Geniza Lab

Note in Arabic script in a beautiful chancery hand: "That which is recited on Ruʾus al-Ashhā[.]." (Rosh Ḥodesh? In which case it should be ashhur or shuhūr, but it is not clear what else it could say.) The surrounding text is a Judaeo-Arabic treatise on kosher slaughter.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Building expenses over six days. "Same hand as the previous document." For Dār al-Maqādisa and Dār b. Pineḥas. Expenses include: refuse removal; transport of materials; construction; supervision; nails; plaster; baskets; and more. Information from FGP.

Legal testimony. In Hebrew. Location: Fustat/Cairo. Dated: End of Sivan 5581 AM, which is 1821 CE. Yiṣḥaq Ṭawīl invests 1000 esedi gurush with Moshe Maṣliaḥ and Moshe Ṭawīl. Period of investment: three months.

Document in Arabic script. Text is arranged in columns with discrete entries, probably accounts of some sort. Needs examination. On verso there is also a Judaeo-Arabic text praising the attributes of God.

Business letter. In Judaeo-Arabic, wtih the address in Arabic script. Dating: possibly 11th century. The name of the addressee may be legible (Saʿd al-[...]?). People mentioned: Avraham b. [...] Rabīʿ; Ibn al-Ṣabbāgh. Verso: In addition to the address of the letter, there is an list in Arabic script.

Business letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 11th century. This seems to be the last sheet of (or addendum to) what was was originally a longer letter. Needs examination.

Fragment, text on prognostications. Each prediction starts with a new point (al-bāb). Contains some Hebrew script interspersed. Verso conatins a note saying that this paper was sent/commissioned for Maulāya al-Shayk Abū l-Mʿālī (نقل هذه الرقعة الى مولاي الشيخ ابو الم[عالي؟] والسلام). Left side of verso contains blocks of Hebrew script perpendicular to each other.

Legal deed. In Hebrew. Location: Fustat/Cairo. Dated: 1 Shevat 5578 AM, which is 1818 CE. Declaring that Rica bt. Avraham ha-Kohen טרייקלי is "rebellious" (moredet) against her husband Yosef Castile, and she therefore forfeits her right to her ketubba or any alimony.

Letter from Ibrāhīm Dhabbāḥ to Shelomo ha-Ḥazzan. In Hebrew (for the ornate introduction) and Judaeo-Arabic (for the body). Dating: After 1425 CE, as one of the currencies mentioned is the ashrafī. The addressee had sent 200 "maghribī" (dinars?). Ibrāhīm was able to sell them to the Qaraites for 122 ashrafis per 100 maghribis, so he now has 244 ashrafis. Then a group of Muslims showed up, and the Qaraites offered them 12[.] ashrafis per 100 maghribis.

Letter from Yosef ha-Levi to Yosef Bagilyer. In Hebrew. Dating: First half of the 16th century. Concerning tax farming. Mentions two rich and famous figures of the Jewish community: Avraham b. Shānjī and Yaʿaqov b. Shānjī.

Recipes in Judaeo-Arabic. Probably alchemical, but possibly medical. Magnesia (מגניסיא) is mentioned. This is not a legal document related to business, as it is listed on FGP.

Fragment in Judaeo-Arabic and some Hebrew. Possibly documentary, possibly a letter. Mentions 'the days of Shimʿon b. Sheṭaḥ,' which would be more usual for a halakhic text or responsum.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic.

Letter addressed to Abū ʿImrān, in Zuqāq al-[...], Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Of the body of the letter, only the lower right corner remains. Difficult to determine the content. Mentions various family members and either the king (al-malik) or the property (al-mulk).

Bill of divorce (get). Location: Al-Saʿdiyya, which is probably in Yemen, based on the handwriting and names. Dated: 29 Tishrei 2023 Seleucid, which is 1711 CE. Husband: Yehuda Ibn Muʿawwiḍa. Wife: Zahra bt. Yaḥyā. Witnesses include: Zekhraya b. Yosef.

Letter from an unknown writer, in Rashīd, to the sage R. Badosa, in Fustat/Cairo. In Hebrew. Dating: Second half of the 16th century. The writer describes the fear in Rashīd that an epidemic will break out. In the continuation it becomes apparent that the epidemic is already in Fustat/Cairo. The writer heard from Yiṣḥaq Ashkenazi and from Yeshuʿa Zimati(?) that for five days there has been no new case (in Fustat/Cairo). The writer is about to embark on a journey to flee the epidemic. He has hired passage to an unnamed location on a ship from Damietta (? דמאת) together with Yosef Ṭaffār and some other "good Jews." They plan to leave on Friday. If the addressee should wish to come to Rashīd, he should not carry any money with him, because the roads are dangerous. The writer's sister will remain Rashīd until the addressee arrives; in the meantime, the writer has made all necessary provisions for her. Information in part from FGP. ASE

Accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. Dating: late.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Draft of the first few lines. Addressed to a cousin (ibn al-ʿamm). Draft. Dating: late.

Probably a colophon, but conceivably a letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Opens with the titles and names of various distinguished people: the Gaon Rav [...] and al-Rayyis al-[...] and Yehosef his son Rosh ha-Midrash Qahal Yehosef and Rav Shemuel ha-Levi. "I have gathered in this book [what has come] into my hand from the words [al-kalām]. . . of my brother(?) . . . and I wrote it in my own hand. . ." The writer then gives the date of completion, probably Dhū l-Qaʿda 6[..] AH (although אלקדעה is written instead of אלקעדה) and 4[...] AM. If these readings are correct, the fragment was written betwen 1204 CE and 1239 CE.

Medical prescriptions against bleeding, [urin]ary incontinence, melancholia, arthritis, infertility. . . . and for sleeping with whomever one wants to (all it takes is a crocodile fang).