Geniza Lab

Recto: Arabic script document, probably a letter. Verso: Judaeo-Arabic letter, mentioning Abū Sahl and books, including Kitāb al-Madkhal (of Shemuel b. Hofni) and Halakhot Gedolot. Very faded. Information from FGP. Needs further examination.

Recto: Either a prayer addressed to God or a petition addressed to a dignitary. In Arabic script. "... allahumma... ...asʾaluka an tushaʿshiʿa lanā ḥayāt al-[...] al-muḍīʾa wa-l-anwār al-mawlawiyya wa-l-dawla al-muḍīʾa..."

List of deceased persons. Names include Shemuel ha-Dayyan, Elazar ha-Dayyan, Shela ha-Zaqen, ʿAmram ha-Zaqen.

Magical text copied by Ibn Yiju, probably in Yemen around 1135. The text begins with a magical square (cf. sudoku) of which every line, row and diagonal adds up to 15. Such squares were used as amulets to ease a difficult birth. The square is followed with a protective charm against the evil eye, followed by a protective charm against fever. The largest section is a spell meant to cause one's enemy to be chased away from the town. It is followed by two fragmentary lines mentioning 'hatred.' Line 23 contains obscure magical symbols.

Letter of apology for a complaint that Madmun had mismanaged a trust. Aden, ca. 1135.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Avraham b. Sahlan, Fustat, ca 1030. Address on verso in Arabic and Hebrew. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Abū l-Surūr and Abū Saʿd to Yakhin b. Netanel. The letter consists almost entirely of congratulations (for a newborn son?) and good wishes and blessings, e.g., that the recipient enjoy the favor of the king and his servants. The writers also greet Abū Manṣūr and the Nagid Moshe (Maimonides?) Ḥemdat ha-Nesi'ut ve-ʿAṭeret ha-Sarim.

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe b. al-Qaṭa'if to his brother Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Yefet has sent with Efrayim a vessel containing 20 dirhams of lizard droppings and Ḥalfon is to try to sell them. There are lots of other instructions about small transactions and letters to be forwarded. Yefet mentions the person (Yūsuf al-Qallā'?) "who was your doctor in Fusṭāṭ." Yefet sends greetings to Sitt Naʿīm, who it seems is none other than Ḥalfon's wife (see Wagner, E. (2007). Ḥalfon’s wife, Mosseri Ia.29. [Genizah Research Unit, Fragment of the Month, July 2007]. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.40294). ASE.

Recto: Fragment (right side) of a legal document invoking the reshut of David b. Avraham b. Moshe Maimonides, so mid-13th-century. Without the join, the names are only partially present: [...] b. Berakhot ha-Sar (?); [...] ha-Zaqen ha-Yaqar ha-Rofe known as [...] ha-Levi ha-Rofe. A sum of 150 dirhams is mentioned. There are at least a few other documents in the hand of the same scribe, including T-S 16.355, dated 1261. Recto and verso: Piyyutim. ASE.

Recto: The title page with illuminated capitals of Sefer Eliyyah Mizraḥi ʿal ha-Torah, printed by Itzik ben Leib Buchbinder in Fürth, 1763. There is an ownership note by Shelomo Ḥazzan, Fusṭāṭ. Verso: In Shelomo Ḥazzan's hand, alongside other jottings and pen trials, a list of "the commentators on the Re'em (=Eliyyah Mizrahi) ZL that I have, BSD." Almost all the titles are identifiable (and available on hebrewbooks.org). (1) זרע יצחק by Yizhaq Lumbroso (d. 1752), ZL. (2) מזבח אדמה by Refael b. Shemuel Meyuhas (d. 1771). (3) שדה הארץ by Avraham b. Shemuel Meyuhas (brother of #2, d. 1767). (4) בני יאודה ללמוהר״ע, probably Yehuda ʿAyyāsh (d. 1760). (5) פרי האדמה by Refael b. Shemuel Meyuhas (same as #2); (6) לשון ערומים by Barzilay b. Barukh Jabez (d. 1760). (7) קול יעקב by Yaʿaqov Shaul (d. 1758); (8) זרע אברהם by Avraham Katorza (a student of Lumbroso); (9) זכות אבות (author not named); (10) תועפות ראם by Elyaqim b. Yizhaq Gatenio, published in Izmir in 1762; (11) something בלשונות (author not named); (12) בתי כנסיות probably by Avraham b. Hayyim Yedidyah Ibn Ezra (d. 1760); (13) אהלי יצחק by Yizhaq Bonan. Likely early 19th century. ASE.

Recto: personal prayer. Verso: probably accounts, in Arabic script, inverted in relation to recto. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda, Ramla, to Efrayim b. Shemarya (=Abū Kathīr Efrāyim b. Maḥfūẓ), Fustat. Dating: 1040 (after Kislev). It is about a father who is constantly "complaining" (קובל בכל עת) to Shelomo b. Yehuda about his daughter, an aguna, who is constantly "screaming" (צועקת בכל עת) to be released from her condition. See Zinger's dissertation, pp. 319, 322.

Piyyutim.

Letter from Hayye Gaon, in Baghdad, to Sahlan b. Avraham in Fustat. Dated Kislev 1349 Sel. (Dec 1037–Jan 1038). Regarding the disagreement among Iraqi community members in Fustat. A group of people is opposed to Sahlan and spreads written materials against him. Hayye Gaon promises Sahlan that he will support him and advises him to act with restraint. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #41)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, very deferent. The writer has been slandered by somebody and wishes the addressee to write to Abū Kathīr Efrayim b. Meshullam (dated documents 1142–59 per FGP) to the effect that the writer is a good man and that his slanderers do not fear God. (Information in part from CUDL.)

One of two drafts (the other is T-S G1.26) of a curious and obsequious letter from a man whose handwriting is known, apparently to a man named Yahya b. Khalid who has a son named Abu l-Mahasin. In this version: he describes how he saw the recipient in the kitchen on Sunday and an idea occurred to him that the recipient approved of (possibly to travel to somewhere other than Bilbays?). However, the writer decided it would be better for him to travel to Bilbays. He has not traveled yet, because it is unthinkable to travel when the doors of the house are still in their sorry state: the main door needs to be fixed, and the door of the upper floor/apartment needs to be replaced completely. He alludes to his illness. He then gives his excuse for not having come to attend the recipient (before he traveled?) as requested. He has had a fever since Friday. When he heard that his presence was requested, he was in the middle of Musaf, having just reached Ashrei, and he rushed to fulfill the command but found only the boy Abu l-Mahasin, to whom he explained the matter. He concludes with blessings. Other letters that may be in his handwriting (distinctive in part for including Arabic diacritics over Hebrew letters, e.g. two dots for "t" and three dots for "th"): T-S 12.346, T-S 8J15.20, T-S 12.652 (dated after 1165/6), and T-S AS 151.22. ASE.

Letter from Yisrael ha-Kohen Gaon b. Shemuel b. Ḥofni to one of Shelomo ha-Kohen b. Se’adya’s sons in Fustat. January 1021, in the handwriting of Israel ha-Kohen Gaon b. Shemuel. The writer asks for a donation to the Yeshiva, that Sahlan b. Avraham, the head of the Babylonian community in Fustat, will transfer. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #63) VMR

Legal document written in the court of Ḥananya Av Bet Din b. Yosef Gaʾon, 1318 of the Seleucid era (= 1007 CE), dealing with a legal matter between Efrayim b. Shemarya and Shelomo b. Fashshāṭ. The names Yishaq b. Ṭayyib, Ḥasan b. Wahīb and Abū l-Ḥasan b. Yoshiyyahu are mentioned. Signed by Levi ha-Levi b. Yaaqov, Shemuʾel ha-Kohen b. [...] and [...] b. Ṭoviyya. (Information from CUDL). See also Goitein notes and index card linked below.

Receipt written and signed by Natan ha-Kohen b. Shelomo, documenting that Abū Naṣr al-ʿAṭṭār received from the court 19 muthallath (triple-weave?) garments, as set forth in the conditions, on Thursday the 10th of Iyyar 1446 Seleucid (1135 CE) in Fusṭāṭ, in the presence of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Ṣāliḥ the brother (?) of Ṣedaqa the deceased. Witnesses: Natan ha-Kohen b. Shelomo ha-Kohen and Yehuda ha-Kohen b. Yosef ha-Kohen. ASE.

Small fragment from a legal document, mentioning Yefet.