Geniza Lab

Letter fragment addressed to the great prince (ha-Sar ha-Adir), in Cairo. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic.

Legal fragment.

Legal fragment scribed and signed by [Mevor]akh b. Natan ha-Ḥaver. Also witnessed by Shela ha-Levi b. Shemuel. Needs examination for content; perhaps a release.

Wine and/or love poem in Judaeo_Arabic. In the hand of Nāṣir al-Adīb al-ʿIbrī. This is one of the fragments that he signs (וגא נאצר כתבת אביאת פי דרגי ופי אלחאני).

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. Only a thin strip from the far-right side is preserved here.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Late.

Literary text, predominantly in Aramaic, discussing Jerusalem and the Temple.

Letter of recommendation from Bū l-Barakāt to a dignitary. In Judaeo-Arabic. Asking for assistance for the bearer. The writer mentions an earlier conversation that took place between al-Shaykh al-Makīn Abū Sahl and the Rayyis.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Quite faded. Discusses how a certain person has always acted with beneficence; mentions "fear" at least twice; mentions sayyidnā.

The beginning of a letter from Moshe b. Yehuda, the cantor, to the Nagid, Shemuel b. Hananya (1141-1159). Moshe b. Yehuda is probably Moshe b. Yehuda who signed T-S 16.151 in 1130 as a teacher ('ha-Melammed') and in 1141 signed ENA 2558.3 as cantor; for teachers serving as both scribes and cantors see Goitein, Med. Soc. vol. 2, p. 189 and p. 560. The same attributes for Shemuel b. Hananya are found in T-S 13J3.4 and Bodl. MS heb. a 3/5. The verso is blank.

Letter fragment, perhaps. In Hebrew. Consists of rhymed lines in Hebrew conveying conventional praises for somebody.

Letter in Ladino. The year is given, but difficult to read.

Literary text on the laws of ritual slaughter (sheḥiṭa).

Fragment of a letter referring to someone designated as 'the elevated presence.' Verso (B-4205-2) appears to contain the letter's conclusion and includes references to an official designated as commander of the troops (Amir al-Juyush), possibly the Armenian general and actual ruler of Egypt 1074-1094 (see Cohen, Jewish Self-Government, pp. 61-65).

Conclusion of a letter mentioning the murder of Fakhr al-ʾUmara near Alexandria and also mentioning ʾAmīr al-Jūyūsh, which was the title of Badr al-Jamālī, the Armenian general and actual ruler of Egypt, 1074-1094 (see Cohen, Jewish Self-Government, pg. 61-65). Fakhr al-ʾUmara was a title of the viziers of the sword (arbāb al-sūyūf) and was third in the ranks of such viziers (see al-Qalqashandī, Ṣubḥ al-Āʿashā, pg. 104). The vizier in question could be the brother of Nāṣir al-Dawla who was the Turkish military commander during the time of the Fatimid Caliph al-Mustanṣir Billah. He (Fakhr al-ʾUmara) is also referred to as Sulṭān al-ʿArab in some historical sources (see ʿImāduddīn, ʿŪyūn al-Akhbār, vol. 7, pg. 61-65). He was assassinated by Badr al-Jamālī, among other rebels, including Nāṣir al-Dawla, upon entering Egypt for their insurgents and rebels against the state which caused political unrest in the country for almost a decade (1062-1072). While Badr al-Jamālī was restoring law and order in Egypt and assassinating the rebels, many factions of the rebel army and clans surrendered to him to avoid persecution. This letter mentions Badr al-Jamālī receiving such letters from the Lawāta Berbers and other clans, as well as a delegation from Sulaymān (the name demands further inquiry). The letter also mentions (Ibn?) Hamūd, also Ibn Hamdān or Ibn Hamdūn, (the name appears with variations in historical sources) I.e., the name of Nāṣir al-Dawla as giving an account of these events. Badr al-Jamālī entered Egypt in 467/1075, hence this letter could be dated to that year. (ASE,YU)

Literary, probably piyyut.

Piyyut.

Letter fragment, addressed to Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Thin strip from the middle. Mentions a ḥaver, and perhaps a wedding on a shabbat.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably late.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Very neat hand. The writer complains about something (having to wander abroad?) because he writes that he counts whatever it is as an atonement for his sins.