Geniza Lab

Family letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (bottom part only). Dated: Elul 498[.] AM, which is the 1220s CE. In the portion preserved before the concluding greetings, the sender complains at least twice about the gloating of enemies (shamāta). At one point (s)he exclaims O Ḥawliyya(?), O my sister! There are some more strange names in the greetings section. Greetings to: the same Ḥawliyya and her husband; ʿEli; Maʿadd(?); Ḥusayna and her husband. Greetings from: ʿUmar; Sitt al-Hāl (=Sitt al-Ahl?); Ḥaqqūn(??); Makhlūf; "I, Kātib(? or Kātim? or Khātim?)"; and "my father גיתין.

Family letter addressed to Sulaymān Abū l-Faḍl. in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 14th century or later. Most of what is preserved consists of greetings.

Formal letter in Arabic script. Dating: Maybe Mamluk-era, but this is a guess. Wide space between the lines. Difficult to understand the content. There is a note in the margin that gives some names: Dāʾūd b. Salma; Zayn; Mūsā [...]. On verso there is vocalized Hebrew literary text in an unusual hand. Needs further examination.

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Consists mainly of lists of goods and numbers. Mentions people such as Abū Iskandar(!) and Abū l-Ḥasan.

Letter of appeal for charity for assistance in paying the capitation tax. In Hebrew (for the introduction) and Judaeo-Arabic (for the body). At the upper left: "...al-ḥaḍra al-shaykhiyya al-ḥazzāniyya(?) Thābit Ibn al-M[...]." This would normally be the position for the sender's name, but the terms of respect suggest it is the addressee's name. But the body of the letter then clarifies that the cantor Thābit al-Kohen known as Ibn al-[...] is the one in need of help. The addressee may be a government official (he is called al-ḥaḍra al-dīwāniyya).

Accounts. Four pages of daily accounts of five to six laborers. Mostly the same names. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Late.

Document in Arabic script. Possibly legal, possibly a letter. Mentions ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Iskandarānī.

Medical recipes. In Judaeo-Arabic. Including for a human bite, for scrofula (khanāzīr), for colic (qawlanj), and for hemorrhoids (bawāsīr).

Letter from Hillel b. Abū l-MN[...], probably in Alexandria, to Abū l-Faraj Hilāl al-Iskandarānī, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. The sender was worried about the addressee ever since he departed. The latter's father said that "they were scared" and that "they would try to get you to al-ʿAṭf" (a town also mentioned in T-S 13J24.18 and T-S 16.284). There is reference to "a western wind from our location," and then the rest of the letter is torn away. On verso there is also an accounting note in Judaeo-Arabic (Abū l-Ḥasan b. Futūḥ collected 19.5 wariq dirhams).

Legal fragment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Perhaps a release granted from a man to a woman.

Sundry jottings in Judaeo-Arabic, Arabic, and Hebrew. One of the Judaeo-Arabic text blocks is the draft of the beginning of a letter to Murhaf al-Dawla.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (right side only). Mentions Waliyy al-Dawla, Fustat, and a shop.

List of names in Judaeo-Arabic. They are numbered, from 1 to approximately 28. Several of them are family members of the scribe (e.g., Mūsā the son of my paternal aunt, my paternal uncle Yosef and his son). On the left side there are more names and remnants of accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Narrow, with wide space between the lines. Urging a distinguished addressee to resolve a communal conflict, so that he may earn reward from God and the prayers and respect of the congregation.

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Monday, 1 Kislev 1632 Seleucid (=[...] 720 AH), which is November 1320 CE. Damaged & faded. Perhaps a settlement of a dispute. Mentions "the meat" and "any more than 10 dirhams nuqra." The scribe's name is M[...] b. Y[...]. There do not appear to be any witness signatures.

Legal document. Small horizontal strip from the top. Perhaps a ketubba? On recto, all that is preserved is the date: Monday, 10 Nisan 1528 Seleucid, which is 1217 CE, under the reshut of [Avraham Maimonides]. On verso there are a few more phrases preserved: "the wife of al-Maghribī al-Shābb... and also [...] died, God's mercy on him. Shelomo ha-Talmid b. [...] wrote this."

Instructions for writing a Torah scroll.

Business accounts. Mainly in Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew, in two different hands (or at least pens/inks). There are also a handful of Arabic-script words and Greek/Coptic numerals. The commodities include flax, silk, and garments. Numerous names are mentioned, including a Christian; Nūr al-Dawla Ibn Alkhīn (another notable with the same nasab appears in T-S 24.72); Umm ʿAzīza; Berakhot; Hillel; etc.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment: upper right corner only. Addressed to a cousin (ibn ʿamm). Deals with a legal case, a document from the Muslim courts, Abū Nuṣayr, 100 dirhams, prison, and an unfortunate man. Almost all of the context is missing.