Geniza Lab

Recto: Letter in Arabic script. Dating: Mamluk-era, probably. Mentions al-akh al-ʿazīz Mubārak in the margin, so probably related to the Judaeo-Arabic letter on verso (PGPID 35947). Needs further examination.

Verso: Letter addressed to Mubārak. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely Mamluk-era, based on the handwriting and the typical names. We did not expect you to fail to arrive with Rabbenu David and ʿAbd al-Ghaniyy. What is this behavior?! You know that your mother has her eye on the road... and your sisters, too." Mentions Elʿazar he-Ḥasid. Describes the difficult times: "....your hand in our hands. We hide nothing from you, my brother(?), we used to depend on him (the dead man mentioned earlier?) and he departed, only the Creator can support us in His mercy. Now, we eat what we had stored up before we die, because the city today is shut (mughlaq). One raṭl of kharjī(?) bread goes for 2 dirhams... and there is nothing cheap in the city. " Further down, mentions travel to Fustat and that (al-shaykh) al-Saniyy R. Shemuel traveled to Beirut, and from Beirut to Cyprus. Greetings to ʿOvadya, Elʿazar, Natan, and various others.

Letter in Ladino with interspersed Hebrew phrases. Dating: ca. 18th century? This is a letter of appeal for charity. There may not be any information to identify the sender or the addressee ("my noble and virtuous master"). The sender complains that he has no money to clothe his wife or children ("tengo mi mujer desnuda..."). (Information in part from http://www.investigacion.cchs.csic.es/judeo-arabe/sites/investigacion.cchs.csic.es.judeo-arabe/files/Genizah-Al-Andalus.pdf.)

Fiscal register? Compare BL OR 5566B.3 (PGPID 19261) and the other shelfmarks cited there.

Legal document. Location: Fustat. Dated: 6 Tishrei 1530 Seleucid, which is 1218 CE. Inventory of a dead perfumer's shop, taken for purposes of dividing the goods between his son Abū l-Faḍl and Abū Saʿīd b. Abū l-Manṣūr. The executor is Netanel ha-Sar ha-Rofe. Goods include ʿabīr; ʿūd; rāwand. On verso there is a note in a different hand with the name of a woman. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

List of expenditures for a week. Here, 100 pounds of bread and its transportation cost 22 1/2 [1/4 MR Cohen] dirhams. The salaries recorded are typical. When a beadle is listed here with a salary of 4 dirhams (instead of 2, as usual), the sum certainly included arrears for the preceding week. Also, some entries of personal expenditure made by the official.' MR Cohen: Same names as in lists of Shelomo b. Zechariah from the beginning of the 13th century. (Information from Mediterranean Society II, p. 462, App. B 80)

Note in Judaeo-Arabic. Calligraphic. The sender excuses himself for cutting himself off from the addressee by offering a cryptic excuse (כאן אלשיך חנבאץ? ענדה פי אכתר אלאוקאת)—someone the sender doesn't care for? He cites several verses and adds "according to how the Rabbanites (? ahl al-Talmud) interpret them." On verso there is a note to the addressee reminding him to deliver something (money?) owed to a certain woman.

Legal testimony. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: [14]59 Seleucid = 1147/48 CE. The century digit is missing, but can be filled in based on the reference to the year 5[..] AH in line 12. Needs further examination for the content.

Letter from Yiṣḥaq ha-Melammed ha-Bavli, in Bilbays, to Abū Isḥāq b. Bū l-Rabīʿ and a judge named Eliyya, in Fustat. (Goitein's index card says that the second addressee is not the famous judge Eliyyahu of the 13th century but rather a different Eliyya ha-Dayyan of the 14th century). In Judaeo-Arabic. Eliyya is asked to read the beginning of the letter to the sender's wife. The sender has been in Bilbays for a week or two, trying to persuade the congregation to formally appoint him as a teacher. "They are a flock with no shepherd, unable to discern good and bad." He will try for a little longer and urges his wife to stay put in Fustat. He inquires about conditions of travel from all the caravans arriving from al-Shām. Around this point of the letter he switches to addressing Abū Isḥāq and Eliyya and has many fulsome praises for the Nagid Avraham (II?) and sends regards to many community members in Fustat, including Sulaymān b. Abū l-ʿImrān al-Talmid. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.) There are also a few words in Arabic script, possibly from a prior document.

Bottom of a petition. In Arabic script. "...al-raʾy al-sāmī... bi-l-wuqūf ʿalā mā anhāhu... wa-yaqif ʿinda... in shāʾa llāh...." On verso there is piyyut.

Copy of a Gaon’s responsum (possibly R. Hayya Gaon) that includes details about the house of Bustenai and an answer regarding the status of the family’s children. There are two other versions for this answer (one of them is T-S 13G1). (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 1; joins by Shraga Abramson via FGP.) Ed. Assaf, Teshuvot ha-Geonim, pp. 59–62 (Doc #9).

Genealogical lists. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Looks 12th or 13th century; some of the names may be known.

Business letter addressed to Yiṣḥaq Sholal ha-Kohen. Dating: Beofre 1502 CE, because Yiṣḥaq Sholal was not yet the Nagid at the time this letter was written. The letter mentions Hebron and Gaza (the sender had previously sent letters from those locations). The specific business partnership has to do with wheat. (Information from A. David's edition on FGP)

Letter fragment by Shelomo b. Yehuda.

Letter in Arabic script. Most of the paper is preserved, but the text is very faded and overwritten with Hebrew jottings. Needs examination.

Contributors list, probably. In Judaeo-Arabic.

Letter in Arabic script. Beautiful handwriting. Wide space between the lines. Ḥamdala and ḥasbala at bottom. Needs examination.

Letter from Hārūn b. Yaʿqūb, in Tiberias, possibly addressed to Mūsā b. Ismāʿīl b. Sahl. Dating: Likely 11th century. Dealing with the indigo trade. Needs examination.

Probably a communal account for wheat distribution. Mainly in Arabic script, with some interspersed Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 12th or 13th century. Several women are named. Needs examination.

Petition or report. Bottom ~10 lines are preserved. Difficult handwriting. The first line may begin with the words "umūr al-thaghr." Reused for piyyuṭ on verso. Needs examination.