Geniza Lab

Arabic letter. On verso few words from a large calligraphic shivity (synagogue ornamental text) - needs examination.

Arabic letter - needs examination.

Letter in Ottoman Turkish. T-S NS 306.84 and T-S Ar.39.435 may be related, since both concern shipments of firewood (odun) and have the same script and formatting. (Information from Jane Hathaway.) Needs examination.

Torn Arabic letter - needs examination.

Letter - needs examination.

Arabic: petition (recto); Judaeo-Arabic: letter (?) addressed to a woman (verso)- very damaged - needs examination. (info from FGP)

Bifolio with copies of letters addressed to dignitaries. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi. Damaged. The letters' addressees include: Shelomo the head of Yeshivat Geʾon Yaʿaqov (i.e., the father of Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon). There is also reference to the Nagid, probably Moshe b. Mevorakh. On verso there is a copy of a letter to the Nasi. AA

Business letter from Musa b. Ishaq b. Hisda to Yosef b. Yaʿaqov ibn Awkal. This letter is a response to a letter sent by the addressee. The sender blames a third party, Yosef al-Sabuni, for slandering him. He also sends an account and complains that he does not have enough money for processing (beating flax) and packaging his goods. (Information from Gil)

Letter from the Yeshiva in Pumbedita addressed to two people from Qayrawan, around 850. The Yeshiva members complain about the economic support that they get from the west, which is much lower than the support for The Yeshiva in Sura. The writer was probably Hai, who became a Gaon later. (Information from Gil, Kingdom. Vol. 2, #4) VMR

On verso part of a letter addressed to Moshe Halevi, The Head of Geon Ya'aqov yeshiva. He was appointed as Gaon already ariund 1140, when Judah Halevi arrived to Egypt., and was titled Nagid for short period after the death of Shemuel b. Hananya. Moshe was Sar Shalom's father (See Friedman in Zion, 70, p. 482). AA

Copy of a the opening of a letter from the head of the Gola (Rosh ha-Gola), ca. 915. Mentions the Gaon of Sura’s Yeshiva, Ya’aqov b. Natronai, and the Yeshiva judge (Av Beit-Din) Semah b. Kafnai. The letter might contain details about David b. Zakai’s appointing and the head of the Pumbedita Yeshiva’s refusal to acknowledge it. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #10) VMR

Document that tells the story of Aharon ha-Levi and Ḥalfon, who collected money on behalf of the Rambam (Maimonides) for ransom of captives. They sent the Rambam a list of names and amounts of money which people agreed to pay, from the Jewish community in al-Mahalla. One of the community members sold his female slave and gave nine dinars of the payment to the Rambam's messenger. On the other side Moses Maimonides declares that he received the money. Av-Elul 1170. (Goitein, Palestinian Jewry, 316-318) VMR

Letter from Shemuel b. Eli gaʾon, Baghdad, addressing community members and asking them to welcome Shemuel b. Shelomo ha-Kohen from Ashkenaz, who was forced to leave his home and needs their help. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #83) VMR

A letter from Mevorakh b. Shelomo to Abu Bishr Mevasser b. 'Eli. The writer did not send the cloths he promised to send because a child was born to him named Yehuda. Ishaq b. Sasson is mentioned, a known dayyan from Maimonides' circle. He is sending regards from his brothers Zakay and Yehuda and from his sister. The letter is dated Sivan 1487 Era of documents = 1177. AA

Part of a rhymed Hebrew letter, probably by a Palestinian Gaon (info from FGP)

Letter from a certain Yiṣḥaq to a certain Avraham. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Late, likely 18th or 19th century. Reused for extensive accounts in Judaeo-Arabic, mentioning raisins.

Letter from the congregation of Malta. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Perhaps 15th or 16th century, based on the hand. Fragmentary (only the right side is preserved). It is difficult to discern any of the subject matter. The form נחון is used for نحن. T-S NS 31.16 was identified by Ben Outhwaite and Amir Ashur. Join: Alan Elbaum.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Draft, opening only. Expresses longing for the addressee, doubt whether the sender's previous letters reached the addressee ('before my departure from Fustat'). Mentions Rabbenu Shabbetay.

Letter addressed to Moshe Levi b. Zakkār. (Same addressee as in T-S NS 31.16.) In Hebrew. Dating: Late, perhaps 15th–17th century. Mentions Messina in recto, l. 2. Large and relatively well-preserved. Merits further examination.

Letter, probably. Late. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions "his small baby girl." Needs examination.