Geniza Lab

Accounts. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably classical Geniza period.

Letter fragment. In Hebrew. Wide space between the lines.

Mysterious document in Arabic script and Judaeo-Arabic. Listing numbers of "asbāb" and "abdān" and giving an explanation of some sort. Needs examination.

Document in unconnected Arabic script interspersed with cryptic symbols. Only the first few characters of each line are preserved. Perhaps magical. The fragment was reused for Hebrew literary text.

Fragment of a petition in Arabic script, interspersed with Arabic script in the wide spaces what seems like a draft of a letter or just casual reuse of the state document. The second hand also seems like a chancery hand but is different from the first hand. One of the interspersed phrases; "وانا احتاج الى مجي مولاي الشيخ وسعادته لي في الامور التي لا يصلح لها عنده فتنفصل؟" suggests that it could be an annotation on the petition (there are several instances of annotations on petitions with official actions on how to respond in the Geniza). Reused on verso for Hebrew literary text.

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Wide space between the lines. Mentioning many names: Abū ʿAlī b. Barukh; Moshe ha-Kohen ha-Zaqen; Avraham ha-Zaqen. Also mentions Fustat.

Letter from "Sāsī" to R. D[...]. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: After 1517 CE (uses the term 'basha' twice), but not long after (Avraham Castro appears in the letter). Dealing with business matters. Complaining about someone who mistreated the writer. Mentions Avraham Castro; Ibrāhīm al-Kalaḥ; Mūsā Ḥaqqān. Mentions taxes incumbent on "all who arrive from Hind and Sind and the lands of the Arabs," more than the tithe (ʿushr).

Letter from Moshe b. Naʿim to his father Me'ir b. Naʿim. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 3 Heshvan 5584 AM, which is 1823 CE. The letter is very long; needs examination for content. There is a lovely star design on verso.

Recto: Legal document. In Hebrew. Location: Fustat. Dated: First third of Kislev 5439 AM, which is 1678 CE. Connected to the Maghrebi congregation (ק"ק מערביים). It has to do with property and financial arrangements following the death of Levi Jaryānī (? גריאני) known as Ḥefeẓ. His orphans are David, Nissim, and Yiṣḥaq.The document is quite long. Many names are mentioned. Currency: silver medin (מאי׳ כסף). Needs further examination. Verso: Legal document. In Hebrew. Location: Fustat. Dated: First third of Nisan 5439 AM, which is 1679 CE. Involves the wives of David and Yiṣḥaq Jaryānī(?), who are respectively Qamr bt. Avraham Dukkān and Simḥa bt. Shemuel Samḥūn. Needs examination

Legal document. In Hebrew. Location: Fustat/Cairo. Dated: First decade of Ṭevet 5561 AM, which is 17–26 December 1800 CE. Moneychanging (sarraflık) partnership agreement between three parties. First party: Ḥayyim ha-Levi, Merkado Karo, Avraham ha-Levi. Second party: Yom Ṭov Aripol, Shabbetay Yuʿbaṣ. Third party: Moshe ha-Levi known as ʿAkūbas, Ḥayyim Ḥezeq (or Ḥazaq?), Mordekhay Kapanṭon. The partnership will last for 12 months. The first party contributes 150,000 medins. The second party contributes 85,000 medins. The third party contributes 90,000 medins. The 8 individual partners each sign the document, in addition to the signatures of the scribe Meʾir ben Naʿim and the witness Shemuel Modaʿī(?).

Lower, small fragment: Letter from Natan b. Mevorakh ha-Kohen (aka Wahb b. Barakāt). Small fragment (upper right corner of recto). Concerning the leadership of the community in Ashkelon in the time of David b. Daniel, the head of the Jews in Egypt. Describes an attempt to close the synagogue, probably with the help of the Muslim leadership, in order to prevent the Ashkelonian group, with their leader Avraham ha-Hazan, from praying there. Following the closer of the synagogue, the Ashkelonian group asked David b. Daniel to help them and send them a new leader. (Information from M. Cohen, Shalem, 3, pp.105–07.) VMR

Recto: Letter from Ḥayyim b. S[..], in Damietta, addressed to a certain Yiṣḥaq, presumably in Fustat/Cairo. In Hebrew. Dated: שנת והלך לפניך צדקך, which is either 5404 AM (=1643/44 CE) or 5465 AM (=1704/05 CE), depending on whether the first word is meant to be counted or not. Needs examination for content. Verso: In addition to the address of the letter on recto, there is a draft of another letter in Hebrew.

Literary work containing Hebrew poetry and a section on the calendar including for the years 5923–78 AM, which corresponds to 1142–1218 CE. The hand is Sefaradi. There are two different colophons in two different hands (the first may be identical with the hand of the main text, but it is more stylized). The first gives the location as Fustat and the date as Tammuz [4]9[.]6 AM, perhaps Tammuz 4926 AM, which would be 1166 CE. The second mentions Alexandria and gives the year 1481 Seleucid = 566 AH, which is 1170 CE.

Literary text, probably. Bifolium filled with Greek script, presumably either Greek or Coptic. Needs examination.

Letters. Copies. The first letter is in Judaeo-Arabic, from the Shāmiyyīn to the Miṣriyyīn. The second letter is in Hebrew, from the Miṣriyyīn to the Shāmiyyīn. Dating: Probably no earlier than 15th century. The second letter gives a detailed explanation of the intercalation of the calendar and the observation of the aviv (barley crop), meaning that the writers are probably Qaraite. The first letter indeed mentions דת בני מקרא (line 17). Needs further examination.

Poem/prayer for Shabbetay b. Seʿadya b. Amitay of Qayrawān. Information from FGP.

Letter addressed to the brothers Yosef Yerushalmi Ẓaʿir and Eliyyahu Yerushalmi Ẓaʿir b. Elishaʿ, in Fustat/Cairo. The writer may be in Jerusalem and may be named Avraham; it seems that his father is named Moshe b. Shemuel ha-Levi. The introduction is in Hebrew and the body is in Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Friday, 8 Sivan 5577, which is 23 May 1817 CE. The writer complains about the cessation of correspondence and provide a recommendation for his paternal uncle (unless this relationship is figurative) Seʿadya Levi who has traveled to Egypt and needs financial aid.

Letter. In Hebrew. Dating: Probably classical Geniza period. Most of the text consists of a panegyric poem for the distinguished addressee. The body of the letter is ~15 lines and quite faded. Needs examination.

Letter from Eliyyahu b. Seʿadya, in Fustat/Cairo, to the Ḥakham Avraham ha-Levi b. Moshe ha-Levi the Qaraite, in Jerusalem. Scribed by Yaʿaqov Ḥayna (? חיינה) al-Ḥazzān. Dated: Wednesday, 5 Tammuz 5587 AM, which is 1827 CE. (There is a problem here in that 5 Tammuz 5587 was a Saturday, not a Wednesday, but perhaps this can be explained by the discrepancy between Qaraite and Rabbanite calendars.) The introduction is in Hebrew and the body is in Judaeo-Arabic; the address is in Hebrew and in Arabic script. The letter concerns the visit of the addressee to Egypt and a cryptic business matter involving a payment of 11 maḥmūdiyya (gold coins minted by Maḥmūd II). Needs further examination.

Letter in Hebrew and some Judaeo-Arabic, 1839 CE (?). The letter is mainly a screed against evildoers and women who dress immodestly.