Geniza Lab

Brief account in Arabic script, possibly concerning amounts owed by Maḥfūẓ. Lists sums in Greek/Coptic numerals and includes the phrase "through the end of Shaʿbān." Related to T-S NS 297.238? Needs further examination.

Letter or state correspondence in Arabic script. Approximately 2 lines from near the beginning preserved. The text in between lines 1 and 2 may be the name of the sender. Dating: Likely 13th century. Not much is preserved beyond the titles of the distinguished addressee: al-ajallī al-rayyisī al-ʿālimī al-ʿāmilī al-wariʿī al-akmalī al-ṣadrī al-karīm(?) al-muḥtaram(?) al-awḥad al-aʿazz....

Fiscal account, probably. Needs examination.

Recto: Petition, probably. In Arabic script. Fragment (lower left corner, portions of 4 lines preserved). The raʾy clause is partially legible in the last line: [wa-raʾyuhā] al-ʿālī [fī dhā]lika in shāʾa llāhu. The main text needs further examination for content. Might mention earning a living (iktisāb). Verso: The petition was torn and the back was reused for a brief account involving Maḥfūẓ (related to T-S NS 297.231?). Needs further examination.

Accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. Large numbers -- some are in the thousands.

Legal discussion or commentary in Arabic script, citing biblical verses and phrases in the original Hebrew language but in Arabic script (e.g., בנות צלפחד on recto, לגלות ערוה on verso).

Letter in Arabic script. Small fragment (upper right corner of recto). Consists mostly of formulaic phrases. In the margin, the sender may say that he will send his donkey to the addressee. Part of the address, possibly preserving the sender's name, may be preserved on verso.

Letter addressed to Abu l-Khayr(?) b. Ibrāhīm al-[...]. In Arabic script. Dating: 11th or 12th century. Nearly entirely preserved, except for the upper left corner of recto. The letter is a response to the addressee's inquiry about the news of the West (akhbār al-gharb). The first section begins, "As for al-Mahdiyya...." Mentions two ships, one belonging to ṣāḥib al-Mahdiyya (the same title is mentioned in CUL Or.1080 J258) and one to the Byzantines (al-Rūm). Spices (ṣaqaṭ) are selling well, unlike in Almeria. The second section: "As for Tripoli...." Mentions an item of news "which is not hidden from anybody" and "a certain Muslim man" who did something, "and this is the way of the Muslims." The sender then asks to be sent various goods, such as pepper, brazilwood, and rose water. Greetings to various people. Needs further examination.

Recto: Possibly the top of an official letter in Arabic script. Reused for jottings all over the margins in Arabic and Hebrew script. Verso: Bottom of a letter written in a combination of Hebrew and Arabic (in Arabic script). The portion preserved consists entirely of good wishes for the holiday and expressions of longing.

Recto: Top part of a letter to al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab. In Arabic script. Probably a letter of appeal for charity. Verso: Accounts in Arabic script, in a different, crude hand. Mentions various houses or places in Fustat (funduq al-[...], dār al-Fāḍil, Qaṣr al-Shamʿ, bayt al-Makīn) and various names (Umm Jalāl, Mūsā al-Faqīh).

Accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals.

Arabic legal deed - needs examination.

Unidentified document in Arabic script. Much of the text has been obliterated.

Damaged Arabic document - accounts? Needs examination.

Commercial accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals (with the name of the month מרחשון written in Hebrew script three times). Written on cloth. The other few documents written on cloth in the Geniza are from India, which is suggestive but not proof that this is also from India. Information from recto: The 'thānī' at the top of the page indicates that this is the second folio of the account. It was written in a year when 4 Ḥeshvan fell on a Thursday. Seems to be a detailed list of expenses for construction work on a house over the course of ~5 days. Red brick and the bricklayers are mentioned several times. The sums seem low, in the tens of dirhams. There is one entry apparently for "four game boards" (alwāḥ alʿāb). Another is an expense for "the Jews" for 5 days of water flow (sayl al-māʾ). Information from verso: The unit of measure farāsila is mentioned twice (typical for India trade documents). "The elder Ibrāhīm" is named in four different places, including the header ([...] ḥawāʾij Ibrāhīm); it seems very likely that this is Avraham Ben Yiju, and the account is being prepared on his behalf. At the bottom, there is a list of debts owed to Ibrāhīm including one from "his father-in-law al-Shaykh Kardār." See India Book, III, documents 18–21 for other commercial accounts coming from the same milieu (in Judaeo-Arabic). (Information from Amir Ashur, who identified the document as related to the India trade, and Alan Elbaum.)

Bifolio of private accounts, probably. In Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. Mentions various names (e.g., Ṣamṣām b. Ibrāhīm) and numbers. On one of the four pages there is a cryptic note in Judaeo-Arabic with some Hebrew mentioning "the days of 1335," the fulfillment of an oath, and a commentary on Daniel.

Bifolio of accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. Each section lists the expenses for a specified day. Needs further examination.

Literary text, mainly in Persian. Also with some Arabic, including two lines of poetry on verso before it reverts to Persian. يا ليلة اللذات... عودي علينا بالذي قد مضا... خوش وقتي بود... (O night of delights! ... Return to us with that which has passed... It was a good time...). Needs further examination.

Bifolio of business accounts, probably. In Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals.

Business accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. Mentions revenue from sugarcane (qand), the capital (raʾsmāl) of Abū l-Surūr, and al-shaykh al-Muhadhdhab.