Geniza Lab

ff. 1r-2.r: unidentified document in Judaeo-Arabic mentioning the Harem of Muḥammad ʿĀli in the Citadel of Cairo, and a certain Jamīla. Some of the phrases on f. 1v are repeated on f. 2r. On f. 1r there are Judaeo-Arabic pen trials in the hand of the writer of the letter found on f. 2v. Fol. 2v is a letter in Hebrew written in a different hand, mentioning a certain Zuntanai and Joseph Pinto. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document in Hebrew. Dating: Late (c. 16th century?). Mentions a R. Yeshuʿa and a store and contains legalistic language at the bottom

Testimony regarding a freed female slave who was betrothed to a kohen, Aleppo, 1191.

Marriage contract (ketubba). Fragment (lower left corner). The bride is a virgin. Includes some details of the trousseau. One signature: [Yeḥezqel?] ha-Ḥaver b. ʿEli ha-Kohen. (Information from Goitein’s index card.)

Probably a fragment from a letter, but the leaf is mostly torn. AA

Legal document signed by Abraham b. Shemaʿya. (Information from CUDL)

End of a legal document signed by Shlomo b. Yishay the Nasi (mid-13th century) and probably written by him. One of the parties is [...] b. Sheʾerit. Mentions heirs. AA

Accounts with Hebrew (and possibly Greek/Coptic) numerals. (Information from CUDL)

Letter fragment. "... the coming, at all, because she arrived in our absence ... and the people of Fustat (al-Misriin) treated her well, may God reward them... even the Rayyis and his wife and al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab...I was surprised that I did not receive a letter from you informing me of..." ASE.

Letter from Yitzhak ben Avraham (data from FGP by Abraham David)

Letter from Shemaʿya ha-Ḥaver, Jerusalem, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1053. The writer informs that he is in Jerusalem and is praying for Nahray at the Temple Mount and the Olives Mountain. He asks to pass a letter to the banker Mevorah b.David. Also mentions Avraham ha-Ḥaver b. Amram. (Information from Gil, Palestine, vol. 3, pp. 306-308, #519). VMR

Letter from Shelomo Mizraḥi or a female family member, in Alexandria, to Ibrāhīm/Brahim Aghion, in Cairo (Miṣr). In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in slightly broken French ("Monsier Brahim Aghion: si vous plez de le remettre tout de suite"). Dated: 20 Luglio 1885 CE. The letter is signed by Shelomo Mizraḥi, but the narrator of the letter seems to be a woman, as she uses feminine adjectives—perhaps she is Shelomo's sister. The relationship with the addressee is also confusing, because the sender refers to her "wālida" (mother) and "umm" (mother) as if they are different people. It seems that the "wālida," who is named סרינא, is actually the sender's paternal grandmother, and the addressee is her brother, which would explain why he is addressed as ʿamm (paternal uncle). In any case, everyone in the sender's household is sick (ʿayyān, ʿayyānīn). "The son of your sister" is swollen (wārim, manfūkh). "Your sister" is sick (ʿayyāna). The sender's mother (ummī) has swollen legs (rijlayhā wārimīn). The sender has a stomach ailment (ʿayyāna bi-miʿdatī). One man in the household was especially sick. The physician came to visit him twice every day. He remained bedbound for 22 days, but is now doing better. (There may be a rebuke here for the addressee, who failed to write and inquire about his health.) There may also be a couple lines of poetry (the part with long hyphens), but this needs examination. (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE

Am uncomplete bill of divorce (get) from Fustat 1366 to the Era of Documents (1055 CE). The husbands name is Nasir b. Ya'aqov. The wife's name remains blank and no signatures. AA

Two memorial lists, for the שמלאץ family of kohanim and the Nuʿmān family. On the other side there is a list of parshiyot in Judaeo-Arabic. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Document, entitled ‘list of registers’ (ṯabt al-dafātir), followed by names, such as Ibn Ḥātim. (Information from CUDL)

Late legal document from the year תקסב=1801 probably regarding a debt, but most of the text is too faded to read. AA

Fragment from a letter or note. (Information from CUDL)

Letter to a notable. In Hebrew. Fragment (lower right corner). Written on the 39th of the ʿomer. Very little information preserved. On verso there is the Hebrew vidduy in the same hand as verso of T-S AS 116.164. AA. ASE.

Probably part of an address, mentioning the sender Shelomo, son of the judge Elijah. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: letter to Benjamin b. Qalyūsa (?) al-Ḡazwī with address on verso, mentioning Abū Saʿīd. Verso: reply to the first letter, sent to Simeon b. Ḥunayn by the aforementioned Benjamin (reply to the letter on recto); with address on recto. (Information from CUDL)