A family letter, contains mostly regards from Avraham Sagish to his brother Moshe. 16th century. Published by A. David, Katedra 114, p. 67-68.

Letter from a father to a son. In Judaeo-Arabic. Also conveying messages from the son's mother. There are some fatherly exhortations here ("... wa-l-tanbīh yā bunayy..."). (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter head addressed to Abū Yaḥyā Nahray b. Nissim. (Information from CUDL)