Geniza Lab

Brief letter ("ruqʿa") from Ibrāhīm to Abū l-{A}frāḥ Yūsuf (probably ʿArūs b. Yosef). In Arabic script. There does not seem to be much substance to the letter beyond assuring the addressee that the sender is promptly fulfilling his errands. Greetings to ʿAllān. Reused for accounts (in the hand of ʿArūs?) in Judaeo-Arabic.

State/fiscal document. Dated: 403 kharājī = ca. 1012/13 CE. "...mablagh …… fī l-ṣināʿa al-sulṭāniyya bi-nāḥiyat …… al-sana 403 al-kharājiyya...." Needs examination.

Fiscal document recording the receipt of a sum of money. 108 dirhams is mentioned. There is at least one ʿalāma (al-ḥamdu lil-lāh mustaḥiqq al-ḥamd, same as one of the ʿalāʾim found on Stern's decree #3). In the text block underneath mentions Bū l-Riḍā b. Hibatallāh the Jew and the phrase "ʿan jizyatih li-sana 5[..]."

On recto a poem in Judaeo-Arabic. On verso a sample letter to a notable. AA

Recto: Letter from a man of Qayrawān, perhaps in Jerusalem. In Judaeo-Arabic. This is an eloquent letter of appeal for charity. He says he has made pilgrimage to his current location ("may God build it") and lost all his money. He was embarrassed to turn to any of his countrymen other than the addressee. The biblical verses on verso may belong together with this document.

Verso: Three lists in Arabic script. One of them (underneath the Hebrew script, at 90 degrees to the other two text blocks) consists of business accounts ("...bayʿ mā biʿnā min al-ḥawāʾij..."). The two larger text blocks are related to each other, as they each begin with a basmala and "the children (or slaves?) of the cantor" (al-ṣibyān alladhī lil-ḥazzān), the first of whom is Sitt al-Samar (incidentally this is the name of a slave who appears in T-S 13J22.2). There follow numerous names and identifying details; the two lists differ somewhat, with the second one giving more details. Needs further examination.

Recto: Letter of condolence. In Arabic script, written in an elegant hand (and with diacritics). Upon the death of the addressee's brother Abū l-Ḥasan. Bewails the terrible blow that "has given the heart grief upon grief, opened a fresh wound upon a wound, brought successive evils, made tears stream, sundered livers, banished sleep. . . ." (The implication is that this bereavement is coming on the heels of a previous one.) The letter was possibly written by a Muslim for a Muslim, as it refers to "lanā fī l-sayyid al-rasūl uswatun ḥasanatun" (l. 22). But this conjecture is complicated by verso. Verso: Draft of a letter of condolence. In Hebrew and Aramaic (for the copious biblical citations, including many from Job and Ecclesiastes) and Judaeo-Arabic (for the body). Upon the death of the addressee's son. ASE

Recto: A curse in Judaeo-Arabic with some Hebrew against whoever is spreading false rumors about the writer and stirring up conflict between him and (probably) his wife. Verso: Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic, in the same hand. The sender asks for a favor from the addressee. He says that he knows that the addressee considers him like the late brother Abū l-Makārim. Same handwriting as T-S AS 162.161

Poem addressing the soul (yā nafs). In Judaeo-Arabic.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Addressed to Abū l-Najm Hillel [...] al-Jawbarī (or al-Gharbarī?). Mentions the following: Hiba b. Yūsuf Ibn al-Baghla ("Son of the Female Mule"—evidently a family name); the return of some people from Jerusalem; a debt of two dinars that someone is trying to collect from someone; Abū l-Khayr Bishrān b. Yishay b. Yisrael; a request for news about the pesiqa (collection of funds) of/for the Jerusalemites; a letter that arrived from Ibn Khashkhāsh ("Son of the Poppy") for Hiba, reporting that Ḥusayn collected a dinar from someone; and a derogatory statement about someone who said something that wasn't true. AA. ASE.

Document in Arabic script, occupying one page of a bifolio. (The other pages have Hebrew poetry, including by Ibn Gabirol.) This is catalogued as a deed of sale by Baker and Polliack. Very difficult to read; needs further examination.

Letter addressed to R. Peraḥya ha-Rav ha-Gadol. Mainly in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Maybe Ayyubid or Mamluk-era based on the hand and formulae, but this should be confirmed. The letter is extremely deferential. The sender thanks Sitt Ḍiyāʾ for inviting the children to come stay with her and uses the rest of the letter to explain why they were unable to do so and to profusely apologize for declining the invitation. The main explanation is given in r14–18 and v4–6, but it is tricky to understand. "What prevented them from coming, God knows, is the fear for the deliverance (khalāṣ; childbirth? recovery from illness?) of the women, as they have not yet met with anybody and have not gone down to the synagogue. The ones who warned them about this were their family and the 'father' and master Waliyy al-Dawla, who warned them not to go down, fearing lest.... When this occurred (=the invitation from Sitt Ḍiyāʾ), the master Waliyy al-Dawla sent and cautioned them against the words (=gossip) of people about them, and they refrained for that reason." It seems that "the women" (al-nisāʾ) are the same as the "children" (al-ṣighār) who were invited by Sitt Ḍiyāʾ. Maybe they are pregnant (or sick?), and the news isn't public yet. ASE

Document in Arabic, naskhī script. Possibly a letter or petition? 7 lines are preserved, along with several more lines angled in the margin. Difficult to read. On verso there is a list of prayers in Hebrew. Needs further examination.

Recto: State document. In Arabic script, in a chancery hand. The beginnings of 7 lines are preserved. Possibly a decree? Talking about the destruction of the districts (wa-athāruhu maʿrūfa... al-nawāḥī wa-afʿālahum... maʿrūf wa-lladhī... kharāb al-nawāḥī...). On verso there are ~8 lines of poetry in Arabic script and 12 in Hebrew script. Both the Arabic and Hebrew poems are headed with "basīṭa." The Hebrew poem is also headed with the name of the melody (ʿalā X) and then "fī nuskhat mawlāyyā al-ḥazan."

Draft of a petition, possibly. In Arabic script. Addressed to al-majlis al-sāmī al-ajallī al-mawlawī... The entire page is covered with Arabic jottings. On verso there is the qiddush for Passover.

Letter affectionately addressed to "qurrat ʿaynī" Abū ʿAlī Ḥusayn b. Yahūdā. Only the address, in Arabic script, is preserved. The rest of the fragment is filled with Hebrew literary text. The name of the sender should be legible.

A torn fragment from the end of a legal deed. One of the parties is Yosef. Written by Ḥalfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi. Perhaps T-S NS J 185b is a fragment from the top part of this document, but no direct join. AA

Bifolio from a sort of commonplace book. In Judaeo-Arabic. (There are a few words in Arabic script from an earlier document that was recycled.) On one side, there are approximately 21 numbered entries, which may be eloquent phrases to be deployed in letters on the subject of love, hatred, and the bonds of friendship. On the other side, there are verses of poetry from Arabic sources, some attributed to Ibn al-Rūmī. At the bottom of the page there is a verse that is attributed to Bahlūl on some websites: "My soul hangs from your camel's saddlebag; if you intend to kill me, urge her on" (روحي معلقة في كور ناقتكم أذا عزمتم على قتلي فحثوها). ASE

Popular literature. In Judaeo-Arabic. The portion of the story on this fragment opens with the appearance of a healer before a king: "...and princes and viziers and generals. As for your question about my trade: I am a wise man (ḥakīm), an exorcist (muʿazzim), a physician the son of a physician (ṭabīb bin ṭabīb), I release madmen and madwomen (al-majnūn wa-l-majnūna), the delusional (al-mutahawwis)... and epileptics (al-maṣrūʿ wa-l-maṣrūʿa). I command the jinn, both the tribes that fly in the heavens and those submerged in the earth. This is my trade and my craft, this why I roam the climes and the lands." The king is glad to hear this, because a female slave of his recently lost her wits. The healer begins to investigate with his magical methods, and the king reveals that her madness began after he tried to sexually assault her, and she began striking and tearing at the clothes of anybody who came near her.

Letter in Arabic in which a teacher reports to "my lord the Kohen" that the boy Mūsā had come to school after having absented himself for some days. However when he was asked to revise the Bible reading he swore he would never read more than one time and when the teacher asked him to repeat, he ran away. The teacher ran after and shouted at him, but he would not return. The teacher now asks the addressee's help. "If he does not revise it four or five times, he will not memorize it." Information from Goitein's note card.