Geniza Lab

List of names

Accounts in Hebrew script. Late.

Letter fragment addressed to [...] b. Yosef ha-Kohen. In Judaeo-Arabic. Concerning business in silk.

Recto: Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 13th or 14th century based on handwriting. Reporting that someone is in a sorry state and under house arrest (tarsīm). He is charged 1/2 nuqra a day, and now owes 20 dirhams. He sent a letter asking Dāʾūd for help to no avail. Now he has sent another, heartbreaking letter. The sender presumably goes on to ask the addressee to help this man. Verso: Letter fragment. In Arabic script. Addressed to a son or son-like figure ("yā waladī..."). Exhorting him to "do his work" (iqḍi shughlak) and also refers to "this man" (the same unfortunate man from recto?). Urges haste (surʿa surʿa). Needs further examination.

Letter fragment. In Hebrew. Last two lines only, blessing the addressee's children and the enitre congregation with prosperity. Signed by Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel ha-Sefaradi.

Recto: Recipe in Judaeo-Arabic that begins with taking a new white jug and perforating it. Verso: One line in Judaeo-Arabic, perhaps from an account: 3/4 of [...] of wax/candles.

Letter fragment. In Hebrew. Repeatedly mentioning "our master the Nagid"; may also mention Tripoli on verso.

Letter of appeal from Bū Saʿd al-Baghd[ādī]. The Hebrew introduction and a few words of the Judaeo-Arabic body are preserved.

Legal deed, fragment. In Hebrew. Only the beginnings of the last few lines are preserved. Dated: 10 Tevet 5325 AM, which is 1564/65 CE. Witnesses: Shemuel b. Yiṣḥaq Barukh(?).

Letter, probably. In poetic Hebrew.

Informal note. In Judaeo-Arabic. "This is the copy, yā sayyidnā, that I had said to the mawl[ā] . . . . " The other side (technically recto) has a Talmudic discussion regarding a witness who forget his testimony. This seems to have been cut down to size before the note on the other side was written, so the 'copy' must refer to something else.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (the left side of recto is missing). The marginal text is written (somewhat unusually) at 90 degrees to the main text. The sender is asking Sayyidnā Sar ha-Sarim and al-Rayyis to help a woman and some orphans. Alexandria is mentioned.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Small fragment. There are a few words in Arabic script on verso.

Legal document. In Hebrew. Mentions 10 peraḥim of gold. Dated: Possibly 5263 AM, which would be 1502/03 CE (but this needs to be checked). One of the witnesses is Seʿadya ha-Levi.

Letter by the son of the judge (dayyan) of Minyat Zifta to a certain Peraḥya, requesting his intercession with a certain sayyidnā David. Dating: If this David is David Maimonides, the letter would be dated 1237 CE at the earliest. The letter is a litany of the the troubles of the writer's father and the acts of his enemies against him. The father's troubles include the following. His creditors are demanding that he turn over his house to the Muslim authorities (sulṭān). He fell sick one week (parshat Ki Tetze) and wished to take out the Torah scroll and say the blessing—evidently this was thought to be helpful against illness. But his rival humiliated him and took out and made the blessing over the Torah himself. Information in part from Goitein's note card. ASE.

Letter in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Small fragment. Wide space between the lines.

Query requesting a legal opinion in a commercial disagreement (FGP)

Verso (probably the original use): Letter fragment. In Arabic script. Written in a formal style and reporting that the bearer (al-wāṣil bihā), a certain Muḥammad, has been diligent in "service" (mulāzim al-khidma) for two and a half years and has not (missed?) a single day. There may follow a request for a favor on his behalf. Needs further examination. Recto (probably the secondary use): Letter from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi (d. 1212), in Qalyūb, to his family members in Fustat. This is the beginning of the letter and conveys concern for some trial (taʿab) that he heard afflicts his brother Abū l-Ḥasan.

Accounts. In Judaeo-Arabic. Headed "al-maqbūḍ" and listing names and numbers (Coptic numerals).

Letter of appeal or recommendation addressed to Moshe ha-Kohen. The introduction is in Hebrew and the body in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer reports that the bearer of this ruqʿa is a stranger from the people of al-Maḥalla. [It seems the letter here switches to the voice of the bearer]. He had generously opened his house to all, and among those who have stayed with him are Yiṣḥaq al-Sofer al-Siqillī (the Sicilian) and Mikha'el al-Rav. But fortune turned against him. Now, ever since Tammuz, he has been in this city (Fustat?). He never burdened anyone, but now he has been ill for a month and a half, and nobody look after him except Abū l-Faḍl Sar ha-Leviim. . . [the remainder is lost].