Geniza Lab

Recto: Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Probably addressed to Avraham Maimonides. Not much of the content is preserved.

Recto: Letter fragment in Arabic script. "... that it is correct. As for... that it is correct. And when..."

Recto: Letter fragment from Yehuda b. Ṭoviyya ha-Kohen to Avraham Maimonides.

Recto: Letter fragment from Yehuda b. Ṭoviyya ha-Kohen, in Bilbays, to Avraham Maimonides, in Fustat. Only the tarjama with Yehuda's name is preserved.

Recto: Letter addressed to Avraham Maimonides. Probably a letter of recommendation on behalf of the bearer. Not much is preserved beyond the titles and blessings.

Recto: End of a letter in Arabic script (this text is from the right margin, with some of the beginnings of the lines of the main text preserved). The sender 'kisses the hand of Sayyidnā' (=Avraham Maimonides in this context).

Letter from an ardent supporter to Daniel b. ʿAzarya. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Ca. 1055 CE (per Goitein). This is only the first leaf of the letter. The sender puts his money and his friends at Daniel's disposal. The entire letter is also an attack on ʿEli b. ʿAmram, who is never directly named. The sender describes communal strife in Fustat after the death of the gaon Shelomo b. Yehuda (d. 1051) and Abū Kathīr Efrayim b. Shemarya (d. after 1053 CE, probably ca. 1055 CE). The other supporters of Daniel b. ʿAzarya wanted to appoint the Rav (=Yehuda b. Yosef) as the successor of Efrayim b. Shemarya, and they did not want ʿEli b. ʿAmram to assume the position. (The Rav was in the camp of Daniel b. ʿAzarya despite being the cousin of his rivals Yosef and Eliyya, the sons of Shelomo ha-Kohen b. Yehosef who was briefly gaon in 1025 CE.) However, the sender paradoxically thinks that their enemy ʿEli b. ʿAmram should succeed Efrayim, precisely because then he will have to pay obeisance to Daniel, and the two camps will be united. The letter's contents are as follows: (1) Condolences for the death of Daniel's sister (r1–12); (2) Praises and seeking forgiveness for the fight that they had in the house of al-Damsīsī—Goitein understands that this is because the sender had advocated for ʿEli b. ʿAmram, Daniel's enemy (r13–21); (3) ʿEli ("the idiot") didn't understand that the sender has long been a supporter of Daniel b. ʿAzarya, even before the death of Shelomo b. Yehuda; and anything the sender has done for ʿEli is like what David did for Saul—serving him despite the latter's intention to kill him (r23–36); an explanation of how the sender supported ʿEli b. ʿAmram over the Rav, against the objections of the rest of Daniel's contingent, including Abū Isḥāq (Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq Ibn al-Furāt) (v1–12); ʿEli b. ʿAmram's boorish behavior once he assumed leadership, which alienated the other leading figures of the community (including Abū Sahl al-Kohen, a certain Abū l-Surūr, and a certain Elḥanan) to the point that they boycotted the synagogue (v12–28); ʿEli, fearing that he would be deposed in favor of the Rav, recruited his son-in-law Ḥunayn and started spreading malicious rumors about the Rav, including something he supposedly said to Ibn al-Talmid involving the latter's mother. Then, "Ḥunayn went and gathered some potters and quarrelsome people, and hired about fifty of them, and they wrote legal deeds about the Rav, [saying] that he had apostatized (pashaʿa) in al-Shām and [later] arrived in Egypt to re-Judaize (yatahawwada)" (v29–36). (Information from Goitein's edition. Translation of the last section from Moshe Yagur, "Several Documents from the Cairo Geniza Concerning Conversion to Islam," (2020).)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (piece from the right side). Mentions a jahbadh (tax official); al-shaliṭ (another government term, corresponding to Arabic sulṭān?); "this year"; the sender's distress (talāfī); meeting with someone's son. Quite damaged; difficult to understand any more than this.

Another copy of the same letter as in Bodl. MS heb. b 3/19 + Bodl. MS heb. b 3/20; see PGPID 5595 for details. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Letter from Hillel b. Hārūn, in Tyre, to [... b.] Khālid(?), in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 11th century. The sender's cousins, the children of his paternal uncle Mūsā, had to come to him in Tyre in great distress, and the sender dressed them in fancy clothing (shayʾan kāna lī atajammal bih). The cousin traveled onward and has not sent any news (and never returned the clothing). Hillel has heard that he is now doing business in Fustat. Hillel seems to be sheepishly asking for the clothes back, or at least asking for some favor in return. Also mentions the addressee's in-law ʿAllūn al-ʿAṭṭār.

Letter from Yosef b. Musa al-Tahirti, probably from Mahdiyya, to Ya’aqov b. Nahum, Fustat. Around 1045. Regarding a very large amount of goods and deals. Mentions mainly types of silk, different fabrics, and peals. Several things in this letter are mentioned in the letter from Yeshua b. Isma’Il al-Tahirti (see T-S 12.389). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #359) VMR

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. From the circle of the 13th-century Mosul Nasis. Extremely faded. The beginning and ending are missing. All of recto and part of verso are narrated as secondhand reports ("he said... he said... he said..."). Recto is a horrifying account of the Mongol (Tatar/תתר) invasion (cf. Bodl. MS heb. a 3/24 and T-S 20.128, belonging to the same circle of Mosul Nasis and possibly from the same sender). The Mongols entered the narrator's city on Simḥat Torah and plundered it, taking captive al-Nasi al-Fakhr, his wife Sitt al-Ruʾasāʾ, his brothers, his sister, and his 2-year-old son. Thousands of men, women, and children fled. By the time they reached Wādī ʿUmayr, the women were exhausted from carrying their children. The Mongols tore the children away—including the son of al-Fakhr and Sitt al-Ruʾasāʾ—and threw them on the ground as they cried out for their parents. When the letter resumes on verso, the sender (or the narrator of recto?) is describing his difficult economic circumstances wherever he has ended up (Syria? Bilbays? Fustat?). Everything that al-Nasi al-Fakhr had, clothing or otherwise, has been lost. Previously they were supported by the community or private donors ("kāna yaṣilunā mezonot") but now the people cannot spare any attention for them, even though they profess to love them. He mentions someone named Barakāt with the title al-Tifʾeret; a distinguished physician; and other notables who say that either the sender or the addressee should obtain a decree/rescript (tawqīʿ) and become the leader (muqaddam, ḥākim) of the community. There are a couple more faded lines, and the continuation is missing. ASE

Letter fragment (lower part) probably from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi in Qalyub to his father in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Discusses sundry small business dealings (in wine, onions, honey, garments) and mentions his delight when he learned that his sister had recovered and that his brother Abu l-Ḥasan [Yedutun] planned to come out [to Qalyub] to spend Shabbat with him. ASE

Letter from an unknown person to his or her father. In Judaeo-Arabic, with rudimentary handwriting and orthography. To be sent to the Muṣāṣa quarter of Fusṭāṭ, to the shop of [...]. The sender misses "Marḥūm," which might be a reference to a dead person, but the next sentence is tricky to figure out, and nothing else here suggests a letter of condolence. The addressee and his wife and his son Barakāt are all asked to be good to the sender (perhaps by visiting?).

Letter from a certain Nissim to his sister. In Judaeo-Arabic. In an unusual format, with the lines downslanting rather than upslanting, and the left margin used for overflow instead of the right margin. The last line of the letter is written upside down in the upper margin, and there is a (sadly faded) address on verso. Also on verso there is a Hebrew literary text. Dating: Possibly 11th century. The sender is distressed that Salmān stopped talking to the addressee and didn't marry her (? mā dakhala ilayki). Mentions "fī l-madīna" twice in line 11. Needs further examination.

Letter copies, probably writing exercises. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 18th or 19th century. There are two main letters copied here, dealing with shipments of chests and goods valued in riyals.

Note from a parent to a teacher. In Judaeo-Arabic. The text is quite clear, but it's difficult to figure out what the sender is trying to say. He might be reprimanding the teacher or making a proposal. There is also one line in Arabic script at 180 degrees and on verso some text from the Haggada. Needs examination.

Letter or letter draft. In Hebrew. Dating: Late, probably no earlier than 15th century. Quite deferential. The sender refers to a ship and something he sent with Raḥamim and warns the addressee not to give it to just anyone who asks. There are also various jottings, pen trials, and practice signatures on both recto and verso.

Letter from Netanel ha-Levi b. Moshe ha-Shishi, in which he complains about his father paying him 25 dinars to stay home and study instead of seeing his friends. This is another version of BL OR 5566B.30, translated and discussed by Goitein in Med Soc V, pp. 427–28. See also Goitein's index card.

Letter addressed to a certain Abū l-Faṭḥ (according to the internal address) or to the perfume/drug shop of Abū l-ʿIzz (according to the external address). In a mixture of Arabic in Arabic script and Judaeo-Arabic. The Arabic-script hand and spellings are somewhat rudimentary, while the Hebrew-script hand seems more practiced. The sender is agitated about having misplaced the bag (kharīṭa) containing the Torah codex and the fūṭa garment. He suspects the camel drivers might have taken it—"Wālī and his rabāʿa"—maybe the head driver is named Wālī and "rabāʿa" refers to his workers? In any case, Wālī has announced a reward of three dirhams for whoever returns it. The sender asks the addressee to complain about them (the goods? the camel drivers?) to 'the ustādh,' likely a government official. He asks the addressee to send the skins/hides (al-julūd, misspelled اجلود). The main part of the letter concludes with greetings for the addressee and Khalaf. There is a postscript (or possibly a response?) in Judaeo-Arabic, which repeats verbatim some of the information from the main part of the letter but also has some differences. "If the fūṭa is not with you on the maṣṭaba, the mukārīs (animal drivers) have taken them... Wālī said that he will give 2 or 3 dirhams to whoever returns it. I told him to have it delivered to the shop, and they will pay you whatever they lost." In this section, it says that the muṣḥaf will arrive with Khalaf, and the fūṭa—with God's help. ASE