Geniza Lab

Letter to Abū Saʿd ('the dear boy'). In Judaeo-Arabic Contains inter alia a disquisition on lashon ha-raʿ and a detailed order for an ʿarḍī cloth worth 60–70 dirhams. Information from Goitein's note card.

Letter from Ṣadaqa to the Abū l-Najm the Parnas, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender announces his intention to travel to Sicily (in "Bilād al-Rūm") and asks the addressee to help him settle the payments of the capitation tax ("al-mas"). On verso there is a note in another hand (that of Abū l-Najm? preceding the letter on recto?), requesting that the addressee send a letter regarding his need for deliverance from the capitation tax (jāliya), "lest you once again blame me when I have no fault." Information in part from Goitein's note card.

Letter (tadhkira, memorandum) on two sheets of paper, written and signed by Menashshe b. David al-Ṣayrafī, probably in Fustat, probably to Nahray b. Nissim, perhaps in Qayrawān. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1050 CE. Gil deduces that the addressee is Nahray b. Nissim from the fact that the letter mentions that Ukhuwwa (the Muslim ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz) wished to do business with the addressee and with Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tahirtī, and the latter was Nahray's most established business partner (and his cousin). The letter deals with problems communicating with people in Alexandria by letter, and mentions a consignment of oil. Menashshe opens by asking the addressee to intervene on his behalf with Abū Ibrāhīm Ismāʿīl, who had cut off his correspondence with Menashshe for the last year. "If it is due to something I did or a fault of mine, perhaps it is something I can rectify or apologize for, and if it is the 'neglect due to illness' or the like, I have seen his letters to other people, such as to Maṭar and to you, many of them" (recto of the first sheet, lines 6–11). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 499. See also Goitein notes linked below.) ASE.

A Judaeo-Arabic magical spell of some kind, probably malevolent, for "binding" somebody. The female victim's name is meant to be filled in in lines 5/6. After which, "no one will release her, neither man nor woman, neither jinn nor jinniyah." Then there's something about "his hands before his feet." Then, again, "nothing will release her... neither moon nor dawn... until the rabbit is milked (?)." ASE.

Account of the public bread distribution spread over two sheets. In the late style of the handwriting of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dating: 1100–40 CE, based on Goitein's assessment. Ninety-three households in receipt of about 250 (loaves, not money). Summarized in detail in Med Soc II, Appendix B, #32 (p. 447).

List of names, each followed by a sum (mostly 1 or 1/2, some 2). Dating: Beginning of 11th century, per Goitein. See Med Soc II, App. B, #56. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Fragment of a trade letter in mixed Hebrew and Arabic script (Arabic for sliding blessings only) requesting a suftaja. Gil attributes tentatively to Daniel b. Azarya. Mentions Abū l-ʿAlāʾ al-Mubārak b. Isḥāq. (MAR)

Settlement between the two brothers Muhadhdhab and Amin al-Dawla after a long litigation. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 47 and from Goitein's index cards)

Document in Arabic script. Needs examination.

Five notes on tiny pieces of vellum, ordering the addressee to hand over small sums or certain quantities of oil, soap, wood, vegetables, lemon, or sugar to bearers. All are signed by one Zakkai. Mentioned in Med Soc, III, A19. Information from Goitein's note card.

Five notes on tiny pieces of vellum, ordering the addressee to hand over small sums or certain quantities of oil, soap, wood, vegetables, lemon, or sugar to bearers. All are signed by one Zakkai. Mentioned in Med Soc, III, A19. Information from Goitein's note card.

Five notes on tiny pieces of vellum, ordering the addressee to hand over small sums or certain quantities of oil, soap, wood, vegetables, lemon, or sugar to bearers. All are signed by one Zakkai. Mentioned in Med Soc, III, A19. Information from Goitein's note card.

Five notes on tiny pieces of vellum, ordering the addressee to hand over small sums or certain quantities of oil, soap, wood, vegetables, lemon, or sugar to bearers. All are signed by one Zakkai. Mentioned in Med Soc, III, A19. Information from Goitein's note card.

Five notes on tiny pieces of vellum, ordering the addressee to hand over small sums or certain quantities of oil, soap, wood, vegetables, lemon, or sugar to bearers. All are signed by one Zakkai. Mentioned in Med Soc, III, A19. Information from Goitein's note card.

Responsum, incomplete. Regarding a gift. "With humdrum Talmudic quotations." (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Letter from Yeshuʿa b. Ismāʿīl (possibly al-Makhmūrī). In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions Avraham b. Nuṣayr; Abū l-Faḍl b. al-Dhahabī; Abū Isḥāq; Abū ʿImrān al-Segullat and Abū l-Faḍl b. al-Dhahabī. He wished to stay at home (or should have?) but someone made him go to the market. Mentions the price of the chebulic (myrobalan); mentions Alexandria and that 'the other ships are well.' (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)

An official order/letter from the head of the Jewish community or a high-placed dignitary. The main document is in Judaeo-Arabic, and the message is repeated underneath in Hebrew. Dating: Perhaps 14th–16th century; this can likely be narrowed further. It is addressed to the members of money-related trades, including the moneychangers and qubbāḍ and ʿaddādīn. They are commanded to cooperate in all respects with the party of the amir Muṣṭafā b. Masīḥ, with regard to "whichever kinds he wants, small or great.... For we are among his servants (khuddām)." A stern warning against disobeying the order is repeated several times. The postscript in Hebrew elaborates on the message. "Be very careful and ensure that no one takes even a penny from them, neither Amīn nor anyone else... even if you repay it from the funds of the dīwān, therefore you must be careful." Each section is signed (by the same person), and there is a fairly vivid stamp in which the name Sulaymān is legible. ASE

Judaeo-Arabic instructions for calendrical calculations. ASE.

Recto: elegant Judaeo-Arabic rhymed prose on the theme of memento mori, interspersed with verses from Job in Hebrew (21:32: 'For he is borne to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb' and 34:15: 'All flesh shall perish together and man shall return unto dust'). Verso: abbreviated verses from the story of Avraham in Genesis. ASE.

Accounts of small transactions in foods and animals covering several days. ASE.