Letter, dated 1026 CE, written by the Gaʾon Solomon the younger ‘Head of the Yešiva of the Pride of Jacob’ (i.e. Solomon b. Judah), in Jerusalem, to Ephraim he-Ḥaver b. Šemarya, in Fusṭāṭ, discussing strife within the Jewish communities in Egypt, between the Babylonians and Jerusalemites. The Babylonian leader Elḥanan b. Šemarya, and Jerusalemite Samuel ha-Kohen b. Avṭalyon, are mentioned, as are the calamitous effects on the Jewish communities of the Land of Israel of the war, probably between the Fatimid Caliph al-Ẓāhir and rebel Arab tribes (= 1024-1029 CE). Šayḵ Abū ʿAlī Ḥasan Ibn al-Ṭayīb is mentioned, with quotes from Psalms 91:1, Isaiah 29:21, Micah 2:6, Ezekiel 3:27, Jeremiah 30:12; and references to the prophet Micah, and also to Sanballat and Ṭoviyya (enemies of the Jews in the book of Nehemiah).Condition: holesLayout: 65 lines (recto); 2 lines (verso)
Letter, c. 1035 CE, written and signed by Solomon ‘the lesser, Head of the Yešiva of the Pride of Jacob’ (i.e. the Gaʾon Solomon b. Judah), on behalf of the community of the city of the great king (i.e. the Jewish community in Jerusalem, and at the end of the letter referred to specifically as the Rabbanites who dwell in the holy city), to Sahlān, Allūf and ‘Head of the Row’, b. Abraham he-Ḥaver (his titles in Arabic on the verso also include Abū ʿUmar), in Fusṭāṭ. Solomon expresses gratitude for Sahlān’s continuous fundraising efforts to assist the Jewish community in Jerusalem in payment of its heavy tax burden.Condition: holes, fadedLayout: 24 lines (recto); 2 lines (verso)
Letter, c. 1035 CE, written by Abraham ‘son of the Gaʾon’, on behalf of the Gaʾon, who signs the letter Solomon ‘the humble’ b. Judah, in Jerusalem, to the sacred (i.e. Jewish) community in the city of Taṭay (lower Egypt), first the cantor, and the elders, and the rest of the community. Solomon states that the community should not associate with Abraham Ibn al-Baṣrī (i.e. from Basra), the cantor and lawyer, who was excommunicated on 9th Av, on account of his dispute with ‘our master and teacher’ Ephraim he-Ḥaver ha-Meʿulle (b. Šemarya), leader of the Jewish community in Fusṭāṭ, and his criticism of the Academy.Condition: holes, fadedLayout: 18 lines (recto); 2 lines (verso)
Part of a letter, c. 1015 CE, written by Solomon b. Judah, probably to Isaac ha-Kohen b. Abraham, a resident of Tinnis, who had journeyed to Fusṭāṭ in order to resolve a lawsuit. Greetings are also sent to Abraham b. Sahlān and his son, and to Mevasser b. Ephraim.Condition: torn, holesLayout: 59 lines (recto); 7 lines (verso)
Letter, c. 1030 CE, written and signed by Solomon ‘the lesser’ b. Judah, in the city of the great king (i.e. Jerusalem), on behalf of the Rabbanite community in Jerusalem, to Ephraim he-Ḥaver ha-Meʿulle b. Šemarya, in Fusṭāṭ, acknowledging receipt of a financial donation to their community, brought on behalf of the community in Fusṭāṭ by Mevasser b. Levi the Prince, who had journeyed from Fusṭāṭ to Jerusalem for the festival of Sukkot. Out of the total donation of 29.125 dinars, 20 dinars were used to pay off a debt. A communal blessing was recited during the feast on Ephraim’s behalf in gratitude for his fundraising endeavours.Condition: holesLayout: 19 lines (recto); 3 lines (verso)
Part of a letter, c. 1030 CE, written by the scribe Solomon b. Ṣemaḥ, on behalf of the Gaʾon Solomon b. Judah, to Sahlān ‘Head of the Row’ b. Abraham he-Ḥaver, in Fusṭāṭ. The Gaʾon seeks the help of the recipient in motivating the leading members of the Jewish community in Fusṭāṭ to intervene on behalf of two scholars from the Yešiva of the Land of Israel who are being held prisoner in Damascus, and whose condition of release, as explained by an official called ʿAdi b. Manasseh (called Ibn al-Qazzāz, i.e. ‘son of the silk merchant’), relates to the lifting of a ban on the Karaites. Quoting from Ruth 2:12, Psalms 107:14, 20, Jeremiah 45:3, Isaiah 59:9, Psalms 31:11, Genesis 42:4, Joel 1:2-3 and Amos 3:9. The address on the verso is in Arabic: to our lord Abū ʿAmr Sahlān ‘Head of the Row’ b. Ibraḥīm, to Fusṭāṭ, by the will of God, the shop of Barhūn (i.e. Abraham) the perfumer.Condition: torn, holesLayout: 68 lines (recto); 2 lines (verso)
Part of a letter, c. 1030 CE, written by Solomon b. Judah, apparently to Sahlān b. Abraham, in Fusṭāṭ, regarding a dispute between the academies of Jerusalem and Babylon. A leader of the Jewish community in Fusṭāṭ, who had previously had the title Ḥaver and thus accepted the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem academy, had accepted the title Allūf and thus submitted to the Babylonian academy. Solomon writes of the importance of loyalty, with a reference to 2 Samuel 20:2 in which Israel deserts King David but Judah remains faithful to him, and complains of the desire of the Babylonian academy, under the leadership of Hai Gaʾon, for influence and wealth, which contrasts with his own humility and simple lifestyle. Solomon also alludes to Zechariah 11:15, which mentions the ‘foolish shepherd’, also mentioning ‘my brother, he-Ḥaver, your father’, that is Abraham he-Ḥaver b. Sahlān.Condition: torn, holes fadedLayout: 33 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Letter, c. 1029 CE, written by Solomon ‘the lesser, Head of the Yešiva’ (i.e. the Gaʾon Solomon b. Judah), to Ephraim ‘he-Ḥaver in the Great Sanhedrin’ b. Šemarya, concerning the preference of an opponent of Ephraim (probably Sahlān b. Abraham) for the title Allūf, bestowed by the Babylonian academy (‘the step-mother’), as opposed to Ḥaver, bestowed by the Jerusalem academy (‘the mother’). Solomon agrees with Ephraim’s opinion that this scholar had thus ‘despised the waters of Siloam to drink the waters of the Euphrates’, but has faith that the true seat of learning will recover its former status. Solomon also denies misappropriating a loan of 19.5 dinars between the Fusṭāṭ and Jerusalem communities, and mentions the payment of a debt by Aaron.Condition: completeLayout: 26 lines (recto); 2 lines (verso)
Part of a letter, c. late 1042 CE, written by Solomon ‘the lesser, Head of the Yešiva of the Pride of Jacob’ (i.e. the Gaʾon Solomon b. Judah), to a dignitary in the Jewish community in Fusṭāṭ (perhaps Abraham ha-Kohen b. Isaac), thanking the recipient for his help in securing the intervention, on his behalf, of the governor of Jerusalem and the ruler of Ramla, in a dispute with between him and Nathan b. Abraham. He also mentions Mawhūb b. Yefet. Greetings are sent to an elder ‘Head of the Congregation’, and to Abraham and elders of the congregation. With allusions to Psalms 30:9, 31:22 and Jeremiah 51:59, and with quotes from Isaiah 41:16, Deuteronomy 28:8, Psalms 116:12 and BT Beraḵot 59b.Condition: torn, holes, fadedLayout: 28 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Letter, dated 1020 CE, written by the Gaʾon Solomon b. Judah, to Abraham he-Ḥaver b. Sahlān, regarding the troubles he had faced in Jerusalem, including earthquakes, which had prompted him to flee to Ramla. Solomon enumerates nine other letters that he had sent, including two carried by Ḵalaf b. Moses, a young man from the city of Tyre, two others addressed to Šemarya b. Yefet, regarding Isaac from Wadi al-Qurī, who had abandoned his family four years since and was living in Fusṭāṭ, and one delivered to Ephraim ha-Kohen, by Manasseh ha-Kohen. Greetings are sent to Abraham’s son Sahlān (note use of nickname ‘the straight one’, in a pun on his name), Abraham’s brother-in-law Saʿadya b. Ephraim, Mevasser, Obadiah and his son Joseph. Includes a brief list of perfumes and sweet odours in an allusion to the recipient’s trade as a perfumer; with allusions to Psalm 72:7, BT Beraḵot 6b, BT Šabbat 140b and BT Ḥullin 7b.Condition: holes, fadedLayout: 55 lines (recto); 26 lines (verso)
Copy of a letter from Solomon b. Judah to a dignitary in Fusṭāṭ in the hand of Ḡālib ha-Kohen b. Moses (c. 1030 CE).Condition: torn, holes, rubbed, fadedLayout: 32 lines (recto; verso is blank)