Geniza Lab

Hebrew Bible, Nehemiah 13:21-28. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: the main text is apparently a letter to Solomon he-Ḥasid, but the content is mostly lost. The recto also has a small patch of text in one corner in a different hand, mentioning הפסד (vocalised), ‘loss, damage’, and an address written upside down at the bottom, belonging to the letter on verso. The address refers to the Nagid Abū l-Ḥasan b. M[...] and is from Meʾir b. Jacob from Narbonne. Verso: two pieces of text are visible, one of them mirrored, but very little is legible. It is possible that pieces from different leaves have become stuck together. (Information from CUDL.) See also Goitein's note card.

Informal note from a certain Avraham. In Judaeo-Arabic. He sent the note accompanying אלסדר (perhaps a prayerbook, but it is apparently a collective noun—could be lote leaves for medicinal purposes). He apologizes for the delay, explaining that they were in a place that he was unable to access. The addressee must have sent the note back or anticipated that Avraham would see it again, because he crossed out all of Avraham's phrases of abasement (ʿabd, mamlūk) and wrote above them "rather, his lord" (bal mawlāhu). Cf. Bodl. MS heb. f 101/43, where the addressee did the same trick. (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE

Letter from a son to his father, concerned with travelling issues, sending greetings to many family members, and mentioning the sender’s uncle Abū l-Faraj Ibn al-Tawwazī. (Information from CUDL)

Rhymed poetry. In the margin on verso the name Nissim b. [...] is mentioned. (Information from CUDL)

Letter(s) in Judaeo-Arabic. The portion on recto deals with the sending of various goods to be purchased and/or sent with Hiba, including lac, 2 pairs of tefillin, an ounce each of silk-white pearls and blue pearls for embroidery (raqm) and an ounce of 'muqallad blue' for ṭirāz, and white and blue knives. The portion on verso is an informal note in a different hand. Dated: 42nd day of the Omer, 1547 Seleucid, which is May 1236 CE. This is probably a postscript from somebody else in the household addressed to the same person as the letter on recto, because this person asks Hiba to purchase 10 nice ebony pens.

Letter from [Ismāʿīl?] b. Yefet to Natan b. Shelomo ha-Kohen. Dating: 1125–50 CE. In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender reports that he arrived safely. Natan's maternal aunt owes him 50 dinars. He asks Natan to get the money and give it to Abū Munajjā but not to tell him how much it is, only to tell him that Ismāʿīl kisses his hand and asks him to buy farkha cloths with it and send them to him a few at a time. He asks for the wicker baskets (קרטל) that he forgot to bring with him. Regards to Natan's maternal aunt, Avraham ha-Melammed, Umm Manṣūr, Yūsuf b. Munajjā, Ibn Ḥātim, and Abū l-Faraj. Regards from the sender's maternal uncle, who also asks Ibn al-Shelishi to send the daftar containing Deuteronomy.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Perhaps ca. 13th century. Mentions [Kāti]b al-ʿArab; a matter that was only resolved by bribing one of the eunuchs; the Nagid's owing 20 dirhams to al-ʿAmīd; business in various garments including a turban; Muwaffaq the Qaraite; a shipment that came with a detailed account written down on its 'qirtās'; R. Eliyya; and Abū l-Najm who wanted two blankets. ASE

Beginning of a letter to Ibrahim ha-Talmid, perhaps from a certain Shemuʾel. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Lower part of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The sender heard that his brother Yosef died in India, and he asks the addressee to enquire with a certain Ibn al-Dajjājī as to exactly how it happened. Apart from simply wanting to know, he is on the hook for paying his brother's capitation tax—maybe he will be exempted if he can prove his brother's death. Verso: accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. (Information in part from CUDL)

Recto: pen trials and drafts of letters in Judaeo-Arabic, Hebrew and Arabic. Verso: illegibly rubbed, faded and stained Arabic and jottings in Hebrew script. (Information from CUDL)

Draft of a commercial letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Concerning the textile trade, mentioning the Syrian cities of Lādhiqiyya (Latakia), Anṭākiyya (Antioch), Maʾarrat al-Nuʿmān, and Aleppo. It specifically mentions letters written to 'the elders of Latakia' and 'the elders of Antioch.' On verso there is an informal note in a different hand, asking to be brought quires containing liturgical poetry (raḥamin) and "the siddur of the Head of the Yeshiva (raʾs al-mathība) belonging to Abū Naṣr." NB: Goitein's index card refers to 6J5.5a ("Ashtor, Braslavi 480"), which is apparently a Mamluk-era fragment of a charity drive record written in Arabic script. This must refer to a different shelfmark. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Draft of a letter from Nahray b. Nissim to a person in the Maghreb. Around 1046. Seems like the letter is addressed to the Tahirti Family. Mentions several of his relatives and a few ships. Also mentions a visit of Nahray to Alexandria, the status of selling silk, and the arrival of Ibn Basak (Masliah b. Eliya, the Sicily’s judge). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, pp. 722-723) VMR On the recto of the join is a different business letter.

Commercial letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The sender received Frankish kohl (kuḥl ifrānjī) from the addressee but does not know its price. There are also standard expressions of yearning for the address (מא נעדם מן אללה סוי אלנצר אלי טלעתהם אלרשידה). On verso there is Hebrew poetry in a rudimentary hand, with biblical citations such as Psalms 104:1. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter fragment from Yisrael b. Natan, in Jerusalem, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat, ca. 1060, the 17th of Tamuz. Mentions Ramla. (Information from Ed. Gil, Palestine, vol. 3, pp. 158-159, #478) VMR

Recto: End of a letter in Arabic script. With many formal blessings and phrases of deference for the addressee. Needs further examination. Verso: Letter in Judaeo-Arabic concerning a copy of a book requested by the addressee. Dating: Likely 12th or 13th century, based on handwriting. It seems that there was an error in the template, so the scribe has refrained from copying it and asks the addressee to check or acquire a different book. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter, mostly formulaic, with an unusual layout. Possibly a copy. (Information from CUDL)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The sender beseeches the addressee to send him the remaining 35 dirhams he is owed from the sale of an animal. He repeats several times that he is only asking because the need is now urgent. Winter has come, and he is cold. His previous letters—including letters with greetings for ʿAbd al-Muḥsin and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān—had remained unanswered. On verso, jottings of accounts in Judaeo-Arabic and Greek/Coptic numerals, written in a different and rudimentary hand. Mostly illegible but mentioning the name Sulaymān Kohen and 2 raṭls of something. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter from a teacher reporting to a father that his child arrived at school with a little packet containing some silver (fidda), which the teacher confiscated lest the child lose it. It weighed 2 7/8 dirhams. (Information from Goitein)

List, on verso of letter of a teacher (translated by Goitein, Sidre hinnukh, 192, p. 60). First two rows: amounts to be distributed; third row: seems to list distributions by weeks. It is not clear what the notation means: an unnamed person? an addition to the allotment of someone named? The fourth row consists of distributions with total 4 1/4. See also T-S 6J6.12