Geniza Lab

Part of a letter mentioning the Rosh ha-Seder. Probably a letter of appeal for charity or a recommendation for a poor man. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from a certain Raḥamim אלכואתיקין(?). In Hebrew. Dating: Possibly 16th century. The sender mentions that he previously pledged some money or property with the addressee. He now asks for a charitable loan of 2 peraḥim (a week?). (Information in part from CUDL)

Informal note from an unknown sender to ʿĀmir b. Isḥāq (per recto) and/or to Abū Kathīr Efrayim (per verso). In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender wants the addressee to take care of the "ḥashīsh" and mentions two unusual medical commodities (כמאפיטוס = ground pine, and מאמיתא = horned poppy), which he would like to be sold. Mentions 'my master the ḥaver.' (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter in the hand of Yefet b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (a piece from the right side of recto). Confirms the receipt of various good: al-shuqqa al-maqṣūr for a woman, which arrived with ʿImrān [...] al-Tilimsānī; something for Abū l-Munā, perhaps the biqyār and the dinar mentioned in the next line; something which was lost, but there is nothing that can be done about that. (Information in part from CUDL)

Part of the beginning of a letter in the hand of Abū Saʿīd Ḥalfon b. Menashshe al-Qaṭāʾif. (Information from CUDL)

Verso: Complete letter from ʿEzra to Seʿadya. In Judaeo-Arabic. Written on a thin strip of paper, with sharply upslanting lines. Dating: Perhaps 13th or 14th century. The sender apologizes for the delay and is anxious to convey his eagerness to serve, lest 'Sayyidnā' be upset with him like last time. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Recto: Fiscal accounting. In Arabic script. Mentions the treasury (bayt al-māl al-maʿmūr). Dating: Probably late Ayyubid or Mamluk. Needs examination.

Letter fragment (?). List of titles for Shemuel ha-Dayyan in calligraphic Hebrew.

Letter of appeal for charity addressed to Rabbenu Ḥananel. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. The writer has been paralyzed (marīḍ bi-l-fālij) for two and a half years. On verso is another note in Judaeo-Arabic mentioning ha-Zaqen ha-Yaqar, but too faded to read much else.

Letter fragment addressed to [Abū] Zikrī (?) b. Ḥananel. The location of the addressee is named in the Arabic script portion of the address, but is tricky to read. Needs examination.

Order of payment signed by Abū Zikrī Kohen. (Information from CUDL)

Order of payment signed by Abū Zikrī Kohen. (Information from CUDL)

Small fragment of an unidentified letter. (Information from CUDL)

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions a serious illness (marḍa shadīda).

Letter on the forced conversion of Yemenite Jews, but business as usual. Aden, August 1199.

Letter of Madmun b. David, Aden, to Yiṣḥaq b. Sassun, Cairo, about the coercion of Aden jews to convert to Islam. Aden 1198.

Document concerning the manumission of slaves. (Information from CUDL)

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions saffron.

Recto: Informal note in Arabic script. Needs examination. Verso: Informal note from Shelomo (probably Shelomo b. Eliyyahu) ordering several medicinal syrups from Abū Isḥāq to be given to the bearer: sharāb aṣīl, sharāb laymūn, sharāb ward (one ounce each) and also one ounce of water of borage (lisān thawr, 'oxtongue').

Informal note in Judaeo-Arabic. "The slave did what the master ordered, and my delay pains me."