Geniza Lab

Arabic accounts.

Letter in Arabic script. Dating: Likely 11th or 12th century. Fragment (upper right piece of recto). Most of what is preserved on recto consists of formulaic blessings. The bottom 4 lines and the upper margin may contain some of the substance but are difficult to read. On verso, the damaged address and many jottings of Greek/Coptic numerals.

A leaf completely filled with mostly unconnected Arabic letters. It does appear to say things once the letters are connected, but it would take a lot of effort to read it. Perhaps magical?

State document, unknown date. Fragment of an Arabic petition (to ". . . al-ʿālī al-mawlawī al-sulṭānī. . ."). The titles suggest a date in the late Fatimid, Ayyubid or Mamluk periods. There is a tiny piece of a printed Pentateuch either peeking through or affixed to the paper, suggesting a date of 15th century or later. But it also possible that the printed paper is completely unrelated.

Recto: Accounts in Arabic, mentioning Abū l-Futūh and a certain Yaʿqūb and almonds. Verso: A note in Arabic saying, "I have sent you some almonds."

Recto: Letter in Arabic to Hayyim al-Ṣarrāf (moneychanger/banker) in the High Diwan. The writer's name is difficult to read, as is the date, which may be 28 Shawwal 1076 = May 1666 CE. This receives some corroboration from the fact that the seal on verso bears the date 1073.

Large fragment of a legal document in Arabic script. Difficult hand. There is a section in the middle with the formula "wa-lā X wa-lā Y wa-lā Z," etc. Needs examination.

Account in Arabic script, unclear if private or fiscal. Recto includes the phrase 'in the name of ʿUmar b. [...]' and mentions the number 400 (part of a year?). Needs further examination.

Fiscal account, probably. Likely concerning grain (mentions the prices of arādibb). Needs examination.

Small fragment containing portions of three lines in Arabic, appears literary.

4 pages from an Arabic literary treatise with huge margins and headers in red ink. These pages include proverbs/sayings, arranged alphabetically. At least one of them (for ra) appears in the encyclopedia of al-Ibshīhī, which likewise contains a section on proverbs arranged alphabetically.

Small fragment of an Arabic document. Might be a fiscal account. Mentions the numbers 300 and 400.

4 pages from an Arabic medical treatise in an interesting script, almost Kufic.

Late accounts in Arabic.

Badly damaged late letter in Arabic.

List or table in Arabic script, probably a private account. Needs further examination.

A curious text, mostly in Arabic, squeezed onto a torn scrap of paper, perhaps a prayer or a magical spell (or a vow?) regarding success in the coming year. Needs further examination, but legible parts of recto include: [...] ʿalā nafsī [...] annī lā [...] al-maḥḍar wa-l-tawqīʿ fī hādhī l-sana wa-{u}shhid ʿalā rūḥī khāliq al-samā wa-l-arḍ [...] wa-bihi astaʿīn. On verso, first in Arabic and then transcribed almost exactly into Judaeo-Arabic: "wa-yā sulaymān (?) [...] ʿalā mā taẓammanathu (=taḍammanathu) bāṭin hādhihi l-waraqa." Then, in Judaeo-Arabic only: "And I am Abū l-Ṭāhir."

Badly damaged late document in Arabic script, probably Arabic language, probably a letter. Needs further examination.

Recto: Last nine lines of a legal document in Arabic dated 555 AH, with the signatures of two witnesses. Verso: Accounts in Arabic mentioning units of weight (raṭl), with the names of various individuals, two of which are Hilāl b. al-Raṣṣāṣ and Abū l-Surūr b. al-Amshāṭī. Needs further examination.

Legal document in Arabic script. Very difficult to read. Involves Ibrāhīm b. Surūr(?) b. Ibrāhīm the Jew. Might be dated 578 AH. Signatures at the bottom. Needs further examination.