Documents

Document date

Ṭevet 1392 Seleucid (15 December 1080–12 January 1081 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Two court depositions concerning a debt, allegedly paid, and "a load of Ḥalabī" (Aleppan textiles) drowned in the ship of Abū ʿAlīal-Shāmī.

Related Places

1

Tags

• libya

1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from an unknown man to his niece (bint al-akh). In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 13th century. […] תדפעי לה מן ענדך) and go along with this plan. He continues to urge her to cease wasting her youth in spinsterhood ("for I am a man and I was older(?) than you and I did not sit (i.e. as a widower)."). Cairo is also mentioned. The letter ends very abruptly with none of the formulaic regards, so this was probably a draft.

Related Places

2

Tags

• marriage
• remarriage
• suitor
• widow

1 Transcription

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Natan Av, judge in Cairo, to al-Mumhe, i.e. "the specialist," meaning a permanent member of the court, whose name is not preserved, and who was apparently in charge of the money of the qodesh, ca. 1100. […] Sa'id, "the head of the congregations," who was given the money in order to bring timber from Alexandria for this sum, died before he could go to Alexandria and the money was left with his widow.

Related Places

2

Tags

• 12th c
• account
• heqdesh
• qodesh
• waqf

1 Transcription 1 Translation 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

The entries here include a remarkable range of Turkish, Arabic, Italian, Spanish, and, possibly, also Greek and/or Coptic names. The title רייץ also appears on several occasions, which is the scribe's idiosyncratic manner of spelling "raʾīs/reʾīs" (ship captain). […] (יאגיי/"Archer" in Turkish), Estefānī, (verso) Reʾīs Antonio, Estefānī, Ḥamza b. ʿAlī, Fiuli Benadiqa, Paroza/Padoza, Iacomo, Mikhālī, Muḥammad b.

Tags

• 16th c
• cmp
• ottoman shipping

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Arabic

Petition addressed to Saladin (al-Malik al-Nāṣir). From Maḥmūd b. Mamdūd who describes himself as a warrior in the path of God (al-mujāhid fī sabīl Allāh). By some accounts the original name of Sayf al-Dīn Quṭuz (the third Mamluk sultan, r. 1259–60) was Maḥmūd b.

Tags

• saladin

No Scholarship Records

Document date

5 Muḥarram 735 Hijrī (5 September 1334 CE)

Primary language

Arabic

For the capitation taxes of the Jews in Damascus(!?) (bi-l-Shām al-Maḥrūs). Reads roughly as follows: وصل الى بيت المال المعمور خامس المحرم سنة خمسة وثلاثين وسبعمائة واقام به ابو سعد اليهودي ابي(؟) سليمان من جوالي اليهود بالشام(؟) المحروس. […] Upside down at the bottom there is what looks like an ʿalāma and a draft of the same text (waṣala ilā bayt al-māl...). On recto there is also a list of names in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script, accompanied by sums of money (e.g., fils), potentially related to verso, e.g. if these are the Jews whose capitation taxes are being documented.

Related Places

2

No Scholarship Records

Primary languages

Arabic, Judaeo-Arabic

The same scribe probably wrote ENA NS 69.20 and T-S AS 156.42, based on the handwriting similarity combined with the presence of the relatively uncommon blessing "min dār al-fanā' wa-l-shaqā' ilā dār al-naʿīm wa-l-baqā' (from the abode of perdition and woe to the abode of blessing and immortality)." […] The first is for a laurel-based ophthalmic (ṣifat kuḥl al-sādhaj al-ḥāfiẓ) that strengthens the vision. The second is for a coolant (barūd) that the caliph al-Ma'mūn purportedly used to preserve health and strengthen eyesight.

Tags

• appeal
• arabic literary
• prison

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

The sender opens by mentioning that he is the brother of the wife of the cantor from al-Raḥba. He then reminds the Nagid that he actually helped him once, "in the time of al-Maʾmūn" (presumably the vizier who succeeded al-Afdal) by giving or loaning him 10 dinars to get out of a tax concession guarantee (ḍamān) for which Shemu’el was being held accountable. Also uses the term "imāra" (something to do with the state?).

Tags

• begging
• damin
• disability: vision

No Scholarship Records

Document date

Monday 29 Av 4898 Anno Mundi (8 August 1138 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Barukh, Almeria, to Ḥalfon b. Netanʾel in Lucena. Dated: Monday 29 Av 4898 (August 8, 1138). The subject of the letter, hinted at, is Abū l-Rabīʿ al-Lusānī. The writer has sent 60 of the 100 mithqāl that had been received from Tilimsān, which Ibn Giyat was supposed to deliver to Yehuda ha-Levi (see doc. […] One of the two ships that sailed from Alexandria (see again doc. ה30) had arrived in Almeria.

Related People

3

Related Places

2

Tags

• ib-untranslated-eng
• ib4
• india book

2 Transcriptions 1 Translation

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Barhūn, it seems in Alexandria, mentioning the arrival of the recipient (or another 'shaykh') and a 'young man' (slave, freedman or employee). […] The writer has enclosed another important letter, to a certain family (al-Faṭṭūma?), from their agent ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, and he asks the recipient to ensure that it reaches its target. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.) Join: Alan Elbaum.

Related Places

2

2 Transcriptions 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

It is filled with profuse apologies ("I have never felt such pain as the pain that I felt because I was late...). The sender is also upset about how people have judged him harshly, which was only because of his great humility (qillat al-makbara wa-l-anafa). […] He specifically asks for intercession with al-Shaykh al-Rashīd. He has enclosed the remainder of the rent.

Related Documents

1

Tags

• apology
• lor

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter from Makhlūf b. Musa, Alexandria, to Abu Yiṣḥaq Avraham b. Yahya Fasi, Fustat. […] The intended meeting point was Bab al-Sidara, the entrance to Alexandria from the mainland.

Related People

2

Related Places

2

Tags

• 12th c
• alexandria
• ib6
• illness
• illness letter 969-1517
• (+ 4 more)

3 Transcriptions 1 Discussion

Inferred date

1025–1051 CE

Primary language

Hebrew

Yehuda to the community of Alexandria. In Hebrew. Dating: Gil suggests 1025 CE, however this seems inconsistent with the events mentioned; late 1030s or 1040s seems more plausible. […] Shelomo emphasizes that these complaints go against all the other reports he has received about the piety and greatness of Yeshuʿa, who is even greater than his father Yosef ha-Dayyan (who is still living, and to whom Shelomo has also written another letter concerning these complaints).

Related People

3

Related Places

2

Tags

• 11th c
• communal
• shelomo b. yehuda

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Possibly sent from Alexandria to an unidentified dignitary in Fustat (though Goitein suggests that the sender is in Fustat and the addressee in Alexandria.) The sender asks the addressee to continue visiting him as his late father ('al-ḥaver') and paternal uncle used to do. He heard that the addressee wanted to be in Fustat for the 9th of Av.

Tags

• captives

1 Discussion

Document date

28 Ramadan 635 Hijrī (14 May 1238 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

The mention of a "division" (that is, of assets) and the statement that "only […] remains" suggests that this may be a partnership settlement and release, or at least this release was not accompanied by a final settlement of all accounts, though the document isn't sufficiently well-preserved for certainty. The partners were Abū al-Riḍā Yaḥyā b. Samuel and al-Makīn b. Shela ha-Levi. The exact date is given in the Islamic calendar (28 Ramadan 635), and is also dated in the Jewish calendar (last ten-day period of Iyar) with the Seleucid year (1549).

Tags

• kitchen
• partnership

2 Transcriptions 1 Translation 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Aharon confirms that he has received the sum of 8 3/4 dinars from persons, including Avraham and Dalāl children of Shelomo b. ʿEzra, and also from their mother Mubāraka, and perhaps also from their uncle Shemuel b. […] Yefet is acting as the court appointed official (paqid) overseeing the estate of the late ʿĀliyya, and the sum he has received is an inheritance for her sisters Mulūk and Rayyisa, daughters of Faraj.

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

List of donors to charity on the back of piece of vellum (fragment of an ancient marriage contract), headed by Avraham 'The Cherished,' al-sagul. This is an abbreviation, used also on letter CUL Or.1080 J265, ll. 6, 16. of the unique title 'The most cherished and esteemed of the People of Fustat,' borne by the notable Avraham b. Mevasser (dated docs. 1028-1-45), see Mann, Jews, II. pp. 98-100). Avraham al-Taharti could stand for any of 4 cousins (usually called Barhun) from Qayrawan, all of whom frequented Egypt.

Related Documents

1

Tags

• charity
• communal
• donors
• poverty

1 Transcription

Document date

21 Shevaṭ 1538 Seleucid (9 February 1227 CE)

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

Maḥfūẓ, the retired beadle of the Babylonian synagogue in Fustat, in Jerusalem, to al-Shaykh al-Thiqa Hibat Allāh, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. […] Ṭāhir sends greetings to the Nagid (Avraham Maimonides), ʿImrān, Abū Naṣr, Ḥananel (b. Shemuel), al-Raṣūy, Sulaymān al-Levi, Abū l-ʿIzz, and his brother in Cairo.

Related People

1

2 Discussions

Document date

Wednesday, 21 Sivan 4845 Anno Mundi (16 June 1085 CE)

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Dated 1085. Location: Alexandria. This document is a largely-complete release signed and executed by well-known members of the rabbinical court of Alexandria. […] Shemuel and the judge Menashshe b. Pinḥas. Although the details of the relationship between the litigants are not explicitly stated, the release clauses suggest that a partnership existed between the two of them.

Related People

6

Related Places

1

Tags

• partnership

2 Transcriptions 1 Translation

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

The shelfmark T-S Ar.18(1).123 unites three fragments, which all have Hebrew liturgical poems on one side and remainders of letters in Judaeo-Arabic on the other. All three letters appear to be in the same handwriting, and all the liturgical fragments are likewise in the handwriting of the same scribe (different than the scribe of the letters). […] Yeshuʿa and correspondence with Abū l-ʿAlāʾ. The sender reports that Ghālib has been diligent in his studies of the 'siddur' and other subejcts with somebody. then mentions a silk veil or scarf (wa-l-miqnaʿa al-qazz...).

Related Documents

2

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Rajā, arrived and reported that his brother Hārūn sold "the stone (al-ḥajar) which we had sent with him." He gives further details about the taxes and duties (maks al-maqāṭiʿ... al-amānāt...). The addressee is to pay the sum it sold for (8 dinars) to Abū Zikrī. Also, only the price fixed by Abū Zikrī (the wakīl) should be paid, as Abū l-Riḍā was only the representative of the seller, but not the proprietor of "the stone."

Tags

• to examine

1 Discussion

Primary language

Arabic

Mentions the Red Sea (baḥr al-qulzum) and "the ships" (marākib) on recto and again "the ships and the skiffs" (al-marākib wa-l-ʿushāriyya) at the bottom of the right page of verso. Higher up, refers to "the glass pipes" (mawāsīr zujāj), then, "of that which was broken from the heaving of the sea" (mimmā takassara min hazz al-baḥr), and further down, possibly items which were damaged by mice (mimmā taʿaddā(?) ʿalayhial-faʾr). On the left page of verso, one entry begins, "that which was lost at se[a]..."

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Arabic

Draft of a letter/petition, in Arabic script. Addressed to Huṣām al-Dawla. The sender asks that 'you rescue me from this man' (bi-an tukhalliṣ ʿabdak min hādhā l-insān) and 'make me one of your mamlūks.' […] At the top at 180 degrees, there is a scribal practice of fiscal accounting referring to the total from the districts neighboring (aʿmāl al-nawāḥī al-jāriya) the iqṭāʿ of Khuṭlukh in the same scribal hand. There is a draft of a different letter to Ḥusām al-Dawla with a nearly identical opening on fols. 2r–2v of T-S Ar.39.11 (PGPID 20768).

Related People

1

Tags

• dimme
• iqta'
• khutlukh

1 Transcription

Inferred date

1066–1108 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Shelomo] Ibn Sunaynāt (appears also in T-S 12.779 (PGPID 20076)) seeks to collect from Hillel b. […] Hillel, who is a known troublemaker from other documents. There is mention of ʿAlamal-Dawla Ibn Quraysh (or Qadish, see ENA 4020.30 (PGPID 2407)). […] (Information in part from Goitein's index cards.) Joins: Alan Elbaum

Related People

5

Tags

• trade

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Inferred date

1011–1015 CE

Primary language

Arabic

Qufrī ibn Abū l-? Afrahām. Along with T-S AS 181.173 (PGPID 37490), this is one of two receipts in the corpus that use the trigger yudhkar (“it has been recorded”), both written by the same jahbadh. Both also bear a notation on line 2 that may read nuqila ("it was copied"), which would indicate that the amount paid has been transferred to the daily registers. Along with T-S AS 181.173 (PGPID 37490) and T-S AS 178.233 (PGPID 18599), this is one of three receipts in the Abū l-Ḥasan that specify that his ḍamān in Madīnat al-Fayyūm is for a dyeworks (maṣbagha) rather than for dyeing (ṣabgh or ṣibgh).

Related People

2

Related Places

1

Tags

• abu l-hasan b. wahb
• daman
• tax receipts

1 Transcription 1 Translation 1 Discussion

Primary languages

Arabic, Judaeo-Arabic

Letter fragment, partly written in Arabic and mostly in written in a Hebrew-script (Judaeo-Arabic) cipher composed of the letters alef through ṭet. A single dot over the letter means to multiply it by 10 (so א̇ becomes י and ב̇ becomes כ, and so on) and a double dot means to multiply it by 100 (so א̇ becomes ק and ב̇ becomes ר, and so on). […] Mentions the addressee as al-akh al-ajall; a group of people who want money (יטלבון דראהם), "the youth who was writing to you"; the ghulām Sulaymān who went out to the Rīf; someone who paid no heed to the writer's words; and people arriving in Fustat. […] Identified and deciphered by Alan Elbaum.

Tags

• bialphabetic
• cipher

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Recto: Autograph order from Avraham Maimonides. The cantor al-Shaykh al-Makīn is to give 20 dirhams out of the rent from the compound to the judge Yeḥiel for the sake of R. Yosef al-[...]. T-S K25.240 consists of small written orders, partly in Hebrew and partly in Arabic script, for monthly payments, made out of the rent-revenue from the pious foundation (waqf) 'Compound of the Poor' or from the pious foundation made by the physician al-Muhadhdhab. All dated orders are from spring and summer, 1218.

Related People

1

Related Documents

1

Tags

• account
• heqdesh
• qodesh
• waqf

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Inferred date

1205–1237 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Abū l-Majd is to give 9 dirhams to 'al-Talmid al-Ajall al-Raṣuy' out of the rent of the compound. […] T-S K25.240 consists of small written orders, partly in Hebrew and partly in Arabic script, for monthly payments, made out of the rent-revenue from the pious foundation (waqf) 'Compound of the Poor' or from the pious foundation made by the physician al-Muhadhdhab. All dated orders are from spring and summer, 1218.

Related People

1

Related Documents

1

Tags

• account
• heqdesh
• qodesh
• waqf

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Inferred date

1205–1237 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Abū l-Majd is to give the bearer, the cantor of al-Maḥalla (or 'al-majlis'?), who is sick, 5 dirhams from the waqf of al-Muhadhdhab. T-S K25.240 consists of small written orders, partly in Hebrew and partly in Arabic script, for monthly payments, made out of the rent-revenue from the pious foundation (waqf) 'Compound of the Poor' or from the pious foundation made by the physician al-Muhadhdhab. All dated orders are from spring and summer, 1218.

Related People

1

Tags

• account
• heqdesh
• medical charity
• qodesh
• tax
• (+ 1 more)

1 Transcription 1 Discussion

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, no earlier than 1425 CE because it mentions gold ashrafī coins (first minted under Sultan al-Ashraf Barsbay in this year). The letter is addressed to a certain Yiṣḥaq addressed as ha-Sar. The addressee's letter arrived with al-Ḥajj Ḥasan al-Bābā. The writer went together with al-Bābā to the amir, the deputy of the citadel, and read to him the decrees (marāsīm) and some sort of declaration of allegiance (?

Related Places

1

Tags

• 15th c
• ashrafi
• late ja
• numismatic dating
• to edit

No Scholarship Records

Inferred date

1100–1138 CE

Primary languages

Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic

On the left, written in small script, a number of names, such as Abū Saʿd, the leader Abū Naṣr, Abū Isḥāq and the cantor al-Maʿālī, all with numerals and fractions of numerals such as 4 and a half and a quarter etc. These names and numbers are likely meant to be associated with each of the main entries, but it is also possible that they are a separate list. (Information in part from CUDL and Oded Zinger and Adiel Breuer.) Joins: Adiel Breuer (T-S NS 190.116 + T-S AS 152.128 + T-S AS 152.186) and Alan Elbaum (T-S AS 203.261).

Related People

1

Tags

• account

No Scholarship Records

Primary language

Arabic

Needs examination. See also PGPID 23556. The first document seems to be an internal state correspondence, mentioning a state official by the name ʿUddat al-Dawla. Only five lines are preserved, and it also seems to mention the month of Ṣafar (خلون من صفر), probably indicating that a date was written on the document towards the end.

1 Transcription

Inferred date

1168–1204 CE

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Mention is made of a trip to Alexandria. The fragment mentions others and their wealth and very large debts: Abū Manṣūr, Abū l-Maḥāsin, Rīḍā al-Dawla, Ibn Hillel. It also mentions several distinguished physicians apart from Maimonides.

Related People

1

Related Places

3

Tags

• barley
• illness letter 969-1517
• illness: fever
• illness: nursing
• illness: physicians
• (+ 3 more)

2 Transcriptions

Primary language

Judaeo-Arabic

Letter in which an ophthalmologist named Moshe blames his assistant who was also his relative for having left without giving him details about the various medications in the dispensary and chastises him and exhorts him to return to work. […] He has sent some collyria along with the letter and wishes to know what they are. He also instructs the addressee to study the treatises of Dāniyāl b.

Related Places

1

Tags

• medicine
• ophthalmology

1 Transcription 1 Discussion