Geniza Lab

Fragment of a Ladino letter (left half).

Letter in Yiddish from Rachel b. Avraham of Prague in Jerusalem to her son Moshe in Cairo. Join by Esther-Miriam Wagner, "Vis, liber zun, ikh hob dir vil brif geshribn: Yiddish letters in the Genizah." [Genizah Research Unit, Fragment of the Month, October 2009]. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.55277.

Letter discussing the liturgy, specifically the different siddurim of R. Shelomo (who must be Shelomo b. Natan of Sijilmassa), the seder moʿed included in the Mishne of R. Moshe (Moshe Maimonides), and that of Rabbenu Saʿadya (Gaʾon). The writer points out that no one from the communities of Fusṭāṭ or Cairo (מן אהל מצר ואלקאהרה) has produced anything like it – he’s complaining about a lack of native talent among the Egyptian Jews (since Maimonides was a Spaniard and Saʿadya, despite being born in Egypt, was evidently viewed as an Iraqi). He refers to Maimonides as אלרייס (al-Rayyis, ‘the Head’)– so he is still alive then and probably in the earlier period of his time in Egypt – and says that the Rambam has been teaching אלגמר ואלטב, ‘talmud and medicine’. (Information from Ben Outhwaite via https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/genizah-fragments/posts/qa-wednesday-ben-outhwaite-managing-gru-time-covid)

A letter of a man identified by Bareket as Sahlān b. Abraham to Segan ha-Yeshiva (Aaron the cantor), we read that “when the complaining of the wife of ʿAlī b. Bishr ben Dardān/Durdān continued, the matter required the appointment of a representative to go to her to investigate her matter since she is veiled. (Info from Oded Zinger PhD, p. 44n86). On the same page and on verso an Arabic letter - needs examination.

Business letter in Arabic script. Missing the beginning. Mentions places such as Malīj (l. 2) and probably Maḥalla (l. 8, though it looks more like مقلة). The sender has sent a sealed purse of 10 dinars (l. 6) and gives instructions for what should be purchased. May mention Dār al-Ṣināʿa (antepenultimate line). Needs further examination. On verso there is Hebrew literary text including poetry.

Letter addressed to ʿUlla ha-Sar ha-Nikhbad b. [...]. In Hebrew (for the poetic opening) and Arabic in Arabic script (for the body). Only the upper right corner is preserved; a few words are missing from the end of each line, and it is not clear how much is missing from the bottom. From what is preserved, the letter seems to consist entirely of flattery and an apology for something.

Business letter, probably. In Arabic script. Fragmentary (upper right corner). Reused on verso for a Hebrew poem. Needs examination for content.

Letter in Arabic script. Damaged and faded. Needs examination.

Letter. A letter from Yosef Ibn al-Ashqar to the treasury officials on purchasing a house. 16th century. Published: אברהם דוד, תעודות מהגניזה על בני קאשטרו במצרים במאות הט"ז-הי"ז, פעמים 54 (1993), עמ' 126-127. AA

Very faded letter dealing probably with a commercial issue

Fragment from a top of letter mentioning הדיין המשכיל and the Diadem.

Small fragment. On recto part of a letter mentioning arrival to the 'our Rabbi' and a shop. On verso opening lines of an Hebrew letter written in a different hand, and one line of Arabic - needs examination.

Torn and fragmentary. On recto probably a letter mentioning witnesses and the name Sai'd b. Salman. On verso a very faded Arabic letter. - Needs examination

Fragments of a draft of opening lines of a letter to a notable written by Mansur b. Shlomo. Little preserved of the content. Name mentioned: al-Najib R. Hayyim.

Letter addressed to Abū Ibrāhīm Isḥāq b. al-[...]. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. It has a typically sephardi layout (cf. the letters of Yehuda ha-Levi). Apparently dictated to a scribe named Yaḥyā (probably a family member, who sends greetings in the first person in the margin, l. 7). Mostly containing regards to family members such as Abū Isḥāq, Sitt al-ʿUlamā, and the addressee's son Avraham. The sender has heard no news of the addressee except in one letter in the hand of Yaʿqūb b. Abī l-[...].

Fragment of a beginning of a letter

Fragment of a letter

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably no earlier than 14th century, based on linguistic features. Deals with various logistics of comings and goings of letters and people. Mentions Rashīd/Rosetta.

On recto a letter regarding a payment to be paid after the holiday. On verso Arabic list- needs examination.

Fragment of a business letter. The writer is referring to a weight called Laythi (See Goiten, Med. Soc. I, 227)