Geniza Lab

Letter in Hebrew. Needs examination. See folio 26 for the probable dating.

Letter in Hebrew. The letters on folios 16 and 23 are both addressed to an Avraham b. Yosef ha-Levi. The former at least is signed by a Shabbetay who is writing from Karystos. See folio 26 for the probable dating.

Letter in Hebrew. Per the identification data on FGP, one of the letters mentions "אגריפון," probably Negroponte (Euboea), and one (folio 17) mentions "קדיאה," probably =קנדיאה, which would be Crete. See folio 26 for the probable dating.

Recto: Letter fragment in Hebrew script. Underneath are two lines of Greek script. Needs examination. Verso: Hebrew script. Very faded. Mentions R. Yosef. See folio 26 for the probable dating.

Letter in Hebrew.

The letters on folios 16 and 23 are both addressed to an Avraham b. Yosef ha-Levi. The former at least is signed by a Shabbetay who also gives the name of his city (קיריכטו?). See folio 26 for the probable dating.

Letter in Hebrew. Needs examination. See folio 26 for the probable dating.

Letter in Arabic script. Needs examination.

Letter draft and jottings in Arabic script.

Informal note in Judaeo-Arabic. Reports on a scandalous matter involving one of the supporters of Ibn al-Sadīd, one of the slaves of the king, a decree (marsūm), someone throwing something in someone's face and one of the two men getting angry (ḥaniqa) and marching off to the king, who also seems to have gotten angry. There is a cryptic warning about something in the margin. ASE

Condolence and business letter to the brothers Eliyyahu and Leon.

Letter in Arabic script. Ḥaḍara baʿd ijtimāʿī bi-haḍrat mawlāy al-[...] al-ajall.... Needs examination. On verso there is Hebrew literary text in a rudimentary hand.

Letter/petition. Draft. From Abū ʿAlī b. Abū l-ʿIzz to Avraham Maimonides. On recto there are two efforts at the same letter. One can see the writer working out the best way to phrase things. The prose is elaborate and often rhymed ('the reason for [some lapse] was the debts (al-duyūn) and not madness (al-junūn)'). In line 13, the writer gets to the point: he asks for forgiveness for something and asks for 'the strengthening of his heart' (ijbār qalb al-mamlūk) and something that will 'console' the writer (yaslūh) given what he has lost—typical phrases in the context of grief and letters of condolence, but plausibly also just asking for money. On verso there is the draft of a letter in Arabic script to 'my brother'—so not the same letter. Only the formulaic beginning is preserved. On verso there is also a list of names in Judaeo-Arabic: Ibn al-ʿŪdī Abū l-Ḥasan and his brothers Abū l-Faḍl and Abū l-ʿIzz, and his grandfather Abū l-Riḍā. Also Abū l-Majd b. Hibatallāh.

Letter of condolence from Eli ha-Mumhe b. Avraham, Jerusalem, to Hesed ha-Tustari, Fustat, end of 1045 or beginning of 1046.

A letter from Israel ha-Kohen b. Shemuel b. Ḥofni to Yaʿaqov b. Moshe. The writer announces his intention to write a Talmud commentary and recommends a letter bearer, Avraham b. Shelomo. The fragment is lost. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 181.)

Fragment of an opening to a letter to Yusuf b. Ya’aqub b. Awkal. The letter was written in Jerusalem. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #197) VMR

Letter in rhymed Hebrew prose with Judaeo-Arabic at the end, from an unknown writer to a certain Yiṣḥaq ha-Sar. Image not available on FGP.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (lower right corner of recto). Written on parchment. Likely a Maghribī mercantile letter of the 11th century. Twice refers to "my master the Third (al-shelishi)." Refers to a bundle (ruzma) containing something with "the Seventh (al-sheviʿi)" written on it. On verso there is a list of names in a different hand: Saʿīd b. Mevorakh; ʿUlla b. [...]; Avraham b. Fahd; Yefet b. [...]; Maʿālī b. Yiṣḥaq Kohen; Yosef b. Ibrāhīm; Abū l-Ḥasan.

Business letter from a Maghribī merchant. Addressed to Yosef b. Yaʿaqov and Hilāl (or at least these names appear in the address) In Judaeo-Arabic, with one line of Arabic script in the address. Dating: Likely 11th century. Mentions silk and Abū l-Khayr Mūsā b. Barhūn. Unpublished.

Business letter from a Maghribi merchant. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 11th century. Not mentioned in the literature. Avraham b. Yamān is mentioned. The sickness of Abu Zikri is mentioned. Written on parchment. Needs to be unfolded and conserved.