Geniza Lab

Letter from Alexandria to Efrayim b. Shemarya, Fustat, requesting donation for the ransom of prisoners of the Byzantines, 11th century. On verso Hebrew rhymed poems.

Letter from the Yeshiva to a Jewish community outside Jerusalem.

Letter from Marduk b. [Musa ?] to Nahray b. Nissim, ca. 1045-1096.

Letter from Isḥāq b. ʿAlī al-Majjānī, probably in al-Mahdiyya, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: Aound 1040. In Judaeo-Arabic. The letter deals with disagreements about money and discussions on how to solve them. The writer orders a dirham of bitumen (qifār), "for the need is pressing" (lines 12–13). He is most likely alluding to an eye disease. In the margin, he sends greetings to Abū Zikrī Elḥanan the physician and writes, "tell the friend of Tammām, the physician, 'My hope is in you.'" Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #636. VMR. ASE.

Letter from Hillel b. Ḥasan, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat, ca. 1065. Hillel opens his letter lamenting the death of an important person who is unidentified. Despite this, the main point of Hillel’s letter was to complain against Nahray for having requested the services of R. ‘Awas and not his own.

Note from the clerk of Daniel b. Azarya to Nahray b. Nissim regarding a collection for an indigent correligionist, ca. 1045-1060. | Alt: Letter from Hillel b. Ḥasan, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat, ca. 1065 (Gil).

Letter from Yeshuʿa b. Ismāʿīl al-Makhmūrī, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1060 CE. A complaint about Avraham b. Ya’aqov who causes losses to the partners. Mentions bible books, trading silk and trading cloths. Also tells about a great preacher, R. Shemuel, who arrived in Alexandria and who is about to arrive in Fustat. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #308) VMR. Alternate description: Letter from the Ifrīqiyan merchant Yeshu‘a b. Isma‘il-Shemuel, who settled in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim in Fustat. He writes that a Spanish man whom Daniel b. Azarya (head of the Jerusalem yeshiva, 1051-1063) had given the title “member of the [Jerusalem] yeshiva” had arrived from Tripoli and was staying at the writer’s house. Shemuel further reports two disasters, and their causes, that have befallen him. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 5:32, 326, 327, 513, 595) EMS.

Letter from Yosef b. Shemarya ha-Dayyan al-Barqī (Alexandria) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat). Yosef was worried because he had not received a response from Nahray, but was appeased after hearing from intermediaries that Nahray continued to speak well of him. He has learned that Nahray plans to go to Jerusalem and asks him to send his best wishes to his friends there and specifically the gaon, Daniel b. ‘Azarya, and head of the court, Eliyyahu ha-Cohen b. Shelomo, and his son Ẓadoq. He discusses the bead trade and will return to Barqa soon accompanied by a caravan of Muslims.

Letter from Nahray b. Nissim in Alexandria to his uncle Abū l-Khayr Mūsā b. Barhūn al-Tāhartī in Fustat. Dating (Gil): 11 or 12 of April 1051. Nahray reports among other things that he had forgotten to bring his capitation tax receipt "for the year 441" on a business trip. "I asked you to look for it in a linen bag among my belongings in your storeroom, and to send it with Abū Zakariyā al-Ḥannān. If my letters have already reached you, may God protect you, then you have undoubtedly sent it. If my letters have not yet reached you, then I request your attention to this matter, may God preserve your glory, so that (the receipt) will, God willing, reach me quickly." (Information from Marina Rustow)

Fragment of a letter to Nahray b. Nissim mentioning Yusuf and Abu al-Ḥasan. The city of Tarablus (Tripoli) is referred to twice. EMS On verso another text, possibly part of a commercial letter.

Letter from Yeshuʿa b. Ismāʿīl al-Makhmūrī to Nahray b. Nissim, ca. 1045-1096. Contains details regarding flax shipments that were arranged in partnership with Nahray. The author has avoided working with Ibn Qays, seemingly a shipowner, because of his character. Multiple payments are recounted. He passes on the news that Faraj fainted on Thursday in the bathhouse (subita fī l-ḥammām).

Letter to Abu Sa'd Nissim b. Nahray from Ibrahim b. Abi al-Hayy Khalila. Ca.1100. Written after the death of Nahray, hence the estimated dating, concerning the withdrawal of funds from an unspecified business. “Avon” is mentioned; this is probably Avon b. Zedaka, who lived for many years in Jerusalem and, according to this author, has recently arrived in Alexandria.

Letter from Salāmah b. Ibrahīm (Būṣīr) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat). Ca. 1053. The writer is preparing flax to be loaded onto ships for Nahray b. Nissim and his relatives Isaac b. Barhūn al-Taherti and Moses b. Barhūn al-Taherti. The writer also mentions rice, olives, and honey. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #765.)

Letter from Ibrahīm b. Farrāḥ al-Iskandrānī (Alexandria) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat). Ca. 1055, apparently the beginning of the summer. Ibrahīm mentions ships arriving from the west, one which took 20 days from Sicily and one which took 45 days from Lamṭah (near al-Mahdiyya). He asks Nahray to get him oysters and pearls and send them urgently. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #551.)

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Yaʿaqov b. Lanjū (al-Mahdiyya) to Nahray b. Nissim (Alexandria). Ca. 1062. Discusses the trade in carnelian, coral, pearls, walnuts, and flax. Mentions Abū Sa‘īd (Joseph b. Mūsā al-Taherti), al-Kohen (Joseph b. ‘Eli ha-Kohen Fasi), and Ibrahīm b. al-Iskandrānī (Avraham b. Farrāḥ). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #737.)

Letter from Da'ud b. Ammar (Alexandria) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat), ca. 1065. Deals mainly with the silk trade and the events happening in Sicily. Information from Gil.

Letter from Barhun b. Yiṣḥaq (Tripoli al-Gharb) to Nahray b. Nissim (Fustat), August 1051. Written a short time after the sinking of the ship of Waḥlān (also mentioned in T-S 10J19.9, a letter from Barhun's brother Nissim, Gil #393). Conveys various instructions regarding the property and merchandise that Barhun's father, Yishaq b. Barhun ha-Taherti, left behind. Information from Gil.

Lower fragment: Letter to Nahray b. Nissim, ca. 1045-1096.

Previous description for ENA 2805.2 (upper fragment): Letter from Shela b. Mevasser, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1065 CE. The sender, the judge of Alexandria, has the name “ḥaver” from the yeshiva in Palestine. He writes about wills of people who passed away and taking care of the widows. He specifically mentions a youth named Manṣūr who made a will while suffering the remnants of an illness (line 15). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #790) VMR Another letter to Nahray, in a different hand, is bound together under the same shelf-mark. Previous description for ENA 2740.3 (PGPID 5263): Letter from Shela b. Mevasser to Mevorakh b. Saadya, written after 1094. Shela reports on how he handled an inheritance dispute in Alexandria that ended up in a qāḍī court. (Information from Frenkel.) Join: Oded Zinger.

Fragment of a letter from Nahray b. Nissim, Alexandria. Mentions silk and business concerning dresses. The addressee is unknown although it seems his father’s name is Yahya. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #266) VMR