Geniza Lab

Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Legal document. Tiny fragment. In the hand of the court scribe Yosef b. Shemuel b. Seʿadya ha-Levi (active c.1181–1209).

Legal document. Small fragment. In the hand of the court scribe Yosef b. Shemuel b. Seʿadya ha-Levi (active c.1181–1209).

Letter in Hebrew. Dating: Probably 11th century. Begging a dignitary for help interceding with the king and tax administrators concerning the burden of tax being levied by 'the judge of our city':שופט מדינתנו….וירחמינו כי אין… כשמן הטוב… יחי לעד שהוא מתעסק בצורך … בממונו ובגופו עם בעלי המס וגם כל … המס למשלם חדש אלול משנתינו זו … נדע מה יהיה באחריתנו … אלולי רחמי בשמים(?) … לו כתב … הזקן . אדונינו … מלפני המלך … הכתב. On verso there is a different text, possibly literary.

Legal document, small fragment. Mentions 'all kinds of merchandise' (in the margin).

Legal document, tiny fragment. Mentions 5 dinars.

Letter from Yosef b. Yaʿaqov ha-Bavli Rosh ha-Seder. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. The sender asks the addressees to help him pay his debts. Greetings and good wishes for the holidays to Simḥa, Avraham, Yaʿaqov, and Elʿazar, the sons of Yosef. (Information from CUDL and Goitein’s index card.)

Fragment from the bottom part of a ketubah with partial signatures and a qiyyum - approval of the signatures. The groom name is Natan. Signed by Yosef Hakohen b. Moshe, Tahor Halevi b. [...]. The qiyyum is signed by [...] b. Zadoq, [...] Halevi b. Nethanel. AA

Letter, tiny fragment. Mentions שוכני צלע, a reference that also appears in T-S Misc.35.43 and T-S 10K7.1.

Letter fragment. In Hebrew. Wide space between the lines. Most of the content is missing. Written at the end of Sivan. The sender's name seems to be [...] b. Ḥalfon (ZL).

Marriage contract (ketubba). Small fragment. The bride is named (Sitt al-)Khawāt. The scribe uses the unusual spelling דנאן for דנן, which may help in finding a join.

Recto and verso are two versions of a similar letter concerning the same issues, recto in Arabic and verso in Judaeo-Persian (with occasional Arabic). Dating: Late 10th or early 11th century. There are several names and place names in Arabic script (e.g., Abū Naṣr, al-Fāḍil Abū ʿAlī, Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan (b.) Zakariyya, Damascus, and Baghdad. It seems the sender is aiming to force a business partner to pay an outstanding amount. The document is labeled "L5" in Shaul Shaked's (unpublished) classification of Early Judeo-Persian texts. (Information in part from CUDL) OH

Accounts with Coptic numerals. Mentions various female and male names such as Farajallāh, Bint al-Kātib Abū Shaʿra, Ibrahim Dhabbāḥ (‘the butcher’), Yiṣḥaq al-Faranjī and Yosef al-Faranjī. (Information from CUDL)

List of "high priests": She'erit, Yeshuʿa, Meshullam, and Shelomo.

Informal note in Arabic script. Addressed to a certain 'al-shaykh al-fāḍil.' Possibly from a woman? The sender's information looks like "al-ʿabdatuhā" (which would be ungrammatical but an understandable error). The note needs further examination for content. On verso there is a note in shaky Arabic script (with one word in Hebrew script) giving the date as Rabīʿ II 496 AH (with a helpful legend in Judaeo-Arabic underneath). Possibly mentioning the rent (ujra) for that month.

Letter from Ḥayyūn to 'the noble merchant, the noble Kohen.' The sender has sent the 'qaḍīb'(?) along with 4 dinars with Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf. A certain Yehuda has sent 11 dinars. The sender gives instructions for what do with his business deals and with the money. Abū Surūr adds his greetings at the bottom. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Order of payment in which Abū l-Faraj is instructed to pay 15 dirhams to the bearer, who is a plasterer (jabbās). The sum is also written in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals at the top. There is also a note in Arabic script on verso, unclear if/how related. (Information in part from CUDL)

Drawing of a model for woodwork. Perhaps for a panel for an ark (?). (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Some sort of prayer (יהי רצון מלפני שוכן...).

Legal document of communal let, signed by Nāḥūm, Hilāl ibn [...], Ṯābit b. [...] and Muʿāla b. Isaac. (Information from CUDL)