Geniza Lab

Legal document(s). Dating: ca. 1100 CE, based on the appearance of the judge Avraham b. Natan Av ha-Yeshiva. There are three different sections and numerous signatures. Needs further examination.

Legal testimony. In Hebrew. Location: Fustat. Dated: Torn off. Giving a detailed account about teachers of orphans and parnasim.

Letter addressed to a dignitary, perhaps to Avraham Maimonides ("Avraham ha-Nagid ha-Gadol" seems faintly visible, line 4, and his son is named David, line 9). In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Only one line remains of the content: "The slave is broken-hearted and saddened..."; likely this is a letter of appeal for charity.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Quite faded. Contains the intriguing phrase "living between Muslims and Christians (ʿarelim)." Needs further examination.

Letter from Yehosef ha-Kohen Av Bet Din b. Shelomo Gaon. In Hebrew. Dated: Shevat 1359 Seleucid, which is Jan/Feb 1048 CE. May be a fragment of a letter requesting assistance for Jerusalem. Written in the lifetime of his father Shelomo b. Yehuda. Gil says that the letters wreathing the signature are presumably the initials of a verse, but he did not locate the verse.

Letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Urgently asking the addressee to send something that the writer had purchased from him in al-Maḥalla in the shop of [...] al-ʿAṭṭār. Also mentions the shop of Abū l-Surūr.

Letter from Yiṣḥaq (Izak) b. Avraham, in Safed, to a certain Moshe, in Fustat/Cairo. In Hebrew. Dated: 13 Heshvan 5333, which is 1572 CE. The hand is Ashkenazi, which is consistent with the writer's name אייזק. The letter has to do with the book trade. It seems that the writer has sent some books to the addressee and wants him to try to sell them rapidly, because he is in need of the proceeds. Information from Avraham David's edition via FGP. This shelfmark also includes a tiny fragment of another letter.

Informal note. In the name of the wife of Surūr al-Qalyūbī. Involving Abū l-ʿAlā' and the sale of a caldron (qidra) and a frying pan (ṭājin).

Letter addressed to Avraham b. Natan Av ha-Yeshiva. In Judaeo-Arabic. The addressee's letter arrived concerning the litigation involving Maʿālī b. Natan. The next part of the letter is torn off. The text in the upper margin mentions a dead person and 3 dinars.

Address of a letter to a dignitary. Some parts of the name may be legible. There may also be additional text on verso, which was not photographed. אמונה אומן וברית מות(?!)

Legal fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Involves Elʿazar ha-Zaqen and Yosef ha-Kohen and 30 dirhams. Witness signature: Shemuel b. Yefet.

Marriage contract, fragment. Dating: Probably 19th century. The bride may be named Goya Tama(?). There is a colorful illustration of a bouquet of flowers.

Calendar. Late. Colorful floral illustrations, with the text in circular medallions. The surrounding fragments are either from the same calendar or very similar ones.

Deathbed will of Turfa bt. Shemarya ha-Zaqen. Draft. Needs examination.

Legal testimony. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Looks 11th century. Testifying about what happened between Is[ḥāq?] b. Yaʿqūb al-Fāsī and [...] b. Yūsuf b. Khalīl al-Fāsī.

Informal note. Mercantile. Dating: Probably 11th or 12th century. Asking the addressee to arrange for one of the writer's representatives or colleagues in Alexandria or Tripoli (Libya) to purchase something Shirazi either instead of or in exchange for flax.

List of names and households with numbers. In Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script

Bill of divorce, probably. Very small fragment. Location: Fustat. Husband: David ha-Levi b. Natan.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions the Rīf and Alexandria. Regards to many people.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Eloquent, sometimes rhyming. Appeals to ʿaṣabiyya, perhaps as a preface to asking for help.