Documents

Inferred date

1100–1138 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Two copies of a legal declaration in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi (dated documents: 1100–38). […] (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, 168, 251, 411, 463, 481, and V, 140, 544)

Related People

1

Tags

• deathbed will
• draft
• halfon b. menashshe

2 Transcriptions 1 Translation 3 Discussions

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from Ṣāliḥ b. Dāwūd, probably in Tinnīs, to Nissim b. […] Regarding the difficulties to sell indigo, which the writer received probably from Fustat, because the merchants from Alexandria are flooding the market with indigo. Also mentions a check for 60 dinars. It seems like the letter was written in the time of the famine in Egypt and people advised the writer not to travel to Fustat.

Related People

2

Related Places

2

Tags

• suftaja

2 Transcriptions 1 Translation 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from Manṣūr b. [...] to Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAmmār al-A[..]ī, in Qalyūb. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. The letter was sent together with a book (bible?) in small booklets (muṣḥaf ṣaghīr karārīs), and either the addressee or Abū l-Ḥasan ʿEli ha-Kohen is asked to deliver it to Ibn Shemaʿya al-Ḥaver with the message "this is from/by Sibāʿ b.

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Inferred date

1100–1138 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Shemuel, Avraham b. [...], and Ḥalfon b. Menashshe (active 1100–38 CE). Concerning Abū l-Faḍl Shela b. ʿAyyāsh, Faraḥ, and Abū Yaʿqūb (Yosef) al-Lebdī, 22 bales of something, and something which either was or was not mentioned in a letter.

Related People

3

Tags

• halfon b. menashshe

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Letter from Ya’aqov b. Salman al-Hariri, from Alexandria, to Nahray b. […] The main part of the letter deals with a trading business of dates that ended with the loss of 12 dinars. […] In addition, mentions information about the dirhams’ rate and the process of making textile goods.

Related People

2

Related Places

3

2 Transcriptions 1 Translation 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from Toviyya ha-Kohen b. Eli ha-Meulle, a traveling scholar, to his wife, asking her to take good care of their youngest son, Eli, especially concerning his food, clothing and study. Toviyya writes that Eli should spend nights at his uncle's home so that the latter may teach him more than he will learn from his elementary school teacher. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 183, 558)

Related People

1

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Document date

12 Ḥeshvan 1467 Seleucid (10 October 1155 CE)

Primary language

Aramaic

Groom: Peraḥya b. Tiqva ha-Levi. Bride: Sitt al-Thanāʾ bt. Avraham. Signed by Berakhot b. […] Yeshuʿa, and Shelomo b. Shemuel ha-Levi. Approved by Ḥiyya b. Yiṣḥaq, Efrayim b. Meshullam, and Hillel b.

Related People

7

Tags

• ketubba

2 Discussions

Document date

4935 Anno Mundi (29 August 1174–17 September 1175 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Dated (v2–3): 16th of the ʿOmer '195, meaning 4800+195=4935 AM, which corresponds to 15 May 1235 CE. (Not 1595 Seleucid, corresponding to 1284 CE, as Ashtor thought.) Mentions a sea-voyage from Marseilles that lasted 25 days (verso, ll.3–8). Same sender as T-S Ar.53.67, which may even be the last folio of the same letter. The scribe may be Ṭahor b. Avraham.

Related Places

1

Tags

• 4800
• dating tricks
• marseilles
• personal

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Inferred date

1127–1138 CE

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Draft of a legal document, in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi (1100–38) written during the period of Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon (1127–39). The case involves three brothers including Abū l-Faraj and Dāʾūd the sons of Yosef and a sum of 71 dinars. Mentions [...] al-Dīn the supervisor of pious endowments (alladhī kāna al-nāẓir fī aḥb[ās...], i.e., nāẓir al-aḥbās).

Related People

2

No Scholarship Records

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from Moshe b. {Sar?} Shalom ha-Levi Gaʾon to Tamīm ha-Talmid. […] He also asks the addressee to inform Menaḥem, who had asked that he write, that he is in some distress because a horse struck him on Sunday (אן יום אלאחד צאבני פרס). On verso mentions that the son of the bearer (Yosef) is with him in the house.

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Recto: fragment from a legal document written in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi, mentioning the son of Yaḥyā.

No Scholarship Records

Inferred date

1205–1237 CE

Primary languages

Arabic, Judaeo-Arabic

Composite fragment with copious Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic jottings and writing exercises, including letter draft(s) addressed to Avraham (Maimonides), r. 1205–1237 CE. Probably in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. At least some of the texts are on medical themes and defining the art of healing. There is also a contributors list squeezed into the top margin of verso mentioning various names (including Bū Isḥāq spelled בסחאק as in T-S Ar.7.13 (PGPID 4594)).

Related People

1

No Scholarship Records

Document date

428 Hijrī (25 October 1036–13 October 1037 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

A very damaged record, mentioning the supply of different materials, such as oakum, straw, reeds, bricks, lime, twigs, clay, nails, water.

Tags

• 11th c
• account
• communal
• heqdesh
• qodesh
• (+ 1 more)

1 Transcription 1 Translation 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter addressed to Abū l-Faraj b. al-Rayyis (=Eliyyahu the Judge?). […] Regarding a certain Abū l-Bayān al-L[evi?] (=Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi?). Apparently Abū l-Bayān recently arrived in the sender's town (al-baladiyya). […] May the Creator spare you and me the hostilities of Time and its vicissitudes, and may he not let us taste, or even see again, anything like that we have gone through and may he accept it [what we have gone through] as an atonement for our sins" (Goitein, Med Soc V, 48).

Tags

• recommendation

No Scholarship Records

Inferred date

1100–1138 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe probably to his brother Abū l-Surūr Peraḥya b. […] The term mūmiyāʾ referred to three different medicinal substances in this period—bitumen, pissasphalt, and a substance extracted from mummified corpses—and it is hard to know which of these is most likely in this letter. […] Greetings from their mother and sisters. It seems the letter initially ended here. Yefet continues with a reminder for Ḥalfon to obtain a letter or document from the judge "concerning the thing I asked him about."

Related People

3

Tags

• illness
• illness letter 969-1517
• illness: eye
• mummy
• travel
• (+ 1 more)

1 Discussion

Document date

8 Ḥeshvan 1473 Seleucid (30 October 1161 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Legal record, likely from a court ledger. Location: Fustat. […] Written and signed by Mevorakh b. Natan he-Ḥaver; also signed by Yaʿaqov b. […] (Information from Mediterranean Society, IV, p. 326, and from Goitein's index cards)

Related People

2

Related Places

1

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Document date

1160 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Bifolio from a court ledger in the hand of Mevorakh b. Natan (compare Yevr.[…] (II) Below right: a document concerning partnership in a house, mentioning Abū Faḍāʾil Yosef b. Yaʿaqov al-Kohen, Ibn al-Faraj b. […] , and Abū l-Faḍl Ibn al-Maḡribī the trader. (III) Below left: payment of a debt of five dinars less twelve dirhams in monthly installments.

Related Places

2

Related Documents

3

Tags

• debt
• dowry
• house
• marriage
• register

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Primary language

Hebrew

Later document: Petition/letter of recommendation from an unidentified sender, apparently in Fustat, to Yoshiyyahu Gaon. […] Dating: Ca. 1020 CE. This is a letter on behalf of the brother of Daniel b. Sahl ha-Melammed, who sent Daniel a letter crying out about his harassment at the hands of somebody (Gil suggests this was a Fatimid military officer but does not explain why). […] Various Jewish dignitaries are mentioned, including Elḥanan Rosh ha-Seder. Yoshiyyahu is asked to intervene.

Related Documents

1

Tags

• 11th c
• communal
• petition
• slaves

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Inferred date

1100–1138 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Small fragment from a top of a letter written by Halfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi (1100–38) to 'my master the diadem' (al-nezer). […] Shemuel and ʿEli b. Netanʾel ha-Levi. Ḥalfon is asking the addressee to provide him the name (ism) of Abū ʿAlī Al-Baʿalbakī the cousin of [...]. Mentions 'his father the paternal uncle of Salmān.'

Related People

1

Tags

• halfon b. menashshe

1 Transcription

Primary language

Arabic

Addressed to al-Mawqif al-Ashraf (likely the caliph himself, as in ENA 3974.4 (PGPID 11702)) and to the qāʾid ʿIzz al-Dawla. Mentions the amīrs Shujāʿ al-Dawla, Majd al-Dawla, and the city of Tripoli. The writer mentions sending a delegate/appointee to the amīr Shujāʿ al-Dawla, but the latter refused to accept him and sent the delegate back claiming that he hadn't received an amr (order) from al-Haḍra al-Muṭahhara (also a reference to the Fatimid caliph). The writer then sent the delegate/appointee back to the amīr Shujāʿ al-Dawla with a copy of the Noble Letter which was sent in this regard. He also mentions the case of the amīr Majd al-Dawla and explains that Ibn Dardār or someone else hadn't messed up but rather the cause was what he had mentioned in the previous letter.

Tags

• 'izz al-dawla
• amir
• dimme
• mulattaf
• tripoli

1 Transcription 1 Translation

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Fragment of a mercantileletter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 12th century. Hand of Abū Zikrī Kohen? Mentions having Abū l-Ḥasan intervene with the ʿāmil to take care of a matter; and greetings for Ḥiyya b.

Tags

• cmp

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Family and/or business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: late, probably no earlier than ca. 15th century. Mentions Yosef זמרו(?), Avraham, Masʿūda. Refers to selling something for "three and a half." Merits further examination.

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: probably 13th century. Addressed to Meir "the great Prince." Trying to arrange a meeting in Fustat.

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Only a thin vertical sliver is preserved. Mentions Fustat (or Egypt) four lines from the end and Almeria three lines from the end. Also mentions David ha-Rav.

Related Places

1

Tags

• halfon-addenda
• ib-addenda
• ib4
• to examine

No Scholarship Records

Inferred date

1100–1138 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe (active 1100–38 CE), concerning a business partnership between Natan ha-Kohen and the doctor Mevorakh b.

Related People

1

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from a certain Avraham to a dignitary. In Judaeo-Arabic. […] The third line of recto is written in a different handwriting(?). Mentionsmerchandise and Ibn al-Sadīd.

1 Transcription

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter concerning business affairs (cloth trade) in which the writer mentions people including al-Dimyāṭī, Thābit, and Abū l-Mufaḍḍal. Mentions a sum of 50 dinars corresponding to a period of 2 years.

Tags

• silk
• trade

1 Transcription

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Fragment of a letter from Nahray b. Nissim to an unidentified addressee mentioning accounts and the amount of linen that the addressee has to provide. A load of soap on the sultan's ship is also mentioned. Dated to the second half of the 11th century.

Related People

1

Related Places

2

Tags

• markab al-sultan
• nahray b. nissim
• soap
• state
• trade

3 Transcriptions 1 Translation

Primary language

Aramaic

Bottom of a letter in Aramaic, concerning a power of attorney. Mentions Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq the in-law of Shemuel, Yosef b. Yaʿaqov, Menashshe ‘our teacher’, and David ‘the master.' (Information from Goitein's index cards and CUDL)

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Fragment of an interesting letter sent to Abu al-Fadl Mevorakh b. Avraham by Shemarya b. […] (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, 388, and from Goitein's index cards)

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter fragment, probably. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions ḍamān, "al-taqqaṣī wa-l-ijtihād" (finding something out diligently), a turban, and Abū Naṣr. On verso mentions half a dinar minus half a qirat.

No Scholarship Records

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Letter addressed to 'Rabbenu [...]' in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions a dispute and not being able to put up with a qāḍī (קלת לא נחנא נטיק אלקאטי...); also mentions New Cairo and the name ʿAbdallah.

Related Places

1

No Scholarship Records

Inferred date

1127–1138 CE

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Beginning of a legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe (fl. 1100-1138 CE). Mentioning Alexandria (possibly drawn up there) and the authority of Maṣliaḥ Gaʾon.

Related People

2

Related Places

1

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Mercantileletter in Judaeo-Arabic. Faded and damaged. […] Dating: likely ca. 12th century. Mentions good-quality saffron and amber and the name Abū ʿImrān.

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Rudimentary hand. […] Also a prayer for the coming of the messiah (אלגאל) in the lifetime of "our master and the turban of our head" (סידנא ועממת ראסנא).

No Scholarship Records

Primary languages

Aramaic, Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Court record; concerned with legal issues between ʿUlla b. Joseph, the agent of Saʿd, and Maṣliaḥ b. Meshullam; signed by the witnesses Isaac, Abraham b.

No Scholarship Records

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Part of a letter referring to books (dafātir), mentioning Rabbenu Hai z”l, presumably Hai Gaʾon. The speaker mentions Abū Saʿd his sister's son (ibn ukhtī). (Information in part from CUDL)

No Scholarship Records