Geniza Lab

Letter fragment (middle part) in which the writer describes how he was insulted in the synagogue by the scholar, Sheikh al-Najib, but expresses no resent against him. On the contrary, he hopes the latter will be a shield for Israel in hard times. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, pp. 306, 307, and from Goitein's index cards)

Letter/petition from an unknown writer to the Head of the Jews. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer complains about ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (probably his son) and his mistreatment of a woman in the house (the son's wife?) for whom he refuses to provide. When the writer confronts him, he shouts at him while chewing his mastic, "My mother left, and you stayed in my face." He refuses to sit like a normal person. The addressee is asked to arbitrate between them, for the wretched petitioners (al-suqamā') are perishing. The letter is written on a reused page of accounts in Judaeo-Arabic, of which a few lines are visible at the bottom of verso. ASE.

Letter in which an ophthalmologist blames his assistant who was also his relative for having left without giving him details about the various medications in the dispensary and asks him to return to work. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 97, II, p. 246, and from Goitein's index cards)

Letter fragment from Shelomo b. Yehuda to a personality in Fustat, approximately 1050. He quotes 1 Samuel 2:30 and signs his name with his motto at the bottom. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment of an opening of a letter from Yoshiyyahu Gaon to the communities.

Letter to the judge Peraḥya (b. Yosef?). In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender (also a judge?) woke up sick, so instead of coming to work he sends this detailed report on an ongoing court case. Needs further examination for content.

Informal note from Eliyyahu, in Alexandria, to Yefet ha-Kohen ha-Ḥazzan. In Judaeo-Arabic. Urging him to heed the letters that have already been sent from Alexandria regarding helping a poor man. Verso: Informal note (response to recto?) from Aharon ha-Kohen saying that he will fulfill the addressee's request.

Letter from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to his wife's uncle Abū l-Barakāt. He complains about lack of reply to his letters.

Note by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu addressed to Abū l-Rabīʿ (in the note) or Abū l-Barakāt (in the address on verso). Accompanying payment for rose marmalade. Shelomo apologizes and says he has been ill and is writing the note while lying down (or "(half-)asleep). (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE

Small fragment of a letter in Arabic.

Minute fragment preserving three words in Judaeo-Arabic, likely from a letter, praising the recipient's good deeds.

Three small fragments of three different letters in Arabic script.

Fragment of a letter in scribal Arabic script.

The middle fragment is the a small fragment of an Arabic letter, preserving the first line of the letter and the address: to Sammanūd, to al-Shaykh Abū Khayr (?) from his servant Ḥusām.

Letter from ʿAmram ha-Kohen b. Aharon, in Damascus, probably to his father-in-law Ṣadoq b. Yoshiyahu, in Tyre. Dating: ca. 1093 CE.

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe ha-Levi to his brother Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi. In Judaeo-Arabic. (The letter is also intended for Peraḥya b. Menashshe, as Yefet greets his "brothers" in it.) Reports that Abū l-Munā received a certain shipment. He has sent "ṣūfat al-waran" (speculation: wool impregnated with monitor lizard oil? cf. ENA NS I.14) with Abū l-Ḥasan al-Rūmī al-Zajjāj and asks for it to be sold. He asks for good-quality aloe (ṣabr). Baqāʾ reports that the cardamom is "lost," and Abū l-Surūr should be informed. Greetings to Manṣūr Ibn al-Ghaniyy (or Ibn al-Jinnī?), and a reminder to send the large trays (ṣuḥūn). Likewise, Zayn the son of the convert should be reminded about something. Yefet has sent several letters to Abū l-Surūr (=their brother Peraḥya?) without receiving any response; he wants Abū l-Surūr to come help him in the shop. Yefet has sold the gold. He has heard that his in-laws are being sought (by the tax collectors) in Sanūh(?). Regards to various people including Sitt Naʿīm. (Information in part from Goitein notes and index card linked below.)

Letter from a Jewish shipowner from Alexandria. Dating: ca. 1212 CE. He provides an exciting story about traveling to Cyprus but being diverted by a storm to Tarsus (then the capital of Lesser Armenia, a Christian kingdom ruled by Leon II (1187–1219)). The shipowner was afraid that the king would force him to take up his residence in Tarsus instead of Alexandria. But a Christian business friend, probably himself a native of Egypt, helpfully secured a strong letter of safe-conduct. The writer had a good time in Tarsus and would have remained longer, had not illness forced him to hurry back to Alexandria. The second part of the letter reports the successful treatment of the writer and mentions the name of four physicians. In the third section the writer alludees to an illustrious person of Sicily, Yiṣḥaq b. Avraham, who had been forced to leave his home. The community in Alexandria was unable to take care of him for at the same time a large company had arrived from France, and the cost of their stay in the town and the expenses for their travel (to the Holy Land) put a heavy strain on public charity. Information from Goitein, Letters of Medieval Jewish Traders (attached). The handwriting looks like that of Berakhot b. Shemuel (which, if correct, may simply mean that he was hired as scribe by the sender). ASE

Letter fragment. In Hebrew. Late.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Persian, probably.

Letter from Shelomo Ashkenazi. In Ladino. Probably 16th or 17th century. There is further description in the Columbia catalog: https://clio.columbia.edu/catalog/11562509.