Geniza Lab

List of accounts in Judeo-Arabic in which each heading is marked by elongated ligatures either as extensions of final letters or as independent lines drawn to indicate a new section of itemized entries. The figures for entries are alphanumerical and on the recto a unit of volume for grain is mentioned "irdab/ארדב" (l.6v). For more information on this term, see Goitein's brief explanation (Goitein, Mediterranean Society I, 361) though it is crucial to note that this unit persisted beyond the medieval period and in Ottoman-era sources is often transliterated as "ardab" yet it indicates a significantly higher volume of liters per ardab (White, Climate of Rebellion, xv). MCD.

List of accounts in Judeo-Arabic in which each heading is marked by elongated ligatures either as extensions of final letters or as independent lines drawn to indicate a new section of itemized entries. The figures for entries are alphanumerical and on the recto the first heading is labeled "אלמביע" indicating a sale perhaps to various individuals, among them "Yehuda al-Qara / יהודה אלקרה" is mentioned (l.2r). Similar to this fragments join, we also find a heading on the recto where "masruf/משרופ" (l.10r) appears in indicating expenses (though it's important to note that this is a less common spelling given that the word is often rendered "מצרופ" in Judeo-Arabic). The same accounting format continues on the verso. MCD.

Order for shopping? Items mentioned include rose syrup, 1/2 pound; basil seed; another kind of seed; chicken; green almond, 1 1/2 dirham; something large and fresh; dates; mandrake (luffāḥ), 1 dirham; basil (rayḥān), 3/4; cucumber (faqqūs), 1/2. Verso is blank. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Letter fragment in the hand of the clerk of Yehoshua Maimonides. An instruction to a cantor to warn a woman that her husband had submitted a complaint to the court. He should try to arrange a settlement or to bring her to court. Information from Goitein's note card.

Letter sent by David Moulina and a piyyut by Yannai (FGP)

Fragment of a petition, two wide lines. The first line reads 'wa-ʿabd mawlānā,' then '[...] al-shāmil.'

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions Manṣūr al-Ḥarīrī. On verso, in different ink, there is a Hebrew sentence about sheḥita as well as a few words in large Arabic script underneath.

Lower part of a letter probably written by Abu ‘Ali Yehezkel b. Netanel Halevi, Ḥalfon's brother, while in Qalyub. Mentions Abu l-Fadl and Abu l-Ḥasan who are known from other IB VI documents. [Writer had received two shawls and a fūṭah (waist-wrapper) which in Qalyub were worth 1.5 dinars and 0.5 dinars respectively. Sends greetings to writer’s son Abu l-Fakhr, Abu l-Ḥasan al-Bazzaz (the clothier), and a different Abu l-Ḥasan. Asks for the news of the sick person in the house of the latter Abu l-Ḥasan. Makarim and his siblings also send greetings. ASE.]

List of accounts that records alphanumerical monetary figures in connection with one "Shemuel al-Ashqar / שמואל אלאשקר" on the 19th of the month Shaʿbān, however, the year is not included in the recto's heading (l.1r). Just below the heading there are three columns that are each labeled with terms for coinage types, listed here in order of clarity: "ʿatīq", "jadīd", and "būndūqī" (l.4r). While the first two labels may indicate a variety of possible monetary types– for example "jadīd" may be a copper or gold coin of Ottoman Egypt also attested in T-S AS 204.214 – "būndūqī" is most likely a reference to Venetian gold ducats or their imitations that were minted under the Mamluk and Ottoman sultanates. Further down on the recto and floating apart from any clear line, the marker "abū tāqaʿ / אבותאקע" also appears as a reference likely to Spanish silver coinage. In the final legible line of the recto "Sefarad / ספרד" is mentioned. The fragment's verso was used for pen trials practicing biblical names on two occasions listed in exact succession "Avraham Yiṣḥaq Yaʿacov" and there are also first-person pen trials involving the name "David." On line three of the verso a synagogue is also mentioned but it is unclear if the term is used generally or in connection with a specific location. MCD.

Accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals.

Accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals.

Arabic script (VMR)

Nine lines in two different hands; one hand seems to be a chancery hand and the other one is not as elegant. The document starts with a basmala and then becomes relatively difficult to read. The first line reads '..Lawlā l-ḥāl fī l-ḥad li-l-ḥukm'. Contains "innā" as well as "lām" multiple times, possibly "mālik" and "mamluk". Towards the end, the writer also mentions that he doesn't grieve upon something, 'lam yaḥzun ʿalā'.

Al-Faraj baʿd al-shidda (‘stories of deliverance after hardship’). The story of the captive girl. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Fragment from the beginning of a letter. Mentions (addresses?) the Nagid and [...]ya ha-Dayyan.

Report probably on military matters. In Arabic script. 6 lines preserved. Mentions a wall (al-ṣūr), the dispatching of a warship (ʿushārī), someone named Ibn al-Qaṣʿ(?), arrival in Jabla, arrival in al-Dānūr (or al-Dāmūr?) between Beirut and Sidon and perhaps a battle. Needs further examination. Reused on recto for the beginning of a Judaeo-Arabic treatise on divining the future using a table of 89 letters which are referred to as "the chess houses" (al-buyūt al-shaṭranjiyya). Further down, mentions the city of Alexandria in an unclear context.

Legal document. A late bill of release between 3 partners in a shop. The bottom part is missing. One of the parties, יעקב נהרדעא בכר יונה took items from the shop in credit. The partners released him from any debt. On verso a statement made by the 3 parties that they released him. Hebrew. AA

Mysterious text with alternating lines of Hebrew script (mostly Aramaic, it seems) and Arabic script, many or all of which are glosses on the former. Needs examination.

Unidentified List (FGP)

List of accounts and calculations in Judeo-Arabic related to the weight, value, and prices of "raisins / זביב" (l. 3r, 8r). Given that gold sharifi coinage is in use, the fragment may date from the 15th-16th centuries (see explanation of verso below). An individual by the name of David Kohen is involved in the calculations on the recto, perhaps as a party to an associated transaction (l. 2r). All of these terms "weight / וזן", "value / קאים", and "price / סער" appear throughout the verso and on occasion verbal constructions with the root "צרפ / صرف" (l. 8r, 16r) appear that imply value calculations perhaps into "silver / פצה[?]" coinage (l. 13r). All of these figures are expressed alphanumerically. On the verso, the same hand continues accounts connected to a variety of inidividuals such as Yiṣḥaq b. al-Ashqar "אלאשקר" (l. 6-7v from left side of fragment), Meir Saragosi "סראגוסי" (l. 8-9v), and Aharon b. al-Ashqar (l. 11-12v). In the calculations connected to these individuals, the general label "silver / פצה" is used alongside the more specific designation of the gold "sharifi / שריפי" which was first minted under the Mamluk sultanate in 1425CE (Pamuk, A Monetary History of the Ottoman Empire, 60). MCD.