Geniza Lab

Letter by R. Sherira Gaon.

Letter in Yiddish from Rachel b. Avraham of Prague in Jerusalem to her son Moshe in Cairo.

Responsum by [Shemuel] b. Ḥofni. In Hebrew. Regarding a partnership.

Letter fragment, or maybe drafts/formularies. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Almost the entirety of what is preserved consists of flattery and blessings.

Bifolium with copies of letters. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic.

Detailed account of monthly sales of products from the east in Sicily, especially spices and flax, covering the period from August 1064 to October 1065, written in late 1065 (Gil). Also contains the draft of a letter, in which Ibn al-Shāma requests from his business partner a similar account for the years 454–57/1062–65 of the goods and gold that had been sent in exchange from Sicily to Egypt. This exchange of accounts suggests that this particular business relationship that had lasted several years was hereby ended. According to Gil, the account and the letter were sent by Zakharya b. Yaʿqūb b. al-Shāma in Tripoli, Libya. Also mentions Abū Zikrī Ḥayyim b. ʿAmmār, the representative of the merchants in Palermo; and refers to a load of merchandise belonging to Yūsuf b. Ibrāhīm the dayyān transported by Abū ʿAbdallah (b. al-Baʿbāʿ). (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, pp. 185, 207; Gil, Kingdom, vol. 4, p. 222; Ben-Sasson, Yehudei Sitzilya, p. 330)

Public letter in the hand of Avraham Maimonides (d. 1237 CE). The cantors of Fustat are instructed to read it aloud in the synagogue on Monday, Thursday, and Monday, as well as Saturday morning. A ban of excommunication is declared against the women who continue dyeing silk privately ('in the houses'), because the tax farmer who had the license for silk dyeing had complained to the dīwān that he was losing revenue. Information in part from Goitein's note card. The CUDL description identifies the hand as belonging to Joshua b. Abraham Maimonides (active 1310-1355 CE), but Amir Ashur, who wrote that description, has now revised his view and identifies this hand as belonging to Avraham (I) Maimonides.

Letter(s) of appeal for charity. In Judaeo-Arabic. There are specific stories conveyed here, but the text is written in codex format—so maybe this is a book of copies or formularies.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. There is mention of the Qaraites and Ben Me'ir, suggesting that it might have to do with the calendar controversy. There is also mention of sums of money and entering a place that is referred to as Dār al-ʿIlm (not necessarily identical with the Qaraite institution in Jerusalem).

Letter. "Discussion or record concerning the case of a man, Sulaymān, who is suspected of being an informer (מוסר). His testimony is given verbatim, ‘in the Arabic language’ (בלשון ערב). It cites Maimonides, Mišne Tora, Ḥovel u-Mazziq 8:9–10, and refers to the Nagid. Verso is written upside-down in relation to recto. Probably 13th century." Information from GRU via FGP.

drafts of poems and a draft of a letter. Attributed to Judah Halevi by Allony. This identification is questioned by Friedman in IB IV/A p. 10-11, n. 37.

Recto: Letter/petition in Arabic script. The sender is reminding the addressee to do some favor which was previously agreed upon. Needs examination.

On recto rhymed verses, probably from an opening of a letter. On verso verses from the Prophets, in a big, childish hand

Note addressed to Yūsuf. In Judaeo-Arabic. Asking the addressee to give 10 nuqra dirhams to the bearer, Abū l-Faraj. Dated 13 Rabīʿ al-Awwal, [...]. The remainder of this large fragment is filled with jottings in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic.

Letter fragment in Hebrew. Very deferential; blesssings to the addressee's sons. On verso there is Hebrew piyyut.

Letter fragment. Introduction in Hebrew, body in Judaeo-Arabic. Little of the content remains. On verso there is Hebrew literary text.

Letter from Abū l-Faḍl to his father Abū l-ʿIzz. In Judaeo-Arabic. He opens with the verse Psalms 16:8 followed by three verses of Judaeo-Arabic poetry expressing his longing. (These verses are discussed in Mohamed A. H. Ahmed, "An Initial Survey of Arabic Poetry in the Cairo Genizah," Al-Masāq (2018).) Either the bottom half of the letter was torn away, or the letter was never finished. On verso there are various jottings, including some accounts in Arabic script.

Only few words, probably from the bottom of a letter

Blessings on the Fatimid caliph al-Āmir bi-aḥkām Allāh (1101-31 CE) and on the Gaon Masliah b. Shelomo ha-Kohen, head of the Jerusalem Yeshiva, which then had its seat in Cairo. The postscript includes Masliah’s cousin Eliyyahu the Fourth and his three sons, which the writer indicates should be inserted right before the blessing for Masliah; the date of composition was likely between 1127 and 1131 CE. (“Prayers from the Geniza for Fatimid Caliphs, the Head of Jerusalem Yeshiva, the Jewish community and the Local Congregation,'' in Studies in Judaica, Karaitica and Islamica, Presented to Leon Nemoy...Bar-Ilan University, 1982, 49-57) EMS See also Moss. L.62

Letter in Arabic script, in a chancery-esque hand. But the subject matter is more prosaic: "...half for you and half for me... his daily wage will be...." On verso (in a different hand) there is a reference to al-[...] al-sulṭānīyya. On verso there is also a Hebrew piyyuṭ. Needs further examination.