Geniza Lab

Poem by Avraham Ben Yiju in honor of Judge Labrāṭ II (aka Labrāṭ b. Moshe b. Labrāt Ibn Sughmār. Location: Yemen. Dating: Possibly ca. 1140 CE.

Letter of appeal signed by al-Naharwani the cantor. The remnants of 7 lines, mostly blessings for the recipient, but also mentioning "terrible illnesses" (pega'im ra'im) and how one ought to extend mercy to Torah scholars. (Join: Amir Ashur)

Verso: halakhic text, possibly part of a responsum, written by Efrayim b. Shemarya (11th century), dealing with excommunication and repentance. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Responsum in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe or Hillel b. ʿEli. May be related to T-S 10J5.23 (verso). See Goitein's note card for further information.

Deed of acknowledgment (iqrār). In Arabic script. Dating: Mentions a period of 6 years beginning in Shawwāl 512 AH and ending in Ramaḍān 518 AH. As Shawwāl 512 AH began on 14 January 1119 CE, this document must have been drawn up shortly before that. Yehuda b. Yisra'el b. Efrayim al-Isrā'īlī al-Tājir known as Ibn Abī Kathīr apparently owes 100 dinars to Abū Kathīr Efrayim b. Yūsuf b. Ibrāhīm al-Isrā'īlī (l. 3). His collateral is a little house (duwayra) located in Fustat; there follows a description of the property. Many other names are given, because the reference is to a property bordering on Muslim properties. (Information in part from Goitein's note card.) ASE

Decree or petition. Portions of two lines are preserved, mentioning Yaḥyā b. Muḥammad b. [...], and a version of a raʾy clause: ...bi-khayri mā yarāhu ṣawāban wa-ṣalāḥan... The document seems to have been cut up and rearranged to form a long horizontal strip/placard; on verso, there are red borders surrounding a verse from Psalms (121:4) in gigantic Hebrew letters.

Printed treatise in Ladino and Hebrew. Translation of Psalms 19–20.

Printed. Ḥumash with Ladino translation and commentary.

Printed. Ḥumash with Ladino translation and commentary.

Printed. Daniel with Ladino translation.

Printed. Ḥumash with Ladino translation and commentary. Many pages.

A magical recipe with a drawing, entitled מצדת שפטים. Judaeo-Arabic translation and commentary of Deuteronomy 3:21-24 on f. 1v. (Information from CUDL.)

Leaves from Maimonides' Judaeo-Arabic draft of his Arabic treatise on sexual intercourse, commissioned by the Ayyubid prince Taqī al-Dīn Umar. Maimonides prescribes various concoctions to increase Taqi al-Din Umar’s vigour and recommends a diet that avoids ‘cooling’ foods (long pepper, galanga, ginger, aristolochia, cinnamon, anise, clove, mace, and nutmeg are recommended but lentils, vetch, and cold vegetables such as cucumber, donkey cucumber, melons, garden orach, spinach and especially lettuce are to be avoided). A drink of iron water boiled with the ox tongue herb, lemon peel, beaten carnation, wine and honey, is suggested. He also advises moderation, as the sexual act itself was ‘enfeebling’. (Information from CUDL.)

Letters of recommendation, probably. For Barukh Löb (here also called Barukh Lion). Written in Mainz. Presumably the language is German. Dated: 30th and 31st August 1842 CE, signed by Moritz […], Samuel Jonas Bondi and Jacob Levy. There is a second fragment here, also written in Latin script, which appears to be dated 1845 CE. See also AIU VII.E.239 and AIU VII.E.243, which are letters that Barukh Löb picked up in Livorno and Torino in 1852 CE and in Zagreb. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Legal document, it seems a power of attorney. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Netanʾel/Hibatallāh al-Mawṣilī appoints Abū l-Bishr as his agent. The case concerns [...] b. Yisraʾel, a dinar, [Bera?]khot ha-Rofeʾ b. [...], and "[the device] called 'catheter'" (qāthāṭīr/קאתאטיר/ قاثاطير/καθετήρ) (used for treating urinary retention and for the removal or dislodging of stones, mentioned by al-Rāzī and Avicenna among others). "If he does not return it to me, I will make...." On the term qāthāṭīr, see Marwan Ibn Janah, On the Nomenclature of Medicinal Drugs, ed. Gerrit Bos et al, p. 1030 (entry 898). ASE

Letter in Ladino regarding payment issues. Information from CUDL.

Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Involves Abū l-Faraj al-Jabīlī (or al-Jubaylī); the estate of his father; and his sister Sitt al-Nasab.

Legal document, small fragment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe.

Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Involves Bū l-Faḍl Shela ha-Levi.

Legal document. Possibly a will. Only the lower left corner is preserved.