Geniza Lab

Genealogical list with the heading : 'Bayt al-Kohen'.

Petition or report. Fragment, three lines preserved. Requests intervention in a dispute between someone and ʿImrān b. Lāwī (ʿImrān b. Levi, possibly Abū ʿImrān Moshe ha-Levi b. Levi before the birth of his son and his adoption of the kunya Abū l-Bayān) by means of support of strengthening his hand (shādd). Requests clarifying the matter or seeking help (or gaining the upper hand? wa-li-yastaẓhir) in whatever way is appropriate for the dīwān. Some of the phrases in this document (iṣlāḥ aḥwālihimā, al-shadd min…) are similar to phrases in T-S 8J38.11, a note from the Jewish court ca. 1100 instructing a delegate to try to resolve a marital conflict. On verso there are liturgical notes in Hebrew concerning Purim and the special shabbatot around Purim. (ASE/MR)

Astrological text in Arabic script. Reused for Hebrew liturgical text.

Contract of lease for an irrigation channel on the jazīra of Fustat (the Nile island later known as Rawḍa). Dated: 18 (or maybe 28?) Shawwāl 407 AH (March 1017 CE). The lessees are Maḥāṣin b. Sayyidihim b. ʿAbdallāh; Muḥammad b. Abdallāh; Abū l-Faraj b. Sayyidihm; Khalīl al-Naṣrānī; Sulaymān b. Maḥāsin b. Naṣr al-Naṣrānī. The lease is for a period of 5 months, beginning on 23 Shawwāl 407. The lessees are to pay 600 dirhams paid in 5 monthly installments (munajjama) of 120 dirhams. The property borders that of the town (Fustat) and contains an orchard of date palms, strawberries, sycamore. No signatures are preserved. Reused for Hebrew poetry.

Decree. Portions of two lines are preserved: ...bi-sumuwwi l-ʾamri... qabla l-tadbīri(?).... Reused for Hebrew poetry/liturgy.

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.)