Geniza Lab

Fragment of a fiscal register, probably. May mention the year 506 AH, which would be 1112/13 CE. Reused for Hebrew piyyuṭim.

Recto: Claim on money (one dinar), though other property is also mentioned, and an acknowledgement of debt. The document has witness signatures in a different hand. Verso: Wedding piyyut ארוממ בתהלה ללו הממשלה. (Information from CUDL.) Join (indirect): Oded Zinger.

Letter of appeal from Yeshuʿa b. Yosef to an unknown addressee. The first 2/3 consists of rhymed Hebrew praises for the addressee. In the body of the letter, in Judaeo-Arabic, he explains his (conjunctural) poverty and asks for help. On verso are also piyyutim/qinot.

Letter from a woman requesting help in receiving her share from her late husband’s inheritance, with various signatures of support. Mentions government interference as well as her husband's other (simultaneous) wife, the daughter of Abū l-Ṭāhir. Long, well-preserved, and full of interesting details. Should be edited. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter from Natan b. Nahray, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat, mentioning various commodities including flax. Dating: ca. 1064 CE. Also mentions a paper price. “My lord mentioned buying paper from the Segulat (= Mūsā b. Abī l-Ḥayy), or from someone else. I haven't found Andalusī paper in sufficient quantities, since my lord mentioned that he wanted it to copy (a book). The Segulat has only small quantities of Andalusī paper. But he has Shāmī paper, wide and large, for 8 dīnārs per ream; if it pleases my lord, I will acquire some for him.” Information from Gil.

Legal document concerning a marriage contract, bridal gifts and rights to a property, mentioning the name Abū Saʿd. (Information from CUDL.) A general prenuptial agreement. The hand recalls the hand of Natan ha-Kohen b. Shelomo, but it is probably written by a different scribe. The document appears to be a draft, or a template for a prenuptial agreement, since it is missing important details, like the name of the bride. Similarly, the ending 'and peace' was common in letters and not in legal documents, and may suggest that the template was sent to one of the sides after they requested to preview it. It is also possible that a Rabbi or the conductor of the marriage sent it to a higher legal authority to obtain his approval.

The beginning of a letter written by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to the communities of Egypt, through al-Shaykh al-Makīn Abū l-Faraj. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment of a block print, probably, with an elaborate design in red and black ink. In the margins there is unidentified text, probably literary, in Arabic script.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (lower left corner). Mentions a woman who found the sender in Fustat and said something to him; something about sleeping in the evening(?); Abū Sahl the cantor; someone who died and wandering in the desert (a proverb?); a report on the addressee's son Abū l-Khayr; someone who said something about Ibn Bābā; giving the addressee money to redeem a plege; and the ghulām of Abū ʿImrān. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter in the hand of Yefet b. Menashshe perhaps to his brother Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (lower left corner of recto). Someone arrived from Abyār. Yefet says he can't do something "for numerous reasons, not least of which is the shop. I can't (leave it) for a full week, and he knows it." He is in need of a friend who will do him a favor for the sake of ʿaṣabiyya. He mentions people who traveled with somebody; someone who was with him in the shop; his isolation and abandonment; "Muslims and Jews"; al-Qāḍī al-Muwaffaq; how he can no longer sit in his shop because of [...]. Regards to Sitt Naʿīm (Ḥalfon's wife).

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment. Rudimentary handwriting and spelling. The writer is in some perplexity about 'what I should do regarding Rashīd, since I rarely come to Fustat.' He also asks whether the addressee has obtained something from Barakāt. And mentions Bilbays.

The main block of Judaeo-Arabic text is a portion of a letter. The writer reports that he arrived safely in Fustat and yearns for a letter containing news of the addressees. He wants to know which ships have arrived, the news of the merchants and the merchandise, and sends greetings to Abū Bakr and al-F[...] b. Ilyās (?). Fragment filled with Arabic script and Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew written at all angles. The main blocks of Arabic script consist of lists, at least one of which might be a table of contents of a book (PGPID 33965). Needs further examination.

Fragment filled with Arabic script and Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew written at all angles. The main blocks of Arabic script consist of lists, at least one of which might be a table of contents of a book. The main block of Judaeo-Arabic is a portion of a letter (PGP ID 26783). Needs further examination.

India Book II, 22a (T-S NS J240). See PGPID 5479.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer gives instructions to obtain various sums of money from various people: 3 3/4 dirham from [...] al-Sharābī, 10 dirhams from Abū l-Faraj b. Nabīqa, 4 dirhams from Sulaymān b. Dā'ūd. On verso he sends regards to his mother, his paternal uncle, the addressee's wife Sitt Kāfūr, and the addressee's brother Abū l-Faḍl. There are also some mysterious jottings around the margins.

Recto: Petition draft in Judaeo-Arabic. Abū ʿAlī b. Abū l-[ʿIzz al-Yahūdī] kisses the ground before al-maqām al-ʿālī al-sulṭānī al-malikī al-sayfī al-ʿādilī, and reports that he is a poor man and cannot even obtain paper (or write a petition? al-qiyām bi-l-waraq) except through the charity of others. He has a brother who evidently owes money, and he insists that he is not a guarantor (laysa bi-ḍāmin lahu wa-lā kafīl) for him. He asks for the issuing of a rescript (khurūj al-tawqīʿ) confirming this. Verso: Draft of the same petition, it appears, in Arabic script.

Document in Arabic script. Perhaps a medical prescription or recipe.

Informal note in Judaeo-Arabic, with a few jottings in Arabic script. The writer asks the addressee (al-Muʿallim) to go to Abū l-Ḥasan, because the writer needs him to do something for him.

Bifolio containing multiple documents. Dating: Unknown. Recto, right page: Acknowledgment of a debt of 400 dinars owed by the Jew Naṣr b. Abū Saʿd to Abū l-Qāsim b. ʿAbdallāh. In Arabic script. Recto, left page: Oriented at 90 degrees, there is a letter or draft of a letter to an amir with many noble titles. In Arabic script. Verso, left page: Draft of the opening of a Judaeo-Arabic letter in a crude hand. Verso, right page: Writing exercises in both Hebrew and Arabic script. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter fragment addressed to al-mawālī al-munʿimīn. In vocalized Judaeo-Arabic.