Documents

Document date

Shaʿbān 960 Hijrī (13 July 1553–10 August 1553 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Bifolio containing an index of piyyuṭim in boxes on three of the four pages. One of the boxes also contains the name Avraham Abū l-Khayr repeated five times. […] Mentions Shuʿa; Simḥa; Yaʿaqov; and Alexandria.

Related Places

1

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Arabic

Some legible phrases: ...maqbūḍa ʿan... ʿAbdallāh al-Ḥanafī... jumlatuhum wa-nuṣf min... al-yahūdī... In the margins and on verso there is a Hebrew literary text. On verso there are also a few remnants of letters in Arabic script from the ends of the lines of an earlier document.

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Arabic

.]; and [...] b. Marāḥim al-Naṣrānī al-Kātib, and al-ḥadd al-thānī.

No Scholarship Records

Inferred date

1007–1055 CE

Primary language

Hebrew

Large letter from "the two congregations" of Alexandria to the Palestinian community of Fustat, and particularly to Efrayim b. […] The head of the Alexandrian community, Netanel b. Elazar ha-Kohen redeemed one of them and suggested writing to all the communities of Egypt to raise the remaining total. […] Shelomo ha-Kohen concerning the ransom of captives, see: T-S 24.29 (PGPID 7567) T-S 10J15.16 (PGPID 2861) T-S 13J14.20 (PGPID 956) T-S 13J20.25 (PGPID 1021) T-S 13J24.11 (PGPID 1799) T-S NS 246.5 (PGPID 40027) ENA NS 17.7 (PGPID 11722) ENA 4020.45 + ENA 4020.44 (PGPID 783) ENA 2804.9 (PGPID 687) and ENA 2804.11 (PGPID 5264) are also from Alexandria and from the same period concerning the ransom of captives, but in the hand of different scribes.

Related People

1

Related Places

3

Tags

• byzantium
• captives
• damietta
• qaraites
• sahrajt
• (+ 2 more)

1 Discussion

Primary language

Arabic

The petitioner makes accusations against a Jewish man named Saʿd b. al-ʿAyṣī(?) who held the rights to a capitation tax farm (kāna multazim bi-muqāṭaʿat al-jawālī) but who was caught up in some sort of scandal (unkira ʿalayhi min al-amwāl al-muḥarrara ʿalayhi li-jānib al-dīwān) and had to leave Egypt for a long time. He eventually returned and attached himself to the court of Ḥayyim al-Kapūsī. Now, whenever litigants come before the court, he extorts bribes from them and hinders them from bringing cases before the Muslim courts. […] This document is particularly noteworthy, because the most famous hagiographical anecdote about Ḥayyim Kapūsī (also spelled Capoussi or Capousi) is that he miraculously regained his eyesight after being accused of taking bribes, thereby proving his righteousness and silencing his enemies.

Related Documents

1

Tags

• 16th or 17th c
• capitation tax
• capousi
• corruption
• dimme
• (+ 4 more)

1 Transcription

Primary languages

Hebrew, Ladino

See T-S 12.381 for another letter from the same Shemuel Sidi, also with a responsum on the other side. Written on Friday, the 13th of Tammuz. It is not clear where the various people are based. Shemuel's father is also in Damietta, but Shemuel's wife is in Gabriel's location. […] "Our brother" R. Shelomo al-Hanati (אלחאנאטי) and R. David Kivas (דוד כיואס) are also mentioned.

Related People

2

Related Places

3

Tags

• izmir
• ladino
• rashid
• responsum
• salonica
• (+ 1 more)

1 Transcription

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from Marduk b. Musa, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat, about a shipment of yarn from Fustat to Alexandria. Marduk notes that a baqyar (large-sized turban) 25 cubits long was made for Nahray, along with a bolt of cloth 20 cubits long. He further reports that ‘Atiyya b. […] The letter reveals the importance of Alexandria as a center of textile weaving: in this case, yarn and other raw materials (e.g., combed flax—kattān manfūsh) were sent from Fustat to Alexandria for processing into finished products.

Related People

2

Related Places

2

Tags

• flax
• nahray b. nissim
• trade

2 Transcriptions 2 Translations 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Natan (aka Musāfir b. Wahb), in Alexandria, to the Nagid Mevorakh, in Fustat. The sender and addressee are not named in the letter, but Frenkel identified them on the basis of handwriting and content. […] The Banū Naḥum family is involved (a well-known family from Alexandria). The letter also expresses the dissatisfaction of the community with its muqaddam. Araḥ functions in the letter as the 'nā'ib' (deputy) of the Nagid in Alexandria. (Another interpretation of the word niyāba in line 31 would be that "they [Araḥ's enemies] have destroyed the community in the name of representing you.")

Related Places

3

Related Documents

1

Tags

• communal
• illness
• illness letter 969-1517
• illness: du'f
• illness: marad
• (+ 2 more)

1 Transcription

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Small slip of paper containing the words al-mamlūk al-aṣghar wa-l-muḥibb al-akram.

No Scholarship Records

Primary languages

Arabic, Judaeo-Arabic

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic in a very rudimentary hand. There is also a text block in Arabic script and alphabetic jottings on verso.

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Hebrew

An alimony of 6 dirhams, probably a case of divorce. (Information from Goitein's index cards). Also contains a booklist.

1 Transcription 1 Translation 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Interesting, late accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions "al-mustakhraj," the cattle market, al-Minya, and al-Giza.

Related Places

2

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Arabic

Accounts, mentioning names such as ʿAlwān(?) al-Badawī, Abū Isḥāq, and al-Ḥājj ʿĪsā.

Tags

• bedouin

No Scholarship Records

Primary languages

Arabic, Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from an unknown man, unknown location (not Fustat or Alexandria), to his mother Umm Mufaḍḍal, in Alexandria. […] If the wife has come to Alexandria, the mother should deliver the bill of divorce directly. He also asks her to send something to Ibrāhīm and to send her response with Ibn Abū l-Najm, "because we have two capitation taxes (we still have to pay)."

Related Places

2

Tags

• arabic address
• divorce
• illness
• illness letter 969-1517
• illness: women's

No Scholarship Records

Inferred date

1355–1367 CE

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from the wife of Baṣīr (or rather Nuṣayr) the bell-maker (al-jalājilī) to the Nagid David II Maimonides, asking him to help return her husband, who was living in a Sufi community, to his family and to the Jewish faith. She also asks for medicine for her child. "Our Lord has promised the little one a medicine for the ear, for he suffers from it. […] Goitein suggests that the last line in Arabic script may be a notation from the addressee reading ليلتها ("this very night"), however this is unlikely; what is expected after ורחמה is the phrase الله وبركاته, which also fits the rasm better [ASE]. Goitein identifies the addressee as David II rather than David I based on the reference to the Sufi master "al-Kūrānī," who he says is no doubt identical with Yūsuf al-ʿAjamī al-Kūrānī, who died in Cairo in January 1367.

Related People

1

Tags

• david ii maimonides
• distant husband
• illness
• illness letter 969-1517
• illness: barber
• (+ 4 more)

1 Transcription 1 Translation

Document date

Sunday, 21 Adar 1408 Seleucid (8 March 1097 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Moses traveled to al-Shām and sent merchandise back to the Fustat agency house of Abū al-Ṭāhir b. […] This document was likely written directly after Moses’ death and concerns itself with the division of partnership assets between Moses’ heirs Nathaniel and Aaron and the investor Samuel, mentioning commodities deposited in the names of the heirs, and also those "allocated to the Elder Abū al-Baqā". The active partner bore responsibility for losses (similar to the Talmudic ‘isqa), though no additional amount was allocated to him for his maintenance or as compensation for his work.

Related People

1

Related Places

2

Related Documents

1

Tags

• inheritance
• partnership

3 Transcriptions 1 Translation 1 Discussion

Primary language

Arabic

The letter around it is addressed to a dignitary and may report that someone has been captured (qubiḍa ʿalā X jazāhu allāh), and may God expose the works of a certain group of dogs (jamāʿat al-kilāb). Another letter by an official titled Nāṣir li-Dīn, to the wazīr who is also the supreme judge and chief Dāʿī beseeching him to look out for him. Another text block is the beginning of the muʿallaqa of Imruʾ al-Qays ("Qifā nabki...") Another text block, located in the margin at 90 degrees to the muʿallaqa, names one of the parties from the Judaeo-Arabic legal document on recto, or perhaps his brother: "...and the slave was employed with Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b.

Related Documents

1

Tags

• dimme
• family

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Notable phrases include "for every plague there is a plague," following "al-ʿibāra destroyed ʿatāra | al-fajāra destroyed al-hijra | al-maskada destroyed al-MaḤalla." Also "If Efrayim puts out my eye, they'll ban | if Saʿīd kills me, they'll cut off | if Sālim strangles me, they'll topple." […] JRL SERIES B 3087 has what seem to be nonsense rhymes in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic ("they will excommunicate ʿAzīz | he will eat the coins (al-fulūs) | and Saʿīd the poor man | is imprisoned (maḥbūs)").

Related Documents

1

Tags

• bizarre
• purple ink

No Scholarship Records

Document date

2 Rabīʿ 530 Hijrī (9 December 1135–7 January 1136 CE)

Primary language

Arabic

The document further mentions shipment aboard a vessel (markab al-ḥaḍārī; also mentioned in PGPID 37954, l.5) owned by the ship captain (raʾīs) ʿAlī b. Yūsuf b. al-Muqīm, who formally acknowledges receipt (on the left side) of an advance payment (salaf), recorded as two hundred ṣukūk? […] The Verso is almost blank apart from a few signatures on top of the left-hand page.

Related Places

2

No Scholarship Records

Primary languages

Arabic, Judaeo-Arabic

Ḥayyim (aka Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAllūn b. Yaʿīsh), in Fustat. Dating: second half of the 11th century. See also T-S Misc.28.171 (PGPID 23402). The writer expresses his relief at the news that the addressee has recovered from his illness. […] In a postscript, he conveys the news that the sister of Hiba ('who is with Shimʿon al-Rav') died, who was also the mother-in-law of Abūn b.

Related People

3

Related Places

1

Tags

• arabic address
• illness
• illness letter 969-1517
• illness: marad
• illness: mention
• (+ 1 more)

2 Transcriptions 1 Discussion

Primary languages

Arabic, Judaeo-Arabic

The last page of a Judaeo-Arabic transcription of Ṣāliḥ b. Naṣrullāh Ibn Sallūm al-Ḥalabī's Arabic translation of Paracelsian works ("The New Chemical Medicine Invented by Paracelsus" + Crollius' Basilica Chymica). This passage is where the theory behind the efficacy of the "weapon salve" is described (it works via the world soul / anima mundi / rūḥ al-ʿālam in the same way that a magnet works on iron, and it is not merely due to the power of suggestion / placebo). […] The tapering format of the lines is extremely similar to the copy of the Arabic text in the Library of Congress: https://www.wdl.org/en/item/3125/. On verso there is also a medical recipe in Arabic script using galingale, emblic, elephant fig, Ceylon cinnamon, gum Arabic, and honey (it is not immediately clear if this is part of the same work, al-Kīmiyā' al-Malikiyya).

Tags

• magnet
• medicine
• paracelsus

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter fragment in the hand of Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi Nisaburi about his cost in an affair concerning Abu Sa‘id Makhlūf al-Nafusi. (Information from Goitein's index cards; and Mediterranean Society, 4:413.) EMS. The writer also wants more bibles sent and warns him of any more business with Makhlūf. […] (Information from CUDL.) He also describes a prolonged illness (60 days) this winter and asks Abū l-Munā to try to obtain a drug called Abū Zīdān for him; the physicians tell him there is no alternative.

Related People

2

Related Places

1

Tags

• 12th c
• illness
• illness letter 969-1517
• illness: housebound
• illness: marad
• (+ 5 more)

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Inferred date

1168–1204 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Verso: Autograph letter from Moshe Maimonides to al-Shaykh al-Wathīq, i.e. Avraham b. Yaḥyā al-Najib, the tenant of a parcel of land near Dammūh belonging to the qodesh. […] The letter is written in a familiar style which indicates a close relationship between the two. Apparently, al-Wathīq, being on the spot, had to take care of the synagogue (removal of garbage and repairs are mentioned here), and of some other piece of land, apparently also adjacent to the synagogue. […] In his role of physician, Maimonides had apparently advised al-Wathīq to drink milk regularly, for which the latter rented a cow; he now advises him to give the cow up, since two cups a day are enough.

Related People

3

Related Places

1

Related Documents

1

Tags

• 12th c
• business
• dammuh
• maimonides (autograph)
• personal
• (+ 2 more)

2 Transcriptions 2 Translations 1 Discussion

Document date

Ramaḍān 620 Hijrī (28 September 1223–27 October 1223 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Yakhin), in Fustat, to Barakāt b. Hārūn Ibn al-Kūzī, in Alexandria, sent via the shop of Maḥāsin al-Ḥarīrī. […] Part of his haste to sell her is that he was denounced to the government (ghamazū ʿalayyā l-dīwān) and lost 52 dirhams, evidently taxes related to the slave. […] If it weren't for the bitter cold, Meir himself would come with her to Alexandria. (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE

Related Places

2

Tags

• illness
• illness letter 969-1517
• illness: slave
• jariya
• meir b. yakhin
• (+ 1 more)

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Primary language

Arabic

Petition from an Alexandrian coppersmith. Dating: Fatimid-era based on structure and paleography but could be Ayyubid. The titles of the addressee match that of an Ayyubid judge - al-Shaykh ʿIzz al-Dīn b. ʿAbd al-Salām. Goitein's reading is that the petitioner had bought some merchandise from the dīwān, but had to return it, and now asks to be given those goods back and promises to pay an additional three dīnārs. (Information from Goitein's index card.) Alternatively, he may be describing how he wished to act piously (tazakkā) for the sake of the army (ilā al-ʿaskar) and bought some items from the dīwān, labored on restoring them, then returned them, but he was only recompensed their original value and has not yet received any recompense for his labor (takalluf, taʿab)—hence the petition.

Tags

• dimme
• petition

1 Discussion

Document date

1430 Seleucid (19 September 1118–7 September 1119 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Abū l-Barakāt b. Natan al-Jaʿfarī had received a power of attorney to claim a debt from ‘al-rayyis al-jalīl al-ʿajamī’ [Yiṣḥaq] b. Simḥa ha-Levi (al-Nīsābūrī). When the men left the city they deposited the deed of attorney with a man (Abū l-Makārim), and now his widow, Sitt al-Sāda bt. […] Menashshe) brings the document to the court and asks for assurances that she will not be liable for any claims made. On Abū l-Barakāt al-Jaʿfarī, see T-S 10J10.8 (PGPID 2784) and shelfmarks listed there.

Related People

2

Related Documents

1

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Primary language

Arabic

The two doctors of our master the sultan, al-Rashīd al-Dimashqī and al-Rashīd Abū Ḥulayqa, attest to the excellence of the slave's knowledge in this profession. […] The resolution (of the sultan) is exalted. Praise be to God alone and his blessings [be upon our lord] Muḥammad and his family and save them." […] See tag for additional documents involving Makārim b. Isḥāq. (See also Goitein's Nachlass, IE.1.4: included on a list of Med Ppl documents.)

Related People

1

Related Places

1

Tags

• arabic script
• bimaristan
• khan
• makarim b. ishaq
• mediterranean people
• (+ 2 more)

1 Transcription 1 Translation 1 Discussion

Primary language

Arabic

Petition from a group of people to a chief vizier (Sayyid al-Wuzarāʾ) titled "al-Kāmilī." In Arabic script. […] The petitioners complain that there is a Jewish man named Sulaymān in Fustat, the son of an Indian female slave (ibn jāriya hindiyya) who spends all his days extorting payoffs (يقطع المصانعات), frightening people in the drug/perfume market (sūq al-ʿaṭṭārīn), just like Ibn al-ʿUṣfūr used to do. (Goitein wonders if there might be a connection to T-S K25.64 and BL OR 5566B.30, which feature a troublemaker nicknamed ʿUṣfūr al-Jinn.) This man Sulaymān apparently raves about nonsense or impossible things (qawl al-muḥāl).

Related People

2

Tags

• fright
• petition
• slaves
• troublemaker
• women

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

son Abū l-Karam along with blessings for him; the arrival of Sālim b. Nissim al-ʿIblānī al-Mukārī (also mentioned in Bodl. MS heb. d 75/14 (PGPID 6491)); something (ʿūd/aromatic wood?) […] (Information in part from CUDL.) Join: Alan Elbaum.

Related People

3

Related Places

2

Tags

• ib-addenda
• ib7
• to edit

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Abū Saʿd b. Ṭayyib (appears also in T-S 10J11.4 (PGPID 7871) dated 1243 CE). Present were "al-Rayyis" (presumably David or Avraham Maimonides, depending on when this was written) and the judge (ʿImmanuel) b. […] Then Abū l-ʿAlāʾ b. [...] began reciting a rahaṭ for the gathering but apparently also made an embarrassing or ill-omened error and his face became "very black."

Tags

• dream

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

The writer reports on receiving authorization (al-ʿalāma) to collect the kharāj tax from the official in charge of estates (ʿāmil al-mawārīth). The number 15 (dinars) is mentioned, as are Abū l-Mufaḍḍal and the tax farmer (al-Ḍāmin) Ibn Ḥabīb. Information from Ora Vaza via FGP.

Related Places

1

Tags

• damin
• kharaj
• tax

1 Transcription 1 Translation

Inferred date

1040–1050 CE

Letter from Marduk b. Musa from Alexandria to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1046 (Gil). Information about a shipment that is still is Rashīd and hadn't arrived in Alexandria as expected. Nahray has evidently accused Mardūk of neglecting Nahray's affairs in favor of the business concerns of others, an accusation that amazes and offends Mardūk.

Related People

2

Related Places

3

2 Transcriptions 2 Translations

Primary language

Arabic

Recto (secondary use): Accounts in neat Arabic script, mentioning various names such as Menaḥem, Salmān al-Qazzāz, Umm Hiba, and Ibn al-Jārūd(?), and sums in dirhams, it seems referring to rental income from different properties. Also mentions quantities of wheat. (Information in part from Gil.)

Related Documents

1

1 Discussion

Document date

16 Av 1446 Seleucid (28 July 1135 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Written and signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe, and also signed by Natan b. Shelomo ha-Kohen. Dated: Av 1446 of the Seleucid Era (= 1135 CE). (Information from CUDL; see also Goitein's attached notes.)

Related People

3

Related Places

1

Tags

• marital dispute
• marital reconciliation

1 Transcription 1 Translation 1 Discussion

Primary language

Arabic

Brief note / order of payment addressed to Abū l-Khayr, asking him to do something with the bearer of the note involving different textiles/garments (al-thawb, al-[...] al-Dimyāṭī, and al-maqṭaʿ). There are additional notations in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals on verso (probably the original use of the fragment, since these are torn).

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Arabic

Dated: Possibly Jumādā I 1024 AH, which would be 1615 CE. Waṣala min al-muʿallim Dā'ūd.... possibly involving rent from a ṭabaqa, a qāʿa, and a riwāq. There is also a dead man named [...] al-Dīn. There are some notations in Hebrew script on both recto and verso.

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Arabic

Three lines from a letter to a high official with titles such as "sharaf al-umma" and "Kawkab a-Dawla." A state official by the title Kawkab al-Dawla was active around 465 H during al-Mustanṣir's time (See al-Maqrīzī', Ittiʿāẓ III, 310).

Tags

• dimme

1 Transcription

Primary language

Arabic

The sender writes to the addressee "al-Amīr al-Raʾīs" that he will remain steadfast in his service and affinity even though he doesn't get a personal audience with him. The top of the document contains verses of Arabic poetry, pen trials, also in the same chancery hand.

Tags

• dimme

1 Transcription

Primary language

Arabic

On verso there is the imprint of what is probably an Ottoman-era legal document involving Abū ʿImrān Mūsā b. [...] al-faqīr ilā Allāh and Muḥammad al-[...] al-Shāfiʿī.

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Arabic

Fragment of a contract made before a Muslim notary about a bible (al-Tawrāh) codex containing twenty-four "books" (sifr). The parties are [...] al-Maqdisī and [...] al-Isrāʾīlī whose father is known as Muʿallim al-Yahūd (the teacher of the Jews).

1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter fragment. "... the coming, at all, because she arrived in our absence ... and the people of Fustat (al-Misriin) treated her well, may God reward them... even the Rayyis and his wife and al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab...I was surprised that I did not receive a letter from you informing me of..."

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Asking the addressee to meet with al-shaykh al-saʿīd and remind him of his promise to help the sender. Also mentions Abū Saʿd. Crossed out lines in a different hand contain names such as Abū l-Ḥasan.

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Dating: probably 11th century. Mentions Ibn al-Samīn and a bale of turquoise-colored (silk?) (fayrūzī al-lawn). Verso: Mercantile accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. […] Mentions "the blessed pearls" (al-luʾluʾ al-mubārak).

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Arabic

Trigger: afrada.... For ʿImrān b. al-Riṣāfī(?). Seems to be for 25 dinars. The ʿalāma at upper right looks like wa-l-ḥamdu li-l-lāhi musābiq al-hamd. T-S AS 176.437, T-S AS 176.438, and T-S AS 176.439 all belong together.

No Scholarship Records