Geniza Lab

Probably from a letter in late Hebrew. AA

A very damaged bill of divorce. On verso very faded document, hardly legible. AA

Book list in Hebrew. Dating: Probably 16th century, as the latest author mentioned is Shelomo Almoli (Istanbul, 1460–1530). (Information from AA and Allony et al.)

Late. A fragmentary document dealing with excommunication and oath. Hebrew. AA

Note in Arabic script. Consisting of three lines. Probably legal, since it opens with a name (Hiba b. Yehuda al-[...] and a number (728?). Needs further examination.

Left part from a Hebrew letter dealing with people who desecrated Shabbat. Hebrew. AA

Hebrew poetry.

Begging letter in Hebrew addressed to the 'community of foreigners (loʿazim) from a widow with five children. Already a recipient of communal charity, the writer requests that the \'almoner\' (gabbae= gabbaʾei sedaqa) be given instructions to increase her allotment (tamid) owing to her children's needs. She complains that the children are hungry and cold, and requests that the addressees also give consideration to their clothing. Verso is blank. No date. (Information from Arnold Franklin and S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, II, 102, 105, 543 note 27.)

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions Abū l-Khayr; Faraj; ʿIwāḍ; some quarter-dinars (? rubāʿiyya); and perhaps a Taherti (last legible word of right margin). If the last is correct, the dating is 11th century.

Enigmatic fragment. Possibly some sort of curse or prognostication. It is written in Judaeo-Arabic. The remaining content entirely consists of sentences addressed to a woman. "You will die on your bed, and an illness of the heart will overcome you, and also the bite of a dog and the kick of a riding beast. . . ."

Letter fragment addressed to some dignitary (rabbenu ha-rav). In Judaeo-Arabic. Only the flattering introduction is preserved.

Torah.

Legal fragment preserving the signature of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu and little else.

Verso: Note regarding Abū l-Ḥasan al-Ṣabiyy and 5 dirhams, perhaps a note of a debt or a promissory note. In Judaeo-Arabic. On recto there is a Hebrew literary text.

This very fragmentary legal document mentions a community leader with the Hebrew honorific 'Sar ha-Sarim' ('Prince of Princes'); on the application of this title, first in the 11th century, and most prominently to the Egyptian Jewish leader Mevorakh b. Saadya, and its later more common use, see Cohen, Jewish Self-Government, esp. pp. 220-221 and note 32): someone with the title 'Behir ha-Yeshiva,' possibly the merchant Yehuda ben Moshe ibn Sighmar (see Cohen, ibid., pp. 116-117): and finally, a certain Rabbi Efrayim. The settlement involves a payment to the poor. The verso is blank.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic.

Amulet for a certain Mordekhai.

List of goods and values in Judaeo-Arabic. Dowry list? Accounts?

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Difficult to discern anything of substance. Mentions Abū l-Ḥasan; Mūsā b. [...]; children; someone who did or should clothe the writer; someone who concerns themselves with ashghāl al-yahūd. Possibly a letter of appeal for charity. Verso: There is also unidentified Arabic script.

Legal fragment. Dated: 4[..]3 AM, which just means prior to 1233 CE, but probably substantially earlier. Written in Hebrew, in a calligraphic script. Involves Mori Moshe ha-Levi b. Mori [...] b. Mori Faraj. The elder David b. Yiṣḥaq is named, possibly the well-known Qaraite courtier of the mid-11th-century. Needs examination.