Geniza Lab

Birth records. In Italian and Hebrew. Location: Venice. First document: Dated: Sunday, 1 Sivan, 5536 AM, which is to 19 May 1776 CE. "There was born to my daughter Sara/Sareta a daughter, and she was given the name Stella." There is a crossed-out line beginning "esborsato à. . ." on verso. Second document: Dated: Friday night, 20 Elul 5538 AM, which is 12 September 1778 CE. There was born to YIsra'el/Israel [...] a daughter, and she was given the name Rachel. The Italian portion gives the year 1779 CE, but this seems to be erroneous, as this would not match the Hebrew date or the day of the week. The second document was reused two weeks later for a lotto ticket on verso. "1778. In Venezia 26 Settembre. Pagherò coll'augumento Ducati come sotto per ogni Terno estratti di seguenti. Terno: Duecento. 520 Cattarina Scatola. 579 Maria Belotto. 588 Laura Meneguzzi." There is then a stamp of a lion roaring out a word starting with "OS. . ."

One line in Hebrew, one line in Italian. Significance unclear.

Birth records. In Italian. Dated: 1721 CE through 1743 CE.

Birth records. In Italian. Dated: 1711 CE through 1721 CE.

Birth records. In Italian and Hebrew. Dated: 1747 CE through 1756 CE. For the boys, the names of the sandak and mohel are given.

Letter from an unknown writer in Jerusalem addressed to R. Maʿūẓa and his sons Sālim and Yaḥyā. Written in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 19th century, as it is written on grid paper. The hand and all the names are typical of Yemen. The writer provides a report of how he and his wife have fared since arriving in Jerusalem. ASE.

Fragment, four very faded lines. Needs examination.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Very rudimentary script. Organized according to the Islamic calendar. The names are unusual.

Accounts, probably. In Arabic script and Hebrew script. Dating: The Hebrew script appears late. VMR. ASE.

Ledger of accounts. In Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew. Very similar to ENA NS 33.12, perhaps even a join (but there are some differences in the handwriting). Currencies: gold cedid (f.1r), קרונה, several more. There are also some narrative notes ('memorandum against forgetting. . .'). Merits further examination.

Siddur R. Nathan from Sijilmassa

Ledger of accounts and letter drafts/copies. Perhaps some writing exercises, too. In Judaeo-Arabic with at least one Spanish word thrown in (אלסלאם עלה גמיע אלפאמילייה). One of the letters copied out at least twice refers to several months in the latter part of the year '32 and Rosh Hashana of '33. Presumably the century is either 55 (5532 AM = 1772 CE) or 56 (5632 AM = 1872 CE). Needs further examination.

Recto: Letter fragment, address only. From "your brother-in-law" to Yūsuf Ibn Ṭayyib (or Abū Ṭayyib) al-M[...] who lives in Raḥba(?). . . Bāb al-Yahūd(?). Verso: Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Tuesday, 9 Kislev 1527 Seleucid, which is 1215/16 CE.

Recto: Fragment of an official document in Arabic script. The preserved text contains a string of official titles: "Jamāl al-Dīn... ʿUmdat al-Dawla, Fakhr al-Umarāʾ, Majd al-Islām, ʿAḍud al-Dawla, Bahāʾ al-Milla."

Verso: Account of a merchant in Judaeo-Arabic. The hand is reminiscent of that of Abū Zikrī Kohen. Mentions commodities such as saffron, lapis lazuli, pearl, aromatic wood, sandalwood, and agaric.

Magical/medical recipes. In Judaeo-Arabic. Possibly in a Yemeni hand (the text on verso is in a different, clearly Yemeni hand). There are recipes for incense and ointments for banishing jinns from the insane. There is a recipe for preventing pregnancy.

Recto: Fragment in Arabic script, in a chancery hand. The ends of four lines are preserved. Mentions a sum of 20 dinars (min al-ʿayn al-wāzin ʿashrīn dīnār) and repeats twice that someone testified something (shahida ʿalā nafsih). Verso: Legal testimony in Judaeo-Arabic. Possibly in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Reporting on the fulfillment of the orders of the Gaon. The witnesses went to the house of Abū l-Maʿālī Avraham b. Ḥalfon known as Ibn Abū Salāma (probably the same mentioned in T-S 8J5.4, dated 1127 CE) and questioned him regarding the drug store of the late Abū Sahl Menashshe ha-Levi b. Elʿazar who died in Cairo. Abū l-Maʿālī relates that Abū Sahl had asked him from his deathbed to go fetch some money from the shop, so he went and retrieved approximately 40 dirhams. By the time he returned, Abū Sahl was dead. When Abū l-Maʿālī returned to the shop, there was already a group gathered round, and Ṣemaḥ al-Parnas summoned a carpenter to close the shop and put a metal lock on the door. Evidently they are now sorting out who will take over the business. ASE

Formulary for a power of attorney (wakāla).

Document in Arabic script. Looks legal or official. Needs examination. In the margins and on verso there are jottings in Hebrew script.