Geniza Lab

Fragment of a letter. 6 lines in Hebrew with praises for an important person (including that his enemies drink poison?), then 1 line in Judaeo-Arabic beginning a letter of recommendation for the bearer.

Small fragment of a legal document on vellum signed by [...]f b. Natan.

Tyrian marriage contract with a peculiar proposal formula borrowed from Malachi 2:14 (‘my companion and wife in covenant’). Mid eleventh century. (Information from CUDL)

Bottom of a legal document, possibly a get.

Letter (distressed) in Judaeo-Arabic. "If the girl is alive, I wish you to send me the letters, and if she has died, may God. . . . My mind is distressed [tashawwasha khāṭirī] on her behalf. Do not tell anyone where I am. . . because I am scared and my enemies are close behind." Abū Zikrī is mentioned in the middle of the enemies sentence (ואסתכתם אבו זכרי) but it is not immediately clear how he is related.

Bottom of a letter in Ladino from Damascus to Fustat, addressed to Yosef Pisho (?) the student of Yiṣḥaq Ashkenazi (very possibly Isaac Luria). The writer describes how he has wept day and night since their separation and "you know that the foreigner (el forastero), no matter how rich he may be undergoes hardships (por muncho rico que sea pasa fatigas)" He sends regards to several people: his sister, his brother Yosef, Moshe Rozal, el Hakham R. Hayyim Lavita and his wife, and to Doña Dona ("she of munyon" = the stump?) and to tell her that he was unable to pass on her message to R. Meir Cohen, because he is now in Sefat. He also mentions Masʿud Kohen and the brother of Yiṣḥaq.

Account of the Qodesh: revenue from rent, probably ca. 1043. A fragment of the right part of a leaf, the top and bottom of which are missing. A list of revenue for two months is partly preserved. All names given here have been encountered in previous documents. The handwriting is of Yefet b. David b. Shekhanya. (Information from Gil, Documents, pp. 199 #25)

Recto: Hebrew halakhic work? Verso: Arabic script.

Family letter in Judaeo-Arabic, possibly from Sulaymān to Sitt Ṭāwūs. Rudimentary hand. The writer sends regards to his (or her) son and daughter and mother.

Official-looking document in Arabic script. Needs examination. ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, with Arabic script in the upper margin. Mentions Menashshe, the fayj, Abū l-Barakāt, Nāṣir al-Juyūsh, [...] al-Dawla, "the Muslims and the Jews." ASE.

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Abū Zikrī Kohen. Fragment. Mentions saffron.

List of Judeo-Arabic two accounts in a very orderly hand that detail the funds requested from one Yiṣḥaq Ḥefeṣ (l. 2r) and the payments of S[eñor] Gedaliya Rozano in "פצה" silver coinage (l. 7-8r). The dates are listed in each entry's heading as in the opening of the month of Tishrei [55]83 or roughly September 1822CE (the first two digits of 5583 can be inferred by the names mentioned and the handwriting/paper usage). In the lower entry of payments, there is also mention of Moshe Aghion (l. 19r). The verso contains another list that is mostly faded and illegible although there appear to be itemized entries with corresponding eastern Arabic numerals. MCD.

Recto: Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, with Arabic script in the margins. The letter deals with business matters, mentioning Fustat, Abū Muḥammad b. ʿĀmir, al-Shaykh Mahdī. The writer also inquires about the news of the 'Beit Midrash.' Verso: Jottings in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic, some of which are probably related to recto, some of which are probably not.

List of accounts on a bifolium that may have once comprised a broader financial ledger. The method of bookkeeping is terse but relies on a predictable structure in which each entry is designated on a daily basis. On the verso, two forms of Ottoman coinage are referenced along the right margin of the fragment: "sherifi" and "kurush", which are accompanied by notes in both Hebrew alphanumerical figures and eastern Arabic numerals. The presence of silver kuruş is useful in estimating the dating of the document as 18th or 19th-century (given that these coins were not widely minted until 1703CE: Pamuk, A Monetary History of the Ottoman Empire, 160). MCD.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment. One side deals with routine business matters. The other side reads, ". . . out of your favor (inʿāmak), prescribe for me. . . I have been sick with a sneeze (ʿaṭsa, spelled ʿatsa). . . in the fever. The doctor attended me with a syrup (sharāb) and almond oil (duhn al-lawz). I arose from the illness for a period. . . from my place, and I remained for a period. It became. . . . " ASE.

Legal document fragment connected to the Mustʿarab congregation of Cairo—perhaps an acknowledgment of a deposit and a commitment not to benefit from it. The document names Moshe Dammūhī, who may be identical with the father of one of the witnesses of T-S 8J8.23 (1577 CE). This document is a join to T-S NS 99.59 (found via FGP joinfinder). MCD.

Most of a legal query about Reuven who sold to Shimʿon a copy of the Halakhot of a certain Rav Yiṣḥaq but the book was later found to be defective, but Reuven hadn't known that it was defective.

Lists of Judeo-Arabic account entries related to financial arrangments in which figures are expressed alphanumerically. The dating may be provided on the fragment's verso where the month Tamuz is mentioned and possibly the year [5]225/ה]רכה] or roughly 1465CE (these chronological markers may be parts of different heading). One of the entries is in the first-person, where the author titles a heading on the far left of the recto "ענדי סנאדיק", the latter word is the plural form of the financial term "סנדוק" which are listed individually within the same section of the fragment. The verso contains highly repetitive entries which may constitute pen trials of alphanumerical figures. MCD.

Trousseau list, small fragment. Jottings in Arabic script between the lines.