Geniza Lab

Perahya b. Yosef asks the writer to return books which he had lent to Rabbi David and which the latter had lent to the addressee. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Court register, fragment. Upper left corner of a legal record. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Dating: 1127–39, under the reshut of Maṣliaḥ Gaon. Naḥman ha-Kohen sues his paternal uncle Yosef b. Moshe ha-Kohen concerning the estate of Yosef's brother Avraham b. Moshe ha-Kohen, who died in Yemen and had assets in both Yemen and Egypt. Information from Goitein notes linked below.

Informal letter from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu to R. Ḥananel. He asks for a piece of rhubarb (rāwand), it seems for medicinal purposes.

Distribution of collection (tafriqah) to officials. Among those mentioned: Salim the Parnas, Abu l-Ḥasan the Ḥaver, Khalil the cantor and his cousin, al-Ahuv, al-Rayyis Abu l-Najm, Mahfuḍ al-Khadim, Ibn al-'Anbari. Circa 1175. Interwoven with Arabic script running from bottom to top. Information from Goitein's note card.

Rabbinica, (Monograph); discusses the law of loans, quoting Samuel b. hofni and Dosa b. Saadia. (FGP)

Commercial letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions boats and Rashīd. Regards to Abū l-Faraj. Needs further examination.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Perhaps 12th century. Wide space between the lines, like an official document, but it appears to be about business. Mentions Ibn Zakkār. The sender orders several miʿjars, at least one with embroidery (ṭirāz). Also orders dabīqī cloth. Also mentions something about 'placing the risk on its owner / his friend' (4 lines from the bottom).

Letter from Umm Ṣanīʿa/Ṣanīʿihi to the mother of ʿAbd al-Raḥīm. Fragmentary (upper right corner). In Judaeo-Arabic with some Hebrew, in a square book hand. Dating: Possibly ~13th century, based on the position of the sender's name. Approximately 10 lines of the formulaic opening are preserved, but none of the body of the message.

Popular literature. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Late, perhaps 14th–16th century. This is a tale in rhymed prose, every line rhymed on "-īn" (which distinguishes it from typical sajʿ, where the rhyme changes every few lines). The story is difficult to follow, but it takes place on a boat, and somebody slaps a woman on her right cheek.

Letter from Shelomo b. Yehuda to Efrayim b. Shemarya, November 1042.

Trousseau of an orphan, nineteen items. (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS

A letter. The context is unclear

a letter written to Elijah the judge due to the personalities mentioned in the letter, the writer complains that people are “opposing me by submitting responsa to the head of the Jews,” also sending regards to Sitt Rayhan, Elya's wife, and to his sons Abu Barakat (Shelomo) and Abu Zikri. (Info from Oded Zinger Phd. p. 210)

Recto: Informal note in Judaeo-Arabic. The sender says that the addressee sent the wrong copy (nuskha) of a liturgical text, but it's for the better, because he never even knew that the addressee had the one that was sent, and he's needed it all year. It seems that the sender will pass the one that he received on to the Kohen. As for the one that was originally requested, it is the maʿamad for the daytime prayers of Yom Kippur. He concludes, "And this is for the price(?) of the nighttime." Maybe the addressee had mistakenly sent him the nighttime prayer and he is enclosing payment? Verso: The response. The sender says that he doesn't have the requested text, but it should be in his grandfather's house, so he will go and look for it. He then refers to some earlier correspondence or communication: "As for what the lord said about Abū l-Riḍā that he does not know אליגאדה(?), I didn't say anything to him more than intimidating him to make him scared."

Letter from Seʿadya ha-Talmid ve-ha-Sofer b. Yisra'el ha-Hazzan to Shemul b. Shela. Dating: Ca. 1040, based on the assessment of Gil. It is known from another letter that the writer was a man from Acre and became a ḥaver there (T-S NS 320.42, ed. Gil, Palestine, II, #141). The purpose of this letter is to invite the addressee to the writer's sermon.

Letter from an India trader, in ʿAydhāb, to his family or colleagues, presumably in Fustat. In Arabic script. There is a transcription in Goitein's attached notes. He comments that "al-Asʿad is the tax farmer of the customs in ʿAydhāb. He receives 5 dinars customs duties and his employees (ghilmān) 1 dinar. Letters of recommendations were sent
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him with the sender. But he bheaved nicely even before he had seen the letters."

Document(s) in Arabic script. Quite faded. There is text in all different directions, and some Greek/Coptic numerals. On verso there is a page from a Judaeo-Arabic literary text. Needs examination.

Court proceedings. There are two drafts, possibly of the same document. Involving Nissim and Shemuel ha-Ḥaver and Abū l-Karam and Peraḥya. The hand of the scribe may be known.

Letter, or perhaps an especially narrative-heavy legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. In the hand of Shemuel b. Seʿadya. Mentions trade in silk. Needs further examination.

Letter in Arabic (damaged) to Abu l-Wafa Tamim al-Kohen complaining that a certain woman went to the Rabbanites but had not received her share. It seems that the addressee himself was the person failing to do his duty. One line of the letter continues on verso. Verso: Genealogical list in childish letters carelessly arranged. See Goitein's note card for partial transcription. Information from Goitein's note cards.