Geniza Lab

See ENA 3912.1

See ENA 3912.1

See ENA 3912.1

See ENA 3912.1

See ENA 3912.1

Letter in Arabic script. Dating: Ottoman-era, perhaps 18th or 19th century. Seems to have been abandoned halfway through. There are a few words in Hebrew script on verso. The letter is written in a rural hand with a couple of colloquial words addressed to a merchant Maḥmūd ʿĀbidīn (if read correctly). The author of the letter, who appears to work for this merchant, mentions his visit to Ṭanṭa in Egypt, where he offered prayers at the shrine of a local Ṣūfī saint Aḥmad al-Badawī (d.1276). He also mentions the stagnant market conditions (al-bayʿ wa-l-shira waqf ḥāl) and states that only a Jewish merchant al-Ḥāj al-Ḥarīrī settled his dues of 41 maqṭaʿ in 91 days. He expresses his intention of traveling to the mediterranean sea and embarking on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Sayyīd Ibrāhim al-Desūqī (d. 1296) to observe his birth anniversary. Towards the end, he requests a letter from Muḥammad Effendī in the name of ʿUmar Aghā, the superintendent of the freights (al-Anwāl) of al-Maḥalla.

Legal document (iqrār). Acknowledgment made by al-muʿallim Yaʿqūb b. Ismāʿīl. In Arabic script. Needs examination for content and dating.

Letter in Arabic script. Dating: Likely medieval. Probably to a family member. There are many self-pitying phrases. Some lines are crossed out. Needs examination.

Family letter. In Arabic script. Damaged/faded. Needs examination for content.

Legal document in Arabic script. Damaged. Needs examination for content. One of the parties may be named Salāma.

Document in Arabic script. Very difficult to read. Needs examination.

Document in Arabic script. Needs examination.

Legal documents in Arabic script. Looks like three distinct documents, one large one on recto and two smaller ones on verso. Bunch of names of people who consent to witness (bi-shihādin shahida). Dating: Ottoman-era? (The dates are given but are difficult to read.) Needs examination.

Arabic, literary.

Letter. In Arabic script. Mentions the sender's brother ʿAbd al-Kāfī who is with him in the house. Also refers to someone as 'sayyidnā' in the marginal text. Needs further examination.

Arabic script (VMR)

Medical text. An extract from the Egyptian-origin physician ʿAlī b. Riḍwān's (d. 1060s) citation of Galen's views on the four humours and the causes and effects of imbalances between them. Verso: Schematic representation of the four seasons and humours.

Arabic script (VMR)

Bifolio of business accounts in Arabic script, probably of a clothier or dyer. Each entry seems to list a debt or payment owed by a different person. Numerous names are mentioned along with their professions, such as al-khayyāṭ (tailor) and al-bazzāz (clothier) and ḍāmin (tax farmer / guarantor). Also mentions a maṭbakh (dyehouse). After many of these names, the garment "fūṭa" is mentioned.

Recipe or medical prescription. In Arabic script. There are two similar recipes, oriented at 180 degrees to each other. On recto there is an Islamic literary text (qāla l-nabiyyu ṣallā llāhu ʿalahi....).