Geniza Lab

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Quite long, and written in an elegant script. The sender gives a convoluted account of a business/legal dispute, involving stakes of over 150 dinars and the underhanded tactics of another merchant. This man was preparing to travel to the West from Rashīd. He gave his merchandise to his wife and his daughter, so that when the Jews asked his father and brother where his goods were, they said "we have nothing, it's all with his wife." Then the women interrogated the wife, who said that she had only 2 dinars and 2 qirats. Her father rebuked her for admitting this, saying that now all of the husband's creditors would come and demand their due. She then reneged on her declaration before the judge. The story goes on. The sender hopes that the addressee will write a letter supporting his side of the case to the judge. Places mentioned: Tripoli (Libya) and 'the West.' People mentioned: ʿAmmār b. al-Dayyān, ʿImrān, Ibn Shammārī, a Rayyis who died, and aṣḥabunā al-Barqiyyīn wa-l-Ghurabā (associates from al-Barqa and the West). Needs further examination. On verso a business account in Judaeo-Arabic (in a different hand).

Letter to a merchant away in the Far East, whose interests were protected by the 'Nagid David'. Aden, ca. 1180.

Letter of appeal for charity from Isḥāq b. Avraham to the Nagid Moshe b. Mevorakh (1112–26 CE). What remains is almost entirely in Hebrew, though the body of the letter was in Judaeo-Arabic. "Few petitions by individuals in distress entreating Moshe's assistance are extant. However, the 'broken-hearted' Jew whose torn letter to Moshe Nagid b. Mevorakh preserves, aside from the salutation and the address, some biblical verses about answering the prayers of the needy, was undoubtedly only one of many who sought Moshe's succor." Cohen, Jewish Self-Government, p. 278.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Very faded. The writer excuses the messiness with the fact that he is writing this in the aftermath of an illness and while traveling. Most of what remains appears to bemoan the vicissitudes of fate. The margins have been reused for something in Hebrew script.

Letter from a learned man in the Fayyūm to R. ʿOvadya and R. Ḥananel. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: No earlier than the late 12th century. The writer hopes to be able to get out of the Fayyūm before Rosh Hashana, but is not optimistic. He has sent a copy of the introduction to the commentary on Avot (probably of Maimonides), and asks the addressees to 'complete it' through the eighth chapter and send it back to him along with the copy of Sefer ha-Madaʿ (the first section of the Mishneh Torah) that they had promised.

Letter from Yaʿaqov b. Shemuel ha-Andalusi, in Jerusalem, to Yosef b. Naḥum ha-Bardani, in Fustat. Dating: 5 Adar Sheni, around 1060 (Gil, Palestine, Vol 3). Yosef has arrived in Fustat after a stay in Syria and Palestine. Yaʿaqov tells Yosef that he has purchased two qirābas of olive oil and delivered it to Ibn Al-Tuffāḥī in Jaffa (Gil, Palestine, 1:237).

Letter. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. It seems to be an appeal for charity or another form of help from 'adonenu,' who has a son named Shelomo. Mentions a Kohen from Damascus and al-Dayyān Yosef ha-Kohen. He (the writer? the Damascene?) wants to marry his son to a good Jewish girl.

Letter from Yosef b. Labrāṭ al-Fāsī (identified on the basis of the handwriting), probably writing from Qayrawān, to Yaʿaqov b. Yosef Ibn ʿAwkal. Refers to disagreements in the Qayrawān community, and gives a recommendation to a young man, Yosef b. Avraham b. Sfūs, who is travelling to Fustat and has with him numerous letters and wares. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, pp. 293-294.)

Letter from Barhūn b. Mūsā ha-Tahirti, in Jerusalem, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: about 1045 (Gil). Business letter discussing trade in silk and linen, including with Byzantium.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Avraham b. Mevasser, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1030.

Letter in Arabic script from Khalaf (?) b. [...] to Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAllūn (?) b. [...]. Reused for piyyutim. Needs examination.

Letter from Faraḥ b. Yosef, in Alexandria, to Yehuda b. Menashshe, in Fustat. Dating: May 12, 1069. Regarding shipments of gold and exchange of dinars for dirhams. Mentions the ships that sailed from Alexandria to the west, probably the first ones after the winter. The writer asks the addressee to drop a debt of 40 dinars that he borrowed from Abu Naser Thibt b. Sadan al-Bagdadi, a person who came to Alexandria in order to travel to the Maghreb, but missed the ship and returned to Fustat. Also Mentions details about the situation in Sicily and the battles there. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #520) VMR

Letter or letter draft from Yeshuʿa b. Yefet ha-Kohen addressed to two people. Introduction in Hebrew and body in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions 10 dinars and various business matters. Someone with a different hand than the scribe has copied out many of the words in the spaces between the lines.

Letter from Barhūn b. Ṣāliḥ al-Tahirti, in Alexandria, to Mūsā b. Yaḥyā al-Majānī. Dating: ca. 1045 CE. Barhun deals with buying and selling goods in Būṣīr and Alexandria. The addressee is probably the grandson of Mūsā b. Yaḥyā who is mentioned in another letter from the beginning of the 11th century. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #334) VMR

Letter from Yūsuf b. Ibrāhīm addressed to someone close to the Nagid. In Judaeo-Arabic. He is asking a favor and repeatedly refers to the "nawba" (public lesson? serving as a representative?) of Malīj. Mentions people such as Abū l-Ḥasan the Talmid; the cantor Ṣadaqa ha-Levi; the cantor Ibn Nufayʿ. Needs examination.

Letter from Natan b. Mevorakh ha-Kohen, in Ashqelon, to ʿUlla ha-Levi ha-Parnas b. Yosef, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1110 CE per Gil. Mentions a letter containing instructions from Eliyyahu b. Evyatar ha-Kohen and the flax of Abū l-Barakāt al-Jaʿfarī. (Information from Gil.)

Letter from Barhūn b. Ṣāliḥ al-Tahirti, in Barqa to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1045 CE. Barhūn writes at length and in detail about his disagreement with a person who was his business partner for trading textiles. It seems that after his stay in Alexandria, Barhūn traveled to Barqa. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #329) VMR

Letter from Maymūn b. Efrayim (Alexandria) to Yosef b. Yaʿaqov b. ʿAwkal (Fustat). Contains information about the movement of wares via Alexandria and about financial matters. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 551.)

Probably a letter. In Hebrew, in flowery style. The portion preserved consists entirely of blessings.

Letter from an unidentified man in the Rīf to someone important in Fustat. Dating: 1112–ca. 1126, as it mentions the Nagid Moshe b. Mevorakh. In Judaeo-Arabic with a large amount of Hebrew mixed in. The sender complains at length about his poor state in this "exile" and his poverty. Also mentions Shela b. Moshe ha-Levi. On verso there are formulae of rhymed opening lines of letters addressed to notables (e.g. Rosh Yeshivat Gaon Yaʿaqov).