Geniza Lab

Mysterious strings of Arabic letters and numbers along with two diagrams. One diagram has a caption, stating that it protects a person against iron and guns (banādiq) and spears and anything else which a person fears. Likely but not definitively a join with CUL Or.1080 14.13.

Bifolium from an Arabic work, mostly consisting of prayers and verses from the Quran and names of God, but also including a line of probably-magical symbols, headed with a six-pointed star.

Several bifolia from an Arabic and Persian grammatical treatise.

The Arabic title page of the Quran with al-Zamakhsharī's commentary, edited by William Nassau Lees (وليم ناسو ليس الايرلندي), printed in Calcutta, 1856.

Qaṣīda, ending, by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAlī b. Ṣāliḥ al-Makkūdī (d.1405 CE), with a colophon giving the date 11 Rajab 989H (1581 CE). Verso contains many lines of Arabic text (90 degrees to recto, so probably not the same work), almost completely blotted out with ink. Much of it may still be legible though.

Calendar (astronomical/agricultural) for Eygpt for four of the Coptic months (Hātūr, Kiyāk, Ṭūba, and Amshīr), also giving the names of the corresponding Gregorian months (in Arabic). At the top of the one page the year 1090, presumably Hijri, is named (1679/80 CE). (To read this as the Coptic year would yield an implausible date in the 14th century CE.) At the top of the other page, someone named Riḍwān Effendi is named. Most of the entries seem to be recurring events: "wheat is planted," "the south winds blow," "the planting of the poppy," "the beginning of the lawāqiḥ," etc., but one of them (the first entry under Ṭūba) reads, "the lifting of the plague (wabā') in Miṣr."

Arabic work of literary criticism, several pages, probably Khazānat al-Adab wa-Ghāyat al-Arab of Ibn Ḥijja al-Ḥamawī (d. 1433).

Bifolium from an Arabic literary treatise, including the pious opening and, on the other two pages, several (al)chemical recipes.

Historical treatise (many pages), it seems mainly discussing the rulers and wars of Ifrīqiyya (Al-Jazā'ir, Tūnis, Qayrawān, etc.) in the mid-13th-century. Needs further examination.

19 small scraps, more or less neatly cut from a literary work. Many of them have Arabic on one side and Syriac on the other, with approximately the same line spacing and occasional use of red ink, suggesting that they belong to the same work or at least were written by the same scribe. The Arabic text on f.14v, one of the larger pieces, mentions idol worship and includes the sentence, "O Sergius, o most beloved of friends. I am abashed of. . . ." Perhaps this is the martyrdom of Sergius and Bacchus? Other pages (including the join P2 + P3 + P15 + P17) seem more liturgical. Needs further examination. ASE

Pen trials in Latin- and Hebrew-script. The Latin-script words and abbreviations resemble Castilian Spanish but at times demonstrate Italianate linguistic influence. These words are honorific and often appear in addressing letters and on both the recto and verso the name "Antonio" is repeated. On the verso, the surname "Romano" also appears. There is one cluster of Hebrew letters interjected on the verso and below that the square letter aleph is practiced. MCD.

Bifolium from a Judaeo-Persian commentary, including sections on Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, and Lamentations.

Prayerbook in Spanish or Judaeo-Spanish. In Latin script. Containing the yaʿale ve-yavo prayer for Rosh Hodesh as well as a portion of the liturgy for Shabbat afternoon. Likely 16th century, predating the Ferrara siddur. Edited by Eleazar Gutwirth, "Fragmentos de Siddurim españoles en la Guenizá," Sefarad 1980

Ledger with many distinct entries in Italian, perhaps copies of letters. Needs examination.

Letter from Mose de Toledo and perhaps one other person, in Gaza. In Spanish. Dating: Probably 15th–16th century, on paleographic grounds (assessment kindly provided by Jesús de Prado Plumed and Michael Waas). Thus the sender cannot be identical with the author of "La Trompeta de Mose de Toledo El Sordo de Hierusalaim," which was published in Venice in 1643. The letter mentions debt and an intention to acquire some fruit (...pueda ganar una poca de fruta de...). Merits further examination.

Literary text in Spanish. Needs examination.

Letter in a Romance language, perhaps Spanish, signed in Hebrew: Yehuda Maḥriẓ (? יהודה מחריץ). An alternate reading for the surname is "Madin / מאדין".

Letter in Spanish with columns of numerical calculations at bottom that appears to be dated 5 Tamuz 5437 or July 5 1677CE (the "4" is faint and must be read at 140-200% zoom with high contrast on FGP). The fragment's verso folio is in fact the first page of the letter and that's where the dated heading appears which also indicates the letter's place of recording as Damietta/Dimyat. Just before the calculations begin, "ermano Aron de Abram" is mentioned in what may indicate familial ties to the fragment's author (l. 14r). In lines 8-9r, "en comienda" as separate words is mentioned for example in the phrase: "dara la inclusa con mil en comiendas. Below the accounts one "rais Fattiah" is mentioned, likely with the tile "rais" to indicate his status as a ship captain. MCD.

Accounts in Latin script.

The script is Hebrew, but the language is neither Hebrew (except in parts) nor Arabic. Possibly Ladino as per FGP's catalog, but an expert would need to examine it—only a handful of words actually appear to be consistent with Ladino. Possibly Greek?