Geniza Lab

List of names (alms distribution?).

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. This is the end of the letter. Greetings to Abū l-Faraj b. al-Daqqāq (or possibly al-Raqqāq). Very squiggly descenders.

A Geonic responsum. AA

Informal note. In Judaeo-Arabic. Giving instructions about transactions, involving a mould of cheese, a half-qadaḥ of rice, a chicken, sesame oil, the hire of a boat, and clothing. On verso there is another note or list in Arabic script. Needs further examination.

Recto: Magical fragment. In Aramaic, mainly. Includes the phrase בלבול אללה בלבול. Verso: Jottings in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Late.

Probably a bill of sale for a female slave. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. No details preserved.

Recto: Document in Arabic script. Needs examination. Verso: Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions a number of people with grand titles, such as Saniyy al-Dawla b. al-Nezer Tāj al-Kuttāb and Tāj al-Dīn. Otherwise, the content of the letter is not clear.

Letter fragment, perhaps addressed to Maṣliaḥ Gaon ('rosh yeshivat Ga'on Yaʿaqov'). In Judaeo-Arabic. On verso is a text in Aramaic(?).

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dealing with business matters. Mentions goods such as quince (safarjal) and people such as al-Ḥazzān al-Gharbī.

Recto: Legal document. In Hebrew. Dating: No earlier than 15th century; mentions the currency muayyadi. This appears to be a rental contract for a portion of a store betwen Binyamin Romano and Faraj Allāh b. Shelomo. There are no witness signatures. Verso: Several lines of accounts in Judaeo-Arabic.

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Quite damaged. Mentions someone named Abū Isḥāq b. Maḥbūb.

Business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer may be located in a Red Sea port like ʿAydhāb; he mentions Aden numerous times as well as the difficulties he would face in traveling to Fustat whether by land or water. Needs examination

Letter from a merchant. Around 1060. Regarding a disagreement, and both sides ask Labrat b. Moshe Ibn Sugmar from Mahadiya to decide between the parties. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, #804) VMR

Letter fragment (bottom half) from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, Qalyub, to a family member in Fustat. The entirety has to do with financial transactions and orders for materia medica. Moshe sent 24 dirhams with the bearer. Mahfuz is to get 10 dirhams and Moshe's maternal grandfather is to get 1 dirham ("and may he pray for me"). Then the addressee should pay off the price of the 2 3/4 ratls of rose water. With the remainder, he is to buy 10 sujrahs (? סגרה); mercury (זיבק); and green gallnuts (עפץ אכצר). He concludes by urging his family members to pray for him. ASE.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Calligraphic. The writer requests someone's urgent attendance in Cairo; mentions al-Shaykh Muwaffaq; mentions a tarsīm (fee for house arrest?).

Mercantile accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 12th century. Mentions nutmeg (jawza), aromatic wood (ʿūd), musk, and cassia (salīkha). Also mentions someone called "the interpreter" (al-turjumān).

Letter fragment in Hebrew. Little of the content remains. The entire remaining space of the fragment is filled with cryptic jottings in Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic, and Arabic script. Needs examination.

Recto: Part of an Arabic letter very likely from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, Qalyub, to a family member in Fustat. He mentions Abu l-Surur and asks for something to be sent and says that al-Shaykh al-Ra’is thanks the addressee. From lines 5-10, he discusses the affair of Ibn al-Taffal (presumably identical with his nemesis Yefet b. Shelomo the physician known as ‘the son of the fuller’; cf. the other fragments tagged with ‘Ibn al-Taffal’). Moshe appears to be gloating over how Ibn al-Taffal had to leave Qalyub with his tail between his feet, but he is also anxious to hear the news of how Ibn al-Taffal has fared in Fustat, “as if I were present.” But the addressee is not to speak of the matter to other people. (Perhaps Moshe wrote this part of the letter in Arabic to make it harder for snoops to read?) Moshe had had a pair of shoes made for the addressee and sent them with the bearer; the price is 4 dirhams. He neglected some of his other work because he has had so many troubles recently. The remainder is obscure, and the transcription would benefit from further revisions. Verso The tail end of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic, also by Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, perhaps to the same addressee. It mostly consists of small commercial matters. He wants his garment to be given to his sister Fakhr. He asks about the wife of his paternal uncle. ASE.

Recto: Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. On verso is a Hebrew poem and pen trials.