Geniza Lab

A bizarre Judaeo-Arabic composition reminiscent of "clanging" in schizophrenia: disorganized thoughts associated on the basis of sound rather than content. Notable phrases include "for every plague there is a plague," following "ʿibarah destroyed 'atarah | al-fajārah destroyed al-hijrah | al-maskadah destroyed al-Mahallah." Also "If Efrayim puts out my eye, they'll ban | if Sa'id kills me, they'll cut off | if Salim strangles me, they'll topple." There are religious preoccupations as well and some gematriyah with names of God at the end. At least 15th century, if not well after, since it mentions a finjān of qahwah. ASE.

Recto: several lines of Arabic poetry transcribed into Judaeo-Arabic. A few words from the same poems are also written out in Arabic on the page on the right, along with other jottings and crossed-out lines in Arabic. Verso: Judaeo-Arabic rhymed prose on the theme of heartbreak ("O heart... you endured the afflictions of the stars... you loved a hard-hearted Turk," etc.) ASE.

Late fragment with several obscure sections. The main block of text on recto seems to mostly relate to Genesis 13:4 (quoted at the top) and various glosses on portions of the verse. Berakhot 17a is also cited ("by what do women merit? for bringing their children to read in the synagogue and for sending their husbands to study in the study hall"). There are also short notes on both recto and verso for a scribe? for a reader? saying that if specific words are put in front of others, or skipped, it is pasul. May belong with T-S Ar.30.48. ASE.

List of the names of the masters of wind, rain, and fire who have dominion in the four seasons of the year, presumably useful for magic or astrology. It says you must also know how to invoke the master of the sky, of hidden things, of treasures, and of seeds, and of Mars, and of the other stars. But God is the most powerful. In the margin in a different hand is written 'Abd 'Alī b. Gharb Sittī wa-ahl bint Sitt [. ASE.

Judaeo-Arabic accounts.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Reporting on Abū ʿImrān b. Abū l-[...] who stole six good orange trees (uṣūl nāranj min khiyār al-uṣūl) from a ruined small compound (duwyara kharāb) and replanted them in his own garden. The addressee's brother-in-law Ibrāhīm confronted him, and Abū ʿImrān and his cronies beat Ibrāhīm up nearly to death. Then one of them was dragged to the police station (al-shurṭa) and jailed and unspeakable things happened. The Jewish court or judge (bet din) then got involved. (Information in part from Goitein's index cards and Mediterranean Society, IV, pp. 63, 77.) EMS. ASE.

Judaeo-Arabic commentary on Daniel 10. ASE.

Four pages from a table of contents for a late, large (>300 pages), literary work in Hebrew. The chapters are organized around themes and the subheadings are variations or maxims on the theme, and each one occupied about a page in the original book. ASE.

One side: four ethical (?) principles in Judaeo-Arabic written over the remains of a few lines in Arabic. The other side: a legal query and its answer (both in the same handwriting) regarding illicit sexual relationships. ASE.

Late legal document in Hebrew having to do with the payment of a ketubba and other property arrangements. Needs further examination. ASE.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic, probably late.

Stories in Judaeo-Arabic, including one about a man from Basra (?) who went to King Solomon for help tracking down a man who had slept with his wife. ASE.

Recto: Short Judaeo-Arabic poems with some Arabic titles written at the beginning, such as ghayruhu (`another one) and sawt (`song) Verso: Judaeo-Arabic poem and an Arabic poem

Recto: Arabic poetry transcribed into Judaeo-Arabic (helpfully headed "this is poetry"). Verso: An obscure incantation (?) in Judaeo-Arabic. Needs further examination. ASE.

Prayer in Judaeo-Arabic with philosophical allusions. ASE.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic.

Document in Arabic script, perhaps an account.

Informal note from ʿAbd al-Karīm to R. Yosef . He asks the addressee to urgently send his grandmother ("the mother of Sutayta") for Shabbat, because the boy himself is sick (mā kān ṭayyib) and so is his father. The father had been carried home (maḥmūl) on a bed (?) on Wednesday. (Information from Goitein's index cards.) ASE.

Medical prescription composed of ingredients that appear regularly in similar prescriptions of those days. Wine is recommended as an alternative for a sharab (a potion). The verso contains an unrelated Arabic document. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 266-7)

Medical prescription in difficult Arabic script. Information from Goitein's note card.