Geniza Lab

Fragment of a letter from Maymun b. Efrayim of Alexandria to Yosef b. Yaʿaqov b. Awkal. (Information from Goitein index cards; also Gil)

Small fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Written on parchment. Mentions business matters and collaterals.

An almost complete letter written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi (Date: 1100-1138). Halfon informs that he applied to Mubarak Ibn Diqlas regarding an issue and also to his brother Abu Nasr and made him ashamed(?) regarding 3 dinars, probably a debt, but he couldn't collect it from him. When Mubarak will return to Egypt he will try to take care of it. He is asking the addressee to by him olive oil for one dinar and sending regards. AA

Fragment of a letter from Ismāʿīl b. Yūsuf b. Benaya. Sent to Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. Dating: No later than 1038 CE, since it mentions a letter from Hayya Gaon, who is still alive. Refers to somebody who fled into 'the lands of the Turks' and then into 'the lands of the Persians.' (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Arabic letter - needs examination.

Arabic letter mentioning a request for financial assistance (verso) - needs examination. (info from FGP)

Small fragment of a letter from Abu Sa'id to Abu al-Barakat. The letter opens with Biblical verses. In the margins regards are sent to family members, among them Yosef. AA

Probably a formula of a letter.

Fragment of a letter, concerning the activities of Mansur the amputee with the sultan. Not text much has preserved. AA

Extremely damaged document. On recto a letter regarding [...] Halevi b. Yefet; On verso two lines in Arabic, including the words `letter addressed to' - needs examination

Letter of appeal for charity. In Hebrew, with some Aramaic. Asking the addressee(s) to gather with זקני הנדבה and raise funds. Most of the letter consists of sermonizing about charity.

Letter addressed to Yosef Arokh, probably in Fustat/Cairo. Dating: 16th century. The sender mentions various family members, including his daughter Esther and niece (sobrina) Reina.

Letter describing a legal case. In Judaeo-Arabic. Phrases include: "...Abū l-Barakāt... a period of three months... my caution, I didn't sue anyone, and I didn't attend... the group of fair people, namely... and the ḥaver Rabbi Ḥalfon will testify to the truth of what I have said... May God visit on him what he promised... she is gentle... if a reply comes to us... I will not travel (or: I didn't travel)."

Fragment of a letter of appeal for charity. In Hebrew, in a calligraphic, square book hand. The petitioner is unable to pay his (or her) debts.

Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The sender asks for help in some tiresome situation. Mentions Khalaf the ghulām of the Rayyis.

Possibly a letter of praise. Consists almost entirely of poetical Hebrew phrases. At the bottom there is the writer's name: Kalev b. Yehuda. At the top, in Arabic script: ʿAbd al-[...] al-Ṣayrafī dāma ʿizzahū.

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Simḥa al-Nīsābūrī ha-Levi to Abū l-ʿAlāʾ Salāma b. Hillel al-Ḥalabī. The sender reports that he arrived in Alexandria on Tuesday after spending three days in Malīj. He did not press Abū Sahl Mukhtār (also mentioned in T-S 12.296v) on the matter of the "sayf" (a sword?). because he was ill. But now he has recovered. The sender also refers to the addressee's intended travel to Yemen. (Information in part from Goitein's note card). Join: Alan Elbaum

Letter from Abū ʿAbdallāh to Abū l-Ṭayyib Mevasser al-Ṣayrafī. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely ~12th century. Only the beginning, the upper margin of recto, and the address are preserved. The address is damaged, so the readings of the names are tentative.

Letter addressed to a dignitary named Yefet. Opens with Hebrew praises and wishes for a speedy recovery, then switches into Arabic (in Arabic script) for the body of the letter, which opens with a quotation from the Qaraite sage Yūsuf al-Baṣīr (fl. early 11th century). The continuation of the letter is lost. The Yefet in question may well be Ḥasan/Yefet b. Abī Saʿd Ibrāhīm al-Tustarī, on whom see further T-S 16.50, given the Qaraite content, the grand titles of the addressee, and the fact that he's called ḥemdat ha-nesiʾut (his father-in-law was the Qaraite nasi Ḥizqiyahu). This presumably dates from some time between his marriage ca. 1040–47 and his conversion to Islam ca. 1064. (Alan Elbaum and Marina Rustow)

Letter from an unknown sender, in Alexandria, to a certain Shalom who has a son named Yehuda, in Fustat/Cairo. (In the actual address, the letter is to be delivered to Moshe b. Sāʾib al-Qūṣanṭīnī (=of Constantine or Constantinople)). In Judaeo-Arabic, with the opening in Hebrew. Dating: 15th–18th century, based on hand and layout, but this could likely be narrowed. The sender wanted to travel but didn't have the money to rent passage on a boat or ship, so he borrowed 12 [...] from Yeshuʿa ʿIwāẓ b. Quwaysmāt(?). Also mentions Nuṣayr. An agreement was reached, "and we traveled nearly 40 miles (מיל)," but then the wind turned them back, and now it seems that the sender has to find a different boat/ship. The lower part of the letter is missing.