Geniza Lab

Judaeo-Arabic literary work, quoting Deuteronomy 28:13.

Fragment of a letter in Ladino.

Beginning of a betrothal document for Shelomo Khamīṣ (?) b. Raḥamim and the orphan Sarah bt. Aharon. The scribe abandoned the document after 6 lines.

Receipt issued by Yaʿaqov Raẓon to al-Senyor Merkado Karo for 82 reales.

This is a fragment of a letter asking for assistance, possibly on behalf of a man and his dependents. The author mentions that the subjects of the letter are 'naked,' a commonly used description of poverty; for the significations of 'nakedness and hunger' in petitions on behalf of the poor in the Geniza see Mark Cohen, Poverty and Charity in the Jewish Community of Medieval Egypt, pp. 156- 158. The verso is blank.

Fragments of late legal documents in Hebrew. The document on Page 2 is dated April 1818 (Nisan 5578).

Fragment of a legal document, probably a get.

Accounts for the months of Tishrei and Heshvan. Income is listed from individuals as well as from two synagogues: that of R. Hayyim [Capousi] and the Turkish Synagogue. Verso: Writing exercise.

Beginning of a letter of appeal by an individual named Makin who addresses his plea to an elder. The verso contains a much faded letter in a different hand.

Recto: Excerpts from Ecclesiastes. Verso: A list of books that the writer was asked to prepare (or obtain?) for somebody. The Talmud, printed in Salonica "with Venice." The Rif and the Rambam. . . ʿAyn Yaʿaqov. . . Sefer ha-Tapuaḥ. . . Mashal ha-Qadmoni. . . Tiqqunei ha-Zohar with Shaʿarei Orah. . . Yalquṭ with the commentary of Gedalyah. And others.

Prayer in Hebrew.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic from a certain Yehudah [...] to Karo y Frances & Company, dated 1807 CE (17 Heshvan 5568).

Narrative literary text in Judaeo-Arabic. Or less likely a long letter written in the format of a literary text. Dating: Probably 17th–19th century. Conveying a dialogue between two men. Mentions things such as Christians, a family with a daughter and a son, going to the bath, marriage. Needs further examination. AA. ASE.

Writing exercises. Mainly in Hebrew, but with at least two lines in Italian, mentioning a sig[nore] Manor(?).

Accounts in Judeo-Arabic that list a wide array of individuals and quantities which may indicate payments given the recto's heading "עלם אל מדכול מן טיבית" or "Notice of the intake from Tevet". The verso is dated in the upper right corner of the bifolium as 5517 which is 1756/1757CE. The verso perhaps lists the ק׳׳ק of the Maghrebi Jewish community "מערבים" so this fragment may be a page from what once was a broader communal ledger. On the recto some of the names that appear include: Yaʿacov Naḥmias and Moshe Masʿūd. On the verso, many more names appear: Moshe Angel, Shelomo Moznino, Avraham Zin[?], Mordechai al-Sheikh, Menaḥem Kohen, Na'im Heykel, David Na'im, and Moshe Kohen. MCD.

Fragment of a letter in Ladino. The name of the addressee is preserved, something like: דוד וילייז לובושון.

Accounts related to commerce in silk on a bifolium that is undated yet can be estimated as late-18th to early-19th-century given the presence of Meʾīr ben Naʾīm's name and the general paleography of the document. The monetary sums are expressed in silver "פצה" coinage. Many partners in trade are listed such as: Avraham Yaʿabeṣ, Ḥajj Ḥasan Miʾmar[?], Yaʿacov Portos, and Moshe Hakīm. On the left page of the bifolium the financial instrument "polisa / פוליסה" common in moneylending is mentioned. Date: 18th c or 19th c. MCD.

One side: A prayer in Hebrew (each phrase begins תתברך) in the hand of Nāṣir al-Adīb al-ʿIbrī. The other side: Judaeo-Arabic poetry, also in Nāṣir's hand. This is followed by a recipe of some sort, possibly (but not necessarily) medical. It involves linseed oil, drying something in the sun for 4 days, the seeds of a green watermelon, something being washed, then placing something in the sun for 7 days.

Partnership/investment agreement (עסקא). Location: Fustat/Cairo. Dated: First third of Shevaṭ 5577 AM = January 1817 CE. Khalīfa ʿAfīf acknowledges that David ʿAfīf has invested 17,000 medins with him. Signed by Yaʿaqov ha-Kohen and Binyamin de Curiel. On verso there are accounts/sums in Judaeo-Arabic and eastern Arabic numerals. AA. ASE.