Geniza Lab

Postscript to a letter, probably. The addressee is asked to continually convey greetings to Abū l-Faḍl al-Ṣayrafī al-Kāzarūnī.

Letter addressed to 'Sayyidnā.' in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 13th century, based on the handwriting. There is not much by way of content; it is heavy on the flattery and seems to be encouraging the addressee to come visit.There is a response on verso.

Copy of a letter from Yehuda Zarqo (a 16th-century Hebrew poet of Rhodes and Salonica) to the physician Yosef Hamon on the occasion of Hamon's wedding. This copy may be much later, perhaps 18th or 19th century.

Copy of an ornate Hebrew letter, mentioning R. ʿImmanuel Yoel. Late. From the same volume as Bodl. MS heb. f 105/17, but it is not immediately clear whether it is the same letter or not.

Legal document, fragment. Mentions [Avraham?] b. Natan Av Bet Din and seems to be some sort of release. There is a list of items covered: silk, flax, codices, furniture, clothing, taʿlīq. Then "Avraham his son" and something about 3 dinars.

Business letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 12th century, based on handwriting. Mentions red sulfur (kibrīt aḥmar), the estate of the addressee's dead brother, and perhaps Jibla in Yemen.

Letter in Arabic script. Some kind of (state?) report on agricultural activities this year? وقد زرع في هذه السنة... وجميع الفلاحين فيها فلاحين السلطان... احد العسكرية هذا سوا ما يزرع فيها من الارز... باطلاق عمارة في الضياع ال... وانكشفت جميع الناس. On verso there is a Hebrew literary text (as well as between the lines on Bodl. MS heb. f 107/34).

Undertext: Halves of two lines of a chancery document. Overtext: Hebrew liturgical poem (seliḥa?)

Letter in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Addressed to someone important, possibly the Nagid, and possibly specifically Maṣliaḥ Gaon (based on some flattering phrases that also appear in other letters to Maṣliaḥ). He is writing to seek help on behalf of a man named Isḥāq b. T[hābit?] who has been arrested.

Letter of appeal for charity. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer needs help paying the capitation tax (jāliya). The addressee had previously said something about talking to Peraḥya b. Nissim and raising funds from the community.

Accounts in Hebrew. There are entries for wood, flour, oil, and also R. Moshe.

Memorandum or other internal state communication. In Arabic script, with wide line spacing, fragmented baselines, and frequent diacritics. Four lines preserved, the fourth an interlinear note or registration mark in a different hand. Mentions al-Majlis المجلس twice. On recto there are 21 lines of Hebrew script (piyyuṭ). Some of the text reads as follows: كتب الله سلامته... بقدومه... فوعد(؟) المجلس اليه بالضي ليلقيه. It seems to be dealing with travel plans, someone's arrival, and greeting that person upon his arrival.

Bill of divorce. Scribed and signed by Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya. Also signed by ʿEli ha-Kohen b. Yaʿish. The husband may be named Ḥal[fon]. There is no note that the geṭ was delivered, unless that note was written on the corner that has been torn away.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Signed, formally, by Aharon b. Avraham and Avraham b. Mevorakh. Probably addressed to the Nagid (al-rayyis, ra's al-mathība). It may concern a man who was insulting people and challenging the writers' authority. But it is very faded and only the bottom part is preserved. Needs further examination.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. From several people, probably addressed to Sayyidnā al-Rayyis. The senders are currently being held in prison and it sounds like they are making their case to the addressee to exert himself to help them. They had evidently antagonized some man in a legal battle. This man then showed up drunk to a gathering and attacked them and insulted them and tried to smash jars of oil. When this didn't get him anywhere, he went to some government office (Dār al-Sulṭān) and cried out for help, "O Muslims! I do not say... the religion of Islam." They tried to appease him, but he said, "You 'wrote' (a contract?) in Muslim courts... I will take revenge on you!" The authorities responded to the ruckus by throwing everyone in prison. ASE

Page from a book of legal formulas contains a will, Ketubah for widow or divorced and for remarriage (מחזיר גרושתו) and a deed of prozbol (Bill of delivery, which allowing to take interest-free loans before the Sabbatical year. Fol 2-4 contains a ketubah with a marriage poem and a commentary on the ketubah. Fol. 5 a deed of testimony of inheritance. In Judeo Arabic. It is from Yemen, probably 18th century. The name Yaḥyā Ṣāliḥ יחיא צאלח is written. AA

Literary text in Judaeo-Arabic. Giving alchemical recipes, occult correspondences between celestial objects and metals (called ʿaqāqīr), and handy recipes for getting stains, e.g. saffron stains, out of clothing.

Petition or letter in Arabic script. Recto has fragment with su'āl clause, five partial lines with fragmented baselines. Cut and bound in association with Hebrew script text on verso.

Awaiting description (but see description for the whole notebook, Bodl. MS heb. f 22/19–52, PGPID 33686).

Bodl. MS heb. f 22/19–52 is a notebook of a notary and bookseller, containing drafts of legal deeds, some of them dated (1155, 1159, 1160, 1162), entries about books received in commission for sale or loaned out, accounts, and prescriptions. Within the notebook, Bodl. MS heb. f 22/20v–25r is a Passover Haggada. (Information from Goitein's index card.) See individual records for individual descriptions. The book-related portions were edited by Allony et al., The Jewish Library in the Middle Ages: Book Lists from the Cairo Genizah, 157–80. Transcription awaiting digitization.