Geniza Lab

State document in Arabic script. Genre and content are unclear. There are multiple text blocks, at one point written in two parallel columns. There are two different registration marks / mottos at the top. The end of the first line may read وكشفنا صح, indicating that the information contained here has been checked. About halfway down, on the right, there is a note addressed to a Qāḍī named Thiqat al-Mulk. Needs further examination.

End of a legal document in Arabic script. Might be dated 29 Jumādā I 510 AH, but this is difficult to read and more or less a guess. Mentions a sum of 8 dinars. There are two witness signatures preserved. On verso there are records of receipt of money, some mentioning rent; might be related to the legal document on recto.

Recto: End of a legal document in Arabic script. Only the witness signatures are preserved. Verso: Complete legal document in Arabic script. No witness signatures. Dated: First decade of Rabīʿ II 525 AH, which is March 1131 CE. Needs examination for content.

Recto: End of a document Verso: Possibly another document - needs examination.

Account including list of names and numerals arranged in four columns

Bifolio with unidentified text in Arabic script. Most of it seems to be prayers; mentions ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib. Might be documentary, but needs further examination.

Recto: Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic jottings Verso: Arabic document of sale, consisting of an acknowledgement (`iqrar), dated 633 A.H. Khan, Documents, pp.19, 46 (FGP)

Legal query in Arabic script. Dating: Late? A completely-preserved query with regard to a jointly owned house including a qāʿa and riwāq (شركة في دار تشتمل على قاعة ورواق). Needs further examination. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Recto is a petition, mentioning (asking for?) a rescript (tawqīʿ). Has a raʾy clause. Verso may be the rescript. Needs further examination.

Recto: Business letter in Arabic script. Mentioning various small transactions and giving instructions. Verso: Barely legible Hebrew text

Deed of lease. In Arabic script. Dated: 539 AH, which is 1144/45 CE. The lessee is the trader (tājir) Dāʾūd b. Ḥasan al-Yahūdī (though his name is written دواد instead of the usual داود). Complete document; needs further examination. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.)

Account including names, numerals and various jottings

Letter in Ottoman Turkish addressed to Salmūn who the sender Hafız Server Ağa addresses in the incipit as: "benim rūhum, mu’allam Salmūn" (my spirit, [the] learned Salmūn). The sender hopes that that the letter carrier, Murād, will be received favorably by Salmūn and confirms that he is a trustworthy in his services. Hafız Server Ağa also sends best wishes to Salmūn for the new year: "ve yeni sene mübarek olsun" (and may the new year be a blessing to you). The sender's title Server Ağa is a military title and "server" denotes a higher rank of "Chief Ağa" though it is unclear in which unit he served of the seven regiments of Ottoman Egypt. Given the terse tone of the letter it's possible it was bundled with other correspondence in an effort to introduce Salmūn to a new letter carrier than Hafız Server Ağa had used previously. MCD with information provided kindly by Dr. Özgen Felek.

Personal letter - needs examination.

Account including list of names, description of transactions and some numerals, arranged in two columns

Letter in Arabic script, mentioning multiple amirs (all called [...] al-Dawla). The ends of 5 lines are preserved. Needs further examination.

Letter or document including signatures - needs examination.

Possibly an account

Two letters (or drafts) in Arabic script. Same handwriting on each side. Recto: Addressed to Abū l-Rabīʿ, asking him to send 100 nuqra dirhams with the bearer without delay. Verso: Addressed to Abū l-Riḍā (spelled oddly, ابو الرظا). The addressee is asked to meet with the qāḍī Ṣafiyy al-Dīn and inform him that the sender yearns to serve him. (Information in part from FGP.)

Letter in Ottoman Turkish. T-S NS 306.84 and T-S Ar.39.435 may be related, since both concern shipments of firewood (odun) and have the same script and formatting. (Information from Jane Hathaway.) Needs examination.