Geniza Lab

List of names (memorial list?)

Probably a legal formulary for drawing up a will.

Letter sent by a physician from Qalyub, who had opened an office in Fustat, inviting his wife (who is his paternal cousin) to join him there and mentioning that the response of the public had been excellent, although he suffers from professional competition. Her daughter, who lives in the capital, is pregnant and wishes her mother to assist her at the time of birth. Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 256; III, p. 30. The writer also conveys his sadness upon hearing that the addressee had an eye illness; he wishes he could be there to treat in in person, but suffices with sending a prescription together with this letter. ASE.

List of indigent families from New Cairo. Eleven items. (Information from Goitein's index card)

Most of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic, probably from the Levant, to a dignitary in Fusṭāṭ. It begins by extolling the favor (iḥsān) that the Amīr ʿAlā al-Dīn b. ʿAlam Dār (or Alemdar = "the standard-bearer") bestowed upon the writer. "It was he who was our friend in Damascus." The amir was very sad to say farewell to the writer. The writer then asks the addressee to convey his regards and obedience to David [Maimonides?] the Great Nagid. He also sends regards to ʿOvadyah and al-Shaykh Munajjā "and the rest of the masters," including al-mawlā al-Asʿad Abū Saʿd al-Ṣayrafī and his father, and al-Mawlā al-Makīn Abū l-[...] and his brother . . . and others.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic.

Bifolium from an account ledger. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Perhaps 11th century. Sums in dinars. Mentions Ibn Ṭībān; Abū Manṣūr Lillāh; a wathīqa; Abū l-Munā; Abū Manṣūr al-Zayyāt; Abū Yaʿqūb al-Ḥakīm; a midwife (? al-qābila); a couple ruqʿas; Ḥāmid in Caesarea.

A colorful drawing of what looks like a man setting off a cannon.

Trousseau list. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe? Fiancé: Seʿadya b. [Avraham]. Fiancée: Jawhara bt. Seʿ[adya known as Abū l-Yumn Ibn al-Baṣal]. This is the same couple whose divorce proceedings are detailed in CUL Or.1080 J141. Jawhara’s marriage register totals an impressive sum of more than 500 dinars, and her delayed payment was seventy dinars. (Information from Goitein’s index card.)

List of names. Maybe witnesses to a legal document, but maybe not. Natan b. Shelomo; Natan b. Yosef; Natan b. Elʿazar; Natan b. Qay[...]; Shemaʿya(?) b. YOsef; Shabbat b. [...]. Ṣadaqa b. [...].

Letter draft. In Hebrew. Full of fulsome praises for a very important person who is also a Kohen. Refers specifically to Benei Ṣadoq, so perhaps also a Qaraite? There is also some Arabic script at the top of recto.

Legal testimony. In Judaeo-Arabic. Gives a very detailed report of a conflict that took place in the synagogue on the 9th of Av. Metions people such as al-Kohen al-Nā'ib; Yehoṣadaq ha-Kohen; an elder who is blind (sagi nahor); Ibn Yaḥyā; Wāli l-Ḥarb; R. Ṣadaqa; and a Nasi. Needs examination.

Letter from Shemarya b. David to a prominent Egyptian Jew. Aden, late twelfth century.

Document in striking red ink. Appears to have the form of a letter (opens with "that which you desire to know:") but consists of a long list of materia medica and numbers. Perhaps an inventory of a drug store?

Petition in Judaeo-Arabic to help Thābit al-Hazzan b. al-Munajjim, who was ill and had been imprisoned for two months for not paying his capitation tax. (Information from Goitein's note card)

Recto: Lists in Arabic script. Verso: A table of mysterious symbols. Coptic numerals?

Recto: Faded note in Judaeo-Arabic referring to [...] b. Yosef and Sitt al-Dalāl bt. Yiṣḥaq. Verso: Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic and Greek/Coptic numerals. In the hand of Yosef b. Yaʿaqov Rosh ha-Seder? Refers to Sadīd al-Dawla Elʿazar ha-Levi Hod ha-Leviyyim. The commodities that are somehow related to him include Sumac, black raisins, and walnut. (NB: Goitein's index cards must be referring to a different shelfmark: "List of contributions. A long list, but mostly effaced. The epithet “our master” (sayyidnā) could refer to either Avraham or David Maimonides. See Med Soc II, App. C, #89.")

Fragment of a letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to an unidentified personality, 1042.

Most of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer assures his mother that he is doing well and tells her not to weep for him. He then gives orders for what should be sent to him with his maternal uncle: sums of money and goods to be collected from various individuals who are named. Only the beginnings of the lines remain on the bottom half; he refers to someone who is sick (fa-innahu wajīʿ). He sends his regards to his maternal aunts and to the wife of his paternal uncle and the whole family. He adds a postscript: "I have sent you several letters. Please ensure they reach aṣḥābunā, and read the "communal letter" (kitāb al-jamāʿah) to them on Shabbat."

Verso: Record of the activities of the qodesh in the late 10th and early 11th century up until 1034 CE, written ca.1040 CE. Join was identified by Moshe Yagur, who writes, "CUL Or.1081 J66 is a fragment of the upper part of a manuscript, whose lower part is ENA 2738.1. They are both a draft of T-S Ar.18(1).35 + T-S 20.96. T-S Ar.18(1).35 + T-S 20.96 and ENA 2738.1 were published by Gil, Pious Foundations, no. 3. The right side of the first lines in T-S 20.96 is missing, and can now be partially reconstructed from CUL Or.1081J66, which matches lines 3-11 of T-S 20.96." Gil writes that Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya was the scribe for both ENA 2738.1 and T-S Ar.18(1).35 + T-S 20.96, but it seems that the document of the qodesh in CUL Or.1081 J66 + ENA 2738.1 is actually in the hand of Efrayim b. Shemarya. The transcription for ENA 2738.1 is currently listed under PGPID 1251, section [c].