Geniza Lab

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer defends himself against someone's accusations, extols his own devotion to the halakha, and cites a number of Talmudic passages in support. There are numerous corrections. On verso there is the beginning of Genesis in a rudimentary hand. Needs further examination.

Letters in Judaeo-Arabic. Quite faded. Dating: Probably Ayyubid or Mamluk-era, based on the hands and the layout. The letter on recto mentions a deep regret for leaving [...]. The letter on verso is addressed to 'adonenu' and is signed by Moshe b. לתק.... It mentions that the messenger sent by the addressee only arrived after al-Shaykh al-Ṣafiyy went to Cairo.

Legal formulary of Saadya Gaon (Kitāb al-Shahāda wa-l-Wathā'iq). Information from FGP.

Recto, with address on verso: Letter of appeal. In Judaeo-Arabic. From a certain Yiṣḥaq, in Malīj, to a certain Nissim, probably in Fustat. Goitein identifies the addressee as Nissim b. Nahray b. Nissim. Dated: ca. 1090 CE, per Goitein. The sender is in great distress ("the knife has reached the bone") and has no clothing to wear, on Shabbat or otherwise. Efrayim suggested to the sender that the addressee could get him a letter from the Rav (whom Goitein identifies as Nahray b. Nissim) and from the Nasi (whom Goitein identifies as David b. Daniel), recommending collections to be arranged on behalf of the petitioner in al-Maḥalla and Alexandria. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 508.)

Verso: Draft of a deathbed will in which a man gives two houses to two distant relatives, forestalls the possible claims of two other female relatives by assigning them 5 dinars each, and donates to the synagogue of Cairo a codex of the Five Books of Moshe and 3 dinars for the purchase of copper case for a Torah scroll. Dated ca. 1150. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 436.)

Recto: Letter fragment from Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi (who signs his name at the bottom). In Judaeo-Arabic. Greetings are sent to Abū ʿAlī, al-Talmid al-Jalīl, and the addressee's wife. On verso there is literary text.

Literary work. Dealing with court procedure, including the court notebook (shimmush) and its halakhic implications. Probably from Adab al-Quḍāh by Hayya b. Sherira Gaon or "Lawāzim al-Ḥukkām" by Shemuel b. Ḥofni. The same work as, and partially overlapping with, ENA 2639.44-45 (mistakenly recorded as 42-45 in the Libson article). Information from Dan Greenberger via FGP and Gideon Libson's edition.

Leaf from a file of responsum, written in the hand of Shemuel Ha-Levi b. Saadya.

Decree. The ends of two lines are preserved. Cut, folded into a bifolio, and reused for a Judaeo-Arabic literary text on the laws of vows (חיבור בערבית בדיני נדרים, משנה נדרים רפ"ג, וגמ' עליה כא,ב 10-15). Looks like the same Hebrew scribe as T-S NS 222.9 and T-S Ar.46.89 (which are likewise reused decrees).

Text on Talmudic polemics. (C. Baker and M. Polliack, ed., Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic Manuscripts in the Cambridge Genizah Collections: Arabic Old Series, 2001, 497) EMS

The main text is in Ladino and Hebrew, perhaps a sermon or exegetical work. Verso also contains: the draft of the beginning of a Ladino family letter with several drafts of the signature of Eliezer Ḥazaq; a musar text in Hebrew in a different hand; calligraphic pen trials of the Arabic alphabet; and scattered jottings and sums in Hebrew characters.

Document in Judaeo-Arabic; unclear if it is a letter or legal in nature. Mentions al-Lebdī, a deed (sheṭar) in the writer's possession, and an Arabic-script letter. Needs examination.

Bill of divorce, fragment. Location: Somewhere in Egypt. Involves someone named al-Sarūjī.

Legal formulary of Saadya Gaon (Kitāb al-Shahāda wa-l-Wathā'iq). Gives a sample deed drawn up in Baghdad(?), 1270 Seleucid (959 CE). Information from FGP.

Legal formulary of Saadya Gaon (Kitāb al-Shahāda wa-l-Wathā'iq). Information from FGP.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Dealing with business matters. This is the recto of folio 3; the other five pages are literary.

Recto: Letter in Arabic script. On verso there is an unidentified text in Hebrew. Needs examination.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. This is the end of the letter. The writer invokes the 'covenant of salt' (brit melaḥ) between him and addressee.

Four legal queries and one responsum in the handwriting of Daniel. b. Azarya. A part of a collection of questions that were sent to b. Azarya or one of his ancestors, as "Nasi" or "Rosh ha-Gola". The first question is about money that is kept by a guardian for orphans. The second deals with the value of promising money without a contract. The third is concerning a person who says bad things about his wife and as a result his son was seen by the community as "Halal". The fourth is about the responsibility of a person that inherited a vow that he did not fulfill. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 2, pp. 704-712) VMR

Legal fragment. Location: Fustat. Dating: 1100-1138 CE. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Involves a man named Namir known as al-Ḥakham(?) al-Ṣabbāgh.