Geniza Lab

Letter in Arabic script, possibly discussing paper and books. ASE.

Note from Abū Thābit al-Ṣayrafī to a certain Rabbenu Shemuel asking him to declare a ban of excommunication against whoever cast a spell on someone or willed him harm and does not reverse it immediately. Shelomo b. Eliyyahu makes the same request in ENA 4020.49, but without further evidence about the identities of Abū Thābit and Shemuel, there is no way to know if the two documents are connected. ASE

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The first four lines are preserved. Probably a letter of appeal asking for charity or aid from the distinguished addressee. The latter's two sons are blessed. ASE

Letter in the hand of Abū Sahl Levi, in Fustat, probably to his son Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, in Qalyūb. This is a brief, informal note, which contains nothing more than an exhortation to remember to write to his parents. "Do not ask what is on our hearts from the fact that you have not written us a letter. You know the heart of your mother and our heart. . . ." ASE.

Letter from an India trader, probably in Yemen. In Judaeo-Arabic. He recently came from India (Kullam, recto margin l. 15) and intends to return to India (r15). He refers to Mālikī dinars (r15, v9), which were in use in Yemen. He expresses gratitude with a gruesome turn of phrase: "The flesh on my body belongs to you, and even if I skinned it and (gave?) it to you, it would not repay you." He has purchased a 6-year-old female slave for Sitt al-Ḥusn and two pearl bracelets, among other items, which he hopes will be transported in the Kārim fleet. The addressees should send their letters to Mufliḥ b. Sūdān. Mentions Khalaf the son of the Kohen, Yiṣḥaq al-Nafūsī, 'the parnas,' and Abū l-Surūr al-Kohen Ibn al-Dawānīqī. He has been unable to collect a debt from Fahd, for in this town there is no one to oblige anyone to pay their debts aside from one’s own ‘gentlemanly character’ (muruwwa). Mentions having sent something to Nahrwara (in India) (v9). (Information in part from Goitein's attached notes and CUDL.)

Recto: Informal note to al-Nezer, in which the writer bemoans his state (e.g. mā baqiya lī khāṭir), and writes, "Tomorrow they will ask me to speak. Perhaps you can write down for me on the other side of this ruqʿa the story of Naomi . . . the matter of this woman is similar (? maslūka) to hers." Verso: Informal note, probably the response from al-Nezer, in which he promises to comply, but not until later in the night. Needs further examination. ASE.

JRL Series B 4089: This business letter describes commercial transactions and what the author describes as favors or 'gifts' to a fellow trader. The main commodities mentioned are copper and pepper; customs dues, freight charges, porters' fees, and safekeeping are also reported. The mention of a tax paid at al-Furda (the customshouse at the port city of Aden) and the names of Ali al-Nili ('the indigo trader') and Abu Ghalib al-Rubban ('the captain') suggest that the author reports from the port city of Aden in Yemen sometime in the 12th century. The letter continues on the verso. On the men mentioned by name see Goitein and Friedman, India Traders of the Middle Ages, 145, 603; and 153, 325-27; on al-Furda see Goitein and Friedman, India Traders, passim; and Margariti, Aden and the Indian Ocean Trade, passim. See PGPID 5479.

JRL Series B 4089: This document is the continuation of a letter on the recto. The business letter describes commercial transactions, including taxes paid at the customshouse of the port city of Aden in Yemen, and dates to the 12th century. See PGPID 5479.

India Book II, 21–24 (synoptic edition). Letter from Maḍmūn b. Ḥasan, in Aden, to Avraham Ibn Yiju. Dating: ca. 1135 CE. Altogether, six fragments of (at least) three copies of the letter have been identified, as follows: Copy 1: II,22 (T-S NS J240) = a small section of the original written by Maḍmūn. Ibn Yiju reused verso for writing accounts (cf II,23v = PGPID 5537). II,22a (Moss. IV,21.1) II,23 (T-S 20.137), the main part of the original written by Maḍmūn. Copy 2: II,24 (T-S NS J1), the clean copy of the clerk, with two postscripts added by Maḍmūn Copy 3: II,21 (T-S NS J241), another clean copy of the clerk, on whose reverse side he added the postscripts of the master II,21a (JRL Series B 4089), in the hand of the same clerk who wrote II,21 and perhaps a fragment of the same copy. The text on verso (PGPID 5232) corresponds to II,23 lines 32–43. The text on recto (PGPID 5233) is not paralleled in the other surviving fragments.

Letter from Abū l-Faraj to R. Eliyya or to [...] b. R. Eliyya. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer is distressed. He had sent a letter with Ṭāhir, to be given to Menaḥem, to be given to the addressee. He tells the addressee not to give his response to Ṭāhir, lest it fall into the hands of someone other than the writer. (This sentence could also be read, "do not give it to anyone except Abū Ṭāhir," but in that case the word לשיך should have been spelled ללשיך.) The writer alludes to a distresing matter involving his elder son Yūsuf. ASE.

Recto: Letter of the Na'ib of Malij to the judge Efrayim b. Meshulam regarding a case of an orphan girl. Asks for a quick decision. Verso: The answer, it seems in the hand of Meir b. Hillel b. Sadoq. Further information and partial transcriptions on Goitein's note card.

Letter from Araḥ b. Natan, also known as Musāfir b. Wahb, in Alexandria, to his brother, Avraham b. Natan the seventh, in Cairo. Dating: 1094–1111 CE. Avraham was an associate of the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saadya. In the letter, Araḥ reports of serious riots in Alexandria and a drunken brawl that ended only with the intervention of the chief of police (wālī), although he also accuses the other faction of having alerted the wālī, in addition to the drunken brawl having drawn his attention. The writer praises the local muqaddam who managed to free those involved with the brawl. He also complains of inappropriate fetishization of official decrees, and is so annoyed at the behavior of his fellow Jews that he reports it to the governor, Fakhr al-Mulk. For his brother’s benefit, he adds that the appropriate way to fetishize a decree is, as everyone knows, to kiss it and put it on your eyes, which is what the governor does. But “the Jews,” he complains, “take it around from place to place” and "wave it around like a banner." There is a passing reference to his illness ('I will tell you about it when my spirit recovers from this illness,' v1). It is likely that he is attributing his illness to the events described in the letter (wa-qad lazimanī minhu mulzim), though Frenkel understands this sentence to mean simply that there is some matter that is incumbent on him. (Information from Miriam Frenkel, Alan Elbaum and Marina Rustow)

Letter from Araḥ b. Natan, also known as Musāfir b. Wahb, in Alexandria, to his brother, Avraham b. Natan the seventh, in Cairo. Dating: 1094–1111 CE. Avraham was an associate of the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saadya. In the letter, Araḥ reports of serious riots in Alexandria and a drunken brawl that ended only with the intervention of the chief of police (wālī), although he also accuses the other faction of having alerted the wālī, in addition to the drunken brawl having drawn his attention. The writer praises the local muqaddam who managed to free those involved with the brawl. He also complains of inappropriate fetishization of official decrees, and is so annoyed at the behavior of his fellow Jews that he reports it to the governor, Fakhr al-Mulk. For his brother’s benefit, he adds that the appropriate way to fetishize a decree is, as everyone knows, to kiss it and put it on your eyes, which is what the governor does. But “the Jews,” he complains, “take it around from place to place” and "wave it around like a banner." There is a passing reference to his illness ('I will tell you about it when my spirit recovers from this illness,' v1). It is likely that he is attributing his illness to the events described in the letter (wa-qad lazimanī minhu mulzim), though Frenkel understands this sentence to mean simply that there is some matter that is incumbent on him. (Information from Miriam Frenkel, Alan Elbaum and Marina Rustow)

Informal note from Shemuel urgently requesting that the addressee send him with the bearer "two and a half" of the item that Barakāt had given to the addressee.

Letter from Yūsuf, presumably in Fustat, to his 'brother' Zakarīya b. al-Rayyis, in Fuwwa. In Judaeo-Arabic. The letter is to be delivered to Yūsuf the tax farmer of Fuwwa, who is to forward it to the intended recipient. The letter contains a rebuke for the addressee who left before the holidays instead of staying as everyone urged him. In the meantime, it seems a letter has arrived that demands an urgent response. Everyone is distressed on account of the addressee's illness. Bū l-ʿIzz al-Ghāsūlī brought a letter and three dirhams. ASE.

Letter of recommendation from the office of Yehoshua Maimonides for the bearer who is named Moshe. See Moss. II,177 for another version of the letter, this one for Shelomo.

Informal note from an unknown writer, to Yiṣḥaq ha-Sar ha-Rofe. The addressee is called "father." The writer explains that there has been a setback in the matter of the qamāqim (misspelled as קאמקם—is this why the writer started over?). They had asked Ṭāhir to make them, but he didn't. ASE.

Letter from a certain Yiṣḥaq to Yosef b. Shabbetay al-Rūmī, Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Very deferential, filled with language of patroange (e.g. li-l-mawlā ʿuluww al-ra'y fī dhālik).The writer has sent the copy of the book and excuses the delay by saying that he fell ill in the winter and it delayed him until now. He asks Yosef to send him the copy of Bereshit, it seems because he is ready to make a copy of it and send it back to him right away. The address is in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic. ASE.

Letter segment, apparently to the Nagid.

Note from Ibn al-Rayyis: Abū l-Ḥasan is to pay 26 dirhams to the bearer.