Geniza Lab

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions Sālim al-Ḥaver, the female slave of R. Nissim, Sulaymān, the old woman, and Abū l-Faraj the ghulam of [...]. Also "a little bit of Cypriot wine." ASE.

Recto: Legal document in Arabic script. The middle portions of ~11 lines are preserved from near the top of the document. The price of a commodity according to a particular price - ḥasab seʿr and dirham, darāhim are mentioned. The document was chartered when the beneficiary was in sound health and had fully consented to the cause; 'fī ṣeḥatin.... ṭawʿan lahu ʿalaihi', and is referred to as 'this document/letter'; hadhā l-kitāb. Mentions names such as Sulaymān and Maḥmūd bin Ṣafīh (?). Needs further examination. Verso: Legal document in Judaeo-Arabic. Possibly from a court ledger (shimmush). Mentions the name Sālim, otherwise, very few details are preserved. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card).

Accounts. Six small but comparatively well-written pages in the hand of ʿArūs b. Yosef. (Information from Goitein’s index card.) See PGPID 20645 and dozens of other records.

State document in Arabic script. Damaged/faded. About 8 lines are preserved. Surrounded by Hebrew literary text (on recto) and a Hebrew poem (on verso, in a different hand). Needs examination.

Document in Arabic script. List containing numbers or ciphers. Possibly a fiscal document, based on handwriting and layout. On verso there is Hebrew piyyut. Needs examination.

Short list of names following amount. Late

Awaiting description

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic (FGP). Very faded.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic (FGP). Possibly a literary letter.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Late.

Legal document. Partnership release. Dated: 7 Shevat 1390. Location: Fustat. An olive-oil partnership is dissolved. This fragment contains two documents related to the same partnership agreement, filed in the court one after the other over a two-day period in January 1079. The first document, unsigned and seemingly copied in lines 1-12, represents the termination of a partnership and a corresponding mutual release of three partners, Ghālib b. Ḥalfōn, Moses b. Ghālib, and Meshullam b. Furqān. Ghālib releases Moses and Meshullam; Moses and Meshullam release Ghālib. That Moses and Meshullam did not release one another in this document suggests either that the document was Ghālib’s copy of a mutual release and that other copies were written for Moses and Meshullam, or that Ghālib was the active partner and Moses and Meshullam were his investors. If the latter, Moses and Meshullam would have had no mutual obligations and therefore no need to release one another. This explanation is consistent with lines 13-28, which describe Ghālib and Moses' partnership. As a settlement, Ghālib agrees to pay Moses and Meshullam each month in order to settle the balance (seven dinars). Meshullam's role in the partnership is unclear; only Ghālib and Moses are mentioned as partners in the olive-oil concern. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 127)

Story in Judaeo-Arabic. Probably popular literature (mentions "the gate of the castle").

Responsum by Maharam of Rutenberg, end of no. 239.

Family letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Long, well-preserved, and unstudied. Dating: Perhaps 14th–15th century, but this is a guess. The addressee may be named Bū Saʿd. The writer complains about his or her illness. Mentions the sending of animal hides (julūd and farawāt) and a ship/boat several times. Mentions the buying of saffron. Mentions dates and olives (or oil?) that are "maṭrūḥ." The family may have paid their taxes (wa-niḥnā kāmilīn min al-maqṣ). ASE

Informal note from Yehuda b. Ṭuviyyahu, presumably in Bilbays, to a certain Sheʾerit, who may also be called Ṣāliḥ, and who is probably a cantor, presumably in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script. On recto there is a piyyut for Shabbat Vayigash that seems to be copied in Yehuda's hand. On verso there is Yehuda's note: "Forgive the slave. He only neglected the sending(?) of this on account of his many worries. Please judge him favorably." ASE

Accounts in Hebrew. Late. Currency: muayyadi/medin. Most of the items listed are foodstuffs.

Fragment from a legal query concerning the bill of divorce given by Moshe Qudeisi, which is claimed to be given forcibly, and therefore is not valid. Published Glick, Sridei Teshuvot, p. 517-521

Perhaps a letter of appeal for charity. In Hebrew. Late. Mentions a woman whom the narrator married in order to save her from poverty.

Magical recipes in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script and magical script. Including a birth control recipe: "If you want a woman not to become pregnant. . ." Contains some Arabic words inserted into Hebrew script; 'law taʿllaq ʿalā', muʿallaq ʿalaihā, muʿallaq. The bottom half of the recto contains 6 lines in what looks like code or a cipher with some symbols that look like Arabic letters. Possibly a talisman or incantation. Verso contains lines of Hebrew script and a box bisected by two lines with Hebrew script inside and on the outside.

Medical treatise in Arabic script. Perhaps the first page of Tadhkirat al-Kaḥḥālīn. The author's name is given as ʿĪsā b. ʿAlī al-Mutaṭabbib instead of the correct ʿAlī b. ʿĪsā, but it was not uncommon for scribes to reverse the names. On verso there is Hebrew literary text.