Geniza Lab

Literary. A theological discourse in Judaeo-Arabic, in the form of a dialogue with a Muslim ruler (amīr al-mu'minīn). Discusses the books of Esther and Maccabees.

A strongly worded letter by the head of a yeshiva to Yakhin ha-Levi b. Mevorakh demanding assistance for its cantor. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, 569, and from Goitein's index cards)

Letter in Hebrew to Hillel ha-Ḥazzan, the diadem of the cantors. Fragment. It seems that only formulaic content remains.

Medical prescriptions in Judaeo-Arabic, or perhaps drafts for a medical treatise. The text on recto contains many words crossed out and many corrections. The main text on verso is in the same hand. The text oriented at 90 degrees may also be in the same hand, but it is difficult to tell as it was written with a wider calamus.

Letter from Suhayl, in an unknown location, to his wife Umm Wuhayb and to his son, in Fustat. He asks in the most urgent terms that they return to him. He is seriously ill (marīḍ ʿalā khuṭṭa) and may die at any moment. If they do not return, they will regret it when regret will not do them any good. He alternates between addressing his son, who is probably meant to read the letter to his mother, and his wife. Information in part from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 339. ASE.

Legal affidavit or court record. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Middle third of Shevat 1434 Seleucid, which is 1123 CE. But this dating is not certain, because it is very faded. In which Yefet b. ʿEli praises and acknowledges the help of Moshe ha-Sar b. Tiqva(?) and ʿEli ha-Levi b. Netanel, who intervened on his behalf with the Nagid (=Moshe b. Mevorakh, if the dating is correct). The document is very faded, but it appears that the matter has to do with the Palestinian synagogue as well as 'the congregation of the Cairenes.'

Document in Judaeo-Arabic, maybe a letter. Different hand than recto. Mentions a woman several times. Needs examination. There is also some Hebrew literary text.

Segment of a letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Avraham b. Mevaser.

A story in Judaeo-Arabic, involving Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Meir and a woman who tries to sate her desire with the latter while he remains asleep.

Fiscal account or receipt dated Muḥarram 437H (July–August 1045). Closing five lines. (MR)

Letter to the Gaon Daniel, as identified by the titles “our Nasi, our Gaon,” in which the correspondents state they are well, “though troubles passed over us during the years of famine, from all of them our God rescued us.” The correspondents also assure Daniel of their loyalty to him, “rejoicing in thy kingdom (a reference to his descent from King David) and taking pride in they epistle.” Eleventh century. The verso contains a copy of a letter mentioning the Babylonian and Palestinian synagogues, Shemuel of Tahort, Efrayim ha-Ḥaver, and Abū Katib b. Abraham. (Jacob Mann, The Jews in Egypt and Palestine under the Fatimids, (1920-22; reprint 1970), Vol. 1, 81-2, Vol. 2, 217-18) EMS

List, extensive and valuable but damaged, of donors of wheat to the poor. Most give only 1 wayba (about 4 gallons, weighing about 25 pounds), or fractions thereof, some others give 2 or 4. One person whose name has not been preserved, but who follows immediately after the first three mentioned above, donates 4 irdabbs = 24 waybas. Those who had not yet made up their minds are listed at the end of the page merely by name. The tillis is a sack, weighing approx. 150 pounds verso, list of persons contributing dirhams, for example, 2 weavers each 3 d, one giving with his workman. The doctor, the representative of the merchants Yequtiʾel, donates 1/8 dinar (for which one could buy at that time approx. a wayba of wheat). The symbol to the right of most names on verso resembling an Arabic final mim, with a tail, might mean (pai)d, (salla)m. It is represented here by a $ (Cohen) (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp 478-479, App. C 21 ca. 1100)

Very important legal document consisting of two depositions held in the synagogue of Syracuse, dealing with a lawsuit against Eliyyahu b. al-Harrar, who was accused of taking a share of the estate of Nahum b. Ismail al-Harrar. Dated April 1020. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 654, and from Yehudei Sitziliya, p. 104)

There is an 8-line note in Judaeo-Arabic that provides a mnemonic (siman) for calculating the molads (mawālīd) of the New Moons. The rest of the fragment is literary.

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Concerns Abū l-Faḍā'il and his wife ("amḍā la-hā al-taṣarruf fī jamīʿihā"). No details preserved. Dated: 1135 CE, under the reshut of Maṣliaḥ Gaon. Witnesses: Ḥalfon b. Menashshe, Natan b. Shelomo, and Avraham b. Yeshuʿa (ZL). (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Business letter in Arabic script, fragmentary, mentioning Abū Saʿīd Ibn ʿAwkal. The first part of the letter is missing. The writer is in Fustat and writes about debt collection. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #115) VMR

Letter In Hebrew, with many errors and phonetic spellings. The writer calls the addressee 'the Sar.' Dating: Late, perhaps 16th century. The letter concerns the salt industry in the area of al-Manzala and al-ʿAṣāfira (next to Baḥr al-Mallāḥa, between Damietta and Port Said) and also mentions Qaṭya, the caravan waystation in the Sinai desert about 60km east of Port Said. The writer reports on a dispute with his partner Elishaʿ, who had sent neither money nor salt. Somehow involved are the apostate (meshummad) Yaḥyā and the qāḍī ʿAbd al-Bāqī and the faqīh ʿAbd al-Majīd.

Letter from a father to a son. On vellum. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 11th century. This fragment opens with updates on the health of various people, including the addressee's mother. They heard news that the son is planning to travel to Jerusalem. The father gives various exhortations (yā bunayy...) including, 'don't gloat over your enemies' misfortunes.' Abūn sends his regards.

Decree. 6 lines of a chancery document chopped into pieces and then reused to form quires. One line on recto of Bodl. MS heb. d 81/19, with part of another visible above. The central line has been outlined/copied in places and is surrounded by Arabic annotations that may be drafts of formulae. There is also one red line of Hebrew script on recto, the beginning of a ketubba; Hebrew script (literary?) text on verso.

Collection of letters relating to the calendar controversy of 921–22. This is part of what Sacha Stern (2020) calls the Letters Miscellany: Letter 4 of 4. Bornstein (1904) called this letter ‘Ben Meir’s Second Letter’. This letter was likely written by the highest authority in Palestine, ben Meir, the Head of the Yeshiva, and likely addressed to the Iraqi/Babylonian leadership. The identity of the author emerges most clearly in his reference to his disciples’ announcement, on the Mount of Olives, of the dates of 921/2 CE (fol.7v:12), as well as from parallels with Ben Meir’s First Letter. Dating: the letter was written after Passover 922 CE, but before the New Year of that year. This date is based on the fact that the author refers to the celebration of Passover 922 as a past event (fol.7r:2) and warns his addressee not to repeat the error of Passover, but also warns his addressee to observe the New Year on the correct date (fol.8r:9-10). In the folios that survive, the author responds point by point to a letter that had been sent to him by his addressee. At this advanced stage in the dispute, the tone of the correspondence had deteriorated considerably. In several places in this letter, the author suggests somewhat perversely that the Iraqis have gone over to the Ananites, who should have been (and were once) their common enemy (fol.7r:17-18, 8v:7); and he comes close to suggesting a permanent schism between Palestinians and Iraqis (fol.8r:2-3, 8v:8; Stern notes that the meaning of these passages, however, needs a more nuanced evaluation). As in Ben Meir’s First Letter, the author still lays most of the blame on Saadya (fol.7r:6-8, 8r:14-16, 8v:17-18), as if to give the Iraqis a way out of their entrenched position. (Information from Sacha Stern, The Jewish Calendar Controversy)