Geniza Lab

Letter written by someone who trains himself in writing a letter. The beginning of the letter reads: (1) bismi llāh al-raḥmān al-raḥim (2) waṣala kitabuka ayyuhā al-ʾaḫ al-fāḍil ḥafiẓaka (3) llāh bi-rāfatihi

Letter from Abū Naṣr, in Alexandria, to his brother al-Thiqa, in Fustat. There are greetings to Abū l-Ṭāhir Ismāʿīl and his son Sharaf(?), but these do not appear to be the actual addressees. In Arabic script. There are also a few words in Judaeo-Arabic in the address. The sender reports that he arrived safely from Fustat to Alexandria and found the children well. He stayed with his son Sulaymān. He claims that he could not find anyone with whom to send a letter for a span of two months, until he found Abū l-ʿAlā' b. al-ʿAfīf(?), with whom he is sending the present letter. The sender is apologetic and worried about two women, Sitt [...] and Fāḍila. He asks about the price of wheat. He asks for a loan/advance of 2 dirhams either from the addressee or from Sulaymān al-Dujājī, and he asks the addressee to buy okra with it and send it to him, no matter the price. ASE

Account in cash (dirhams and dinars)

Late list of wealthy contributors, about 30 per week (Information from Goitein index cards.) Verso: There are also several lines of Arabic script.

Trial of the pen that reads among other things ḥadrat mawlaya al-šayḫ

Table of materia medica or perfumes and their value in dinars. In Judaeo-Arabic. Items include three kinds of aloe (ʿūd), ambergris (ʿanbar), perfume (? ʿabir), ben oil (bān), and two kinds of saffron. Verso: Block of text in Arabic script. Needs examination.

Letter in Arabic script dated Monday 24 Jumādā I 517H (

Trial of the pen consisting of several basmala-s

Fragment of a decree. There is a single full word: "al-mustaḥabbīn."

Letter or petition in Arabic script. On verso there is Hebrew literary text. Needs examination.

Letter fragment from an unknown writer in Syria to 'Rabbenu' in Bilbays. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentioning the capitation tax (... al-jawālī) in al-Shām and specifically mentions the place Bayt Jibrīn (Beit Gubrin). Also names [...] bar Daniel al-[...] ZL. Dating: Probably 12th or 13th century. Also under this shelfmark: Two other small fragments, one in late Arabic script and one in a mixture of of Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script.

Poetry in Judaeo-Arabic. There are also two lines in Arabic script, difficult to read. VMR. ASE.

Document in Arabic script; needs examination. VMR. ASE.

Recto: Fragment in Arabic script, in a chancery hand. The ends of four lines are preserved. Mentions a sum of 20 dinars (min al-ʿayn al-wāzin ʿashrīn dīnār) and repeats twice that someone testified something (shahida ʿalā nafsih). Verso: Legal testimony in Judaeo-Arabic. Possibly in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Reporting on the fulfillment of the orders of the Gaon. The witnesses went to the house of Abū l-Maʿālī Avraham b. Ḥalfon known as Ibn Abū Salāma (probably the same mentioned in T-S 8J5.4, dated 1127 CE) and questioned him regarding the drug store of the late Abū Sahl Menashshe ha-Levi b. Elʿazar who died in Cairo. Abū l-Maʿālī relates that Abū Sahl had asked him from his deathbed to go fetch some money from the shop, so he went and retrieved approximately 40 dirhams. By the time he returned, Abū Sahl was dead. When Abū l-Maʿālī returned to the shop, there was already a group gathered round, and Ṣemaḥ al-Parnas summoned a carpenter to close the shop and put a metal lock on the door. Evidently they are now sorting out who will take over the business. ASE

Letter fragment in Arabic script. Approximately 8 lines are preserved, and they are unusually readable.

Accounts in Arabic script.

Letter concerning the dispatch of gold from the congregation in Bilbays, to be delivered in Jerusalem to 'the synagogue of the Yemenite' and to 'the rabbis,' 1214. The margins and verso are filled with accounts in Arabic script.

Table filled with Arabic script. The y-axis is days of the week and the x-axis is times of day. Each square of the grid has the name of a celestial body (sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, etc.) There is further Arabic script below the table and on verso.

Letter from Yeḥiel b. Elyaqim to Seʿadya ha-Rofe. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. It is hard to discern the content. Yeḥiel instructs Seʿadya "not to fast as usual" (?) during his stay in a foreign land, and perhaps to return quickly. Also mentions Avraham ha-Talmid. On verso are jottings in both Arabic script and Hebrew script.

Recto: List of items from a dowry that have been (a) lost or (b) remain in the husband's house. In the hand of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu? Verso: List of items in Arabic script, with a few lines in Judaeo-Arabic. Despite the similarity of situation, there is no connection between ENA 2700.32 and ENA 2700.33. Information from Goitein's note card.