Geniza Lab

Business letter, or possibly a letter between state officials. In Arabic script. Mentions: al-Shaykh al-ʿAfīf; Tripoli (presumably the Syrian one); that the addressee must not delay; al-Shaykh al-ʿAfīf again; Ṣamṣām al-Dawla; Rashīd; and that the addressee should honor the sender with his errands. Ends with a ḥasbala. Reused on verso for Hebrew literary text in the hand of ʿEli b. Yeḥezqel ha-Kohen of Jerusalem (d. ca. 1055). Needs further examination.

Decree to a lower official. Fragment, end of the main section just before the date, left side only. Possibly Fatimid. Reused for liturgical poetry, azharot for Shavuʿot (per FGP/Zulay catalogue).

Decree fragment. Only a few words are legible, in large, calligraphic script. There are also a few words in smaller Arabic script in the upper left corner of the fragment, possibly unrelated, but perhaps some kind of filing note. Reused for a Hebrew liturgical text.

Legal document in Arabic script. The beginnings of 23 lines are preserved, the last of which is the signature of a witness named Muḥammad something. Reused for Hebrew liturgical text on verso.

Official letter, possibly addressed to the vizier ("ḥaḍrat al-wizāra") concerning the appointment of an amir in Yemen. Dating: ca. 11th/12th century. On verso there is a Hebrew piyyut based on 1 Kings 2 followed by a piyyut based on Shemot. (Information in part from Khan's edition of T-S NS 162.34.) The joins are indirect and are not certain but appear to match on both sides. Joins: Alan Elbaum.

Letter or legal document. Very faded. In Arabic script, moderately wide space between the lines. Roughly 10 lines are preserved. The word "al-mablagh" appears multiple times. On verso there are Hebrew seliḥot in a distinctive, somewhat crude hand. Join: Alan Elbaum. Needs examination.

Draft of letter of condolences from Efrayim b. Shemarya on the death of Toviyya b. Daniel, February 1043 (Gil's dating).

The names of rabbinic sages, esp. those of Pirkey Avot, with lines of Hebrew poetry after each set of names.

Hebrew poems for Purim in the hand of Nāṣir al-Adīb al-ʿIbrī. ASE

Almost too damaged to identify. Possibly Talmud or Talmudic commentary, since among the surviving words are "the [priest] anointed for war" and "with a vow to annul."

Almost too damaged to identify. Probably Talmudic or halakhic. Quotes Leviticus 11:42, refers to laws of purity (recto) and slaves (verso).

A text on the rabbinic laws of geniza. (Description from FGP)

Literary. Beginning of Chapter 24 from a late ethical treatise ("Four things are better old than new"), with commentary underneath.

Literary. Beginning of Chapter 7 from a late ethical treatise ("The letter that Aristotle wrote to Alexander of Macedon on the behavior of kings"). It also gives Alexander's reply and Aristotle's reply.

Fragment of a letter in Hebrew. Dating: ca. 1011 CE. Mentions the deaths of Shemarya b. Elḥanan and the cantor Palṭiel, as well as the visit of Shemuel b. Hoshaʿna (known as ha-Shelishi, "the third") to Egypt. The sender, "the third," and 23 other Jews were slandered to the government and imprisoned. Complements the narrative found in Megillat Miṣrayim. Reused for piyyuṭ on verso. (Information from Gil's edition.)

Leaf from a manuscript of the Hebrew version of Menashshe ben Israel's "Miqve Yisra'el" including the section on the Spanish Expulsion.

Literary. A beautiful and very large (30cm) page from a diwan of R. Moshe ibn 'Ezra. Among the poems preserved: on pens, on a candle, one that he wrote to Yehudah b Abi l-Hajjaj his brother; his elegy for Abū Ibrahīm Isḥāq b. Barūn [Benveniste]; his elegy for Barukh b. Barukh. ASE.

Literary. A beautiful and very large (30cm) page from a diwan of R. Moshe ibn 'Ezra. Among the poems preserved: an elegy for his brother Abu l-Hajjaj who died in Toledo, Elul 1127 CE (4887); a congratulatory poem for the physician Abu Omar Joseph ben Kamnial upon his release from prison. ASE.

Legal document. In Hebrew. Location: Copied in Fustat but originally written in Granada (גרנאטה). Dating: mid-11th century, based on the mentions of Yūshaʿ b. Natan and Faraj/Furayj b. Shuʿayb (information from Moshe Yagur). This copy was requested by Shemuel b. Avraham b. Meir known as Ibn Qālūs from Lucena (אליסאנה) in Andalusia. The court record deals with property, merchandise, and money in Egypt and Palestine left behind by Avraham upon his death. Hosheaʿ b. Natan (known as Abū l-Surūr Yamanī al-Andalusī) was appointed trustee in charge of the property. The record reflects that Natan b. Shemuel ha-Sefaradi appeared in court with a deed of attorney written in Granada that appoints him as trustee for the estate of Hosheaʿ. The record seems to imply that Avraham, who did business on quite a large scale, very carefully made plans in the event of his death for his property to be kept secure from 'the ruler who governs Egypt' and seemed to habitually take property that belonged to 'deceased aliens'. (Information from Goitein’s index card and Gil, History of Palestine.)

State document. Dating: Refers to payments for the year 415 kharājī; 415 AH is 1024/25 CE, so 415 kharājī is 1024/25 CE plus or minus a year or two. Refers to a dignitary called "amīr al-umarāʾ tāj al-dawla wa-sharaf al-milla al-muʾayyad dhī l-[maʿāl?]ī"; a man called Abū l-Ḥarīrī or Jazīrī ; and to another dignitary called ʿAmīd al-Dawla (together with aṣḥāb dīwān al-[...]). Refers to a government office called Dīwān al-Aṣl. Needs further examination. On verso there is a draft of a Hebrew elegy for a deceased woman. ASE