Geniza Lab

Accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. Dated: Rabīʿ I 8[.]2 AH, perhaps 822, which would be 1419 CE. Many of the sums are in the 1000s of whichever currency is being used (both "silver" and "gold" are mentioned).

Family letter in Arabic script. "Inform your mother that my mother is well...." Needs further examination.

Letter addressed to Abū l-Mufaḍḍal, in Alexandria. Fragment (left side of recto). In Arabic script, in an eloquent style. Dating: Likely 12th or 13th century. Most of what is preserved consists of flattery and blessings. The sender says that he sent something with Abū l-Faraj, and he seems to be reporting on his attempts to carry out errands for the addressee. Verso contains the end of the letter and the address.

Verso: Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic book list, consisting of names of tractates and other titles. On recto there is classical Arabic poetry (not a letter). Dating: Fatimid or Ayyubid-era.

Letter from a man to his son. In Arabic script. The address is rubbed out, although the word thaghr is still legible, so it was probably sent to either Fustat or Alexandria. After about 10 lines of prologue, the sender complains about the lack of letters; reports that the addressee's paternal aunt died, and her inheritance is in the hands of the government ("aṣḥāb al-mawārīth"). Also, the addressee's brother has had a son in Qūṣ. The rest of the letter mentions an upcoming holiday a few times. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.) Merits further examination.

Recto: Petition, probably. In Arabic script, in a Fatimid chancery hand, with huge space between the lines. Portions of two lines are preserved: ...ʿalā yadih mutatā[...]...bi-ʿuluww himmatih wa-yankashif ʿan al-m[...]....

Verso: Geometry textbook? In Arabic script. The word "equal" (mutasāwiya) appears about a dozen times, and the discussion seems quite technical ("...the two inner ones, the smaller of the two upright ones, and the two walls... the two straight walls...").

Bifolio from an account ledger. In Arabic script. Dated: 1286 AH, which is 1869/70 CE. Various accounts and short notes including names and numerals, possibly by an official. Recto contains two Ottoman circular seal imprints. The folios are numbered as 18 and 19 (in western Arabic numerals) which suggests they formed part of a notebook of official(?) accounts (FGP).

Legal document. In Arabic script. Dated: 14 Rabīʿ I 934 AH, which is December 1527 CE. Includes witness signatures (prefaced "ḥaḍara..."). Recto contains an Ottoman circular seal imprint in margin. Needs examination for content.

Legal document, probably, or less likely a formal letter about a legal case. In Arabic script. Dating: Unknown. Mentions names such as ʿAbdallāh b. Jaʿfar al-Dhabbāḥ and Aḥmad b. Muḥammad and records testimonies that were given before the court. There is text on both sides. Needs further examination.

Formal letter(s) in Arabic script. Only a few words from the beginning of each line are preserved. There are several distinct text blocks and at least three different hands. The section at the top may be a letter of appeal for charity or help, since it describes someone's "lack of energy" (qillat nahḍatih). Needs further examination.

Series of accounts, consisting mostly of numerical sums including two notes stating the accounts are for al-mu`alim ya`qub shalom al-yahudi. (FGP)

Bifolio of accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. Faded and smudged. (Not a letter as catalogued on FGP.) Needs further examination.

Document including signatures. Verso contains only six lines, consisting of signatures - needs examination.

Muslim marriage contract. In Arabic script. Dating: Unknown. Written in a calligraphic hand, in pairs of two lines separated by moderately wide spaces. For other such marriage contracts (though none have this layout), see Khan, ALAD, docs. 32–34, especially doc. 32 (T-S 18J1.10), which shares some of the same formulae. The top of the document are missing. This fragment begins in the section describing the duties of husband toward wife and vice versa. The bride's legal guardian (waliyy) for the purposes of the marriage is her brother Abu ʿAlī Ḥasan b. ʿAbd al-Aḥad b. Faraj. Mentions [...] al-Anmāṭī and Isḥāq b. Muḥammad al-Maghribī who attest that the bride is free, Muslim, a virgin, mature, and sound of mind and body. The groom is called a faqīh (jurisprudent). There are two witness signatures preserved (which need examination). Found (and joined) by Alan Elbaum and edited by Naïm Vanthieghem.

Document overwritten with notes and other jottings - needs examination.

Legal document in Arabic script. Fragmentary (right side only). Dating: Unclear if this is the date of the document itself, but the document mentions the year 955 AH, which is 1548/49 CE (l. 11). The judge is al-ḥākim al-shamsī Shams al-Dīn [...]. The document mentions several people, notably Yehuda b. Avraham b. Yosef Castro, presumably identical with the merchant Yehuda Castro known from CUL Or.1080 J133, ENA 2808.2, ENA NS 54.7 (though this seems too late), T-S NS 320.127, and probably other Geniza documents. Also mentions Isḥāq b. Isrāʾīl b. Yaḥyā al-Yahūdī. Also mentions al-Raʾīs Muḥammad; certification (taṣdīq) of claims; various large sums of money (including 800 medins/niṣfs and al-dhhab al-sulṭānī); a ship; and Istanbul (اسطنبول). There is one witness signature preserved here, of [...] al-Ḥanafī. Needs further examination.

Recto: Deed of acknowledgment (iqrār). In Arabic script. The muqirr is ʿAlī b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. Needs further examination. Verso: Informal note (petition?) in Arabic script addressed to "al-Shaykh al-Rayyis al-Muwaffaq." Needs examination for content. There is a version of a raʾy clause (والراي ما يراه المولى). The sender says he is waiting for the addressee in the house. Needs further examination.

Probably a draft for a letter or petition. In Arabic script. The two sides are in different hands, but each contains elaborate titles of important people (e.g., ʿImād al-Mulk, Jalāl al-[...] wa-Amīnuhā... Shujāʿ al-[...]). The Baker/Polliack catalog says that it may be dated 34?, but this does not seem to be correct. Needs further examination.

Letter in Arabic script, with one phrase in Hebrew script. From the medieval India trade. Dating: likely second half of the 12th century (mentions Ibn Daghīsh, who appears ca. 1180 CE in T-S Misc.28.187). The sender is a well-connected Jewish merchant, possibly writing from Yemen. He refers to the arrival of goods from Fanṣūr (=present-day Barus in NW Sumatra); to a trader in Malabar (Malībar), to his own meeting with Abū l-Maʿālī b. Abū ʿAlī Ibn al-Amshāṭī in Sunkhalā (=present-day Songkhla), and to how Abū l-Maʿālī gave him a power of attorney to collect goods on his behalf in Aden. Other names mentioned are Abū ʿImrān Ibn Nufayʿ (well-known from the published India Book documents), al-Fāsī, possibly Bū Ṣāliḥ Mūsā, and Maḍmūn b. Isḥāq. ASE