Geniza Lab

A page from a court register. On verso a register of marriage agreement between Namer al-Khiyat and Hasna d. Halfon Hakohen. Also a register of sell of floor in a house between Mevurakh and Aziza d. […] known as al-Miksar? On recto remains of another register. All written by Halfon b. Menashshe Halevi. AA

End of a legal document in which several people promise to leave a house that was sold. Written at the end of Adar in Fustat 14xx/March-April 11xx.

Letter addressed to Abū l-F[araj Yosef] b. Yaʿaqov al-Andalusī Ibn ʿAwqal. Written on parchment. Small fragment. Dating: 11th century. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address partially in Arabic script. The portion of the letter preserved here refers once to Avraham Ibn al-Zarbī (cf. T-S 12.251 for this family name) and twice to "Avraham," probably the same person. Mentions "[the ship] on which he is traveling" and good wishes for everything to turn out well. AA. ASE.

Family and/or business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably no earlier than 13th century based on the abbreviations used (e.g., al-wālid al-makh[dūm]). Refers to a weight of 190 mithqāls and a rent of 20 something. Faded.

Legal fragment in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Nothing preserved apart from some release formulae.

Small fragment from a draft of a legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Concerning a dispute. "...the garments... said to him, 'yā fāʿil yā ṣāniʿ' [compare ENA 4010.7 + ENA NS 19.14]... to the police station (al-shurṭa) this elder... ugly (f.) of eye, and witnesses came... the Muslims from the... the Jews to the qāḍī..."

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Looks late. Needs examination.

Small fragment of fiscal accounting, probably. Reused for Hebrew literary text.

Letter from Pinḥas al-Ṣāʾigh to R. Shūʿa. In Judaeo-Arabic. Late. The sender opens with a complaint about his arthritis and a request for medicine. Mentions Sulaymān; the sender's arrival in his present location from Miṣr (Fustat/Cairo or Egypt); and various reports and instructions that are difficult to understand. Regards to the sender's paternal aunt; the addressee's wife and children; the sender's cousin (bint khāl); and another cousin (bint ʿamma) and her husband. There is more unidentified text on verso. Needs further examination.

Fragment of a letter addressing an 'elder of the congregations' with many honorifics and mentioning some gossip (rekhilut).

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. In a Sefaradi hand, laid out almost like a literary text. Not very much is preserved. On the other side there is Ezekiel 48:32–34 in a different hand. (Information in part from CUDL)

Ketubba, Rabbanite. (Refers to שטר כתובתא דא in the fifth line of the lower fragment.) Groom: ʿOvadya b. [...] Elishaʿ (spelled אליסע). Probably dated Elul [47]67 AM, which would be 1007 CE, but it could theoretically be 1107 CE or even 1207 CE. On verso there is part of a calendar including for the years 969–75, which are either reckoned from the destruction of the temple, i.e., 1037–43 CE, or from the creation of the world (which is much more common), yielding 1208–15 CE. The layout of the ketubba is quite odd, and the phrase כך וכך appears in the bottom line, suggesting that this could be a copy or a draft. The calendar on verso could have been written a long time after the ketubba on recto. (Information in part from CUDL via FGP, and dating advice kindly provided by Amir Ashur.)

Unidentified text, possibly literary or possibly a letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Refers to "the school of philosophical politics" (madhhab al-siyāsa al-falsafiyya).

Part of a letter. The writer mentions Tahir al-Kohen; he tells the addressee to tell him that the only reason his brother Abu l-Ḥasan didn't go out to see him is that he was suffering from ophthalmia; mentions 'Imran. ASE.

List of jewels and textiles

Family letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The sender may be Zekharya (the name appears at the bottom of verso). The words are very faded. The tone is urgent. Mentions "the government" (al-sulṭān), Qalyūb, documents (? אלכתבאת), something to be obtained from 'the mother,' and the sender's plan to go wait in Qalyūb.

Note probably from one judge or court clerk to another. In Judaeo-Arabic. “I have checked everything with me, even the house of the rayyis. It must be with you. If not, we’ll write a new one. But check with you. And peace.” (Presumably referring to a legal deed or court record.) Written on verso of an Arabic document.

Much damage, content unclear

Deed of lease. In Arabic script. Fragment (upper right corner). The lessee is named Yūsuf b. Ibrāhīm al-Sāmirī (the Samaritan). In the upper margin, there is the draft of the beginning of a Jewish legal deed. On verso there is Hebrew literary text.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Probably a mercantile letter of the 11th century. The name "Yūsuf" appears in the address, but the rest is very faded. Needs further examination.