Geniza Lab

Recto: Syriac writing exercises. Verso: The Syriac Peshitta of Psalms 20, transcribed phonetically into Hebrew script.

List of the Pesiqa, upper part of three pages containing the names of contributors, headed by Abu al-Mufaddal, who pledges 1/8 dinar. The others give dirhams, namely: 1 party gives 3 d; 8 parties give 2 d; 16 parties give 1 d; 4 parties give 1/2 d;, 2 (sum not preserved). As indicated by the cut of the extant fragment, it probably contains less than half the original list. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 503, App. C 119)

Document in Persian. Nastaʿlīq, diagonally oriented text blocks. Containing at least 3 records dated Safar 1218 AH, Rajab 1218 AH, and Shaʿbān 1221 AH (1803, 1803, and 1806 CE respectively). Needs examination.

Bottom of a large legal document in Arabic script. Contains some release formulae. Unclear if the date is preserved. Two signatures are partially preserved. Needs examination.

Business letter in Arabic script. Likely from Maʿtūq al-Yahūd. Dating: Probably 19th century. Mentions al-Muʿallim Bakhūr and al-Muʿallim Nissim. An irdabb (of wheat?) is selling for 110 gurush. Mentions Būlāq. Mentions various sums of money: thousands and tens of thousands of silver. The حاخام باشه is mentioned several times, once in the phrase "do not go to the hakham bashi!" There is also the intriguing phrase "we do not follow the Franks; we follow you" (4 lines from the bottom). Needs further examination.

State petition regarding a Maghribī Jewish trader caught drinking with a Muslim woman and imprisoned. Cuts off right before the request: there arrived from the official who imprisoned them three sealed documents (khawātim khātim min qabl Munajjat al-Dawla) ... possibly to do with the jizya, a pretext for imprisoning them for moral offenses (?), suggesting that the trader was conspicuous and respectable, or his moral infractions might not have drawn attention. See also T-S NS J286, in which a man travels from Ceuta to Bijāya, Algeria, where the sāḥib al-Bijāya asks him how is related to a woman who is with him. (There is a ṣāḥib al-shūrṭa in ENA 3901.5, too.) The traveler (never described as a Maghribi trader, but a man from the Maghrib) claims she is his wife, but he has no kitāb to prove this. In T-S NS J286, they confiscate his māl and the man is put in prison with no reference to the woman. Although there is nothing about the three-day drinking binge, it’s plausible that these are the same case, and if not, they pair nicely.

Legal record. In Hebrew, with a few Judaeo-Arabic words (e.g. ḥāṣil, murjān). Dating: Late, probably 18th or 19th century. Involves Yaʿaqov ʿAllūsh and Raḥamim Amarillo and a business deal that might involve selling coral, valued at 25 fonduclis, on commission.

Letter. In Arabic script. Dating: Late, probably 18th or 19th century. Dealing with various business matters, after a long deferential introduction. Needs further examination.

Recto: trial of the pen. Verso: arithmetic calculations.

Letter in Arabic script. There are wishes for somebody's health (ارجو ان قد وهب عافيته). Mentions the arrival of Abū l-Faraj. Mentions that 'I have 3 dinars left" and then asks for a loan (وقد تبقا عندي ثلثة دنانير... حتى اسال مولاي في شي يقرضني) for some business affair.

Legal document in Arabic script. Very damaged.

Legal document in Arabic script. Very damaged.

Legal document. In Arabic script. Damaged. Of the main document, only portions of the last few lines are preserved (unclear if the date is preserved or not). The main text here is 6 different witness statements. Needs further examination.

Deed of acknowledgment (iqrār), with many lacunae in the fragment. In Arabic script. Involves [...] b. Abū Ṭāʿa(?) al-Ḥāmī and Manṣūr b. Faraḥ al-Ḥāmī in Cairo for default in debt payment. The testimony declares that the debt owed by Manṣūr is proven - "kitāb lahu dainan ʿalaihi ḥatman wa-ḥaqqan wājiban lāziman ḥāllan lahu ʿalaihi", and there is no record of a bankruptcy (wa lā yaddaʿī lahu fi dhālika falsan walā ʿadman) established in his favor till this date. Hence, the creditors are entitled to take from him what they want, when they want it, and how they want it, either at night or in the evening or in the day - yāʾkhozuhu bihi wa bimā shāʾ minhu ayyu waqtin shāʾ wa-kaif shāʾ min lailin av-nahārin masaʾin av-ṣabāḥin. The letter is signed by Sahal Ibrāhīm al-Ḥasan. Dated: Shaʿbān 459(?) AH, which would be 1066/1067 CE. Needs further examination.

Accounts in Arabic script. Late. List of agricultural products, fruits and spices, quantity and price. Currency: fulūs. On the other side there is some charming Arabic love poetry and a few lines of pen trials in Hebrew.

Document in Arabic script. Two very narrow vertical strips filled with rudimentary Arabic script. Likely magical, but this is based entirely on appearance rather than reading any of the content. (MR) The name of God appears very often and is sometimes followed or preceded by a shahāda. A prayer or incantation? (YU)

Letter. In Arabic script. Dating: Ottoman-era; repeatedly refers to the "shāwish" (=çavuş). Needs examination.

Document tied to finances that according to FGP could be connected to state procedures. Dating: Ottoman-era. This designation seems feasible given the appearance of "diwan" on both the recto and verso (l. 3r, 11v). On the verso, the first few lines mention the act of payment and "miqdar/مقدار" or an "amount" or "quantity" (l. 3v). It may be from a literary treatise concerning financial relations with the state. It is filled with bureaucratic jargon referring to several different bureaus (e.g., Dīwān al-ʿUmūm and Dīwān ʿUmūm al-[...]," which is opposed to Nuẓẓār al-Furūʿ) and to "protecting interests" (عدم تعطيل المصلحة) and "necessary expenses" (المصاريف الضرورية). Needs further examination. MCD. ASE.

Business letter. Probably from Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Maghribī al-Tūnisī (upper right of recto). In Arabic script, in an experienced hand. Dating: Possibly Mamluk-era. On recto, the sender describes various commercial transactions (l. 15r). Toward the bottom of recto, he mentions the following: 3 aqfāṣ of antimony; lead; 7 chests of mercury and verdigris; 6 chests of soap; 7 chests of labdanum; later on, arsenic; and something "to India." On verso, he mentions [...] b. Muḥammad al-Shāṭir on two occasions (l. 1v, 17v); he gives prices for pepper and ginger; mentions the return from the ḥajj (al-nuzūl baʿd al-ḥajj); and mentions saffron. He says that he and Abū Naṣr visited the Nā'ib of Jedda, who received them graciously (l. 8v). MCD. ASE.

Business letter. In Arabic script. Dating: Ottoman-era, based on overall appearance and use of the honorific "effendi." There are several lines of accounts at the bottom. Long, well-preserved, and relatively easy to read (lots of diacritics provided). Needs further examination.