Geniza Lab

Accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. On recto there are at least six items, divided into subsections. Mentions 13 qintars of something; a ḥammāl or jammāl; and more. Needs further examination. (Information in part from Goitein's index card)

Recto: Petition or report from [...] b. ʿAbdallāh al-Juḥāfī to al-Shaykh al-Thiqa. In Arabic script. Dating: Probably Ayyubid-era, based on diplomatic features and the estimated date of verso. With an ʿalāma at the top (al-mulk lillāh). Mentions Zayn al-Dīn, building a dike (yabnī l-jisr), bringing the price of something with somebody (...lī thamnahā ṣuḥbatahū...), and as soon as someone arrives (...fa-sāʿata wusūlih...).

Verso: Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 1200–1240 CE, based on Goitein's assessment. "[Received on account of the] Food for the Poor—101 1/2 [dirhems]." Accounts for one week, headed by 115 pounds of bread costing 33 1/2 dirhems, twice as much as in B 77. A similar situation in B 43. The salaries, however, remained exactly the same. On Friday, the Nagid made special distributions in cash and wheat to a foreign scholar and to the Rūm, here meaning persons from Byzantium, "male and female." After the conquest of Constantinople by the Latins in 1204 and countless other disasters befalling the Byzantine realm, it is not surprising to again find refugees from there in the capital of Egypt. See B 85." (Goitein, Med Soc II, Appendix B, #79 pp. 462))

Accounts in the hand of Nissim b. Ḥalfon, presented to Nahray b. Nissim; 1066 CE. Lists payments for various goods, made either directly or through others, and gives details of various shipments, some of them to Tripoli, Libya. Mentions skins, textiles, beads, sugar, red wood, ammonia, furs, lead, baked goods, wine, meat, camphor, wax, tin, cloves, pearls and laque. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 986.)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic to al-shaykh al-jalīl Abū l-F[...] (Faḍl or Faraj). Fragment. Mentions people who are "hungry and naked."

Letter to Abū Saʿd ('the dear boy'). In Judaeo-Arabic Contains inter alia a disquisition on lashon ha-raʿ and a detailed order for an ʿarḍī cloth worth 60–70 dirhams. Information from Goitein's note card.

Letter from Ṣadaqa to the Abū l-Najm the Parnas, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender announces his intention to travel to Sicily (in "Bilād al-Rūm") and asks the addressee to help him settle the payments of the capitation tax ("al-mas"). On verso there is a note in another hand (that of Abū l-Najm? preceding the letter on recto?), requesting that the addressee send a letter regarding his need for deliverance from the capitation tax (jāliya), "lest you once again blame me when I have no fault." Information in part from Goitein's note card.

Letter (tadhkira, memorandum) on two sheets of paper, written and signed by Menashshe b. David al-Ṣayrafī, probably in Fustat, probably to Nahray b. Nissim, perhaps in Qayrawān. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1050 CE. Gil deduces that the addressee is Nahray b. Nissim from the fact that the letter mentions that Ukhuwwa (the Muslim ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz) wished to do business with the addressee and with Barhūn b. Mūsā al-Tahirtī, and the latter was Nahray's most established business partner (and his cousin). The letter deals with problems communicating with people in Alexandria by letter, and mentions a consignment of oil. Menashshe opens by asking the addressee to intervene on his behalf with Abū Ibrāhīm Ismāʿīl, who had cut off his correspondence with Menashshe for the last year. "If it is due to something I did or a fault of mine, perhaps it is something I can rectify or apologize for, and if it is the 'neglect due to illness' or the like, I have seen his letters to other people, such as to Maṭar and to you, many of them" (recto of the first sheet, lines 6–11). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 499. See also Goitein notes linked below.) ASE.

A Judaeo-Arabic magical spell of some kind, probably malevolent, for "binding" somebody. The female victim's name is meant to be filled in in lines 5/6. After which, "no one will release her, neither man nor woman, neither jinn nor jinniyah." Then there's something about "his hands before his feet." Then, again, "nothing will release her... neither moon nor dawn... until the rabbit is milked (?)." ASE.

Account of the public bread distribution spread over two sheets. In the late style of the handwriting of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dating: 1100–40 CE, based on Goitein's assessment. Ninety-three households in receipt of about 250 (loaves, not money). Summarized in detail in Med Soc II, Appendix B, #32 (p. 447).

List of names, each followed by a sum (mostly 1 or 1/2, some 2). Dating: Beginning of 11th century, per Goitein. See Med Soc II, App. B, #56. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Fragment of a trade letter in mixed Hebrew and Arabic script (Arabic for sliding blessings only) requesting a suftaja. Gil attributes tentatively to Daniel b. Azarya. Mentions Abū l-ʿAlāʾ al-Mubārak b. Isḥāq. (MAR)

Settlement between the two brothers Muhadhdhab and Amin al-Dawla after a long litigation. (Information from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 47 and from Goitein's index cards)

Document in Arabic script. Needs examination.

Five notes on tiny pieces of vellum, ordering the addressee to hand over small sums or certain quantities of oil, soap, wood, vegetables, lemon, or sugar to bearers. All are signed by one Zakkai. Mentioned in Med Soc, III, A19. Information from Goitein's note card.

Five notes on tiny pieces of vellum, ordering the addressee to hand over small sums or certain quantities of oil, soap, wood, vegetables, lemon, or sugar to bearers. All are signed by one Zakkai. Mentioned in Med Soc, III, A19. Information from Goitein's note card.

Five notes on tiny pieces of vellum, ordering the addressee to hand over small sums or certain quantities of oil, soap, wood, vegetables, lemon, or sugar to bearers. All are signed by one Zakkai. Mentioned in Med Soc, III, A19. Information from Goitein's note card.

Five notes on tiny pieces of vellum, ordering the addressee to hand over small sums or certain quantities of oil, soap, wood, vegetables, lemon, or sugar to bearers. All are signed by one Zakkai. Mentioned in Med Soc, III, A19. Information from Goitein's note card.

Five notes on tiny pieces of vellum, ordering the addressee to hand over small sums or certain quantities of oil, soap, wood, vegetables, lemon, or sugar to bearers. All are signed by one Zakkai. Mentioned in Med Soc, III, A19. Information from Goitein's note card.

Responsum, incomplete. Regarding a gift. "With humdrum Talmudic quotations." (Information from Goitein’s index card)