Geniza Lab

Sundry jottings in Judaeo-Arabic, Arabic, and Hebrew. One of the Judaeo-Arabic text blocks is the draft of the beginning of a letter to Murhaf al-Dawla.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (right side only). Mentions Waliyy al-Dawla, Fustat, and a shop.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Narrow, with wide space between the lines. Urging a distinguished addressee to resolve a communal conflict, so that he may earn reward from God and the prayers and respect of the congregation.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment: upper right corner only. Addressed to a cousin (ibn ʿamm). Deals with a legal case, a document from the Muslim courts, Abū Nuṣayr, 100 dirhams, prison, and an unfortunate man. Almost all of the context is missing.

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment: bottom half only. The sender reminds the addressee to take care of the quicksilver (זאוק/zāwūq) stored in clay vessels. He is worried that the vessels will break, and it is currently valuable in his location and in demand among the Byzantines.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Addressed to a dignitary (ha-Sar ha-Nikhbad). Conveying gratitude for something and apologizing for burdening the addressee with a favor. Most of the substance is missing. The name Avraham appears in the last line on verso.

Letter addressed to Abū Kathīr Efrayim al-Ḥibr (=Efrayim b. Shemarya), in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. Narrating a communal event (or controversy?) involving a procession up a mountain (the Mount of Olives?): “the Rayyis didn’t go up the mountain… going up the mountain… the horns and drums… the qāḍī went up with him… the qāʾid… they prayed a Yoṣer… (then more about liturgy?)… it would be too much to explain… madhhab… copies… I sent… and peace.” Needs further examination.

Letter addressed to [Na]tan ha-Kohen ha-Ḥaver (=Natan b. Shelomo?). In Judaeo-Arabic. Only pieces of the first few lines and 7 lines in the upper margin are preserved. The upper margin mentions M. Menashshe and M. Yeshuʿa and a poor man named Yūsuf and a dinar.

Opening of a letter from Mūsā b. Isḥāq b. Barhūn to Abu al-Faḍl Sahl b. Ḥasan b. Salāma al-Sukkarī, Fustat. Mentions the purchase of two hides and the delivery or arrival of something in an Andalusi ship. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #701) VMR

Fragment of a letter from Ḥayyim b. Amar Madini, probably from Palermo, to Barhun b. Ishaq al-Tahirti, Qayrawan. Around 1045. Information about civil rebellion in Palermo and details about goods in Sicily: figs, pepper, wheat, and barley. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #648) VMR

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions something or someone hopefully arriving in Rashīd. Unusual handwriting with exaggerated loops, e.g., on ל and צ.

Mercantile letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 11th century. Quite damaged/faded. Regards to Abū l-Faraj at the bottom.

Letter. In Arabic script. Portions of the beginnings of 6 lines are preserved. Moderately wide space in between the lines; lovely handwriting. The sender says he was worried when an amir(?) used something; that someone merited something; and that someone spent/wasted something (rajaʿa aṣrafahu). Needs further examination.

Informal note from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to a certain Ibrāhīm. Written once in Judaeo-Arabic and repeated in Arabic script. He asks Ibrāhīm to meet him urgently the next day. He gives a location in the Arabic-script version (fī al-kanā'is?). Of note, he signs his name in both Hebrew and Arabic script (Ibn al-Dayyān and Abū l-Barakāt respectively). This should be useful in identifying Arabic-script documents written in Shelomo's hand (such as ENA 3927.1). On verso there are pen trials (haqeṣ ʿaṣel..).

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Impersonal business letter stating that Umm Bayān, who is dragged to court everyday by her creditors, opened her husband’s storage crate and sold items from it in order to pay off some of her debts. Mentions Iraqian raw silk traded in Alexandria, and concludes with well-wishes to Abu Kathir Efrayim along with his wife and son. Written in the hand of Abu Nasr b. Avraham. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:103, 417; 3:246, 480; Oded Zinger, Women, Gender and Law: Marital disputes according to documents of the Cairo Geniza, 52.) EMS

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions a wasaṭ garment; Alexandria (spelled סכנדריה); [not] being able to go out; great distress (shughlun ʿaẓīm); something good that happened (khayrun ʿaẓīm); and noble (jiyād) Jews.

Informal note/petition addressed to Avraham Maimonides. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer asks when Avraham will spend Shabbat in Cairo and when the writer can see him. Information from Goitein's index card.

Letter fragment from an unknown writer to his son (probably). Written in Judaeo-Arabic. The introduction is preserved, wherein the writer says he is proud of hearing about the son upholds his honor (qayyim al-jāh), and the concluding greetings are preserved, including to R. Seʿadya and R. Eliyya.

Letter/petition to a certain Net[an'el]. Written in Judaeo-Arabic. Little of the content remains; mentions household items (ḥawā'ij al-bayt) and the writer's shame.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic.