Geniza Lab

Small fragment of a Judaeo-Arabic letter.

Late account in Judaeo-Arabic, listing many materia medica and chemicals: tamarind (tamr hindī), arsenic (zarnīkh), chicory seeds (bizr hindibāʾ), barberries, cloves, chebulic myrobalan, mercury (zaybaq), mouse poison (samm faʾr), kohl, etc.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic dated 5 July 1836 (20 Tammuz 5596), from Rashid, addressed to Moshe Bunān, Fusṭāṭ. The address is in Arabic (al-Muʿallim Mūsā Bunān. . .). Verso also contains numerous lines and dots.

Late certificate in Hebrew, probably issued in Fusṭāṭ, attesting that R. Yiṣḥaq known as Hoja (?) Shtiwi, who has since moved to Alexandria, has been examined and is an expert in kosher slaughter and the checking of the lung.

Late account in Judaeo-Arabic.

Psalter in Old Church Slavonic. Floral capitals. Dating: Perhaps 15th century. This section includes Psalm 11:3–7.1 in the Tarnovo recension of Old Church Slavonic. The manuscript is most likely of Wallachian or Moldavian origin, more likely the latter given the internal disputes within the Wallachian Kingdom and the concomitant golden age of Stephen the Great in Moldavia. It is possible that this manuscript made its way to Cairo via travelling monks who were headed towards St. Catherine's Monastery. The script is Uncial (Ustav) given the geometrical letter-forms, the religious nature of the content and the paucity of abbreviations, but there are elements of semi-uncial (polu-ustav) script. Information kindly provided by Elisaveta Musakova of the Bulgarian National Library, Peter Toth and Ilia Curto Pelle.

Recto: A few lines of an Arabic document, probably a letter. Verso: The introduction to a Judaeo-Arabic treatise, either identical with or merely citing Yaḥyā b. Dāwud's Kitāb al-Ibāna ʿan Ḥurūf [...] al-ʿIbrānīya. This was underlined in red, presumably in modern times.

Fragment of a betrothal (erusin) document, scribed and signed by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. The groom is the son of Binyamin ha-Levi.

"The three fragments known as JRL SERIES A 1053, JRL SERIES B 2699, and JRL SERIES B 2977 are from three copies of another invitation, printed in French, to the wedding of Mr. Moise Mosseri (c. 1855-1933) and Miss Henriette Nahmias (1868-1943). The Mosseris were a famous Cairene banking family,[2] which may give a sense of who could afford to have invitations professionally printed in the late nineteenth century. French documents are also rare in the Genizah,[3] but someone – a young Mosseri being the likely culprit – has re-used the back of these invitations to practice the Hebrew alphabet." Nick Posegay, FOTM June 2020.

Late Judaeo-Arabic dowry list, probably, since it is headed "be-siman tov ve-ʿosher ve-banim be-mazal ẓomeaḥ ve-ʿoleh." There follows a list of numerous items, mostly garments, along with their numbers.

Astrological composition in Judaeo-Arabic, in both black ink and red ink.

Fragment of a story in Judaeo-Arabic. Very late; on grid paper.

Very faded fragment in Hebrew, probably literary.

Fragment of a betrothal agreement between Bayan and Sitt al-Nasab. Among the provisions included is the groom's assurance that he will not prevent the bride from traveling from Fustat nor will he force her to travel against her will. (A similar set of arrangements, also pertaining to a woman named Sitt al-Nasab, is reflected in T-S 16.35.). Verso is blank. No date.

Hebrew literary work, late.

Very interesting late letter in (middling) Hebrew from a certain ʿOvadya (or [... b.] ʿOvadya) currently in Hamadan (!) and planning to travel to Yazd. Only the bottom part (perhaps 2/3) of the letter is preserved. The writer is explaining why he did not go to Sina (?), stating that the congregation refused to let him go and told him he would lose his wages. Furthermore, there was no business there, and he had understood that the power of attorney (sheṭar harsha'a) the addressee had written was in effect in any place where revenue for congregations in Palestine could be raised, but there was no business there. "By the help of God and the merit of Rashbi (!) and by the goodness of the land of Israel, when I return, God willing, I will go there. With your permission, I will go to my city and gather [my belongings?] and leave quickly. Send me letters by way of M. Menashshe b. A(gha?) Yaʿaqov, and he will send them to me, and tell me where you are (?) so that I can send you letters there. If you go to Baṣra, send a letter with M. Shukri to Shiraz, and he will send it to me in Yazd. By my life, do not withhold the 'small powers of attorney' (?): enclose them with the letter and send them. Furthermore, for you to understand the account: I have acquired 600 Qurans (!?). I bought 20, which are for me (?). The remaining 580 Qurans will be taken by מ׳ א׳ Elazar until (or when?) ʿAbbās arrives. Forgive me, for time is pressing . . . if I have erred in the writing, [it is because] I wrote in a hurry. I cannot elaborate. Peace." Above the name ʿOvadya appears the word "qadisha." ASE.

Late account in Hebrew.

Probably literary: two lines in Hebrew/Aramaic mentioning four reshuyot and two reshuyot.

First fragment: Prayer or poetry, Hebrew. Second fragment: Small piece of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic.

Late records in Hebrew, perhaps of a court: one entry is a copy of a legal testimony. But the rest seems to be more like accounts, so perhaps it is a private copy of a legal testimony. Needs further examination.