Geniza Lab

Judaeo-Arabic poetry, late.

Four pages from a literary treatise containing instructions for treasure hunting and recipes, perhaps alchemical. There are numerous fragments probably in the hand of the same scribe or even from the same work; see FGP Joins Suggestions.

Judaeo-Arabic poetry.

Arabic poetry.

Recto: A recipe in Arabic script (bāb yanfaʿ li. . . . yusḥaq. . . yukhlaṭ. . .), written in two different hands or at least with two different calami. Verso: Magical diagrams including an illustration of a bird, with captions in Arabic script.

Recto: A recipe in Arabic script. Verso: Three more lines in Arabic script, significance unclear. Underneath, in large letters, is written "bismillāh aṭāl allāh."

First three pages: Medical recipes in Arabic script. Fourth page (verso of BL OR 5565G.39): Document in Arabic script in a different hand. Needs examination.

An Arabic poem transcribed into Judaeo-Arabic and prefaced as al-Baghīḍī's deathbed advice/testament for his son. See these articles for more information about the poet (also known as al-Waʿīẓī): http://www.alriyadh.com/601502 and http://www.alriyadh.com/318049.

Arabic poetry, probably.

Bifolium from the beginning of Ibn Buṭlān's Daʿwat al-Aṭṭibā'.

Segment of a ketubba (marriage contract), in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi.

Will, probably. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. In which Sayyid al-Kull disposes of his possessions (including a drug store, dukkān ʿiṭr, ḥawāʾij, ʿudda, māʿūn), giving some to his two sisters, one of whom is named ʿAduwwa. And possibly also his brother and his wife. (Information from Goitein's index card.) Might be the same Sayyid al-Kull as in Bodl. MS heb. d 66/112 + T-S 6J1.18.

Mercantile letter from the Ibn ʿAwkal dossier. Dating: early 11th century. Includes great complaints about bad treatment by addressee. (Information from Goitein's index card.) Ed. Gil, תרבות וחברה בתולדות ישראל בימי-הביניים: קובץ מאמרים לזכרו של חיים הלל בן-ששון - עורכים: בונפיל, ראובן;בן-ששון, מנחם;הקר, יוסף.

Family letter. In Arabic script. Maybe from a man in serious trouble with his wife, writing to his son who appeased or reached a settlement with her (ṣālaḥta sittak). The sender calls her a ḥānitha (oathbreaker) and a saḥḥāqa (literally "tribadist" but usually meaning "lesbian" - see Pernilla Myrne, Female Sexuality in the Early Medieval Islamic World, p. 146). The sender concludes by threatening to kill himself or do something violent to her unless they “set him free,” and if he acts rashly it will be the addressee’s fault:قد صالحت ستك بالله عليك اطلق سراحي ولك في ذلك الاجر من الله الا [[قلتل]] قتلت روحي او اعمل بها مصيبة وتكون المطالب باثمي. Merits further examination. ASE.

Medical prescription. In Arabic script. Looks like a different hand than the letter on recto.

Letter of condolence on the death of a woman. From an unidentified sender, probably in Qūṣ, to Abū l-Karam and his son Abū Isḥāq b. al-[...], in Fustat. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. The sender was staying in the funduq of Ibn al-Muṭiyy (בן אלמטי) in Qūṣ. There is also a deceased man, as the sender writes in the margin of recto that "your letters distract me from reading the letters of the deceased man (al-marḥūm)." Verso contains greetings to and from various people, including to Fakhr al-Dawla. In the margin of verso, he asks the addressee to forward a letter to the wife (? ṣāḥiba) of Ibrāhīm b. Amīn al-Mulk, one of the Yemeni traders "who burned in the ill-omened funduq." ASE

Recto: Letter in Arabic script. This is a long, dense, and well-preserved mercantile letter. Needs examination. (Information in part from Goitein's note card)

Verso: Four (?) interesting accounts in Arabic script, one mentioning "wāṣil al-ḍamān". Dated: Jumādā II 513 AH, which is September 1119 CE. (Information from Goitein's note card.) Ed. Rabie.

Petition from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. [...] to Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn (Saladin). In Arabic script. Has a tarjama at the upper left; 4 lines of introductory blessings; a report and request (wa-yunhī ilā.... anā rajul min ahl al-[...]... iḥṣānuhu maʿa l-khāṣṣ wa-l-ʿāmm... ); and a concluding ra'y clause and ḥamdala and ṣalawāt. Needs further examination for the content of the request. (Information in part from Zain Shirazi.)

Recto: the remnants of two lines of an Arabic chancery document with wide spacing, probably a decree. The first line reads as "من حياطة دينه واظهره لدولته من", the second line has a fragmentary ṣalwala. Verso: a whole page of Arabic that appears to be from a literary composition or prayer. The fourth line from the bottom reads من مشرق الارض ومغربها وسهلها وجبلها وبرها وبحرها ومع ذلك... (from east to west, from plains to mountains, from land to sea, and even so...). ASE, YU.