Geniza Lab

Literary. Epistle from Plato to Porphyry. In Judaeo-Arabic. On asceticism.

Bifolium from a Ladino transcription of a medical work by the physician (el diskreto sabio) Arnau de Villanova. Information from http://www.investigacion.cchs.csic.es/judeo-arabe/sites/investigacion.cchs.csic.es.judeo-arabe/files/Genizah-Al-Andalus.pdf.

Account: building expenditures and revenue from rent, ca. 1039. This record contains details about sums of rent collected from "the Estate of the Synagogue of the Palestinians" for A.H. 429 and 430. It was written at the end of 1039. The revenue list mentions the first period during which Dar Qutayt was inhabited whereas before it had been empty. The building expenditures refer in part to the synagogue. The three parts of the document have found their way into three different boxes of the Taylor-Schechter Collection. Written in the hand of Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 167 #11)

Notebook of advice composed in reply to questions about a wide variety of matters, e.g. seeking office, choosing a profession, taking a wife, going on travels, dealing with friends and enemies, etc. Written in the hand of Hillel b. Eli. (Information from Mediterranean Society, V, p. 292)

Two bifolia from a Judaeo-Arabic version of Hippocrates, Aphorisms, partially covering section I, dealing with topics of general medical theory. (Information from CUDL)

Autograph leaves of Maimonides, Treatise on sexual intercourse. (Information from CUDL)

Literary text in Judaeo-Arabic. Advice on how to succeed against enemies, on a journey, etc. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

There are 10 unrelated fragments sharing this shelfmark. All are literary: see FGP for identifications. The most documentary fragment is fol. 4, which is a leaf from a book in Judaeo-Arabic that tells you the Psalms to recite in various scenarios (if your ship is about to sink at sea... if you are going before the king...).

Circular letter written by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic Dating: Summer 1229 CE. Letter of recommendation for the bearer Ibrāhīm b. Ḥasan, a poor man from Baghdad in need of charity. Endorsed on verso by the judge Yeḥiel b. Elyaqim from Aleppo (see Med Soc II, App. D, sec. 30). Information from Med Soc II, App. C, sec. 140.

Literary text in Judaeo-Arabic.

Letter of appeal for charity. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Written in a calligraphic but shaky hand.

Letter or letters. Copied into a book. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Needs examination.

Literary text in Ladino and Hebrew. Probably a sermon.

Letter in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Possibly an appeal for help of some kind, but it seems more complex than the usual flattery and litany of complaints. Opens with the phrase ויצילנו מחמס ארץ מצרים. The writer discusses his house and children and something he is unable to do. It almost sounds like he is being overwhelmed by people who are imposing on his hospitality. Needs further examination (and a join or two).

Small fragment of a decree. Reused for Judaeo-Arabic literary work.

Letter to Maimonides with autograph response on verso. "T-S Arabic Box 46, fol. 97, is a small sheet of paper the verso of which contains a note with a request for medical advice. It is interesting to note the ethical note introduced into this medical business by the sentence: 'since my entire aim in this matter is to seek the nearness to God'. The writer presumably means that through preserving health it is possible to better devote onself to the service of God. This brings to mind another similar request addressed to Maimonides in a letter published by D. H. Baneth [see the autograph letter published by Baneth, "Me-halifat ha-Mikhtavin shel ha-Rambam", Studies in Memory of Asher Gulak and Samuel Klein, pp. 50 ff.]: 'I desire from your bounty, my lord--since you, together with God, can heal my soul and its organs, so that it can employ itself in the study of the sciences--to prescribe for me what I should eat, since this is necessary, so that I can more easily understand these matters [the philosophical problems described in the first part of the letter]'. That letter has also in common with ours the fact that Maimonides' reply is written on the back of the sheet." - S. M. Stern. There are two blocks of text in Maimonides's hand on verso, at ninety degrees to each other. One is almost entirely illegible, does not appear to relate to the question on recto, and (very speculatively) could be a responsum for a legal question that the writer sent separately (though Stern would differ, as he read "dirham of lemon" where I read "shall be bound by a vow"). The other block is the answer to the dietary questions on recto. ASE.

Copies of extremely deferent letters, in a mixture of Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic, and Arabic script. Written on a bifolium. Specific addressees named include Moshe ha-Sar, Hillel ha-Sar, and Abū Saʿd. Join by Amir Ashur.

Recto: Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer describes coming to a certain place and finding its synagogue in a dangerous state of disrepair and its columns collapsing. He insisted that it needed to be rebuilt and offered his services. A person named Abū l-Faraj al-Levi features in the story. Verso: Letter in Judaeo-Arabic; unclear whether it is related to recto. The writer describes a certain Abū l-Faraj pleading for mercy from an amīr, who ultimately granted mercy. The writer cites Ezra 6:11 at this point. He goes on to describe a group of people harassing his group with 'שנאות ורשעות.' Needs examination.

Literary texts. In Judaeo-Arabic. (1) The ethical will of rabbenu ha-qadosh—probably Yehuda ha-Nasi—to his son. (2) A portion of a medical text, citing Galen.

Letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Rudimentary hand. The spellings are closer to classical Arabic than usual (e.g. שיא for شيء). The two folios were originally two folios (i.e. not a single folio that was torn in half), because the recto of folio 2 is the direct continuation of the verso of folio 1. The writer is a merchant who lists a number of materia medica (he calls them 'akhbār ʿiṭriyya'). The part of the letter that Goitein typed is the middle portion relating the harrowing events that befell the writer on a boat journey. The writer was attacked in the dead of night and his belt (himyān) was tied around his neck. He cried for help to the Muslims around him, and Muḥammad al-Najjār al-Ishbīlī set him free.