Geniza Lab

Recto: Brief note in Judaeo-Arabic, reassuring the recipient that everyone is well and that conditions in the region are the same as they have been. After the holiday, certain people will decide whether or not they will visit the recipient. Verso: Shabbat zemirot?

Recto: Beginning of a letter in Arabic from Abū l-Barakāt to a person with a long string of titles ending with al-Ḥakīm Abū l-Maḥāsin. Verso: A short account in Judaeo-Arabic. "That which I owe to Abū l-Barakāt al-Q[...] b. Sulaymāt al-Kohen: 33 dirhams. He collected on the Friday of Ki Tetze 7 dirhams, so the remaining amount is 26 dirhams."

Some sort of receipt or legal documentation in Arabic. Late. Mentions a building and various sums of money and bears a seal.

Tiny fragment of an account in Judaeo-Arabic. Names an Abū l-Qāsim al-Jawharī.

Some sort of index arranged by Hebrew roots, alongside other very damaged text.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic from a certain Reuven [Najjar y Feliz?] to Moshe Najjar y Feliz, probably his brother, dated 4 Settembre '56. It deals primarily with the trade in textiles and clothing. In addition to the recipient, two other business partners are awaiting news and a shipment from the writer: Se. Simḥa (אלס׳ סמחה) and Se. Iro (? אלס׳ אירו). The writer has sent a shipment bearing the the name "Fratelli Najjar" in Italian ("fī-l-talyāno") and bearing the initials FN (which he writes out in Latin script). Another interesting linguistic feature: the recipient seems to be addressed in the second line as "O Mosas" (יא מוזאז). In the second line of the margin, the writer alludes to information that R. Moshe Castro had conveyed to the recipient, suggesting a date of mid-16th-century—so perhaps 4 September, 1556 CE. ASE.

Almost certainly the address of the letter in the previous shelfmark: to Fusṭāṭ, to Fratelli Najjar. Again mentions Moshe Castro in a postscript.

Judaeo-Arabic letter, very faded.

Fragment of an account in Judaeo-Arabic

Fragment of a deferent Judaeo-Arabic letter mentioning something that arrived form Damascus; something the writer sent with Yaʿqūb; Rabbenu Ḥananel; "the matter of the dyer"; and a matter that the mawlā is asked to take care of.

Substantial, late acccount in Judaeo-Arabic, at least one part of which is headed "list of debts." People named include: Avraham Yerushalmi; Yehuda Leon; Yeshūʿa al-Ḥāmī; Moshe Sūsī ("the stranger"); Avraham Abulafia; Meir and Yehuda Garizon (? גאריזון). On the other side: a Castro, Yehuda Leon again; Meir Garizon again; Avraham Yerushalmi again.

Fragment of a Judaeo-Arabic letter including the phrases: "I have not done [...] for three months. . . Rabbenu [...]a ha-Dayyan arrived. . . al-Shaykh al-Shammās was present with us. . . . the Sefer Torah."

Possibly a fragment of a memorial list.

Fragment of a legal document in Judaeo-Arabic involving Mūsā b. Yeshuʿa. Very damaged.

End of a petition from someone identifying himself as a certified hazzan to two people in Cairo requesting their assistance. The writer refers to someone, perhaps al-Ḥasan Abu Sahl (?), taking an oath in the Palestinian synagogue. Undated. Verso is blank.

Small fragment of an account in Judaeo-Arabic. People named include ʿAlī al-Kohen al-Gharīb and Abū l-[F]araj; ʿAlī b. Ṭāhir.

The end of a ketubba. There is some sort of reshut clause at the end of the document, invoking Rosh Galutenu ... Nagidenu. . . and his son Ḥalfon. The remaining witness names are [... b.] Khalaf, [... b.] Yaʿaqov Kohen, and Neḥemya b. Yaḥyā.

First fragment: likely piyyut or prayer. Second fragment: tiny piece of a printed literary text, likely the bible.

Hebrew literary work, including the penultimate verse of Ecclesiastes (sof davar...).

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