Geniza Lab

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: No earlier than 15th century; mentions the currency ashrafī. Needs examination.

Recto: Letter from an unknown man to a communal authority. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer is seeking help in a convoluted case involving marital trouble and serial evictions by his landlord. There is a lot of information about the dwelling and its location. At one point the writer closed the main door and opened a new door onto an entrance hall (or alley? dihlīz) where a group of Qaraites live, including ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baṣīr, and Wahba al-Zayyāt and his son ʿAbdallāh. The writer repeats several times that he vows that all he says is true. He also vowed to live in that house and already paid (or contracted to pay?) its rent for an entire year--possibly this vow was part of a settlement of a marital dispute. Verso: Another note in Judaeo-Arabic on the same case, but appears to be written from another person's perspective. The whole document merits further examination.

Letter from an unknown writer, in Damascus, to his parents. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Thursday, 25 Tammuz 5341 AM = 1581 CE (unless we are only meant to read the numbers with arrows over them, in which case it is 5301 AM = 1541 CE; the day of the week might help determine which). ʿAbd al-Laṭīf "the cousin" (ibn ʿamm) and Faraj Allāh "the boy" add a postscript. The letter mainly deals with business matters; mentions many names; mentions the currency ashrafī. The writer had recently arrived in Damascus with a group of ten travelers; he reports on the high prices of pepper and ginger in Damascus and regrets not having brought a certain commodity with him to sell there. Many people are named in the closing greetings. Needs further examination.

Letter from Naṣrallāh al-Khāzin, in Jerusalem, to Shemuel al-Qayyim, Cairo. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions ʿAbd al-Laṭīf b. ʿAbd al-Waliyy; 60 dinars; a woman (Ḥājja Khātūn) who is the sister of Najm al-Dīn, and who mentioned that Umm ʿAfīf had told her that the writer would send her her money; it goes on in this vein. Needs examination.

Letter from Shelomo Qudsī to Yosef Kohen. In Judaeo-Arabic. Reporting that the addressee's brother Shelomo arrived and that they put him to work in Ḥawsh ʿĪsā. The sum of 1600 Syrian gurush is mentioned. This seems to have been the beginning of a lot of trouble ("eating and drinking, drinking wine and arak"), and the writer reports on the harassment that ensued from the Muslim authorities (shāṭir, sanjak). Needs further examination.

Long Karaite business letter. The year is given as יה אלש, might be 5431 = 1671.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Writer and addressee unknown, but both are Qaraites. The letter describes the great solidarity of the Qaraites and how they protect each other from the impact of oppressive decrees of the government. It also discusses Dammūh. The Rabbanites go there year-round, whereas the Qaraites mainly go there during the month of Adar. Needs further examination.

Letter from a woman named Harja, in Jerusalem, to her brother ʿAbd al-Dā'im Ibn Firrouz, in Cairo. Written in Judaeo-Arabic. See tag for other letters by her. Needs examination.

Letter from a Qaraite in Palestine. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 5415 AM (19th year of the 285th maḥzor), which is 1654/55 CE. But catalogued as 1555 CE. The writer describes being sent to examine the aviv (barley) crop and what ensued. He discusses other agricultural matters, mentions "the port" and Ashqelon, and describes the rainfall this year. Needs examination. On verso are jottings from Psalms.

Letter draft in Judaeo-Arabic. Perhaps intended to be sent from Fustat/Cairo to Jerusalem. Dating: Unknown, catalogued as 18th century. The writer reports on the money that was with the addressee's brother (? karīmak) Yaʿaqov Ḥazzan and his maternal uncle Yehuda Rofe. He recounts how the addressee traveled to Jerusalem, then to Istanbul and "the lands above it," then Damascus where he married, then Jerusalem. Also mentions the Dār Simḥa synagogue in Cairo.

Letter from Avraham Ẓaʿir, Jerusalem, to the Qaraite community of Fustat/Cairo. Written in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer greets a great many people by name, including the ḥakhams Yeshuʿa Rofe and Avraham Rofe b. Aharon Rofe, and Eliyya Levi. It seems some or all of these people had made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The remainder of the letter is a sharp rebuke for the addressees' failure to fulfill their vow to raise money and sent it to the Jerusalem community upon their return. The letter also contains the cryptic line, "We are Jews like you. Do not think us of the party of the wicked man from Istanbul." (Could this refer to Shabbetay Zevi? Gershom Scholem writes that he did have a number of Qaraite followers. Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, p. 776.) Needs examination.

Letter from Yaʿaqov to his son Shemuel and wife Umm Shemuel. In Judaeo-Arabic. Written over four columns and folded like a bifolium. The writer castigates his son sharply for not allowing his mother to leave and return to her husband like she had promised she would do when she went to stay with him. He conveys a detailed tale of a financial dispute with a certain faqīh and various other parties. He reiterates his demand that Umm Shemuel return immediately. Needs further examination.

Letter formulary in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Ottoman-era, probably. These are similar to the formulae used in the preponderance of Judaeo-Arabic letters in the Yevr.-Arab. II folder.

Eclectic set of documents sharing a single folio. Dating: Early 15th century, probably. Recto: Letter copies. In Hebrew. The first letter mentions the Mourners of Zion. The writer seems to have received a rebuke regarding an error in something he copied, since he writes, "Perhaps the copyists confused the text in their haste to spread the good news from one person to another. When I saw it written like this in the copies, that is how I copied it, not adding or subtracting anything." The second letter is from the community of Cisneros (ציץ נירוש) to Ḥasdai Crescas (d. 1410), thanking him for his letter and conveying the good tidings of a merciful messenger of God who was sent to redeem the Jews from the oppressive edicts of the Christians. This letter may be connected to the messianic claimant Moses b. Isaac Botarel of Cisneros, who rose to prominence following the anti-Jewish edicts of 1391 and who counted Crescas among his followers. ASE

Letter of appeal for charity. The writer and the addressees do not appear to be named. The writer asks the addressees for help equipping his daughter with a dowry.

Recto: Letter draft addressed to Shemuel Kohen, ʿOvadya Levi, and Moshe Rofe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions someone traveling to Istanbul and mentions the addressees' enemies. Verso: Letter draft addressed to Avraham b. Ẓaʿir. In Judaeo-Arabic. Unclear if it is part of the same letter as recto.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Contains a very detailed account of the viewing of a new moon.