Geniza Lab

Letter of recommendation. Late. In Hebrew, with some Aramaic and Judaeo-Arabic. The bearer Saʿīd b. Manṣūr the Yemeni is from a good family and has had to abandon his wife and children, traveling in search of charity and a living.

Partnership agreement (?) for one month dated Av 1815 CE (5575), Mitzrayim. Between Khalifah (?) b. Hayyim and Habibah (?) bt. Hayyim Yosef.

Legal document. In Hebrew. Dated: 15 Sivan 5590 AM, which is 1820 CE. Mordechai Bialobos (בייאלובוס) attests that he has received a deposit of 700 esedi gurush ("arayot") from the widow of Shemuel Mella, which it seems he will use for investments and business, and a portion of the proceeds will go toward supporting the orphans of the deceased, Eliyyahu and Saʿd. Needs further examination. ASE. MCD.

Approximately 7 lines in Judaeo-Arabic and a couple lines of writing exercises on a large, otherwise blank leaf. Perhaps a filing note or a summary of another document that was originally on a wrapper. Mentions al-khwājā Rafael. The handwriting looks ~17th century.

Recto: possibly a responsum explaining why a certain person can never be released from a certain vow. Verso: remnants of a list of names in Judaeo-Arabic.

Letter of appeal. Above, 13 lines of Hebrew blessings in large letters (perhaps a template purchased already filled out). Below, 6 lines of Judaeo-Arabic begging for help from the recipient in smaller letters.

Letter from an unidentified Nagid to R. Aהraham regarding an insubordinate cantor. Given this shelfmark's prior identification as late and Dotan Arad's attribution of the letter to a Nagid, it likely dates to the 14th-early 16th centuries (no later than 1517CE). Date: 14th c, 15th c, 16th c. MCD.

Late Hebrew letter from Jerusalem, from a pious man who recently settled there and does not like what he sees. He opens with describing how much he was upset by not having the recipient with him—possibly on the journey, possibly when he gave a sermon and the people didn't like it. He heard that the recipient was in trouble with a debtor who falsified the sum that was owed, but thankfully the king came to the aid of the recipient. He then describes how joyful it was to finally arrive in the Holy Land. Except that due to our sins, there are a lot of evils to report. There is no justice and the laws of Israel are scorned. Furthermore, people have wicked tongues, "they bend their tongue, their bow of falsehood" (Jeremiah 9:2). Furthermore, Jews charge each other interest, which will be the reason for the destruction of the wealth of all of Israel. Furthermore, in line 19, he may refer to the people's use of impious amulets and healing charms. ASE.

Recto and verso: Letter(s) in Arabic script with wide space between the lines. (It is not immediately clear if recto and verso are from the same letter or not.) The text on recto has some unusual features. There is a line in larger script above (a motto? a name?). There is then a word with a horizontal bar spanning an entire line (wa-kutiba?), and the next line is tricky to make out. Then the letter begins (waṣala kitābuka yā shaykhī...). In the left margin at 90 degrees there are the remnants of accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals.

Verso: Letter from an official (motto: yeshaʿ yuḥash). In Hebrew. Written between the lines of the Arabic document. Evidently a response to a letter soliciting funds for a crisis: "Your (pl.) letter was received... it wounded the hearts... and the matter was copied(?) to the elders and dignitaries... they were very distressed and did what was in their power... especially Abū l-Ḥasan Yefet b. Ḥayyim... but they (the elders) could not do more than what they did..." (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)

Letter by Sherira Gaon and Hayye Gaon in the hand of a professional scribe. Originally written in ca. 1005. Sent to Fustat to an aluf, probably Avraham b. Sahlān. Mentions Shemarya b. Elḥanan and his son Elḥanan. Mentions “the son of the deceased ruler,” probably al-Ḥākim. Refers to distress and persecutions that the writers suffered, and hints at a controversy in Fustat. Expresses thanks for a delivery of parcels (probably containing halakhic queries and money) that had reached the yeshiva with the assistance of Yaʿaqov b. ʿAwkal. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 96.)

A rendering of Song of Songs into Judaeo-Arabic poetry. The next document in this folder is a similar rendering of Lamentations.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The sender asks the recipient to represent him in kissing the ground before the Nagid (Sayyidnā Rayyis al-Zaman wa-Qudwat al-Inas). He asks for news of R. Eliyyahu and his son and what passed between the 'brother' and the Nagid with regard to the matter of the Rav and with regard to the previous letters. He also asks for news of the Nasi. The letter concludes with "your slave Abū Zikrī and his children apologize for not having departed to serve the master." ASE.

Letter from Efrayim b. Ismaʿīl al-Jawharī (Alexandria) to Yosef b. Yaʿaqov b. ʿAwkal (Fustat). Provides information about goods, mainly fabrics, that came from the Maghreb to Alexandria and about their transfer to Fustat. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 543.)

BL OR 5563D.17 and BL OR 5563D.18 consist of three pages from a treatise on shehitah, probably in the hand of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi. In the same, albeit sloppier, hand there are accounts in the margins of all three pages. The fourth page (verso of BL OR 5563D.18) is purely accounts, including expenses for food in Fustat and Qalyub, and at the bottom of the page, the costs for renting camels and donkeys. ASE.

Two leaves from Leviticus 5 copied in Arabic script (but Hebrew vocalization).

One folio from a compendium of Judaeo-Arabic legal queries (but no responsa), including numbers 96-103. The first several queries have to do with laws of divorce. Query 102 asks, We know that someone who calls someone else a Mamzer gets lashes, but what if he calls him in Arabic a Zanīmī or a Farkh Zinā (both meaning "child of an adultress")? ASE.

Recto: Legal fragment involving Halil (?) al-Shayzari ha-Bursi and Yishaq and various sums of money. Verso: possibly a Judaeo-Arabic draft of a sermon (?); words are written between the lines and squeezed into the margins.

Magical instructions and diagrams in Judaeo-Arabic.

Leaf from a late Judaeo-Arabic rendition in rhymed prose of the tale of the Woman with Seven Sons, here named Ḥanna, from 2 Maccabees.