Geniza Lab

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (lower part only). Dating: Likely 12th or 13th century, based on handwriting. Addressed to a woman. The sender mentions the number 700; the possibility that (s)he will encounter a delay more than 5 days after the 'promise' (s)he made to them (a promised date of return?); greetings to the people of the town, to someone else, and to the wife of Fakhr.

Letter/petition in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely early 13th century. Dealing with communal politics and controversies at length, but in vague terms. It likely has to do with Avraham Maimonides' decision regarding the appointment of 3 judges in Alexandria (see Mordechai Akiva Friedman, "The Nagid, the Nasi and the French Rabbis: A Threat to Abraham Maimonides' Leadership" Zion 82 (2017) 193–266). This letter is addressed to someone titled Sayyidnā or at least someone close to him; mentions R. Yiṣḥaq throughout (possibly Yiṣḥaq b. Ḥalfon); also mentions (at the bottom of verso) a judge named Ḥananel ha-Ḥasid, likely the well-known Ḥananel b. Shemuel. The last line of the fragment also mentions an evil man possibly named Abū l-ʿAlāʾ Munīr. Needs further examination. (Identifications provided by Amir Ashur and Mordechai Akiva Friedman.)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. In a lovely hand; the same scribe seems to have reused numerous Arabic-script documents for literary/liturgical text (see Joins Suggestions). This letter was intended to be sent from Fustat to an addressee who had recently set sail from Alexandria (presumably this is a draft or it was never sent). The letter opens with a quotation from Jeremiah 17:7. A few days after the addressee(s) set out to sea from Alexandria, Abū l-Faḍl (or Ibn al-Faḍl?) Ibn Sabra arrived "drowning" (ghāriq), which caused distress to everybody (did he survive a shipwreck?). The sender reports that the Nile completed its flood (al-māʾ qad awfā) at "5 from 17," which probably means 5 fingers short of 17 cubits. ("A cubit until the height of twelve cubits was divided into twenty-eight fingers, and equaled 0,539m≈54cm. A cubit above the height of twelve cubits consisted of twenty-four fingers, and equaled 0,462m≈46cm," per Kristine Chalyan-Daffner, "Socio-Cultural Attitudes to the Flooding of the Nile (13th–16th Centuries)" (2015).) The sender reports that everything in Egypt is perfect under the ruler (al-Mustanṣir or a vizier?), that new territory is conquered by him every day, that coins have been minted for him, ואלדעוה פי מכות (this phrase is difficult to understand—does it refer to the Fatimid Daʿwa?), and his forces have reached as far as Minyat al-Rudaynī (in the Sharqiyya district in the Nile Delta). ASE.

Letter from the office of Yehoshua the Nagid (d. 1355), a grandson of a grandson of the Rambam, to the Jerusalemite synagogues concerning an erection of a Sukkah and redemption of pawned Torah bells.

Letter of condolence from Mawhūb b. Aharon ha-Ḥazzan, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat (?). Dating: ca. 1070. This is a draft. The writer expresses his sorrow for the passing of Nahray’s wife, the mother of his son Abū Saʿd Nissim b. Nahray. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #756.) VMR

Letter from the French rabbi Shemuel b. Yaʿaqov to Avraham Maimonides. In Hebrew. Written across at least two bifolia. Among many other matters, Shemuel objects vigorously to a legal opinion of a certain R. Yeshaʿya which Avraham apparently inclined to accept: "Do not think that he is a great man and a great sage and that we are ignoramuses...." The letter also includes information about Shemuel's contact with rabbis in ʿAkkā. (Information from Friedman, "The Nagid, the Nasi and the French Rabbis," 230, 260.)

Family letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Addressed to a 'son.' Dating: Unknown; might be 11th century. There are some unusual phrases, such as "al-ʿāqiba li-barakāt" instead of the standard "al-ʿaqiba lil-khayr" (meaning "may it all turn out well"). There is a long prologue with expressions of longing and conveying happiness at the news of the arrival of Zayn. Then the sender says that they are in a terrible state of fear (khawf) from something. Wheat is "8 for a dinar." The addressee is asked to (send a petition and) "obtain a rescript (tawqīʿ) for us from your in-laws(?)...." Greetings to various people, including Sitt al-Ahl; the sender's sister; and the sister(?) of Bū l-Ḥasan and her children. Greetings from Bū l-Khayr, Yūsuf, ʿAshā(?), Khulayf, and Banīna and her mother.

Draft of a begging letter regarding some commercial and apparently personal relationship. A certain Abu al-Ma‘anī is mentioned. A man with this name is familiar from Avraham Maimuni's time, from Alexandria. Verso: draft of opening lines of same document. Both sides are written by Berakhot b. Shemuel who was active in Alexandria during the last decades of the 12th century until 1213.

Letter probably from Nissim b. Ḥalfon, in Tinnīs, to an unidentified addressee, probably in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: mid-11th century. Almost completely unmentioned in the literature (the exception is Golb, "The Topography of the Jews of Medieval Egypt," p. 138). Identification of the sender is based on handwriting and typical content; cf. Gil, Kingdom of Ishmael, vol. 3, #585–#601. The letter is almost completely preserved; should be edited.

Literary text in Judaeo-Arabic. Includes learned legalistic discussions. After the beginning of a citation of a legal document, it refers to the death of Abū Manṣūr, who is "the son of my sister"; it is not clear if this is an actual person or a fictional example. Also mentions "the illnesses of his heart."

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Unknown sender and addressee; likely one judge or communal official writing to another. The lower left corner is missing. Abū l-Faraj met with the sender and told him that he is taking a trip and that the ketubba has still not been found. It seems that it had been deposited with Abū Zakariyyā Ibn Sugh[mār?] but that someone took it from him. The sender proposes a resolution involving the wife appearing before the court and having a new document drawn up (אלי חית ירסם להא ויקני מנהא) and relinquishing claims against a man (maybe they have divorced, and she was unable to present the ketubba with proof of the payments owed to her).

Recto: Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Likely addressed to Avraham Maimonides. "... from Yemen to Qūṣ, and they said there the same thing that Sayyidnā (may his name be eternal) said. They said this to him and denied (what he said?) strenuously and led him to the path of truth... they are preventing him from traveling on account of his legal opponents..."

Recto: End of a letter in Arabic script. The sender asks for a response to this note ("khidma") with news of Sayyidnā (=Avraham Maimonides in this context) and of the mother and the children and the brother Abū Manṣūr.

Recto: Three fragments of a letter from from Yehuda b. Ṭoviyya ha-Kohen, in Bilbays, to Avraham Maimonides. In Judaeo-Arabic. He reports that he fulfilled the order concerning the ḥaver R. Barukh despite what all the other people said—they don't understand the issue inside and out. The next part seems to do with precious merchandise and a sale—but needs examination.

Recto: Two fragments of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Likely sent to Avraham Maimonides. Contains a tantalizing glimpse of drama: "'I said to her, 'I heard that you made up with [...] and that you intend to get married.' She said, 'Yes.' I said to her, 'How?! You claimed that the girl is your child from Ibrāhīm.' She responded and said, 'It's as if you doubt that the girl [...] that it is done."

Recto: End of a letter, or letter draft, from Abū l-Ṭāhir to Avraham Maimonides. All that remains is 4 lines of flattery (sent to accompany something else that was enclosed?). Interestingly the upper half of line 1 has been transposed to the bottom of the page (i.e., it was glued there and then the paper was cut open).

Recto: Letter probably addressed to Avraham Maimonides. In Judaeo-Arabic. Wide space between the lines. Concerning an orphan, when he reaches puberty, a will, and a power of attorney.

Recto: Letter from Yehuda b. Ṭoviyya ha-Kohen, in Bilbays, to Avraham Maimonides.

Recto: Letter probably addressed to Avraham Maimonides. Only flattering phrases in Hebrew are preserved.

Recto: Bottom of a letter from Yehuda b. Ṭoviyya ha-Kohen, in Bilbays, to Avraham Maimonides. Dated: 15th day of the ʿOmer 1529 Seleucid, which is 1218 CE.