Geniza Lab

Fragment from a printed work in Ladino that mentions Galen (1r) and Aristotle's Metaphysics (1r, 1v). MCD.

Ladino magical recipes.

Ladino literary work.

Ladino literary work.

Ladino letters or copies of letters from 1788 CE (Shevat 5548). One is addresed to a Martinelli.

Letter from Mordekhai b. Yiṣḥaq to Ḥayyim Avraham Levi. Written in Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 22 Iyyar 5565 AM, which is 1805 CE.

Letter in Ladino, sent from Salonica (שילאניקי) to Cairo (spelled erratically as מישרייאם). To be delivered to ("en mano de") Yiṣḥaq Qatin[?] (אין מאנו די ס׳ יצחק קאתין), who is "the boy" (מושו) of David מיאפילדו(?). The sender's name looks like it includes גֿיליבי הקואין, but this is probably not right (maybe הקואין means הכהן?). Dated April 19, 1785 (it is unclear where this dating comes from). In the opening lines of the letter, the author mentions having not received correspondence from the recipients in 5 (or 2?) months. There is recurring reference to a certain Ḥayyim, who is possibly a shared correspondent of the letter's sender and recipient. The word כוכור that appears several times may also be a name. The sender mentions "a bride to marry" in ll. 6–7. Later on, the author's discussion shifts to the listing off of specific commodities, one of which may be "leather/כואירוש" (l. 12r). Various people send regards ("kiss the hands of X"). According to FGP, some names associated with this fragment are Reuven, Miryam, and Avraham Krispin (Crespin). MCD. ASE.

Letter in Ladino (fragment) which the heading addresses Nissim Ḥayyim Rafael Aharon de Segura and opens with the warm phrase: "despues de bezarle las manos" or "after kissing your hands". The letter recipient is none other than R. Nissim Ḥayyim Rafael Aharon b. Meʾir de Segura, one of the leading rabbinic leaders in Cairo at the turn of the nineteenth century whose published work can be traced, for example: Nissim Ḥayyim Rafael Aharon b. Meʾir de Segura, Sefer Shaʿare Ḥayyim (Thessaloniki: 1807). Line 10 mentions Eretz Israel "ארץ ישראל" and the locational adjective "Candiote/קאנדיוטי" most likely in referencing an individual's surname. Line 18 mentions "Egypt" or possibly Cairo/Fustat as "Miẓrayim". Date: 18th c or 19th c. MCD.

Ladino literary work.

Letter from Yosef Mir to Efrayim ʿAda. In Ladino. Dating: Late 18th or early 19th century, based on the names mentioned and the overall appearance. The address gives the name of Alexandria on the right side and the name of Fustat/Cairo on the left side, however both are prefaced with "to." Perhaps it was sent to Alexandria to be forwarded to Cairo, or perhaps the first "to" is an error, and it was written in Alexandria and sent to Cairo. The ends of all the lines are missing, making interpretation somewhat difficult. Yosef is about to set sail for Izmir as soon as the weather turns favorable; in fact he may already be embarked. He makes excuses for failing to write earlier. There is very little, if any, discussion of business matters. Mainly Yosef sends regards ("bezo las manos...") to the addressee and various other people: סי׳ רוביסה, Rubi [...], Shabbetay אספנדאהשי, Rubi Ṣevi, Rubi Ḥezqel(?), and Eliyyahu Frances. Rubi/רובי might be a title rather than a name since it appears before most of the names. MCD. ASE.

Letter in Ladino. Lines 14-15 mention one Shelomo Azulay as the recipient of another letter: "que venga un [sic] carta que mando al aḥīnu Shelomo Azulay." The usage of "aḥīnu" ("our brother" in Hebrew) could indicate familial ties with the sender and recipient yet must also be considered alternatively as a possible term of endearment in non-familial ties of friendship. MCD. Verso has been reused for various jottings, including excerpts from prayers, writing practice, and geomancy markings, some labeled with names of months.

Letter in Ladino dated September 1777 (Elul 5537), from Yiṣḥaq Sigan or Bigan (?) in Alexandria to [address torn] in Rashid. Among the individuals mentioned in the letter are: Eliyyahu Romano (l.4), Moshe Bibas (l.16), Yiṣḥaq Crespin (l.16). In line 23 a quantity of "cotton/אלגודון" is recorded with the unit "onsas/אונסאס". MCD.

Letter in Ladino dated 19 April 1785 (9 Iyyar 5545), from Rubi[?] Mores to Avraham Crespin in Cairo/Fustat "Miẓrayim". Two other individuals are mentioned within the letter: Yaʿacov Naḥmias (l.4), Yehuda Gaʾon (l.5). Line eight mentions the cities Rashid and Ancona and line 13 mentions Izmir. MCD.

Letter in Ladino dated 19 November 1790 (12 Kislev 5551) from Av_[?] Sogre[?] in Alexandria to David Mili in the Bulaq neighborhood of Cairo. In lines 8-9 the sender discusses a good relationship with his brother-in-law "kunyado/cuñado": "syendo ke mi kunyado le tyene muncha amistad" or "being that my brother-in-law has amicable feelings". The writer's brother-in-law is mentioned again in the margin of the letter which is advising David Mili to look after "my dear[?] sister": "cuidado por mi karina[?] ermana/קויידאדו פור מי קרינה אירמאנה". This latter statement could imply that the letter recipient and sender are themselves brothers-in-law. MCD.

Copies of letters in Ladino dated 9 December 1811 (23 Kislev 5572), likely a fragment from a broader letter copybook. Senders and recipients are unclear because the header sections that normally list recipients have been omitted for the copybook and senders' names likewise do not appear at the base of each entry. On the verso, however, two individuals' names appear after the dates: Shelomo ben Yehuda (l.5) and Mordechai Kohen (l.10). Likewise, one Moshe Fernandes is mentioned on the verso scan (l.13). The correspondence connected to the former individual may be mentioning the trade in coffee: "mandare otro caffes" (l.7v). "Miẓrayim" appears as a place name (l.14v) as does Rashid on the recto (l.10) and Salonica (l.18r). The last line of the recto mentions "oka/אוקה" as a unit of measurement. MCD.

Letter in Ladino dated 21 July 1813 (12 Av 5573) to David Gatenio from Yehudah Gatenio (also written as Gatenyo). In the body of the letter (l.31r) a fragmented name appears for one Shmuel b. Vin_[?] (...וינ), as does Moshe al-Bohir (l.41r), a husband and wife pair "su filio kon su mujer" (l.44r), and multiple individuals including a "captain/קאפיטאן" (l.3v) and Daniel Mondolfo (l.4v) on the letter's verso. On the recto (l.15) there is discussion of the placement of fault "kulpa/culpa" because of breakdown in the flow of communication during the previous month of Temmuz "dyeron kulpa porke no avizen todo __ro de partikular y mas ke no no resibi maystro... [q]artas por respondernos otro ke bi-Temmuz..." (l.15-16r). There is also mention of monetary payment: "dyeron paras" (l.21r) which may be referencing a more general term for money in the Ottoman empire (or possibly a specific coinage type known as "para" or "pare" in early nineteenth-century Egypt). Further down the monetary label "gurushim" (l.33, 35, 39r) is in use indicating a specific type of silver coinage. MCD.

Dowry list for Hannah bt. Yakov Bibas. This document is undated but specifically titled as a "nota del ashugar" (l.1r) or "note of dowry" in Ladino. On the right margin, a column is titled with "gurushi[m]/גרושי" followed by a numerical value 1500 that is labeled "kontante y boda" which could mean that the monetary dowry alone is valued at 1,500 silver gurushim (or "guruş" in Turkish) before factoring in the value of the itemized material gifts. This seems plausible because once the list ends a final monetary value is offered of 8,500 guruş, which implies that the contents of this "nota de ashugar" are altogether valued at 7,000 guruş. Some of the material gifts listed are: "panyo" (l.12r), "ropa franca" (l.12r), "kamizas... de seda" (l.13r), "estanpa" (l.15r), "fezes mughrabis" (l.15-16r), "sabanas" (l.25r) (or in English: cloth, French clothing, silk shirts, stamp, Maghribi Fez hats, and bedsheets) MCD.

Letter in Spanish from Eliezer Bisque[?] to Sig. Mose Bisque, sent in June "Giunio" 5480[?] possibly Sivan 1720CE. The year is slightly fragmented in the heading with a final digit that is somewhat ambiguous. The place name "Casanova" appears in the letter's address section along with the phrase "En[?], nave que dios salve/by boat that God protects." The closing line on verso includes "tu padre" and suggests that Eliezer is writing to his son, as does "querido yjo [sic]" in the fragmented heading on recto. The closing lines also include code-switching to Hebrew blessings such as "ברכה" and "ושלום". The letter makes use of occasional Italianate spellings such as "biliete" (l.7-8). Lastly, Venice or "Venezia" is mentioned in line 22. MCD

Letter in Spanish from Jacob Nuñes de Paz to Los S[eñore]s Alpalas & Costa Aires in Alexandria (see tag for others in the group), probably ca. 1720 (25 Nissan is clear in heading but the year is lost). Discusses a variety of "caxas" and "caxetas", or "boxes" and "little boxes" of commercial goods as well as monetary payment, for example, in "fonduclis" (l.15r) an Ottoman gold coin that was commonly minted beginning in the early decades of the eighteenth century (which helps estimate the shelfmark's dating). On the recto there is also mention of the rental of a maritime vessel with terminology that was common for the caravan shipping system of the early modern Mediterranean. The author speaks of "procurando de nolejar una polaca" (l.21), which indicates his intent to formally rent a "polaca"-type maritime vessel (the verb "nolejar" in Spanish being a derivation of the more common Italian "noleggiare"). MCD.

Ladino literary work.