Geniza Lab

On verso fragment from a letter dated 1110 .(1421 Era of document, 4880 to the creation)

Arabic: religious text, account;- needs examination. Hebrew: poems/piyyutim with Judaeo-Arabic heading

Fragment from a cheque written by Abu Zikri given to the sheikh Kalil. AA

Fragment of an official letter in Arabic script. Telling or asking Muʿizz/Muʿtazz al-Dawla to put his signature on something to validate an expense: واستدعيت من [تفضل؟] معـ(ـتـ؟)ـز الدولة ان يضع خطه فيها لصحة النفقة على الرسم المتعارف فمن يجري(؟) مجراه. Reused on verso for piyyut.

Letter addressed to Yiṣḥaq Luria (the Ari). In Hebrew. Only the first two lines of the letter and the address are preserved.

Letter from a woman to her son. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 11th century. She may be writing from Ifrīqiyya (based on typical handwriting and orthography). The letter is headed בשם אל עליון, which is unusual. There is no formulaic opening (except ammā baʿd), so perhaps this is the continuation of a previous page or recent letter. Mentions Ḥayyim b. ʿUmar (=Ḥayyim b. ʿAmmār?) and a request to write to the boy of Abū ʿImrān b. Ibrāhīm b. al-[...]. The letter is quite faded and damaged, and it is difficult to figure out more.

Bill of divorce (geṭ). The names of husband and/or wife may be preserved in the first two lines, which are difficult to read. Location and date are not preserved. Witnesses: the ḥaver ʿEli b. ʿAmram; Mevorakh ha-Parnas b. [...].

Ketubba fragment.

Tiny fragment, probably from a legal document, perhaps in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Consists entirely of formulary shared with CUL Or.1080 J189, referring to the court appointed by the Nagid (Mevorakh?): הנגיד הגדול... [כבוד תחת כ]סא הכבוד ומפי ה[דרת]... [ותפ]ארת[ם].

Legal document. Small fragment. In the hand of Yosef b. Shemuel b. Seʿadya. Mentions Abū l-Faḍāʾil.

Marriage document. A few lines from the bottom. The groom is named ʿEli. Witnessed by [...] b. Avraham and Yehuda b. Shelomo ha-Sofer.

Perhaps a small fragment from a ketubba. There are a few words here from a dowry list (e.g., jūkāniyya bayāḍ dabīqī mudhahhaba...).

List of luxury textiles/garments and some household goods along with values; some are crossed out. Either business accounts or part of a dowry list.

Ketubba, probably. In the hand of Yosef b. Shemuel b. Seʿadya. Contains a menstrual purity clause. See also record for T-S AS 145.149.

Legal document. Fragmentary (lower left corner). Mentions a shop and a sum of 55[.] (dirhams? dinars?). Perhaps in the hand of [Shelomo] b. Eliyyahu whose name appears at the bottom.

Ketubba. May be late. Contains an elaborate dowry list, which mentions Indian goods and others with Persian-sounding names. Needs examination.

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Fragmentary (upper left corner). The names of the parties are deliberately erased. Mentions a sum of slightly over 47 dinars. Also mentions "[...] the West this year," probably referring to intended business travel.

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Fragment (lower left corner). The one name preserved on this fragment has been thoroughly rubbed out. Dated: 1436 Seleucid, which is 1124/25 CE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The hand may be identifiable. Dating: Probably 12th or 13th century. This fragment (lower half of recto, upper half of verso) begins in medias res: the sender is writing about his time with some community, probably near Minyat Zifta; he describes a circumcision that was done on Shabbat; the sender organized a drive (pesiqa) for "the female captives"; and he found the congregation impoverished (fa-wajadtu l-[qaw]m fī ḥāl ṣaʿb... baqā al-jamāʿa ʿaniyyim marudim) on account of the ḍamān incumbent on them (a guarantee they had undertaken? or payments owed to a tax farmer?). He specifically mentions a loss of 100 dinars. It was resolved to inform Rabbenu about all this, and the Parnas went to do that. The sender awaits (the Parnas's? Rabbenu's?) arrival, and he plans to go to Minyat Zifta. He asks Abū l-Makārim "to obtain a rescript (tawqīʿ) regarding [...]."

Recto: Unidentified document in Arabic script. Accounts of some kind?