Geniza Lab

Ketubba (marriage contract) by proxy form from the siddur of Shelomo b. Natan of Sijilmasa, 12th century. NB: The shelfmark has changed, and it will take some work to find the current one.

Liturgical.

An interesting letter in rhymed Hebrew prose, with one line of Judaeo-Arabic, spanning 4 leafs (7 pages). It opens with a blazon of a certain person's beautiful features (arched eyebrows as if inscribed by a pen, temples and cheeks like scorpions that sting the heart of all who behold them, etc.). The addressee seems to be named in the last line of Image 6: "his name is Avram and Avraham is his father, like Elʿazar purifying with animals' blood," i.e., they are Kohanim. The writer asks several times for a letter and then for an ambiguous favor "based on the convenant between you and me [made] on Shabbat Teruma." He says he always asks seafarers for news ot he addressee. Then, "Write to Daniel your servant on the day he goes (or: you go) down to the city of און בימה (Heliopolis?) / To accompany a brother as he travels to Spain, and your slave to 'Sin' of the West (? סין שבימה)." Information largely from FGP. Merits further examination.

Beginning of a letter from Daniel b. Azarya Gaon or David b. Daniel to a community, ca. 1092. NB: The shelfmark has since changed, and it will take some work to find the current shelfmark.

A letter to Damietta concerning a teacher. NB: The shelfmark has since changed, and it will take some work to find the current shelfmark. Mentioned Med Soc V, X, a, I, n. 6 (p. 505).

Letter from Hillel Ha-Ḥaver b. Yeshu'a Ha-Hazzan, Tiberias, to Sahlan b. Avraham in Fustat, end of 1034. NB: The shelfmark has changed, and it will take some work to find the new one. Possibly DK M69, which is not available on FGP.

Letter from Avraham b. Shelomo b. Yehuda perhaps to Efrayim b. Shemarya. In Hebrew. Complains about a Coptic kātib (הסופר הערל, lit. "the uncircumcised scribe") and how "the Ishmaelites and the Qedarites" are demanding a heavy burden of taxes. He asks for help for the sake of the synagogues. The response should be secret and the kātib must not find out. NB: This does not seem to be the correct shelfmark, as DK 123 on FGP does not correspond to this document. The good news is that there is a photograph of the fragment in Scheiber, Acta Orientalia (Hung.), 27 (1973), p. 328.

Piyyut (qina) by Elʿazar ha-Qalir. Information from FGP.

Piyyut.

Booklet containing Hebrew poems/prayers, with an ownership note: "this daftar belongs to Netan'el b. Elʿazar." There are some marginal notes in Arabic script, but no Arabic-script document here.

Document in Arabic script. Reused for Hebrew poetry/piyyut. Needs examination.

Administrative document(s), probably. On one side: ʿAbd al-Muḥsin b. Ḥasan 1 dinar waẓīfa. On the other side: Muslim b. Salāma 1 dinar waẓīfa. There are also headers/footers/authentication marks.

A cantor orders a religious poem in which each stanza concludes with a biblical quotation which has as its last word "God," such as Numbers 23:27 or Exodus 1:17. He asks to get it well in time, as he was not any more as good in memorizing as he had been previously. At the head, the first two words of a poem by Judah ha-Levi. Possibly he needed the poem for a circumcision, given the biblical verse specifically alluding to midwives. Information from Goitein's note card. NB: The shelfmark has since changed, and it will take some investigation to find the current shelfmark. Goitein's transcription linked below is actually of DK 238.5 (Alt: XVI) = PGPID 9285.

Poems in Judaeo-Arabic (balligh salāmī yā dā'im...), along with copious jottings in Hebrew.

Bottom part of a letter from the cantor Yiṣḥaq b. Avraham ha-Levi. In Hebrew. Dating: 12th century? Conveying gratitude to many people by name. See bibliography on FGP for potential identifications of the sender.

Letter and panegyric from a certain Khalfūn to the Nagid. The poet's name is spelled in an acrostic in the last 5 words of the poem. Alexander Scheiber argued in 1960 (based purely on internal evidence) that the poet was [Yiṣḥaq Ibn] Khalfūn and the addressee Shemuel ha-Nagid. The note underneath the poem starts, "And seeing as my poetic inspiration (qarīḥa) has died due to all my worries and has not managed to make something worthy of our master the Nagid..." and concludes with best wishes for the holiday of Purim.

Letter from Eliyyahu Ha-kohen b. Shelomo Gaon, to Ḥalfon b. Shelomo. Note that verso has been reused for a (literary?) Hebrew tex

Family letter addressed to Moshe b. Yehuda known as Ibn Abī Kharrūba, in Palermo. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 11th century. The letter was written by one of Moshe's siblings-in-law in Fustat, to be sent to their sister (Moshe's wife). "I also inform you, O my sister, that your brother Barakāt arrived safely in Fustat... staying here, and we have spent 10 dinars on him. Do not cut off your news from me or... from your brother Barakāt, for our hearts are relieved whenever we receive news from you... and that you are in health. I and my mother pray for the elder your father-in-law day and night... the fire is in my heart on account of my separation from you... I wish to travel to you, but my mother does not allow me, for she has no one (but me)... your maternal uncle Musallam asks after you, and your maternal uncle Abū l-Faraj as well... and your maternal aunt sends her greetings and adjures you to tell your (other) maternal aunt to send her a letter of her own... to make her happy... I heard that you sent a letter to Alexandria, but it was lost and never arrived.... Abū l-Khayr sends his greetings, and your brother Barakāt, and your maternal uncle Musallam, and your maternal uncle Abū l-Faraj... I greet you and your husband Mūsā and your sons Abū Isḥāq and his brother and your daughter Sitt al-Kull and your father-in-law and your maternal aunt." Reused on verso for Hebrew literary/liturgical text. ASE

Autobiographical maqāma by Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, ed. Schirmann. Discussed by Amir Ashur here: https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/taylor-schechter-genizah-research-unit/fragment-month/fragment-month-8#_ftn2.

DK 184a: Copy of a letter from Sharira b. Hananya, while he was a judge (Av Beit Din) in Pumbedita, to the communities in Spain and North Africa. Probably 962. The writer asks for their support, while in the Yeshiva there are disagreements about their Gaon – Nehemya b. Kohen Sedek. (Gil, Kingdom, vol. 2, Doc. #19) VMR