Geniza Lab

Letter from ʿEli Ha-Mumḥe b. Avraham, in Jerusalem, to Efrayim b. Shemarya, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. Dating: ca. 1045 CE. In which ʿEli urges Efrayim to stop ignoring his letters and to give him an update about his earlier request concerning Abū l-Faraj al-Mawṣilī.

Letter fragment (right half) mentioning Abu al-Surur, Rabbenu. Yiṣḥaq, the Rav R. Avraham, Abu al-Fadl, Abu al-Sa'id, the boat of the Andalusian, the ghulam of Mukhtar. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from Barakāt b. Khulayf to ʿArūs b. Yosef. In Judaeo-Arabic. Concerning a shipment of tartar and a report about the arrival of ships from the West (Spain and al-Mahdiyya). "Tartar (Ar. ṭartār, derived from the same medieval Greek word as the English) was another mordant, also coming to the capital of Egypt via Alexandria. A quantity of 200 jarwī (somewhat heavier than regular pounds), sent to the purplemaker ʿArūs b. Yosef in Fustat, cost 10 13/48 dinars, that is, approximately the same as gallnuts." Med Soc I, p. 405, n. 166 (on mordants, i.e., "liquids with which fabrics were saturated to hold the dyestuff"). Information from Goitein

Letter of condolence addressed to David Maimonides Nagid on the death of his brother.

Approval for receiving money, to Nahray b. Nissim. Second half of 11th century. An unknown merchant approves that he received 300 dirhams from Nahray for goods that are about to arrive in ships. Nahray would take this amount from the value he will get for the goods, which Nahray will sell. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #845) VMR

Letter from Abū Zikrī Kohen in Fustat, to Abū Zikrī Yaḥyā b. Sulaymān b. al-Shāmī, in ʿAydhāb. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: December 1140 or January 1141 CE. Deals with business matters, mentioniong commodities such as camphor, brazilwood, and frankincense. Information from Goitein's attached edition.

Letter from the scribe of the yeshiva to Yosef b. Avraham b. Bundar. Cairo, ca. 1128-39.

Fragment of a letter of condolence and containing an excuse for being late. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter about Moshe b. Maimon b. Yosef b. Ovadya (Moses Maimonides) and an epistle he had sent to the Nasi? (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Informal note from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to Peraḥya the judge. Perhaps abandoned partway through. What remains consists of formulaic respectful greetings.

Letter from Moshe Castro, in Jerusalem, to Avraham Ibn Shānjī, in Fustat/Cairo. Written in Hebrew. Dating: 1513/14 CE, based on the assessment of Avraham David. The writer requests for donations for the benefit of the Jerusalem community such as for building expenses (ll.21–31) and for needy individuals (ll.4–9). Mentions an "azul" (blue) garment. Information from FGP.

Letter in Ladino, written probably in the first half of the 16h century. It mentions R. Abraham ibn Shoshan, whom Sambari lists amongst the exiles from Spain and is addressed to her brother by a certain Miriam. She had received her brother's letter after four or five days. Her brother had complained about her silence: "de lo ke me enviais a kulpar ke non vos eskrivo lo ke fallais mucho extrano presando de korason para deskuvrir mis sekretos ke non . . . verdadero sinon el mio y el vuestro ke de lo ajeno non toma la presona mas de lo ke kiere su dueiio. . . ." She continues to tell her brother about her disappointement at his absence in Passover: "erev Pesah mi senora enviome a dezir ke su venida non era por agora. El dio lo save la Paskua ke me dio, saviendo vos hermano ke vuestra letra son mis konsules (konsuelos?), por la palabra enviada a dezir fue demas, sabiendo vuestro corason, porke si fasta agora tenia senzillo el kuidado agora lo tiene doblado de vuestro deseo. Sabiendo vos komo estava los ojos al kamino, esperando ke su respuesta seria su vista. Agora faziendose otra manera, mira vos lo ke sentia. . . ." Information from Eleazar Gutwirth, "The Family in Judeo-Spanish Genizah Letters," 212. ASE.

Letter fragment, written in poetical phrases, in which the writer asks Yehuda and his brother Meshullam for help. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter fragments. Six small pieces of a letter from [...] ha-Yerushalmi b. Ḥalfon ha-Ḥazzan, in Jerusalem. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Information from Goitein's note card.

Letter by Dā'ūd b. Yehuda to the Judge Eliyyahu expressing astonishment that the Nagid (i.e., Avraham Maimonides) had not sent a letter of condolence at the death of a local notable. Early 13th century. See Goitein Nachlass material. Possibly related to Bodl. MS heb. d 66/63, a letter of condolence by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu which he asks Dā'ūd b. Yehuda to pass on to the mourners.

Notes by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to al-Thiqa Hibat Allah-- see Goitein Nachlass material

Informal note in Judaeo-Arabic. "R. Natan ha-Kohen b. Shelomo spoke with asked Rab[benu?] ha-Meʿule, and he said to him, 'I heard that Abū l-Faraj al-Jab[īlī?] divorced his wife with a get.' Inquire about this for me." Abū l-Faraj al-Jabīlī (or al-Jubaylī?) appears in several other documents from the mid-12th century.

Letter fragment from Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel ha-Sefaradi. Preserving only the last two lines, including his signature (wreathed in tiny letters).

Letter fragment, probably. The last two lines and three signatures survive. The format looks like a legal document, but it ends "from those who wish you peace/health," suggesting that it is rather a letter. Dated Heshvan 5358 AM (שנת משיח), which is 1597 CE. There is a postscript (or response?) underneath, regarding the sum of money that must have been the subject of the letter.

Letter from Ṭoviya b. Moshe, in Jerusalem, to his daughter, in Fustat, April 1040 or 1041. "The following description of the writer's well-being is altogether exceptional: 'I am completely comfortable in my body and all my affairs. My clothes do not hold me for all my happiness and success.' The story was indeed complicated. A Byzantine Jew had married a Muslim woman, certainly a captive whom he had ransomed. When the couple moved to Palestine they separated, and the wife took residence in Egypt with her daughter, who had meanwhile grown up. The mother fell on bad times, and in this letter the father tries to persuade the girl to return to him and the Jewish fold, pointing out that he (in contrast to her mother) was in excellent health and enjoyed material prosperity and thus was able to provide for her" (Goitein, Med Soc V, 47-48).