Geniza Lab

A vocalized Hebrew letter mostly faded. The addressee is the son of Abu Sahl. In the margins the name Bundar is visible.

Letter in Arabic script, beautifully written. The upper part and the lower part are missing. On verso there is part of the Passover Haggada. "We heard from a group of the merchants arriving from Fustat/Egypt that there arrived a lot of the merchandise (? al-ḥaml) which comes from Yemen, and it must be sold 'whether by money or loss' (in shāʾa bi-l-naqd in shāʾa bi-l-faqd). They have not been freed with it (? mā tatakhallaṣū bihi) from the Byzantines or the [...]." Might then mention brazilwood (baqqam) and lac. "And if the [...] does not sell (in kāna kāsid), by God, we have taken a beating (? ḍuribnā), I and Abū l-Barakāt, from distress and demands (al-ḍīqa wa-l-muṭālaba). We ultimately settled with the Maghribīs concerning the customs for the wheat which they must pay, 39 dinars [...]." (There are more specifics about the customs duties given, but they are difficult to read.) "And we wrote the receipts (al-wuṣūlāt), but they were not content, and this is part of the distress and demands. And there passed between Abū l-Barakāt...." When the letter resumes in the margin, there is a ṣalwala and ḥasbala, and the continuation is too fragmented to make sense of. ASE

Huge model of a begging letter. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. From one who boasts to have belonged to ‘the owners of money’ (aṣḥāb al-amwāl) and became one of those who lost their riches (מיורדים מנכסיהם). Written on a bifolium. One of the pages has Ezekiel 1, another has love poetry in Judaeo-Arabic. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card.)

Long Arabic letter. Calligraphic, chancery-esque hand. The scribe wrote with a nicked nib (which may facilitate finding a join). Needs examination for content. There is a Hebrew dirge on verso.

Most of the page contains series of poems. On one page there is a short note addressed to Eliyyahu the Judge from an in-law of his. "In which I inform Rabbi Eliyya: If I were to describe the severity of my illness and my pain, you would say, 'How can this one walk on the earth?!'" The sender goes on to complain about the difficult circumstances in which he sent this poetry (so maybe he is the author of the poetry on the other three pages). Greetings to Eliyyahu's wife (called Umm al-Rayyis Abū Zikrī), her daughter, her son, and her siblings.

Letter of appeal, draft. In Judaeo-Arabic. Rhyming (-dī). On a reused list of various expenditures of the community. (See Goitein, Med Soc, II, App. A 46.)

Letter formulary in Judaeo-Arabic, including instructions for writing to kings and viziers. Possibly a join with BL OR 10112B.12

Pastoral letter presumably addressed to the Fustat community from the office of one of the later Maimonidean Nagids (Yehoshuaʿ?). In addition to general admonitions, the epistle states specifically that anyone selected by lot to serve as a collector of alms and refuses to act as such, or anyone objecting to participate in the weekly collections for the poor was liable to be punished with the 'heavy ban'. Dating to the late 13th or 14th century. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 503)

Almost poetic letter of a Gaon, perhaps Shelomo b. Yehuda. A woman deserted by her husband for many years had brought up her only son and when he was old enough had sent him out to find his father, but the boy perished on his way. Along with attempts at consolation the Gaon refers to a debt of 300 dinars and losses incurred by the recipient of his letter. On microfilm the verso appears before the recto. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 199)

Recto: Maimonides’ autograph draft of a 3-line poem he composed and included at the beginning of his philosophical work ‘Guide for the Perplexed’. Verso: letter in a different hand (not that of Maimonides) to Joseph b. Judah (possibly Ibn ʿAqnin, a student of Maimonides). The letter continues overleaf(?), along with diverse jottings. (Information from CUDL)

Memorandum by Nahray b. Nissim. Around 1045. The addressee in unknown but it might be Barhun b. Musa al-Tahirti. Contains instructions about payment deduction and details about different shipments and their expenses. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #272) VMR

Copies of various epistles of historical importance, at least some attributed to Ḥasdai ibn Shaprut. There are also piyyutim of Dunash b. Labrat. There is an extensive bibliography on FGP.

Recto: Letter addressed to Yehosef Hehakam from Damascus, mentioning R. Yosef, perhaps Ibn `Aqnin. Verso: Condolences to a Nagid upon the death of R.`Uzzi'el.

Recto (probably later use): Letter of condolence to a Nagid upon the death of R.ʿUzziel.

Letter fragment (lower part) from a muqaddam named Moshe, probably addressed to the dayyanim of Fustat, complaining that after the death of the Nagid Avraham his unworthy opponent had been appointed. A sick, old man is mentioned in the margin, but the surrounding text is damaged, so it is unclear if this is an aspersion directed at the rival or a complaint about his own condition. (Information in part from Goitein's index cards.) ASE

Letters, perhaps, copied into a literary work. There seem to be long strings of titles. In Hebrew.

Formulas of letters to VIPs.

Pages from a manual of writing letters.

Copies of late letters in poetic Hebrew

From a book of formulas of letters. Compare with T-S J3.3