Documents

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from Bū Manṣūr to ʿAmram (aka Bū ʿImrān) ha-Talmid, c/o al-Shaykh al-Nafīs. The addressee may be the brother-in-law of the writer (the address includes the word صهر). […] Many names are mentioned, including the officials titled 'mushārif al-balad' and the amīr ʿAlāal-Dīn (who rebuked the sender for his delay), and the women Sitt Nadd, Sitt Kāfūr, Sitt Ghuṣn, Sitt Suʿūd, Sitt al-Naṣr, Sitt Zaynihim, and Maymūna.

Tags

• arabic address
• yadill hirati

No Scholarship Records

Document date

Monday, 18 Adar 1409 Seleucid (22 February 1098 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Hillel, involving the proceeds of a partnership in oil sold in al-Mahdiyya, with addenda concerning the same matter in smaller script and in a cruder hand on verso. The top margin on recto mentions Bishāra and Abū l-ʿAlā, both from Aleppo, and Ibn Majjān Abū l-Surūr b. […] T-S 8J4.15 is a court record from Av of the same year, concerned with the dealings of the Aleppan trader Solomon b. Hillel. (Information from Goitein's hand list and CUDL.)

Related Places

3

Tags

• register

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Document date

5–10 Adar II 1535 Seleucid (27 February 1224–3 March 1224 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from the teacher Yehuda Ibn al-ʿAmmānī, probably in Alexandria, to the banker (al-ṣayrafī) Abū l-Ṭāhir Yoshiyyahu b. Daniʾel b. Adonim Ibn al-Quḍāʿī, probably in Fustat. Dated: 5–10 Adar II 1535 Seleucid = February/March 1224 CE. The distinguished addressee may be an in-law of Yehuda. The letter consists almost entirely of family news and gossip, with many specifics about marriages, births, and deaths, with a large section about Bū l-Bayān and his intelligent and wealthy bride who brought a dowry worth 400 dinars, "the likes of which we haven't seen in years."

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Primary languages

Arabic, Hebrew

Berekhya, representative of the Jerusalem yeshiva in the Maghreb, sending greetings to Nathan ‘Head of the Congregations’, and also to his son Abraham (who would later become the first Nagid in the Maghreb), and also Ṣaliḥ b. […] It urges action to be taken by the Jewish communities in the Maghreb regarding a collection for the Jerusalem yeshiva and Joseph Ibn ʿAwkal’s stewardship of the funds. There is also mention of a legal claim involving Abraham b.

No Scholarship Records

Primary languages

Greek/Coptic Numerals, Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Mentions items including an herb or hashish (ḥashīsha), a chest, indigo, silk, a ḥawwāla, something from al-Muʿaẓẓamī, the Dīwān (unclear if this refers to an official's bureau or a volume of poetry, probably the former) of al-Muʿaẓẓamī, the Dīwān of al-Jahmī (or al-Jathmī), the Dīwān of al-Ṣārim, an armor bearer (אלסלח דאר = al-silaḥdār), something for a fishmonger (sammāk), and the amīr Jandār.

Tags

• account
• hashish
• mamluk

No Scholarship Records

Moshe congratulates his brother Bū Isḥāq on the fertility of his livestock but wants him to prepare the honey and flour and prepare a cake named ʿaṣīda that Moshe will enjoy when he comes on Sunday. Al-Shaykh al-Yesod also congratulates Bū Isḥāq and adds, cryptically, "May the end turn out well, and God willing we will see from it what was seen from the female donkey of our master al-Ḥāfiẓ." […] He invites his brother Abū l-Ḥasan (Yedutun) to come out and spend Shabbat with him in Qalyūb, and they will return together to Fustat on Sunday. He also mentions silver, a donkey that has given birth, and a turban (radda).

Tags

• moshe b. levi

2 Transcriptions 1 Discussion

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

He explains all of his deductions when the king questions him. […] The document is written across two pages; the second also contains a Hebrew piyyut prefaced by "Yeshaʿyahu b. […] The name Yehuda b. Peraḥya also appears on the final page. ASE.

Tags

• popular literature
• slaves

No Scholarship Records

Inferred date

1310–1355 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

He reports that he met with ʿAbd al-Karīm and that they 'parted ways in peace.' The addressee is to take the 'awrāq and ḥujaj' from Ibrāhīm and give them to ʿAbd al-Karīm. […] Also, the Nagid learned that the synagogue was without a cantor for Minha and Maariv of Shabbat. The cantors Faraj Allāh and ʿAbd al-Karīm are to report to the addressee and declare a ban of excommunication against themselves (!)

Related People

1

Tags

• 14th c
• excommunication
• marital dispute
• yehoshua maimonides

1 Transcription 1 Translation

Document date

12 Adar 1420 Seleucid (14 February 1109 CE)

Primary languages

Aramaic, Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Legal document. Location: al-Maḥalla al-Kubrā. Dated: 12 Adar 1420 Seleucid = 14 February 1109 CE. […] Shemuel. Also signed by Shelomo b. Yiṣḥaq. The validation is written and signed by Aharon b. […] (Information in part from CUDL and Goitein's index card.) Join: Alan Elbaum.

Related People

10

Related Places

2

1 Discussion

Inferred date

1045–1045 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

The letter refers to the towns of Ṣafāqis (Sfax) and al-Mahdiyya in Tunisia; and Alexandria, Fusṭāṭ, and Ashmūnayn in Egypt. Many names are mentioned: Abū ʿImrān Mūsā b. Yiṣḥaq, Ibn al-Qumuddī, Nahray b. Nissim, Abū Naṣr Dāʾūd who is to serve as a witness along with the addressee), Abū l-Surūr Yūshaʿ b. Natan (appointed by the sender as his agent/wakīl), and Abū l-Faraj b. ʿAllān (who is asked to give a suftaja on his assets in al-Ushmūnayn and to let his representatives there, the Banī l-Baradānī, collect).

Related People

3

Related Places

6

Tags

• suftaja

2 Transcriptions 1 Translation 1 Discussion

Document date

First third of Shevaṭ 1518 Seleucid (1 January 1207–10 January 1207 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

This document records a six-month partnership between Abū al-Fakhr b. Abū al-Futūḥ ha-Levi al-Shammā‘ (who invested 1,000 dirhams) and Abū al-Bahā b. […] Goitein calls this a commenda, perhaps because Abū al-Fakhr’s investment dwarfs that of Khalaf, although both of the partners are to trade actively. On the other hand, the partners agree to avoid deceiving each other and relying upon divine supervision, suggesting that the two do not work side-by-side at all times. As is common in these agreements, lines 4, 11 and 14 acknowledge the role of God in the success or failure of the venture.

Related Places

2

Tags

• medicine
• partnership

2 Transcriptions 1 Translation 1 Discussion

Primary language

Arabic

There is a prolonged opening conveying longing for the addressee, and perhaps condolences ("In all of His judgments there is justice"). The writer reports that the price of olive oil is 20 ratls for 1 dinar. Bearers: Al-Muḥsin b. Ibrahīm al-Miṣrī al-Anṣārī(??); al-Ḥusayn b. Najā [al-Anṣārī]. The latter (along with Tāhir b. Najā, likely his brother) is known from several other Geniza letters, e.g., ENA 1822a.6 (Gil, Palestine, III, #493).

Tags

• aodeh
• arabic script

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

P4: Letter from Ismaʿīl to his cousin (ibn ʿamm) al-Shaykh al-Ḥaver David ha-Kohen. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. Mentions Mūsā al-Ashmūnī attending [...] in Sanhūr; the arrival of the letter of 'our master and teacher Mū[sā?]; that Bū l-Majd will convey further information; ʿAlī b. Futūḥ; al-Shaykh al-Wafiyy [...] Bū l-ʿAlāʾ; the elder Avraham; the elder Sibāʿ.

Related Places

2

No Scholarship Records

Primary languages

Aramaic, Hebrew

Shemuel ha-Levi (active ca. 1181–1209). Also signed by Moshe b. Elʿazar. Husband: Abū l-Barakāt al-Bilbaysī. Wife: Sitt al-Dār. Verso is blank.

Tags

• get

No Scholarship Records

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

The letter was sent to Yaaqov he-haver b. Yosef Av bet din in Aleppo from Meir ha-Kohen b. Pinhas, 11th century. Published in Miriam Frenkel's MA thesis on Aleppo.

Related People

2

Related Places

1

1 Transcription

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Addressed to someone titled Raʾs al-Kull (=Rosh Kalla). Mentions a woman who was connected to a certain kind of man (wa-kānat muttaṣila bi-rajul ḍā[...]...). Also mentions Riḍā al-Ṭabīb (the physician).

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

The Lieberman catalog (cited in FGP) connects this shelfmark with ENA 3571.2, but the two shelfmarks are not related. There was also a previous PGP description that said that verso includes a qedusha for Purim, but that must also be referring to a different shelfmark.

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter addressed to Abu al-Faraj, son of Daniel the teacher, in the “habs Bunan” neighborhood. The writer describes that the wife of his son is asking for a divorce, framed as the result of her husband’s mistreatment; also mentions Abu ‘Ali. (Oded Zinger, Women, Gender, and Law, 140) EMS

Related Places

1

Tags

• divorce

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from Yūsuf b. Mūsā al-Tāhartī, in Alexandria, probably to Barhūn b. Isḥāq, in al-Mahdiyya. The writer mentions details concerning goods from the Maghreb and expresses concern about the unfolding state of affairs there.

Related People

1

Related Places

5

2 Transcriptions 1 Translation 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from ʿAyyāsh b. Ṣedaqa, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1050 CE. ʿAyyāsh buys goods in Alexandria for Nahray. The goods are being sent in six ships in the Nile to Fustat.

Related People

2

Related Places

2

Tags

• trade

1 Transcription 1 Translation 1 Discussion

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Legal document recounting long passages of oral speech, mentioning a faqīh, a qāḍī, someone getting beaten, the mutwallī al-maʿūna in New Cairo, the mutawallī al-dīwān, a certain Maḥfūẓ, the amīr Ẓahīr al-[Dīn?], and Kanīsat al-Shāmiyyīn. (Information in part from CUDL)

Related Places

1

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Late accounts noting money received from al-Kohen Farajallāh and the daughter of Abba mari (probably "my father"). Also mentions al-Shākirī and his son. The total sums of money are written too, as 2,574 on recto and 1,265 on verso.

Tags

• account

No Scholarship Records

Document date

6 Ḥeshvan 1446 Seleucid (25 October 1134 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

The court then asks Berakhot if he inquired from his wife about whether she accepted "al-dukhūl taḥt al-ʿuyūb" (referring to blanket acceptance of all defects, even those not specified?)[…] This is in the hand of a different scribe (probably also known), and it concerns the same case: "the female slave who was sold to the wife of Yeshuʿa." […] The other witness (in addition to Meshullam) was also asked about the guarantee (i.e., whether Yeshuʿa was the guarantor or not), and he also said 'yes... and the husband of the seller (=ʿEli) did not require that of him, and when we went, the wife of Yeshuʿa (=Sitt al-Fakhr) was not present, and we did not witness anything concerning her."

Related People

3

Tags

• jariya
• slave

No Scholarship Records

Document date

1487 Seleucid (1175–1176 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from Manṣūr b. Maḥfūẓ, in Alexandria, to Abū Saʿīd b. Berakhot al-Melammed, in Fustat. […] The remainder of the letter consists of greetings to various people, including: Rabbenu Elʿazar; 'all the students/scholars' (talāmidha); 'the father, mother, and brother'; Rabbenu Yiṣḥaq; Abū l-Ḥasan; Abū Manṣūr; Yosef; Abū l-Maʿānī and his brother; Rabbi Nissim; Rabbi Daniel and his son; Abū l-Faraj al-Ṭabīb; Barakāt b. […] Abū Naṣr; Abū l-Faraj Hiba; al-Rayyis Abū l-Mufaḍḍal and his brothers. On verso there are also some sums in eastern Arabic numerals.

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Moshe b. Sughmār, in Alexandria, to Abū Bishr Azhar b. Manṣūr (aka Avraham), in Fustat, ca. 1075. […] The reason for this is that he has numerous illnesses (amrāḍ shattā), the least of which is the jarab (probably trachoma, but the word can also refer to skin diseases), and so he cannot sit or ride. […] A court decision denying the rumour was also issued. (Information from Gil.) ASE.

Related Places

2

Tags

• badr al-jamali
• communal
• excommunication
• illness
• illness letter 969-1517
• (+ 8 more)

1 Transcription 1 Translation

Document date

1441 Seleucid (1129–1130 CE)

Using the standard formulae, a woman named Mawlāt releases her husband, Abū l-ʿAlā, from all accusations and oaths in connection with her dowry, etc. except for 17 dinars he owes her. […] Her children, Abū l-Khayr and Sitt al-Kull, are also mentioned. Signed by Menashshe ha-Kohen b. […] Verso: legal document concerning a debt resulting from the sale of a house; the parties being Abū Saʿd Nisan and Abū l-ʿAlā (the same individual on recto). Also involves Mawlāt, the same woman from recto.

Related People

1

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Primary languages

Arabic, Judaeo-Arabic

Avraham ha-Kohen to Abū l-ʿAlā' Ṣāʿid b. al-Munajjā al-Neʾeman. In Judaeo-Arabic (recto) and Arabic script (verso; the text block containing 8 lines of Arabic script appears to be a postscript to the previously Judaeo-Arabic letter). […] People mention include Abū Muḥam[mad] al-Ḥalabī, Abū l-Māḍī Khalīfa known as אלכאורגֿי al-Ḥalabī the Muslim, Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf al-Raqqī, Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAllān, and Bū l-Ḥasan Zikrī. […] In the Arabic-script postscript on verso, he reports that the wife of Abū Saʿd al-Muqaddasī has begun to recover (qad tawajjahat) [from her illness].

Related People

4

Related Documents

1

Tags

• bialphabetic
• ib6
• illness
• illness letter 969-1517
• illness: women's
• (+ 1 more)

1 Transcription

Document date

4861 Anno Mundi (6 September 1100–25 August 1101 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Avraham and Yiṣḥaq b. [...] also appear in the validation. First validation: Signed by Yosef b. Yisraʾel along with (according to the next validation) Moshe b. […] These figures comprised the court of the Nagid Mevorakh b. Saʿadya in Alexandria. (Information in part from CUDL and Goitein's index card.)

Related People

4

Related Places

2

1 Discussion

Document date

423 Hijrī (19 December 1031–6 December 1032 CE)

Primary language

Arabic

The first (bottom) is an order for delivery of dues to the office of land tax (dīwān al-kharāj) written by the accountant Abū Musabbiḥī Abū l-Qāsim al-Ḥasan b. al-Ḥusayn, in which it is stated that Abū l-Ḥasan Mājid b. […] Maymūn and that went through the hands of Abū Qalā ʿAbd al-Raḥmān […], Zakariyā b. Mukhtār, ʿAlūn b. Ḥanūn (the clerk), Ṣayfī b. […] (Information from CUDL and Khan.) See also PGPID 16777 for other Arabic documents reused by the same Hebrew scribe.

Related Places

1

Tags

• kharaj
• tax

1 Transcription 1 Translation

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Continuation of a long business letter sent from Alexandria to Cairo. Dating: Ca. 1235 CE, based on the date of T-S Ar.54.66 which is by the same sender (and may even be the first two pages of the present letter). […] The sender gives the prices of merchandise in Alexandria, such as indigo, olibanum, cinnamon, brazilwood and pepper and of the taxes and other dues that have to be paid to trade in the city. […] The letter mentions Rabbenu Menaḥem, the son and successor of the judge of Cairo Yiṣḥaq b. Sason. The letter also contains the earliest known reference to Jews from the Touat region of Algeria; see S.D.

Related Places

5

Tags

• trade

1 Transcription 1 Translation 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

The opening page of a book in Judaeo-Arabic by al-ʿĀrif al-Māhir. . . al-Mutaṭabbib. . .

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from Efrayim b. Ismāʿīl al-Jawharī, Alexandria, to Yosef b. ʿAwkal.

Related People

2

Related Places

4

3 Transcriptions 2 Translations 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter addressed to Abū ʿAlī Yeḥezqel b. Yiṣḥaq. In Judaeo-Arabic. Sent from (or to?) Alexandria. Dating: Mentions the year "499" as a year recently past, so this letter was probably written early in the year 1500 Seleucid, which would be 1189 CE. […] Other people mentioned include Abū l-Ḥasan Ibn al-Bukhtaj and Ismāʿīl Ibn al-Tāhartī (spelled אלתאהתי, maybe read אלתאהרתי?)

Related Places

1

Tags

• depression
• economic

1 Discussion