Geniza Lab

Letter in Spanish with columns of numerical calculations at bottom that appears to be dated 5 Tamuz 5437 or July 5 1677CE (the "4" is faint and must be read at 140-200% zoom with high contrast on FGP). The fragment's verso folio is in fact the first page of the letter and that's where the dated heading appears which also indicates the letter's place of recording as Damietta/Dimyat. Just before the calculations begin, "ermano Aron de Abram" is mentioned in what may indicate familial ties to the fragment's author (l. 14r). In lines 8-9r, "en comienda" as separate words is mentioned for example in the phrase: "dara la inclusa con mil en comiendas. Below the accounts one "rais Fattiah" is mentioned, likely with the tile "rais" to indicate his status as a ship captain. MCD.

Drafts of a note to a certain Abū l-ʿIzz.

Letter from Yehuda b. Avraham b. al-Faraj, possibly in Ṣahrajt, to ʿEli b. ʿAmram (aka Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAllūn b. Muʿammar), in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1060s CE. The letter is in Arabic, with additional text in Hebrew on verso in Yehuda's hand. See also ENA 2465.8–9 and T-S 13J13.2, two other letters with the same sender and addressee, also written in a mix of Arabic and Hebrew script. ASE

Letter in Hebrew (probably), but very difficult to read. Needs examination.

Effaced letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Shelomo al-Maghrebi to a family member. He may be trying to decide if he will come to Fustat or not and seeking the recipient's help in something.

Letter of condolence in Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew to a certain Abū l-Ḥasan al-Mubārak b. [ʿIyad?] on the death of a woman in his family. Verso preserves the address and several columns in Arabic script.

Letter in difficult Latin script, possibly Portuguese. The address on verso is in Hebrew: to David Ṣarfati, from R. Yiṣḥaq Alpa[...], from צאפט to Fustat.

Recto: Stylized letter in Hebrew to David b. Hezekia the Nasi. Verso: The address and several different blocks of writing in Arabic script.

Letter from Shemuʾel b. Eli gaʾon, in Baghdad, in the hand of Yosef b. Yaʿaqov b. ʿEli Rosh ha-Seder of Irbīl, second half of the 11th century. Deals with just judgment. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #81, and from Amir Ashur and Marina Rustow)

Introduction of a letter in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic.

Letter from Zekharia b. Gdalia b. Ayash, from Zahrajt, to Musa b. Abi al-Hayy, Alexandria. Around 1063. Regarding deliveries of money, especially one of seven dinars that Habub b. Haban from Safukas sent, and asks to buy spices and perfumes and sell them for him In Alexandria. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #719) VMR

Late family/business letter in Hebrew signed by Yehuda Duran, mentioning goods sent from Fustat/Cairo to Venice, and discussing several female family members. The writer asks particularly about Ṣulṭāna bt. Yūsuf Abū l-Khayr.

Letter: draft(s) in the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya (11th century), in Fusṭāṭ, probably to the Gaʾon Shelomo b. Yehuda, in Jerusalem. One draft contains a report, in Hebrew, on a joint Karaite-Rabbanite collection made in the capital of Egypt on behalf of the Jews of Jerusalem to assist them with their taxes. Ezra b. Yishmael b. Ezra is mentioned, and the document refers to Yusuf ibn ‘Awkal with his honorific title ‘Rosh Kalla’ (‘head of the assembly’ of students at the biannual scholarly convention in Baghdad). (Marina Rustow, Heresy and the Politics of Community, 196, 278; From a Sacred Source, 309-10; S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:472) Another draft explains that, contrary to the malicious and false accusations made against him to the gaʾon by some members of the Jewish community in Fusṭāṭ, he will indeed be sending a generous donation for the Jerusalem academy in response to a fundraising mission by the gaʾon’s son Avraham. Efrayim also mentions that he retains the support of an influential Fatimid official, the Qaraite David ha-Levi b. Yiṣḥaq, who will also be sending a donation. Written on the verso of an Arabic -script letter discussing philosophical theology and mentioning the raʾs al-mathība (see PGPID 33676).

Long Hebrew letter of condolence to Seʿadya ha-Ḥaver upon the death of somebody (his father?). The writer describes the physicial and emotional agony that came upon him when he heard the news, and how the whole congregation cried out and donned black "and the garb of the Ishmaelites" (ולבשו הכל שחורים ויתעטפו בעטיפת ישמעאלים). Some parts of the letter are rhymed, and others are filled with biblical citations.

Opening of a letter in Hebrew to a group of important people, with wide space between the lines. The beginning of the body of the letter in Judaeo-Arabic is also preserved and says, "When we sent to you [copious praises . . . ben] Sasson ha-Dayyan."

One of a pair of letters written by Umm Sitt al-Nās to family members when she had been thrown out of her husband's and mother-in-law's house. The match was identified by Oded Zinger. The other letter is T-S 10J9.13, addressed to Abū l-Faḍl Ibn Sabra, whom Goitein identified as her maternal uncle and as Mevorakh b. Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq Ibn Sabra. That letter gives the background of the situation and how Umm Sitt al-Nās had had to leave her own family's location and move in with the husband and mother-in-law. "First, we all moved into one house. Soon my mother-in-law began to work against me, isolating me from everyone and putting enmity against me into the heart of her son. The least she did was that she said to me: 'Go away and become like your notorious mother.'" Umm Sitt al-Nās then probably alludes to her mother (the sister of both the addressee and the mother-in-law) when she writes, "You remember well how everyone reacted to your sister Baqā'." A man—perhaps the writer's husband or perhaps her father-in-law (per Goitein)—then accused Umm Sitt al-Nās of adultery with her cousin (ibn ʿamm). Ultimately she was turned out of the house, "naked and lost." She has been staying with a widow who took her in, and she wishes to travel to her uncle and stay with him, as she has no one else to turn to. The present letter is addressed to her brother Abu ʿUmar Ibn Sabra and does not add a great deal of new information. She requests 20 dirhams (like she requested from her uncle). She begs him for a letter and for news of their younger brother, who also has not written to her. For more, see T-S 10J9.13 and Goitein's translation and discussion of the other letter in Med Soc III:175f.

Letter possibly sent from Alexandria to Fustat. In Arabic script. Fragment (right side of recto). Written on parchment. Dating: Likely 11th century. The address is written on verso but is almost too faded to read. Mentions: the wife of Saʿāda; al-Mahdiyya; that the sender had been promised safe passage in a certain ship; that the addressee was supposed to come down to Alexandria, "but if you are living with your wife...."; Jerusalem; Abū l-Faraj; urging the addressee to come down to Alexandria: "all of us to Jerusalem"; further urgings not to delay. Needs further examination

The opening portion of a letter—flattery and praises—for a certain R. Yefet ha-Ḥakham.

Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic, mentioning someone's brother and al-Nezer. The writer then asks the addressee to pass on his copious excuses for not having rendered sufficient service to someone who has bestowed much favor (tafaḍḍulāt) upon him. The margin contains the interesting phrase "I will not drink again except. . ."

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic (1819 CE?) from Me'ir ben Naʿim to David ben Naʿim. Information from Wagner, Linguistic Variety of Judaeo-Arabic, 24.