Geniza Lab

Segment of a list of Levites' genealogy.

Recto: Legal query concerning a husband and wife and business and property arrangements. Possibly in the hand of Yosef b. Shemeul b. Seʿadya. Very faded. Verso: Sketch for a legal document, to the effect that Abū l-Bayān and the Rayyis, after much negotiation, reached the following compromise: Abū l-Bayān will take over the shop with all its perfumes/drugs (ʿiṭr) and food (maṭʿūm), and he will owe the Rayyis 76 3/4 dirhams and some vessels (burniyya/barānī).

Account of the Qodesh: building expenditures, ca. 1040. Written by Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya, listing a series of items connected with the reconstruction work of that period. Clay and gypsum are being prepared for plastering. The removal of debris of ruined buildings also figures here, old pillars and an old pipe being demolished and old ceilings uncovered. The wall, apparently of the synagogue, is still under construction. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 185 #17)

Commercial accounts in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. Mentions people such as Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm; Hilāl; Abū l-Ḥasan; Abū Yaḥyā, Shemuel. Mentions various textile goods, also wax/candles; the most common item looks like نون or نور. Expenses for customs (maks) and inspectors (mufattishīn) are mentioned several times.

Midrash about redemption, middle of 13th century.

List, similar to T-S NS J422, but smaller, of persons donating one or two (dinars?), or not yet decided. dated 1140s. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 480, App, C 25)

Deed of sale. In Arabic script. Abū l-Bayān Ibrāhīm b. Mubārak b. Mufarrij al-Isrā'īlī purchases a property. Mentions the rights to the millstone (al-ḥajar) and the mill (al-ṭāḥūn). There are jottings in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic on both recto and verso. Information from Goitein's note card.

Mysterious text in Judaeo-Arabic. Probably not a letter. Some of the phrases rhyme, but it is difficult to make sense of more than a few words at a time. On verso there is Hebrew literary text.

Spain This section of a letter to Abū al-Saʿad ha-Levi, that is Ḥalfon, is written in a typical but very eloquent Sephardic script. The letter was short to begin with, and now only a little of its opening and most of what is written in the margins is missing. The writer, whose identity is unknown, scribbled words in Arabic letters inside the Arabic text - The writing is in Hebrew letters. It seems that he wrote everything in a hurry, and it is not always clear whether a certain letter is written in Hebrew letters or in Arabic letters. Because of these difficulties and the poor state of preservation of the letter, the decipherment and translation are provided in several places. The writer also sent blessings in the name of his father. The inscription حضرة المرتبة حرست (ח̇צר̈ה אלמרתב̈ה חרסת, in translation: Darat his majesty, may God preserve it') has not been found in the same language in another place by the hour. 2 (Information from Goitein and Friedman, India Book IV)

Recto: Letter in Arabic script. Verso: Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script. Mentions "3 from al-Fayyūmī." Needs examination.

Two lists of contributors, neatly written (by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu?), one above the other. The 12 names in the upper list are repeated in the lower (which has one more), often in abbreviated form (Abu al-Majd: Majd; Najib al-Ma'tuq: Najib). The contributions, ranging from 1/2 to 1 1/2 (dirhams), are almost identical in the two lists, perhaps a collection for two musicians at a minor family affair. Dated ca. 1225 (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 505, App. C 127)

Letter from Eliyyahu the Judge. He is prepared to give a refresher course in the reading of the Torah to Abū l-ʿAlā ha-Kohen and his father the Segan (ha-Kohanim) and is prepared to come to his house if he is ashamed to attend classes at Eliyyahu's place. Information from Goitein's note card. Verso: 2 lists of contributions, see PGPID 4594.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Addressed to al-Ḥaver al-Jalīl (but the latter word is spelled wrong). The writer has other curious spellings, including ‎שׂרורי for סרורי. Little of the content remains.

Legal document (looks like a draft or copy) in Judaeo-Arabic. Involving a certain Maymūn and Avraham Ibn al-Lebdī. Needs examination.

Biblical commentary in Judaeo-Arabic. In the form of a letter: "Know, my brother..."

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew. Mentions R. Shelomo. And "[if you h]ear that the city is good, come, and if you hear that the villages are [go]od, stay and put your faith in God."

Note from Hajjaj, in Messina, to Yosef Yiju, in Mazara, regarding a consignment sent to Yosef by his sons. Written around October-November 1154.

Note from a certain Ḥajjāj to Yosef Yiju, in Mazara, Sicily. In Judaeo-Arabic. Informing him about a consignment sent to him by one of his sons. Dating: October–November 1154 CE.

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. (There is also an incomplete address to their other brother Abū l-Surūr Peraḥya, but this may have been an error that Yefet corrected with the more complete address beneath.) In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (upper left corner of recto). He confirms that the rubāʿī arrived, 9 and a half [...]. He also mentions the arrival of a bag (kharīṭa) of something.

Legal document (iqrār) in Arabic script. Ḥayyān(?) b. Jamāl al-Tājir makes a declaration. The Fātimid caliph al-Āmir bi-Aḥkām Allāh (r. 495–525 AH = 1101–1130 CE) is mentioned. Information in part from Baker/Polliack catalog.