Geniza Lab

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Too faded to easily discern much of the content. Mentions the late Rayyis.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer mentions that he sent two dirhams to his cousin and wants him to purchase two kohl containers for him. He is particular about the kind he wants. It seems that he has described his specifications to a Jewish youth with blue eyes and a fair complexion. The size of the containers (or another good?) may be indicated by the two circles that he drew on verso. The letter is fragmentary and has folds covering key words, so this description is somewhat tentative. ASE.

Recto: Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions al-Rav Rabbenu Shemuel, discussing shares in a house and people who are distressing the writer. Verso: Letter, complete, in Judaeo-Arabic, to an important addressee. It is a hastily scrawled, informal note, but even so begins and ends with appropriate formulae for a petition. The writer informs the addressee that the Gentiles who live near the synagogue have been setting fires and blaming the Jews. ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Very faded. Mentions a jandār (a military officer?) and an amir.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions Malīj and the son of the late Abū Yaʿqūb al-Kohen al-Ṭabīb.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. The handwriting may be known.

Recto: Letter draft by Shelomo b. Eliyyahu containing his trademark phrase "when I had turned toward health." In Judaeo-Arabic. Verso: An order in Arabic script from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu (Abū l-Barakāt b. al-Dayyān) to Abū Saʿīd for a syrup of sorrel (? sharāb ḥummāḍ). This is a tentative reading, needs further examination. ASE.

Letter probably from Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat, to Barhūn b. Ṣāliḥ al-Taherti. Very damaged. Needs examination.

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to his brother Peraḥya b. Menashshe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Large fragment (missing mainly the upper right corner of recto). There are greetings for the high holidays. He thanks Peraḥya for the 10(?) dirhams that he sent for their mother, who thanks and prays for him (cf. T-S 13J22.29). The gum (ṣamgh) has arrived. Mentions incense (nidd/nadd). He refers in vague terms to some good news or advice and urges Peraḥya to act on it.

Fragment in Judaeo-Arabic listing several names (e.g. Hilāl, Yūsuf, al-Skandarānī) and perhaps including names of witnesses. Needs examination.

Letter from a mother to her daughter. In Judaeo-Arabic. The mother expresses her longing and the fire in her heart, sends regards to Umm Khalaf and ʿIwāḍ, and expressing her joy that her daughter is now connected (ittiṣālik) with such noble people. ASE.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer mentions a father and [Abū S]aʿīd al-Ḥazzān and being prostrated (inṭaraḥt) and cut off (munqaṭiʿa) on account of an illness (marḍa). From the gender of the adjective, the letter seems to be in the voice of a woman. Needs examination. ASE.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions a deceased Yoshiyahu.

Recto: Letter to the Gaon in Cairo (al-Muʿizziyya). In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer explains that he has not yet been able to find a riding animal to come visit (aftaqid) the Gaon in person, and in the meantime his heart is with him. Verso: Letter (draft?) in Judaeo-Arabic, addressed to a group of people (al-ḥaverim), it seems the writer's inferiors, mentioning the encouragement of good deeds (istinhāḍ al-thawāb). They are to investigate the matter of Ibn Sabra, regarding vows that he has taken. Possibly he vowed to marry a certain woman but now wishes to marry another. The addressees are to make a determination whether this is permissible or not, and in the latter case, a ruling should be issued (fa-l-yuftūh) after a 'flogging' (ḍarb malqot) and a fine, because this will be a lesson for others. The writer seems invested in strengthening the legitimacy/authority of fatwās (an yakūna li-l-fatwā bāb). Also, a letter should be sent to Ibn al-ʿAmmānī upbraiding him for his tardiness in writing. ASE.

Memorial list, probably.

Letter from the court to the community of Dhū Jibla in defense of Maḍmūn. Aden, ca. 1135.

Document in Judaeo-Arabic, probably late, possibly a letter. Needs examination.

Receipt in Arabic script (waṣala ilā bayt al-māl al-maʿmūr) in the name of Ibrāhīm b. Sunbāṭ al-Ṣayyāgh (the dyer), the Maghribī Jew, dated Ramaḍān 442, with the funds being delivered by Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā; ʿalāma on recto and a detailed registration in the dīwān al-jawālī of Fustat (!) on verso and witnesses' signatures.

Legal document in Arabic script. Needs examination.

Document in Arabic script.