Geniza Lab

Letter fragment from Yūsuf in al-Maḥalla to the brother of Yaʿaqov in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer requests a shipment of various garments.

Letter fragment (bottom part only). In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably c.1100, since Abū Naṣr al-ʿAfṣī appears in Halper 466 and T-S K15.106. Gives various business instructions. Mentions that Abū Naṣr al-ʿAfṣī owes nothing to the sender nor to Ibn Nuṣayr; mentions going up to Cairo; passing on information about the price of sugar (it is "22"); the addressee is to retrieve dinars from a female shopowner (ṣāḥibat al-dukkān); also mentions Abū l-Mundhir and Rashīd. In the margins there is the remnant of an Arabic-script document.

Official letter. Resembles T-S NS J602 and T-S NS J605, but it is not clear which of these (if any) come from the same original document.

Official letter addressed to the congregation of Minyat Zifta.

Letter addressed to "the two congregations." In Hebrew (for the introduction) and Judaeo-Arabic (for the body). Moderately wide space between the lines. Almost all of the body is missing.

Letter in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Damaged/faded. The addressee is evidently an important person, as recto consists mostly of poetical praises. The substance of the letter may begin halfway through verso. There may also be an address on verso (the name Yaʿaqov ha-Zaqen is legible - perhaps the father of the addressee?). There is also an undeciphered line in Arabic script underneath the address.

Circular letter from the office of Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon. This fragment preserves the last few lines of his genealogy and the first three lines of the letter, with huge spacing between the lines.

Mercantile letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th century. Mentions somebody in Sūsa; Abū Zikrī al-Ṭabīb; a container of sal ammoniac; pepper; and Abū Saʿd (or Saʿīd) Maymūn b. Khalfa.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Perhaps 12th or 13th century. The beginning and ending are missing, along with a strip from the right side. Regards to Abū l-Ḥasan. The sender gives a message to pass on to somebody in Cairo. He mentions various business transactions and a sum of 86.5 dirhams. Mentions someone's in-law Ḥayyim.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 13th or 14th century. Mentions Rabbenu David (may God bless him), followed by several lines expanding on the sender's desire to serve him.

Letter addressed to [Eliyyahu the Judge?] Ibn al-Rayyis al-Iskandarānī, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Only the upper left corner is preserved. The sender says he or she "does not sleep at night" on account of preoccupation. The rest of the letter is quite obscure; mentions a boat in the last line. On verso there is also a list of names in Arabic script.

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Addressed to Abū l-Surūr and [M]anṣūr. Conveys condolences on the death of their mother. On verso are a few words in Arabic script.

Letter fragment from Abū Manṣūr, in Alexandria. In Judaeo-Arabic. Only the closing greetings are preserved.

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Late. Mentions a consul; France (פראנסה); R. Yaʿaqov; and the government (sulṭān).

Letter addressed to Abū Yaʿqūb [...] b. Nissim. In Judaeo-Arabic. Small fragment. Mentions Yehuda Rosh Kall[a?]. Possibly a request for help or charity.

Fragment from a business letter. The name Mubarak is mentioned. AA

Minute fragment from a letter.

Letter conveying instructions from the Nagid on behalf of a female orphan, evidently the response to a petition. She has lost most of her father's estate through expenses. She should be placed 'under the care' of Abū l-Faraj b. Abū l-Ḥasan al-Levi. Everything that has been brought to Fustat should be returned. On verso there is an inventory of goods (left to her? for her trousseau?). (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Letter from ʿImrān to Abū l-Ḥasan. After a deferential opening there is a sharp warning to send the silver quickly with ʿUthmān and not to make the sender have to come out and get it.

Letter fragment. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Opens with grandiose blessings for the addressee. In the margin mentions the arrival of בן חניך.