Geniza Lab

Letter from Yehuda ha-Kohen, in Bilbays, to Shelomo b. Natan ha-Levi, in Fustat. Mentions that there is only a single Torah scroll at the synagogue; the writer asks Shelomo to persuade the leader of the community to add another one since prior promises to do so have not been kept. Regards to Abū l-Ḥasan al-Levi b. Maḍmūn. Also mentions al-Shaykh al-Iftikhār and al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab.

Letter addressed to a dignitary (Rosh ha-Qahal) in rhymed Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Very elegantly written; wide space between the lines; many vowels and diacritics. Most of what remains is flattery and blessings.

Letter from Sulaymān b. Bū l-ʿAlā al-Tājir to Eliyyahu the Judge. Partially in Arabic script, partially in Judaeo-Arabic. Only the beginning and two different addresses are preserved.

Letter addressed to Moshe ha-Sar. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Asking for instructions or a favor from the addressee. The specifics are difficult to make out.

Letter from Barukh b. Zikrī al-Makhmuri, in Ifrīqiyya, to his relative Yeshuʿa b. Ismāʿīl al-Makhmuri, in Fustat. The writer asks for help as his place was "sieged by the Byzantines." Cf. 10J14.20. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

An urgent summons to appear before the court from the office of Yehoshua Maimonides.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Needs examination.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to an unidentified personality in Alexandria, approximately 1020 (?). Verso: Badly damaged text in a different hand to that on the recto. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Maʿtūq to his son David, his wife Marḥaba, Saʿādat, Qamr, and Hanā(?). The writer apologizes for not being able to make it to the circumcision. He has been detained on account of his flax—not for anything to do with Umm Esther. He has sent some money (ashrafīs) with Shihāb al-Dīn.

Letter from Mordekhay Ashkenazi to a family member. In Hebrew. Dating: Late. Needs examination.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic.

Fragment of a letter from Natan b. Nahray. Regarding trades, especially of silk, and complains about the situation in Mahdiyya, that he has heard about from letters from his aunt and nephew. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #441) VMR

Letter from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, in Qalyūb, to a family member in Fustat. Fragment: bottom only. He asks for news about the wife of his paternal uncle and hopes that the matter will be resolved soon and mentions getting 'his khaṭṭ on the fatwās,' whatever that means.

Letter from Hilāl b. Avraham, in Alexandria(?), to his brother Abū Naṣr b. Avraham, in Fustat(?). The sender is worried about Abū l-Karam whose only desire is to 'sue for the 100 dinars' (or conceivably 'sue the dead man for a dinar,' but this seems less likely). Hilāl hardly finds the energy to keep on opening his shop any more. He passes on news of various people and then writes about an unspecified matter, "For the matter requested from you by me you must be desirous of toil, prepared to take heavy loads upon your back and prove that you are worthy of your renown; do not fancy that what can be obtained only by drudgery may be gotten with God's help while taking things easy" (trans. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, V, p. 194). Information in part from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 135, V, p. 194. ASE

Letter probably from Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Fragment (upper left corner of recto). The handwriting is better than usual. There are greetings for the high holidays. Refers to a woman who is 'forgiven' for something; the arrival of Makhlūf; someone apparently having a bone set (injibār) who is unable to walk.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Listing various items and sums of money that have been sent. Mentions Bū l-Faraj and Yūsuf.

Letter to the scholar Yosef from Eliyyahu who expresses astonishment that the latter had not answered the Rayyis with regard to the Nile boat ('ushārī). Information from Goitein's index card.

Family letter from Meir b. Hillel b. Sadoq to his son. The letter reflects the personal and economic distress of the writer, who was far away from his loved ones. The second half of the twelfth century. (Information from Frenkel; The piece of paper was originally a letter of request written to Meir b. Hillel b. Sadoq. Meir b. Sadoq reused the paper to write the letter to his son. The text provided by Frenkel contains only the letter written by Meir. For the letter written to Meir see T-S NS J171 verso; For more information see Goitein, Med. Soc. Vol. 2, pp. 577-578, n. 45)

Detailed letter sent by Meir b. Hillel b. Sadoq Av, written in between the lines and on the remaining blank spaces of a letter he had received from another man (see also T-S NS J171), asking for assistance. This is a letter of appeal on his behalf, and it suggests that the man was a physician out of work. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 577, 578)

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Avraham Ha-Kohen b. Yiṣḥaq b. Furat.