Geniza Lab

Fragment of a deferent Judaeo-Arabic letter mentioning something that arrived form Damascus; something the writer sent with Yaʿqūb; Rabbenu Ḥananel; "the matter of the dyer"; and a matter that the mawlā is asked to take care of.

Substantial, late acccount in Judaeo-Arabic, at least one part of which is headed "list of debts." People named include: Avraham Yerushalmi; Yehuda Leon; Yeshūʿa al-Ḥāmī; Moshe Sūsī ("the stranger"); Avraham Abulafia; Meir and Yehuda Garizon (? גאריזון). On the other side: a Castro, Yehuda Leon again; Meir Garizon again; Avraham Yerushalmi again.

Fragment of a Judaeo-Arabic letter including the phrases: "I have not done [...] for three months. . . Rabbenu [...]a ha-Dayyan arrived. . . al-Shaykh al-Shammās was present with us. . . . the Sefer Torah."

Possibly a fragment of a memorial list.

Fragment of a legal document in Judaeo-Arabic involving Mūsā b. Yeshuʿa. Very damaged.

End of a petition from someone identifying himself as a certified hazzan to two people in Cairo requesting their assistance. The writer refers to someone, perhaps al-Ḥasan Abu Sahl (?), taking an oath in the Palestinian synagogue. Undated. Verso is blank.

Small fragment of an account in Judaeo-Arabic. People named include ʿAlī al-Kohen al-Gharīb and Abū l-[F]araj; ʿAlī b. Ṭāhir.

The end of a ketubba. There is some sort of reshut clause at the end of the document, invoking Rosh Galutenu ... Nagidenu. . . and his son Ḥalfon. The remaining witness names are [... b.] Khalaf, [... b.] Yaʿaqov Kohen, and Neḥemya b. Yaḥyā.

First fragment: likely piyyut or prayer. Second fragment: tiny piece of a printed literary text, likely the bible.

Hebrew literary work, including the penultimate verse of Ecclesiastes (sof davar...).

Image not available?

This document, which continues onto the verso, lists in detail payments to individuals, some for commodities (including bread, flour, and meat), as well as amounts owed (possibly for rent) connected to a qodesh ('holy trust', that is a pious foundation; see Gil, Documents of the Jewish Pious Foundations, 3-4 et passim). The payments are made on behalf of a haver ('member (of the yeshiva),' apparently associated with the administration of the qodesh). A man named Wahish appears in three other documents related to the revenues of a qodesh in the 1040s (see Gil, ibid., 194, 201-2, 206-7). All quantities are in dirhams.

This is the verso continuation of an account of payments and debts connected with a qodesh (pious foundation).

Probably a list of recipients of communal funds, on a recycled Arabic document (of which hardly anything remains). The list includes the supervisors of the quarters (aṣḥāb al-arbāʿ) of Qaṣr al-Shamʿ and al-Muṣāṣa neighborhoods (see Med Soc II, 369–70 on their presence in communal accounts). It also lists Abū l-Najm [...] Yeḥiel; al-Shaykh Efrayim al-Melammed; Abū l-Faraj with the curious title "the former collector of the bread of the Kushim (? גאבי כבז אלכושיים קדימא)"; Ibn al-Fuḍayl; Faḍā'il the blind (al-sūmā); and Sayyid al-Ahl.

Probably a continuation of the letter on recto, referring to 'the medium board' (al-lawḥ al-wasṭānī) of the boy Yiṣḥaq. The writer wants to be informed about everything.

Letter written by a man to his nephew. The lines preserved are mostly in Hebrew and mention the addressee's father. Dating: Probably no earlier than 13th century, on paleographic grounds. Verso appears to be in the same hand and is probably the continuation.

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Fragment (right side only). Apparently a deathbed will. No names are preserved. A man makes financial arrangements for a woman (presumably his wife) in the event that he should die. If she remarries, she will lose her rights. There is also a reference to his daughter (or perhaps daughter's daughter). The verso is blank.

Image not available?

Legal document. Location: al-Maḥalla (בעיר אלמחלה הגדולה הסמוכה לצען). Dating: Likely late 11th century, based on the reference to the court of David ha-Nasi ha-Gadol (=David b. Daniel?) in the validation. Witnesses to the main document were ʿOvadya b. Avraham ha-Levi Rosh ha-Qahal; Seʿadya b. Elʿazar; and Yeshuʿa b. Avraham (now missing). The validation is signed by the scribe Yosef b. Moshe ha-Levi (also the scribe for the main document?); Yaʿaqov b. [...] ha-Kohen; and [...] b. Menaḥem ha-Kohen. The document itself concerns ʿĀliya bt. Yosef ha-Kohen Peqid ha-Soḥarim and Yeshuʿa b. Elʿazar (not the same one as in Bodl. MS heb. d 65/13, if the dating of the present document is correct). Needs further examination for the details of the case. On verso there are two more lines containing the draft of the beginning of a legal document. Join was made by whoever catalogued the JRL fragments. ASE

A list of Judaeo-Arabic roots, purpose unclear.