Geniza Lab

List of materia medica, including simples such as Convolvulus scammonia, mastic, amber, liquorice, and camphor. (Information from CUDL)

Literary text in Spanish, in a Castilian hand. Legible words include "contraparte" and "a pagarle." Dating: 14th century. Information kindly provided by Lluís Sales i Favà and Nina Melechen.

Fatimid capitation tax receipt for Isḥāq b. Shūʿā (=Yiṣḥaq b. Yeshuʿa), a Jewish druggist (ʿaṭṭār)

Fatimid capitation tax receipt for Hiba b. Yūsuf.

Business letter from Sibāʿ, in Asyūṭ. In Arabic script. Dating: Likely 11th or 12th century. Fragment (upper right corner of verso).

Undeciphered note in Arabic script.

Petition, probably. In Arabic script. Fragmentary. The sender seems to be complaining that someone has opposed him or will oppose him in conducting his business (...al-mamlūk min al-[...] taṣarrufuh fīh taṣarruf... min dhālika aw iʿtaraḍah...)

Faded document in Arabic script. Undeciphered.

Bottom of a formal letter or petition in Arabic script. On verso, torn and reused for a miniature receipt. Needs examination.

Letter in Arabic script. Very faded.

Recto: Official letter in Arabic script. Portions of 7 lines are preserved. On verso there is an inscription in enormous Hebrew letters (אלקדר יצ...) flanked by floral designs, inside of a thick red border above and below (compare ENA 3907.6 and T-S 12.459 + T-S G1.55 + T-S G2.150 + Halper 164).

Accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals.

Ownership note in Arabic script: "This book of medicine belongs to Ibrāhīm the Rabbanite Jew known as Ibn al-Ḥarīrī." On verso there are Greek/Coptic numerals.

Deed of acknowledgment (iqrār). In Arabic script. Ottoman-era. Needs examination for content. There is a note in the margin at 90 degrees in Judaeo-Arabic, which mentions a date, and another similar note on verso. There is a large red stamp (with some Arabic words) at the top of recto, and a small black stamp on verso.

Bifolio from a mysterious ledger. Contains some accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals, but also contains two entries that begin اصفح(?), and one may mention a woman who was killed by her husband.

Recipe in Arabic script. "Take the black myrtle and take the chard, and tear apart... take salt, a half measure..."

Accounts in Arabic script. State? Mamluk-era?

First line of an official letter. Begins, "The noble letter/document (al-kitāb al-mukarram) [reached] the slave of your excellence...." On verso there is a different Arabic-script document, very faded.

Letter in Arabic script. The script is difficult and the text is quite faded, though the address at the top should be legible (to Abū l-Ḥasan the Jew in al-[...]?). Verso contains the tantalizing phrase: "...free/rid me of him in any case, and inform me what...," and there is a verb that looks like طلقني ("divorce me"?) on the line above. The plea to be released from this man appears again at the end of the margin on verso. Needs examination.

Letter to an amir titled Ṣamṣām al-Dawla (wa-shujāʿuhā)—the same who is mentioned in BL OR 5557B.19? In Arabic script. Seems to mention the army (ʿaskar) in the last word of recto, and on verso there might be good wishes for a speedy recovery (refers to the addressee "entering the bath" and mentions "patience" near the end). Needs further examination.