Geniza Lab

Medical treatise in Arabic script.

Medical treatise in Arabic script.

Letter in Arabic script. The portion preserved here consists mostly of greetings, naming people such as Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā, ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Ḥādī, Nūr al-Dīn, Quṭb al-Dīn, and the faqīh Saʿd al-Dīn. Some or all of the address may be legible. Needs further examination.

Letter in Arabic script. Fragment preserving the middle portion of each side, 6–8 lines per side. The sender is worried about the condition of the addressee and describes his anxiety over it in several instances (wa-qalbī muḥarraq/muḥraq... ʿalayk... wa-khawfī ʿalayk min an thanat(?) lahu wajhhaha idh yanāl minka...). He mentions the fear of the government over him (lak khawf al-sulṭān) and urges the addressee to listen to him (...qubūl qawlī wa-l-iṣghāʾ ilayhi).

Template fragment of a divination/magical charm starting with a few words of prayers followed by a spell: "fulān b. fulān". Then: 'blind his heart and block his vision and mute his tongue'.

Recto: Medical prescription in Arabic script. Beginning with dragon's blood (dam akhawayn). Verso: Difficult to read, but also a document in Arabic script.

Literary text in Arabic script. Faded.

Literary text in Arabic script. Faded.

Fragment in Arabic script. Astrological/esoteric. Listing the auspicious and inauspicious properties of every day of the month, e.g., which days are good for going before the court (al-dukhūl ʿalā l-sulṭān), which are good for different maladies.

Medical treatise in Arabic script.

Medical treatise in Arabic script.

Literary text in Arabic script. Citing two verses attributed to Abū Nuwās.

Literary text in Arabic script.

Medical treatise in Arabic script. Lovely handwriting. Including prescriptions for hair loss and instructions for a recipe based on almond oil.

Letter in Arabic script, in a beautiful hand. Dating: 11th century, based on the reference to the Tustaris. The sender is a professional scribe, probably Jewish (refers to Yom Kippur in v2) and probably a high-placed Qaraite—if the addressee fulfills his request, he will praise him before “the judges, and our elders the government officials (kuttāb), and the Tustarīs” (v9). The addressee might not be Jewish, as a Jew would not have to be told that Yom Kippur is the 10th of Tishrei. The letter contains a detailed update on a court case or some conflict revolving around book copying and book dealing. Mentions an agreement with Abū Isḥāq; liberating some money or goods from "that which they have taken this time," especially two volumes from the owner (or author?) of Dār al-Gharb(?). But the sender has been unsuccessful. Mentions a book called Taṭrīz al-Khiṭāb wa-Sharḥ al-Ṭalab, and refers to a copy in the sender's own hand that occupies five volumes (wa-dhālika awwalan al-nusakh al-mansūkha khams ajzāʾ); the material is parchment, and the value is 15 dinars. Needs further examination. ASE

Document in Arabic script. Perhaps accounts or an administrative document. Needs examination.

Medical treatise in Arabic script. "If the yellow bile burns, a strong fright ensues. . . the cure of phrenitis (birsām) is. . . "

Medical treatise in Arabic script.

Accounts and sundry jottings in Arabic script and Coptic numerals, all in the margins of a literary text in Arabic script.

Medical treatise in Arabic script.