Geniza Lab

Small and faded fragment of a letter sent from Fez.

Letter to a court clerk or judge. "Please draw up a power of attorney for Sitt al-Milāḥ bt. Avraham Segulat ha-Yeshiva my sister.... for Abū Sulaymān Dāʾūd b. [[Sulaymān]] Shelomo, for selling her house in al-Maḥalla... the synagogue in the presence of her husband Abū [...]...." AA. ASE.

Torn letter, most of the lines has only few words preserved. There is a frame of double line - probably drawn after the text was written.

Letter addressed to the physician, Rosh Kalla, and Nagid Abū Zikrī Yehuda b. Saʿadya (in office from ca. 1065 to 1077 or 1079). On recto, only the middle segments of the top two lines are preserved. On verso, the addressee's name is preserved from the Arabic-script address: حضرة مولاي الناغيد الجليل ابي زكريا يهودا ابن سعادة الطبيب اعزها الله. ASE

Verso (earlier use): Letter or letter draft in Arabic script. The addressee is called 'my brother.' Mainly the opening blessings are preserved, and the substance of the letter is lost, though the text block at the top of the page needs further examination. Reused for Hebrew literary text on the other side.

rom a formulary of legal documents, including the beginning of the section on ketubah. (FGP)

Judaeo-Arabic composition in the hand of Nāṣir al-Adīb al-ʿIbrī. Narrates a scuffle, with the refrain "but they didn't leave me" (wa-lam yakhrujū min ʿindī). Then, as the conflict escalates, “If they carry on like this, I’ll go to the chief (al-Rayyis) and tell him all my woes, ‘Hey Rabbi Avraham, by God, look at my state!’”18 While the narrative might be fictional, petitioning the head of the community for redress is a detail from everyday experience. The Rayyis Avraham who fits Nāṣir’s timeline is likely the Nagid Avraham b. David b. Avraham b. Moshe Maimonides, the Head of the Jews in Egypt ca. 1300–13 CE. Also mentions people dying in the "scarcity" (ghalāʾ). ASE

Fragment of a letter in Yemeni hand. Fustat and Malij are mentioned

Possibly a legal document. In Arabic script. Opens with a basmala and "Hādhā..." Mentions copper and lead (or a coppersmith and a leadsmith). Also "the neighborhood known as [...]" and a few names. Around it, in the upper margin, there are accounts in Arabic script in at least two hands. On verso there is a Hebrew seliḥa. Needs examination.

A unique Judaeo-Armenian to Judaeo-Arabic glossary. Dating unknown. Contains twenty words and phrases written in Judaeo-Armenian, with Judaeo-Arabic underneath: "bread", "meat", "water", "wine", "rose", "apple", "pear", "woman", "virgin", "mother", "father", "beautiful face", "female singer", "white", "black", "tax collector" (this one is tentative), "come in", "go on", "sit down" and "how are you". (Information from Melonie Schmierer-Lee, "Throwback Thursday: Armenian and Romance vocabulary for the discerning traveller," Genizah Fragments Blog, June 2021.) The join was discovered by Alan Elbaum in June 2022. At the top of the glossary, there are two lines of unusual boxy Arabic words (magical?). On recto, there are two lines of what was originally an enormous decree; only ~3 words from the ends of the lines are currently preserved (يستكمل... ؟؟؟ لاموال). Studies of the glossary include: -Avihai Shivtiel, "A Judaeo-Armenian and Judaeo-Arabic Word-list from the Cairo Genizah," in Philip S. Alexander et al., eds., Studia Semitica: The Journal of Semitic Studies Jubilee Volume, Journal of Semitic Studies Supplement 16, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 139–43. -James Clackson, 'An Armenian/Judaeo-Arabic Word-List in Cambridge,' in Barlow Der Mugrdechian, ed., Between Paris and Fresno: Armenian Studies in Honor of Dickran Kouymjian, Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda, 2008, pp. 241–46. -James R. Russell, 'On an Armenian word list from the Cairo Geniza,' Iran and the Caucasus, Vol. 17, No. 2 (2013), pp. 189–214.

Letter from Barhun b. Musa al-Tahirti, probably from Mahdiyya, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1057. Similar to the letter that Barhun’s brother, Yosef, wrote. (See: T-S 12.794). It seems that both brothers are in Mahdiyya. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #366) VMR

Legal fragment. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Probably notes for the drawing up of a document. Concerning [...]h b. Elʿazar. There is a list of valuable goods, including a female slave named Rāḍ(?), a silver drinking vessel (qiḥf), a gold crescent (hilāl), and a silver armlet. Needs further examination.

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. Approximately 6 lines are preserved from the middle section. Involves a house, a partnership, Abū l-Surur, and Yūsuf. On verso there is Hebrew literary text. Needs further examination.

Letter in Arabic script. Apparently from a Muslim sender (there are the standard prayers for Muḥammad in the last line) to a Jewish addressee (something has to be arranged before the onset of the Sabbath, dukhūl al-sabt, ll. 7–8). Most of the formulaic beginning is torn away, so only the body is preserved. It reads roughly as follows: "I hereby inform you that I heard that you were looking for me, but I was in the castle and could not come to you. Then I woke up on Thursday and went to Cairo, but I couldn't find you, and I also went to the castle and couldn't find you...." The reason the sender is looking for the addressee has something to do with cassia fistula (khiyār shanbar). On verso there is Hebrew liturgical text. ASE

Cryptic text in Arabic script. Very neatly written. Four discrete blocks, each with a header in larger letters followed by 2 lines in smaller letters. Only isolated phrases are preserved (wa-ayḍan... an yubādira bi-stiʿmālihi... wa-ghayruhā min al-nawāḥī... wa-in iḥtajta ilā..) May be literary or paraliterary, e.g., instructions for something. On verso there are seliḥot in Hebrew.

Accounts in Arabic script. Possibly state or fisc-related.There is a ḥasbala at the top, marking the end of the previous section. It looks like there are dates (including the year), but they are difficult to read.

Legal document. Fragment (bottom half only). Looks like a power of attorney in which a woman appoints a man as her agent. No names or details preserved. No signatures. On verso there is Hebrew liturgical text.

Document in Arabic script. The ends of 8 lines are preserved. Small handwriting. Perhaps accounts? On verso there is Hebrew literary text.

State document, possibly. In Arabic script in a chancery hand. A few words preserved from 2 lines, including "waḥdahu" and "al-mamlūk." On verso there is Hebrew literary text.

One side: Order from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu addressed to Abū l-Ḥasan. In Judaeo-Arabic. Abū l-Ḥasan is to give the bearer 1/4 raṭl sour pomegranate rubb (condensed juice); 1/4 raṭl apple rubb; 1/4 raṭl of something barley-based. Other side: Medical prescription in Arabic script. Begins "God is the one who cures in His mercy." Uses chicory seeds, borage, sandalwood, licorice, and bamboo chalk. ASE