Geniza Lab

First-person narrative in Judaeo-Arabic. May be documentary. Needs further examination.

Literary work in Arabic script. Perhaps a tafsīr.

Recto: Medical recipes. In Judaeo-Arabic. The first includes ingredients such as Indian salt, anise, and chicory water. The second (for headaches and for excessive moisture in the head and the eyes) includes ingredients such as sugar, Socotrine aloe, turpeth, and myrobalan. Verso: Story about al-Ma'mūn and ʿĪsā. In Judaeo-Arabic. The page opens with some medical language—so it is possible that the recipes on recto are part of this story.

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother Abū l-Surūr Peraḥya b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (upper left corner). Mentions: female dyers (? ṣabbāghāt); someone who had a bit of flax with him; and the small salted fish (ṣīr) which either Yefet or Peraḥya had requested.

Letter of condolence. In Judaeo-Arabic. The hand may be known. It is not out of the question that this could be a formulary.

Document with Arabic script. Possibly just jottings, possibly more. Needs examination.

Business letter, fragment. In Arabic script. "Have you sent me the maqṭaʿ (cloth) or not?"

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. "The matter is out of my hands. . . . the situation is rotten." The rest is quite faded but potentially decipherable.

Legal fragment (upper left corner). In Judaeo-Arabic. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Mentions [...] b. Shemuel and [...] b. Moshe. Either a will or concerning arrangements after someone has already died

Document in Arabic script. Probably legal. Dated (on verso): 1173 AH, which is 1759/60 CE. There is an addendum in Judaeo-Arabic. Needs examination.

A string of praises in Hebrew for an important man.

Dowry list (taqwīm). The groom may be Yeshuʿa ha-Kohen b. Ḥalfon. The bride may be [... bt.] Seʿadya. There are 12 items listed. There is also some practically illegible text on verso.

Letter fragment (top only) from Yisra'el b. Natan to Nahray b. Nissim. In Judaeo-Arabic. Yisra'el tells Nahray to add the dinars to the money he owes to some person who will 'enter' soon (Fustat, probably).

Cheque of Abū Zikrī Kohen.

Yemeni diwan. Containing poems attributed to Yehuda ha-Levi and Shalom Shabazi.

Book list. Most items are volumes of the Talmud. E.g., a commentary on most of Seder Moed by the Ẓarfatiyyim z"l, an Arabic commentary on the Psalms in four bound volumes. Ends with a note regarding a deceased man named Ezra b. Meir.

Legal document. In Hebrew with one phrase in Judaeo-Arabic. Location: Fustat. Dated: Thursday, 16 Av 53[3]7 AM, which is 1577 CE. Reconciliation of a marital dispute between Yosef Pico and his wife Esther bt. Shelomo קאגיגי. The agreeement is that Yosef will no longer beat his wife for any reason whatsoever, or insult or curse her or her parents. If he reneges on this, she will have the right to demand her ketubba payment in full in the Muslim courts "in the capital" (? פי אלעצמה). And he will have to give her the bill of divorce within 24 hours.

Bill of divorce, calligraphic. Only the last few lines are preserved.

Calendrical table. The hand is late (maybe 17th–19th c) but the year is not immediately evident.

Legal document. Location: Fustat. Dated: 1553 Seleucid, which is 1241/42 CE. The content is mostly missing, but some of it may be decipherable. Mentions Shelomo ha-Talmid b. Yefet; R. David; a virgin girl; R. Yosef; Moshe ha-Dayyan.