Geniza Lab

Lists in Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew related to communal contributions that are organized in a format similar to JRL SERIES C 63. In the second line of each list the year appears as 5600JC which is 1839/40CE. The monetary figures are listed in "פצה / silver" and are organized chronologically according to the weeks of the liturgical calendar and their corresponding parshas as well as holidays (such as Simchat Torah). This format of timekeeping is common with communal documents throughout the JRL Series C fragments. The individuals mentioned in the headings on the recto and verso include Haim Hanan, Kelifa Haim, Nesim Hanan, and Solomon Simḥon.

Accounts in an orderly hand and Hebrew alphanumerical characters that delineate columns with days and months in the Hijri calendar (i.e. Ṣafar on recto and Muḥarram on verso). Each day is designated with a corresponding numerical figure which may indicate monetary values. Based on the paleography, this fragment is likely from the 16th century or later. MCD.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic in which the heading's recto includes the term "מאצריפ", which may indicate these are outstanding expenses related to the "deceased Nissim Mosseri" or "מרחום נסים מוצרי" (l.1-2r). In the heading the Hebrew term for "orphans/"יתומים" (l.1r) appears in connection with two or three names one of which is clearly "Mūsā/מוסה" (l.1r). The dating of this documet is somewhat unclear because the Jewish-calendar month of Cheshvan is mentioned (l.2r) but the year appears to be Hijri as 1030AH or possibly [1]103AH (rougly 1621CE or 1691CE). The former year seems unlikely however because the monetary figures throughout this document are listed in Ottoman silver kuruş (see for example the "ق" symbol for قرش on line one of the verso) which were not minted until 1690CE or 1703CE (Pamuk, A Monetary History of the Ottoman Empire, 160). MCD.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic to Yaʿaqov Yuʿbaṣ, dated 3 June 1825 (17 Sivan 5585), with additional writing on verso.

Letter from Avraham ha-Levi, in Damietta (קפוטקיא), to Karo y Frances & Company, in Cairo/Fustat. Mainly in Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Tuesday, 25 Ḥeshvan 5569 AM, which is 1808 CE. Mentions people such as ʿUmar Serada(?), Ḥasan Abū l-Faḍl, Aḥmad Shaltūt, Yisrael ha-Levi, Saʿd Pinto, Avraham ha-Levi Skandari, and Avraham Maymūn. Also mentions 4 French ships.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic, from David b. Na'im to his brother Moshe b. Na'im. Same writer as in AIU VII.E.26.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, perhaps dated 1819 CE (579).

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic, reused for sums.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic by Nissim Mat[..].

Late letter (or letters?) in Judaeo-Arabic from Ya'aqov Bibas.

Perhaps writing exercises using a late Judaeo-Arabic letter as the basis? Needs further examination.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic by Moshe [...].

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic.

Interesting, late letter in Judaeo-Arabic from "the land of the Christians" to al-Muʿallim Yūsuf, the shammas of the synagogue, Cairo. The writer narrates in brief how he left Cairo with spices to sell overseas, was detained in Alexandria for a time due to an illness, spent 6 months (!?) at sea, getting lost and nearly getting drowned, first stopping in Turkey and then continuing the land of the Christians. At some point they also stopped in Tripoli (Lebanon?) and purchased more goods. "When we entered the city, the representative of the Amir was deposed (?) and the elders אתפרת (?)." (This sentence is not at all clear. The word נאיבו in fact looks more like נציבו and could even be the name of the city. What the elders did is also not clear.) The writer then describes his difficulties selling the goods from Cairo and Tripoli, mentioning the currencies dinar and muayyadi. He sends regards to Muʿallima Sara. He tells Yūsuf to expect the arrival of ʿAmmī Zikrī al-Quṣamṭīnī and his wife, who are poor. He asks Yūsuf to help them with the capitation tax and to help them get settled. He sends regards to the family (dār) of Rashīd; and the family (bayt) of Ḥakīm Shams Ḥanūna (?); and the cousins of the Muʿallima; and R. Avraham; and Khalaf; and the family of the syrup-maker (? ṭābikh al-sharāb spelled טבך אשרב) and his wife (ahlihi). The writer's wife and children send regards, as does the addressee's brother Barakāt (at the beginning of the letter). He concludes with greetings to Hārūn Jamal and his wife and children and reports that Hārūn's mother and brothers and sisters and maternal aunt are all well. Someone else added underneath the letter, "Greetings to ʿAyyād!" ASE.

Late family letter in Judaeo-Arabic sent to Shemuel Ḥalafta in Fusṭāṭ, perhaps from his brother, rebuking him for the lack of letters ("your poor mother's heart is confounded on your account"). Mentions Yaʿaqov al-Gabbay. "Your sister and Munsiyya and Yeḥiel [send their regards]." Regards are sent to [...] al-Ḥāmī, al-Sitt al-Muṣaffa (?), al-talmidim Muhadhdhab and Yehuda, al-Zaqen Abū Pinḥas, al-Shaykh Pinḥas, and Avraham. ASE.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic (16th century per FGP) from Yosef b. Adīda (?) to Yefet b. Farḥān regarding flax shipments. People named include ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Maḥlāwī and ʿAbd al-Qadīr. The writer asks the addressee that when he comes from Fusṭāṭ he should bring letters from the children of Yiṣḥaq b. Adīda. He then may give his address: Rubʿ al-Ḥamzāwī, the alley of the Karaites.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic the recipient of which is unknown, but this individual is referred to with an honorific form of address (l.2-3). The letter is dated in late 1764 CE (Cheshvan 5525 AM) and in the first lines there is mention of wine "חמריו" (l.6r), possibly as an object being sold: "באלסוואל מעה באיעה בחמריו" (l.6r) and "אטבאעכום אלחמרה" (l.7r). Lines 14-17r feature a discussion of the language used in the sender's and recipient's correspondence. In the final lines we find the sender using the polite phrase of kissing the hands "תקבל איאדיכום" (l.24-25r). The signature is elaborately embellished to the extent of illegibility, yet some letters emerge in the surname that might suggest "Saragosi/[?]סאראגושי". MCD.

Letter from a scribe to a certain Yosef. (The names Yosef and Avraham appear in the address on verso, but the surrounding text is very faded; the letter opens with a verse from Genesis about Yosef and his two sons, and the letter itself blesses the addressee and his two sons.) In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Written on vellum. Dating: Probably no earlier than 14th century, based on the hand and the names. The letter mentions R. Muvḥar and R. Shemuel b. al-Gati and discusses the copying of a muṣḥaf on parchment. On verso there is a piyyut in the hand of the writer. There is also a second letter in a different hand, in Judaeo-Arabic.