Geniza Lab

Popular literature in Judaeo-Arabic. A story about a king, a crown, drinking wine, and Hind bt. al-Muhallab. This is followed by a brief book list, starting with Kitāb ʿIlm al-Nafs.

Account: revenue from rent in Damascus.

Forecasts based on the day of the week something falls on. Uses the Coptic calendar. Every entry ends "wallāhu aʿlam." Distinguishes between the forecast for Fustat and for the entire world. Some of the predictions: fire from the heavens, a lot of fish and a lot of heat, the sultan will persecute his enemies, women will be very sick that year ("because Venus is in the ascendant"), etc.

Bifolium from a book of alchemy. Same hand as numerous other fragments: start with BL OR 5565G.23–26.

Part of a booklet, with section beginning, like a title page, 'List of the Poor of Fustat--may God in his mercy make them rich and help them in his grace and kindness' (in K 15.5). Date is preserved here, on fol. 39, as, 11th of Marheshvan, October 30, 1107 (in App. B 21 Goitein wrote Tuesday, Marheshvan 18 [Nov. 5], but dated is correctly in Mediterranean Society, I, p. 56). The date is written in such a way that it could be tyt or tnt, 1107 or 1147, but the reading 1107 is made sure not only by the handwriting of the clerk [=Hillel ben Eli] but also by the names of various people listed, who are known from other Geniza papers. see ibid, I, p. 405 note 89. '490 pounds, amounting to 539 (loaves of bread), from the baker Ma'ali. Ten (pounds) were added, making a total of 500, namely ten loaves of old bread.' Other leaves from this notebook = fols. 5, 15, and 50. Notice the conspicuous presence of the Rum, Jews probably from Byzantium. In several places the names of the baker Ma'ali and that of another baker, Sadaqa, appear, interrupting the list of names of beneficiaries. The handwriting is that of Avraham b. Aharon, who also wrote App. B 23, 24. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 443, App. B 21, and from Cohen).

Letter(s) of appeal for charity. In Judaeo-Arabic. There are specific stories conveyed here, but the text is written in codex format—so maybe this is a book of copies or formularies.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. There is mention of the Qaraites and Ben Me'ir, suggesting that it might have to do with the calendar controversy. There is also mention of sums of money and entering a place that is referred to as Dār al-ʿIlm (not necessarily identical with the Qaraite institution in Jerusalem).

List of contributors to charity, preserving only 26 names, many identical with T-S K15.106. First two, including again the representative of the merchants al-Hakim, give 1/8 dinar, approx 5 dirhams. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 477, App. C 17 [dating from late 11th or early 12th century])

Accounts of the Jewish community. Location: Cairo. Dated: 18 Elul 1809 Seleucid, which is 1498 CE (not 1495 as Ashtor thought). Expenses include a lot of construction work and materials, wax and sweets for 'the orphans,' money for 'the captives,' and others.

Arabic poem, transcribed into Hebrew script. At least some of the originally Islamic elements were kept ("fa-wa-lladhī anzala furqānahu ʿalā l-nabiyyi l-muṣṭafā l-muntajab"). There are two bifolia here, so 8 pages. The order is somewhat difficult to reconstruct, but it appears to narrate the love between a woman named Jamal(?) and a man named Ghamr(?) and the poetic letters they exchange. Ghamr dies, and she elegizes him, and a man named Qutayba then starts to court her. Al-Ḥajjāj (the king?) appears as well. There are several joins (see T-S Ar.37.15, T-S AS 161.95, and FGP Joins Suggestions). Merits further examination.

Literary text in Judaeo-Arabic.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Written in a very cursive, Sephardi-influenced hand. Items purchased include 10 sheets of Baghdādī paper and "Divrei ha-Yamim she-le-Moshe Rabbenu" in two quires.

An ethical treatise, in a personal tone, about fulfilling the religious duties

the exact nature of this MS is unclear. The Arabic part seems to contain short poems. The Judaeo-Arabic part describes an unknown issue taken part at the synagogue. A Karaite is also mentioned.

A story or an historical account mentioning some places in Lebanon and Syria, the sultan and the slaves of the Amir

Fragment, middle part of orderly accounts in the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu. In addition to items known from previous accounts, many new ones appear, for example, 'myrtles [for the Sukkot Feast]--2 1/2 dirhams; a shoe for the halisa...--1 1/2; to the Muezzin...who lives near the synagogue of the Palestinians as per a memo by R. Ḥalfon--2; from the Yemenite for Dammuh--6.' (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 452, App. B 46 [dated 1210-1225])

Private account by Yeshuʿa b. Ismāʿīl al-Makhmūrī. Dating: ca. 1058. Contains details about dinars exchange and a list of amounts of money of debts and payments for an unknown person. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #322) VMR

List of names (Abū Isḥāq b. Ṭībān; Abū Zikrī b. Menashshe; Saʿd al-Mulk; Abū l-Bishr al-Bazzāz; Abū l-Ḥusayn al-Tinnīsī; Abū Manṣūr al-Zayyāt; Abū Naṣr b. Ḥaffāẓ al-Kohen; Abū ʿImrān b. Mardūk; [...] al-Ḍāmin) and quantities of wheat in waybas and irdabbs.

List of names (al-Shofeṭ; Abū l-Mufaḍḍal; Abū Kathīr al-Ṣayrafī; Abū l-Ḥusayn al-Barādī(?); Salāma al-ʿAṭṭār; Abū Ṭāhir al-T[...]; Abū l-ʿAlā al-Ṣaydalānī; Ḥasan al-Tājir; Ibn Rashīd; Abū Zikrī; Mubārak al-Ṣayrafī) with numbers ranging from 1 to 5. The professions suggest this is a list of contributors rather receivers.

Two pages of a large account written for a partner, divided into sections. The account mentions sales of linen, lacquer, precious stones, ammonia, clothing and shoes. Different individuals, such as Ibn al-Majjānī, the prominent Qayrawani merchant, are also mentioned to whom debts should be paid. At the beginning of section C the year 49/ A.H. 449/ 1057 is mentioned. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, 373-4; Gil, Kingdom, vol. 4, 701)