Geniza Lab

Note describing the distribution of flour and mentioning Abu al-Faraj and Abu al-Fadl. Dated Tammuz 1062. (Information from Goitein's index cards and F. Niessen and A. Shivtiel, ed., Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic Manuscripts in the Cambridge Genizah Collections, 610) EMS

Letter fragment. On parchment. In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender is apparently a scribe (mentions copies of books) who wishes to defer his wedding date but does not wish to end the betrothal. The city of al-Maḥalla is also mentioned. (Information from Goitein's index card) EMS

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The sender waited all afternoon in the synagogue for the addressee; he assumed that the latter had gone up to Cairo. He is upset about an arrogant, wicked man (אלזד אליהיר זקן אשמה) and a rumor according to which a notable (the addressee?) forgave him while at the Rayyis's place. All of Fustat is in an uproar. (Information in part from Goitein's index card). EMS

Public appeal of a blind woman to the congregation of Fustat to pay the fee of 4 dinars charged by a Muslim physician for the treatment of either herself or her sick daughter, who suffered from dropsy (istisqā'). Her other children (or child) had been given as security for this sum. Probably written by Hillel b. Eli (dated documents 1066–1107). Information from Goitein's note card. See also Med Soc, II, Appendix C, #96 (p. 501), and Med Soc I, p. 259 on children as collateral. ASE.

India Book 4 (Hebrew description below; English to come)

Letter from Menashshe, in Damsīs, to Abū Hārūn Akhlābū ha-Kohen b. Hārūn, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: January 1, 1063. Regarding a purchase of shoes for Abu Nasr, the writer’ son. In addition, the writer mentions that he expects to receive letters from the Maghreb. Mentions the death of al-Muʿizz b. Badīs, the ruler of Ifrīqiyya. Menashshe has heard that Akhlābū has traveled to Fustat, and he conveys his worry and prayers because of what he has heard about the epidemic (amrāḍ) currently in Fustat. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #758) VMR. ASE.

Petition from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu requesting a payment (from the revenue of the dwelling of Imran b. al-Muzanjir) of 1/2 dirhem per week for the teaching of the boy of the sick man Abu l-Khayr al-Ruhbi. He calls this payment khamīs. Information from Goitein's note card.

Informal note in Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic to a certain Nasi regarding various expenses and mentioning the judge and the Andalusian ḥazzān. There is an additional note about Ismāʿīl and a money changer written in Judaeo-Arabic at the bottom. Needs further examination.

Letter from Abū Zikrī Kohen, in Aden, probably to Ibn Yijū, in India. Fragment, preserving the margins only. Mentions the customs tax (maks), various items that are being sent, and the news of Aden (peaceful now, but there was recent military activity). Information from Goitein's transcription and notes, see attachments.

Recto: Note in Judaeo-Arabic in which Shelomo b. Eliyyahu requests from an unidentified philanthropist a sum of money to cover Sabbath expenditures. Verso: Jottings in Arabic script. (Information from CUDL)

Letter concerning oaths to be given in a complicated case involving a divorce. The husband, a merchant who travels, complains “I have no one to hand me a cup of water” and states that the female slave “is better than you and your mother.” The letter also includes the expression “cut your hair and ransom yourself.” (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 3:273, 487; Oded Zinger, Women, Gender, and Law, 136; and F. Niessen and A. Shivtiel, ed., Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic Manuscripts in the Cambridge Genizah Collections, 612) EMS

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Addressed to two people, one of whom may be Abū ʿAlī Ḥasan and one of whom may be Abū l-Surūr al-Abyaḍ(?) al-Shofeṭ al-Mumḥe. The name Ṭaybūs (?טיבוס) also appears, as does a certain al-Kohen al-Dimashqī b. Ibrāhīm. Most of what remains of the letter consists of elaborate greetings and well wishes.

Letter with greetings for the holidays, likely in the hand of the clerk of Yehoshua Maimonides. There appears to be a genealogy in a different hand occupying the top of the page. Needs further examination. ASE.

Letter from Barakat, in the countryside, to his elder brother in the city, with the request, “Please buy me two pounds of beef, which should be yellow, dry, and good. If you can’t get it, don’t buy any. Your welfare [may increase].” (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 4:249, 443) EMS

Verso: Note in Judaeo-Arabic. The sender wishes to borrow the addressee’s riding animal (dābba) for transporting "some of my stuff" (baʿḍ qumāshī). He should send the animal with Ḥayyūn the carpenter or whomever is available. (Niessen and Shivtiel understood this to refer to a trousseau, which seems speculative.) EMS. ASE.

Letter from Moshe b. Yaʿaqov al-Miṣrī, in Damascus, to Yūsuf b. Dā'ūd b. Shaʿya, in Fustat. Dated: 19 January 1055 CE. Concerning financial transactions. Moshe received 25 dinars and two qirats from Abū Manṣūr Dā'ūd b. Sulaymān. The money has to be returned in Fustat to Abū l-Faḍl by way of loan from Abū Naṣr Salmon b. ʿEli b. Salmon. Moshe also asks Yūsuf to write a letter to the Qāḍī, probably the qāḍī of Tyre, Abū Muḥammad b. Abī ʿAqīl, concerning the shipping of merchandise. Confirmation of receipt dated Sunday, 10 Dhū l-Ḥijja 446 AH, which is 12 March 1055 CE. Information in part from Aodeh; Shivtiel/Nissen; Gil, Palestine, vol. 3, summary of this document listed under doc. #515. EMS. ASE.

Letter concerning a trousseau list. (F. Niessen and A. Shivtiel, ed., Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic Manuscripts in the Cambridge Genizah Collections, 614) EMS

Letter/note from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. In Judaeo-Arabic. He wants to know if the addressee has purchased the book of Psalms yet (al-muṣḥaf al-tehillim). If so, Shelomo will send him some of the money. He also apologizes for his delay in coming in person and paying the rest of the money. (F. Niessen and A. Shivtiel, ed., Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic Manuscripts in the Cambridge Genizah Collections, 614) EMS

Letter probably addressed to Moshe Maimonides, based on the importance of the addressee and the blessing for his son Avraham to occupy his office. In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender fulfilled the addressee's orders to approach each family of the Jews of Ashqelon, even though this brought him a degree of humiliation (zilzul). (F. Niessen and A. Shivtiel, ed., Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic Manuscripts in the Cambridge Genizah Collections, 614–15). EMS.

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 12th or 13th century. Mentions pepper; ʿAbd al-Dāʾim al-Dujājī; Cairo; Alexandria.