Geniza Lab

Arabic script (VMR)

Arabic script (VMR)

Arabic script (VMR)

Arabic script (VMR)

Arabic script (VMR)

Accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals, contains the glyph. Perforations for binding. Probably a join with ENA 3925.14.

Accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. Mentions many names. Perforations for binding, especially on verso, the part with the perforations has stayed very light in color presumably where it was tightly bound and not exposed to oxygen. This in turn suggests that the brown paper of which we see so much in the geniza may once have been much lighter in color and darkened over time.

Arabic script (VMR)

Arabic script (VMR)

Fiscal record or receipt, early Fatimid. Binding perforations, indicating that it was once stiffening material for a book cover.

Recto: State document, huge line spacing, ends with ṣalwala in a calligraphic hand, probably a decree. On verso there is a letter (see separate record). Perforated for binding.

Verso: Letter in Arabic script, in a book hand. Opens with two verses of poetry, then probably a taqbīl ([... al-a]rḍ), then greetings for the noble addressee (...al-sāmī al-ajall al-mawlā ??? abqāhu Allāh taʿālā...), then a report (wa-yunhī) that God sent health to the sender after an illness and ophthalmia (ramad) which lasted 20 days (...Allāh taʿālā manna bi-l-ʿāfiya fa-taṣṣarafa bi-hā baʿd ʿashrīn yawman...). The sender seems to be thanking the addressee for his generosity in helping him in this period of illness, "for he (the addressee) has never been stingy toward a sick person" (...maʿa kawnih lam yabkhal qaṭṭ ʿalā marīḍ...). Further down, mentions "the distress is severe, and from country to country, the excuse is plain...." Then a judge called al-qāḍī al-ajall ʿAlam al-Dīn.

Tax receipt, Fatimid. Blank verso. Perforated for binding. For the capitation tax of Hiba b. Yūsuf; same dossier as T-S Misc.24.38.1–3 and ENA 3936.3. Dated: Jumādā I 552 AH (=June/July 1157 CE).

Arabic script (VMR)

Medical prescription. Some ingredients mentioned are pear (ajāṣ), red dates (ʿenāb), almond oil, seeds of chicory (Bazr Hindbāʾ), Egyptian Cuscuta epithymum (aftīmūn Miṣrī), Syrian Borage (lisān thawr Shāmī), white sugar, rose water, ambergris (ʿamber) and basil (raiḥān). The line in the margins reads; may the nourishment be beneficial God willing (al-ghizā....nafiʿ Inshallah).

Unpublished letter about India trade. Contains the glyph. Fatimid or Ayyubid. (MR)

Arabic script (VMR)

Legal document, dated 689 H, (=1290/91 CE), in a very faded script, with signature(s) at the bottom. One of the parties is al-Ḥājj Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz. Needs examination for content.

Blank recto and verso, perforations for binding.

Fragmentary letter (draft?) with many lacunae, 8 lines. Many glorifying phrases: "...[al-shaykh] al-ajall Sadīd al-Mulk ballaghū Allāh taʿālā aʿlā al-manāzil... dīn wa-dunyā... awdaʿahū Allāh taʿālā...." In the bottom line, mentions "the children of Mūsā b. ʿImrān" (=the Jewish people?).