Geniza Lab

Letter draft from Yiṣḥaq Maslati (מסלאתי) to R. Mordekhay. In Hebrew. Dating: Possibly 16th century. Asking him to send 1,500 new Venetian peraḥim. This text is surrounded by various pen trials and practice signatures.

Pen trials, featuring Antoninus: אנסה הקולמוס בספר עמוס אם הולך בנימוס אני ואנטונינוס

Letter from [ʿAll?]ūsh b. Yūsuf to Efrayim b. Yefet. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Recommending the bearer for charity.

Letter from the court, in Togarma (Istanbul?), to Moshe Abudarham, in Alexandria. In Hebrew. Dating: Second half of the 16th century, based on Avraham David's identification of the addressee. The letter informs Moshe that a woman named Simḥa, the wife of Yosef Lanyado, has testified that he owes her the 43 peraḥim that she had invested with him, "and she is crying 'violence!' against you" (cf. Jeremiah 20:8 and Job 19:7). The court orders Moshe, if what she testifies is true, to pay her back on pain of excommunication. Information from FGP.

Hebrew letter (or draft) from a man addressed to his brother Moshe b. סחן. In rhymed and possibly humorous Hebrew (...אחי וראש חקור ודרוש ומשחיטה חתוך הראש...).

Recto: Bottom seven lines of an official letter in Arabic script. It seems like few details are preserved. Reused for a Judaeo-Arabic letter (see separate record). Needs further examination.

Recto: Letter from the Qaraite Mahbub b. Nissim, Ramla, to Abu al-Faraj in Fustat, middle of the 11th century (12 Iyar). Mahbub has traveled from Fustat via Alexandria by ship, but he suffers a loss worth 13 dinars en route and arrives in Alexandria with only a few things. He then boards a ship to Laodikea (Syria), but he persuades the ship's captain (bribing him with a package of parchment) to deviate from the route and let him disembark instead in Jaffa. He arrives in Ramla on Erev Rosh Hodesh Marheshvan, and then arrives in Jerusalem on Erev Rosh Hodesh Kislev.

Account register in Judaeo-Arabic. Nine folios. Late. Includes many foodstuffs.

Autograph fragment of Maimonides' epitomes of Galen. Belongs together with T-S Ar.21.112 and JRL SERIES A 1019, ed. Hopkins, "A New Autograph Fragment of Maimonides's "Epitomes" of Galen ("De Locis Affectis")," BSOAS vol. 57 no. 1 (1994), pp. 126–32. (Information from Amir Ashur.)

Dowry list (taqwim) in the hand of Mevorakh b. Natan, for the marriage of Natan b. Shabbetay and […] bt. Yeshūʿa. Marriage payments: 10 + 30 = 40. Total value of the dowry is 250 dinars. (Information from Goitein’s index card)

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Very faded. Mentions someone who arrived safely, and a woman named Sitt al-Milāḥ.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic and Greek/Coptic numerals. Al the entries specify either silver or gold.

Legal document, 12 lines, in Arabic script, dated 4th Muḥarram al-Ḥarām of an undecipherable year [8..?]. Concerning [...] b. al-Muʿallim Ṣadaqa the Samaritan Jew, a receipt of something (waṣala...), and a period of time. The occurrence of few sums of money indicates a fiscal account or commercial transaction - 'min al-fiḍḍat al-anṣāf al-judūd', which points to the Mamlūkī silver 'half' coin of al-Muʾayyad Shaykh and suggests that this letter is dated no earlier than 1415 CE, as this was the year when the ruler imposed the 'half' as the basic silver coin. Other measures mentioned are 'Khamsīn naṣṣan mā-huwa ḥāmiluhu', 'khamsat wa-thalāthīn fiḍḍa'.

Legal query addressed to Rabbenu Yehuda (likely Yehuda b. Yosef Rosh ha-Seder). It involves a complex business arrangement with 4 partners and one partner's heirs. Likely concerns the same case as Geneva 39, a query submitted to Elḥanan b. Ḥushiel approximately 5 years prior. (Information from Amir Ashur via FGP; see identification on FGP for further analysis.)

Letter fragment. In Hebrew. Probably late. Addressed to שמואל רודסי (of Rhodes) and יהודה דמדינק and דוד מונטלוה (Montaloa?) "and all the notables of [....]." The name of the location - along with the entirety of the letter - is lost.

State document, four fragmented lines in a chancery hand, later reused for Hebrew text. Starts with a basmala followed by a Quranic verse 'Naṣrun min Allah wa fatḥun qarīb (61:13) and a ḥasbala. Verso features heavy smudges in ink in what appears to be pen trials both in Arabic and Hebrew.

Small fragment with some mirror-image text in Judaeo-Arabic on recto and a couple words in Judaeo-Arabic on verso.

Small fragment with some Hebrew on it.

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. The content is difficult to determine from the small bit that is preserved. The addressee is urged to do something quickly.

Trousseau list. Bride: Sitt al-ʿAshīr bt. Netanel ha-Zaqen. In Judaeo-Arabic. (Information from Goitein’s index card.)