Geniza Lab

Legal document. Location: Alexandria. Dated: 30 Nisan 5241 AM, which is 1481 CE. The leaders of the Alexandria community convene to deal with the inheritance of the late Yaʿaqov Sahlān. The will of the dead man was recorded by the Jerusalem scribe R. Yom Ṭov b. ʿImmanuel (cf. T-S NS 99.66 and T-S 16.260) and sent to Alexandria. This document lists 'the 7 notable men of the city.'

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment: vertical strip containing the right side of recto. Probably addressed to Moshe b. Yehuda. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century. Dealing with various business matters. Currency: ashrafī. There may be a reference to colic (qawlanj) and a cure, but the context is missing. Mentions "the inferior kohl in Cairo" (v8).

Letter addressed to Moshe b. Yehuda. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Monday, 5 Nisan 5245, which is 1485 CE. Dealing with business matters, such as the trade in raisins. Mentions "the anusim" at least twice. Quite faded and damaged; needs further examination.

Letter or letters in Judaeo-Arabic. In at least two hands. There is an address made out to R. Yisrael (whose surname may be legible). The portion on verso mentions Moshe b. Yehuda (whose archive is found in Bodl. MS Heb. c 72). Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century.

Letter from Hārūn to Moshe b. Yehuda. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century. The sender reminds Moshe that it is his custom to pay his capitation tax for him. This year, however, Moshe has been gone for 9 months and has not sent any money. He reports that a man named Shelomo Siqillī is en route to Alexandria with R. Yosef Castro—it seems this man also needs money. Mentions the arrival of 'the blue khirqa' (which is also mentioned in a previous letter in this binder). There is yet another man coming to Alexandria who also needs help with the capitation tax; this one is named Mūsā b. Marʿaqa(?). If Moshe b. Yehuda and Ṣedaqa Nes do not act on all these requests, Hārūn will be forced to involve the Nagid.

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Likely addressed to Moshe b. Yehuda. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century. Dealing with urgent and detailed business operations involving 'dhakhīra' (storage fees?); also boats entering the khalīj; camphor and a ginger preserve. Mentions numerous people, including the good-for-nothing Yaʿīsh and his partner Manṣūr; Sulaymān; the late Zayn al-Dīn and his son; the ṣayrafī; the khwāja; Ṣalāh al-Dīn; a certain youth (ṣabiyy) about whom the sender was going to complain to the king; Aḥmad b. al-Ṣafīr(?); and R. ʿAmram.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Likely addressed to Moshe b. Yehuda or to the community of Alexandria. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century. Concerning a communal issue that involves M. Yaʿqūb, 'the 7 distinguished men of the city,' insubordinacy, and the cantors. Possibly related to the same matter as in Bodl. MS Heb. c 72/21.

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Addressed to multiple people, perhaps the community of Alexandria as a collective. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century. Concerning a man who may have left his family in poverty; mentions 50 ashrafīs and a qāḍī. Also mentions Yosef חנך and Moshe Maʿānī.

Letter addressed to Moshe b. Yehuda. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century. Dealing with various business matters, mainly raisins. Mentions Ibrāhīm Shuwaykh and Ṣedaqa Nes. On verso there are jotted accounts, mentioning camphor, jasmine, raisins, chickpeas, and mulūkhiyya.

Letter from Ṣedaqa Nes, probably to Moshe b. Yehuda. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: last quarter of the 15th century. Needs examination for content.

Letter in the hand of David b. Yaʿaqov al-Shammās, probably addressed to Moshe b. Yehuda. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century. Dealing with family and business matters.

Letter or letter draft, preserving only the copious opening praises for the addressee. Probably from the archive of Moshe b. Yehuda. Dating: last quarter of the 15th century.

Mirror image (imprint) of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic concerning communal issues (the synagogue, insubordinacy). Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century.

Mirror image (imprint) of a letter in Hebrew.

Masora.

Masora.

Masora.

This is the famous epistle/sermon generally attributed to Daniel al-Qūmisī, in Jerusalem, to his "brethren" the Qaraites, urging them to come to Jerusalem (along with a great many other matters). One passage: "Since the beginning of the exile, the Rabbanites were princes [sarim] and judges, in the days of the kingdom of Greece, the kingdom of the Romans and the Persian Magians, and those who sought the Torah could not open their mouths with the commandments of the Lord out of fear of the rabbis . . . until the arrival of the kingdom of Ishmael, since they always help the Qaraites to observe the Torah of Moses, and we must bless them [for it]. Now you are amidst the kingdom of Ishmael, and they favor those who observe the month according to the new moon. Why, then, do you fear the rabbis? . . . For by means of the kingdom of Ishmael God broke the rod of the rabbis from upon you." (Translation from Rustow, Heresy, p. 117.) This text was originally edited by Jacob Mann, and later edited and translated by Leon Nemoy in "The Pseudo-Qūmisīan Sermon to the Karaites," Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research Vol. 43 (1976), pp. 49-105.

See Bodl. MS heb. d 36/13–16bis (PGPID 19355).

See Bodl. MS heb. d 36/13–16bis (PGPID 19355).