Geniza Lab

Document in Arabic script. Unclear what it is. Perhaps a fiscal account: the word al-mablagh appears on recto, and al-ʿāmil on verso.

Document in Arabic script. Looks official. Needs examination.

Connected to ENA 3916.3-4?

Literary work. In Arabic script. Probably medical. Discussing various appetites, such as for food and for sexual intercourse.

Recto: Document in Arabic script. Possibly a letter. Rudimentary handwriting and orthography. Sings the praises of a Coptic sage in Alexandria. This sage is versed in theology (الناطق بالقوال التالوغسية) and Hermetic arts (المتادب بالاداب الهرمسية) and translates the Coptic and the Arabic languages (مترجم الغات القبطية والعربية). Verso: Letter (or legal query) from Christians addressed to Muslim authorities. In Arabic script. The writers complain about a Christian who was attacked by Muslims, who had been asked by other Christians to do that. They grabbed him, beat him, and dragged him before the bishop of the Christians. Dating: Unknown. Szilagyi dates the fragment to the 10th-15th centuries on the basis of the handwriting. The reference to translating and Coptic and Arabic suggests an earlier date, 10th to 13th century. And there is one word (الاوبيين) that perhaps should be read "al-Ayyūbiyyīn" which would date the fragment to 1171–1250 CE. But it might also be al-adībīn. Informtion from Krisztina Szilagyi via FGP.

Document in Arabic script. Probably a letter. Very faded. Mentions a boat. Verso may be a distinct document, also in Arabic script.

Letter addressed to "Shaykh al-ʿIlm wa-l-Milla al-Isrā'īliyya." In Arabic script. Dating: Late, based on linguistic features and handwriting. The content is not entirely clear. The writer flatters the addressee, "You are the equal of 100 men; nothing passes you by." Various people are mentioned: the addressee's son; al-Muʿallim Yaʿqūb; Abū l-Naṣr; al-Ra'īs Ibrāhīm. ASE.

Letter. In Arabic script. Dating: Ottoman-era, based on hand and layout and vocabulary ('after the arrival of the basha... kiss the hands of Muḥammad effendi for me...'). Dealing with business matters. Needs examination.

Letter fragment. In Arabic script. Mentions the faqīh Abū l-Ḥasan al-Maghribī al-Anṣārī; mentions a funduq. Needs further examination.

Letter(s) in Arabic script. Recto and verso are probably distinct letters. Dating: Likely 13th century or later. The letter on recto appears to be from a father (al-wālidī) to a son (al-walad al-ʿazīz al-muwaffaq al-saʿīd). Only the opening greetings are preserved. The letter on verso mentions names such as al-Shaykh al-Thiqa Abū l-Bishr and Mūsā. There is one phrase in Hebrew script, the title of the book הלכות מאכלות אסורות ('the laws of forbidden foods'), which the addressee is asked to have copied for the writer. The addressee is asked to take payment for two items from the bearer. The remnant of the address reads, "the children of the Jews (awlād al-yahūd), Fustat."

State document of some kind. Needs examination.

Literary text in Arabic script. Includes the well-known story of Ibn al-Sammāk who visited Hārūn al-Rashīd, who was drinking water. Ibn al-Sammāk stopped him from drinking and asked what he would give to be able to drink if he were forbidden from doing so. "My whole kingdom!" He then let him drink, upon which he asked what he would give to be able to void the water. "My whole kingdom!" Ergo, a kingdom is worth nothing more than a drink and a void.

Literary text in Arabic script. Probably belongs with the previous shelfmark.

List of names and numbers in Arabic script. The names are typical of the late 12th and 13th centuries. Abū Saʿd al-[...]... Abū l-Riḍā, two raṭls... Ibn al-Dayyān one and a half raṭls... Hilāl...

Report on income from a province (ʿaml al-[...]) submitted to the diwan of al-Afḍal (i.e., the vizier al-Afḍal b. Badr al-Jamālī, r. 1094–1121). Some of the text: مبلغ . . . من عمل ال . . . . . . . . . . . . . الافضلية الذي عرض بالمجلس العالي خلد الله سلطانه بتاريخ التاسع عش من . . . . On verso, possibly the continuation of the document and some Greek/Coptic numerals. Needs further examination.

Literary text in Arabic script. Has a diagram.

Arabic script (VMR)

First page of a treatise of phlebotomy regarding nomenclature, names, and the number of blood veins (360) in a human body according to Galen and the (appropriate) sites for bloodletting. The author says that physicians should be wary of letting blood only from specific veins so as to not cause harm to people. They are veins of the elbow, arms, hands, vein in the forehead, vein between the two eyes, vein inside the nose, and two veins of the temple. Verso: Title page of the book: Kitāb fīhi tasmiyat al-ʿurūq li Jālīnūs [sic] wa ʿadaduhā wahiya thālāthumiʾa wa sittūn ʿirqan wa al-mawāḍi‘ allatī yufṣadu minhā. The name towards the bottom reads as Muḥammad Ibrāhim abū ʿUmar ibn Zaydūn al-Qabsh[..].

Arabic script (VMR)

Arabic script (VMR)