Geniza Lab

Fragment of a Judaeo-Arabic mercantile letter in the hand of Ismaʿīl b. Yosef b. Abī ʿUqba, who also wrote T-S 13J29.9 (from Palermo, ca. 1030 CE, to Yosef b. Yaʿaqov b. ʿAwkal in Fusṭāṭ). In both letters, Nissim b. Rabīʿ sends his regards. Written on parchment.

Fragment of a Judaeo-Arabic letter "to my brother not from my mother," with some Arabic writing at top as well. Not much of the substance is discernible; the writer mentions "the children of al-Makīn" and later on a request he made of al-Shaykh al-Ma[kīn]. Looks like a 13th or 14th c hand (?).

A much damaged letter from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, probably writing from Qalyub, to a family member, probably his father in Fustat. He has sent some money with the bearer and gives very detailed instructions for the drugs to be bought with it--including from which stall and which vendor--such as pomegranate seeds from al-Mahallah and a rhubarb-barberry concoction. On verso he asks his family to send him something that has to do with R. Moshe, plausibly a fatwa that he had sent for Maimonides to answer (such as T-S 10K8.3 + T-S 8K13.8, in his handwriting); or it is just someone else named R. Moshe. He brings up a man named Isma'il from al-Mahallah, known as Ibn al-Mu'allim; at the end he encourages the recipient to treat this Isma'il well, because he is poor and a stranger and from a good family. Isma'il has a notebook stashed with a man named Ibn al-[[rubbed out]], and the recipient is meant to retrieve it and find the chapters having to do with love [spells?]. The recipient is then to "do them" to various women in the family of Moshe's paternal uncle (so the brother of the likely recipient) including the uncle's wife, his mother, and her daughter (=Moshe's wife?). This reading is uncertain. But other letters of Moshe survive about his sometimes problematic relationship with his wife and also about domestic problems in his paternal uncle's family. Perhaps this is a novel effort to bring peace to the family (and/or try to make his wife desire him). ASE

Fragment (bottom half) of a Judaeo-Arabic letter saying, "May God provide" and "do not delay its sale" and "the flax and garment have arrived." The writer sends regards to his sister and father and Abū Isḥāq al-Rūmī. Abū Saʿīd and Abū l-Faraj send their regards. ASE.

Recto and verso contain two different letters to "sayyidnā" from a certain dour Menaḥem. The one on recto is more legible. He says that he met with al-Nushū' (?) the aide of the accountant (muʿīn al-mustawfī). Menaḥem asks for instructions regarding what to do following the arrival of the superintendent (nāẓir) and the accountant and the workers and encourages the addressee, sayyidinā, to come himself. The synagogue is in danger and surrounded by evildoers. It is tempting, but there is no proof, to surmise that Menaḥem was a caretaker of the synagogue at Dammūh. T-S 6J5.14 (dated 1340/41 CE) may be related: it is partly about Dammūh and partly about the trouble a certain Menaḥem has been giving the writer. Another small point of similarity is that both writers invoke the convention of being shy/shamefaced about saying something to sayyidinā ("istaḥaytu min sayyidinā" & "wa-l-mamlūk khajlān min sayyidinā").

Letter fragment to a certain ḥaver ("... ba-sanhedrin gedolah...") describing the writer's financial distress. He also provides a recommendation for the bearer of the letter, who is in still greater distress from the capitation tax and is intending to travel to al-Shām and needs help. There is a postscript implying that the recipient or someone in his family is sick or in distress and conveying the writer's worry.

Fragment (upper right corner) of Judaeo-Arabic letter to a judge. The writer expresses his concern about the addressee's illness. He seems to describe traveling through the Rif and arriving in Alexandria.

Recto: Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic to al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab, perhaps begging for charity. Mentions necessity/want (al-ḍurūra) several times and concludes with, "I have no one who bestows favor (muḥsin mutafaḍḍil) like you." Verso: Lists of names in Arabic. Musā... Mufaḍḍal... ʿAbdallāh... Ibrahīm Shammūl (?)... Sulaymān Ibn [ ]... Tawfīq Ibn Saʿīd.

Letter from the French rabbi Shemuel b. Yaʿaqov probably addressed to Ḥananel b. Shemuel. In Hebrew. Probably related to the same communal controversy described in T-S Misc.36.176.

Letter, possibly from the physician Abu Zikri (identification based on handwriting and style), to unidentified addressees "who are to me like my parents." Fragment. The writer excuses himself for being unable to fulfill a duty on account of his ophthalmia (ramad). He sends regards to "the noble physicians" Seʿadya, Sar Shalom, Yehuda ha-Ḥazzān, Moshe, and Yaʿqūb and ʿAbdūn and their little brother. He closes with good wishes for the high holy days and begs the addressees to forget all rancor against him, "for how close is the death of man . . . The measure of a friend is how he bears the pain (or offenses, ḍarar) of his friend." The transcription is tentative in several places. Merits further examination. ASE.

Small fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions the pressing [of the grapes?] and a haver and a sale of something.

Letter in Hebrew (left side only) in a beautiful scribal handwriting from a man who was among the great men of Constantinople until the wheel of fortune turned on him, and now he has come to [Egypt] and begs for help since he has heard that the addressee is a generous man.

Fragment of a Judaeo-Arabic letter, perhaps a draft only because the text abruptly breaks off on verso. The text on recto is almost entirely formulaic. On verso, the subject may have to do with a tax or payment owed (yarsum ʿalayya... fa-in wazantu...). Abū l-Faḍā'il is mentioned.

Letter from Shelomo Cesana & Company to Karo y Frances & Company. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 9 Nisan 5568, which is 6 April 1808 CE.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Shelomo Cesana & Company to Karo y Frances & Company. Dated: 13 Nisan 5568, which is 10 April 1808 CE.

Letter from Shelomo Cesana & Company to Karo y Frances & Company, in Fustat/Cairo. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 7 Nisan 5568 AM, which is 4 April 1808 CE.

Letter from Shelomo Cesana & Company to Karo y Frances & Company. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 17 Kislev 5568 AM, which is 18 December 1807 CE.

Letter in Ladino and Hebrew addressed to Moshe Ruben dated 6 August 1754 (28 Av 5514). The sender's calligraphic signature is damaged and mostly illegible. The author has a strong command of Hebrew and code-switches into it more frequently than is commonly the case in Ladino letter writing. For example, following the heading, the opening lines of the body of the letter rely primarily on Hebrew and in l. 11r the writer switches when mentioning "הדיין המצויין יצחק נואני יצו... ולכל שירות" (l. 11-12r). In the following line the author mentions "our brother Eliyyahu Portos" which may mean "אחינו" is being used loosely rather than in the sense of direct familial ties between siblings (l. 13r). The letter's marginal section is damaged, likewise the address on this shelmark's fourth scan has deteriorated to the extent that it is not possible to confirm the letter recipient's location (though the latter portion of [No-Am]on may be visible indicating Alexandria. MCD.

Letter from ʿAyyāsh b. Ṣadaqa, Alexandria, to Yūsuf b. Mūsā al-Taharti. Dating: ca. 1050. The writer deals with managing the goods of the brothers Yūsuf and Barhūn (b. Mūsā) in Alexandria. He advises them on how to deal with the shipments of linen and whether the rumors about the sinking of several ships is true. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #483) VMR

Letter in Ladino sent from Salonica to Yaʿaqov Hanoko (? חאנוקו) possibly in Monastir (?). The name of the location of the addressee is not completely clear. It looks like מנצטרי. .