Geniza Lab

Bifolium from a notebook. One and a half pages are filled with a poem in Ladino involving a husband and wife and a knight, with refrains which are different from each other but which all end with "yo." The remaining two and a half pages are filled with accounts in Judaeo-Arabic mentioning the year 1581 (Elul 5341) and 1582 CE (Elul 5342). Merits further examination.

Bifolium from a notebook. One page has a poem in Ladino involving a husband and wife and a knight, with refrains which are different from each other but which all end with "yo" (continuation of the poem on the preceding framgent). Another page is filled with accounts in Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew.

Late business letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions R. Shemuel Būnyāl. Needs further examination.

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Late. Mentions a consul; France (פראנסה); R. Yaʿaqov; and the government (sulṭān).

Notebook with diverse contents. Late. There are several pages of detailed accounts in Judaeo-Arabic, and at least two pages of magical spells in Judaeo-Persian. ASE.

There are ~10 documents sharing this shelfmark. 546/9: Letter from the Qaraite community of Damascus (specifically Yosef ha-Kohen Khāṭir) to the Qaraite community of Fustat/Cairo (specifically Yaʿaqov Ṣāliḥ). In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Late, probably no earlier than 16th century.

Numerous pages of a handbook filled with someone's exercises for learning to write either Arabic or Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Unknown, probably Ottoman era. Of documentary interest in part because many of the writing exercises appear to be copies of actual letters. There are also many names of people and places, presumably in Cairo. Needs further examination.

Letter from an unknown writer in Egypt to Moshe Kohen in an unknown location. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Late, probably 16th century at the earliest. Mentions the currency sharīfī. The writer reports that the community gave 400 qirsh to a person who came bearing letters of recommendation, of which 240 are intended for the children of Namir. There is a blank where the person's name ought to be--it was never filled in, and the letter was perhaps never sent. The writer reports on the financial affairs of the community on Egypt and all the money that goes toward interest payments. Needs further examination.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, late. From Moshe Ḥayyim Ḥayyūn (?) to Mordekhai Hannān (?) and another person whose name is effaced. Dating: Probably 18th or 19th century. There is no address and no folding, so possibly a draft. Deals with business matters. Mentions Damietta and a certain Nissim. Regards to various people at the end.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Late. Dealing with business matters. Neither writer nor addressee appear to be named; the latter is addressed as 'my brother.'

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated Monday 2 Adar 5497 AM, which is 1737 CE. ʿEzra b. Eliyyahu Rofe Fayrūz acknowledges a debt of 31(?) golden fonduclis from Yosef Levi b. Naḥum Levi (or the grandson of Naḥum Levi?). This took place in the house of Moshe ha-Rofe b. Aharon Ẓaʿīr. There are no signatures and there are several corrections; probably a draft.

Legal document, Qaraite. Conditional divorce. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated Sivan 5503 AM, which is 1743 CE. It is a detailed record of how David b. Reuven Nāqish wished to travel to Istanbul for business, and how he agrees that if he is absent for longer than 2 years, his wife Masʿūda bt. Avraham Fayrūz may receive a bill of divorce from the court. There appears to be only one witness, a certain Yaʿaqov. Merits further examination. Cf. Yevr.-Arab. II 1573 (another conditional divorce).

Legal document. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 8 Elul 5588 AM = 1243 AH, which is 1828 CE. Involves Nissim ha-Levi b. Yequtiel and Menashshe b. Yūsuf b. Yehuda and a partnership in a shop.

Letter from Moshe ha-Levi to a group of unknown individuals. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Thursday, 8 Elul 1743 Seleucid = 1432 CE. The letter discusses the matter of ʿAbd al-Karīm and his wife and how they were asked to report to Cairo. Needs further examination.

Letter from Dā'ūd b. Shuqayr, probably in the Levant, to his son Shemuel b. Dā'ūd b. Shuqayr, in Cairo. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Catalogued as 15th century. The letter mainly deals with business matters and greetings. The currency cited is the ashrafī. The addressee's mother has had some sort of pain in her breast (mawjūʿa bi-buzzihā. . . nazala lahā shay' fī buzzihā) for the last two months, ever since she gave birth, "and she is with the barber (muzayyin)," (for treatment?). Needs further examination.

Letter to Avraham Rofe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dealing mainly with business matters. Mentions raisins and pomegranate seeds.

Letter from an unknown writer, in Damascus, to his parents. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Thursday, 25 Tammuz 5341 AM = 1581 CE (unless we are only meant to read the numbers with arrows over them, in which case it is 5301 AM = 1541 CE; the day of the week might help determine which). ʿAbd al-Laṭīf "the cousin" (ibn ʿamm) and Faraj Allāh "the boy" add a postscript. The letter mainly deals with business matters; mentions many names; mentions the currency ashrafī. The writer had recently arrived in Damascus with a group of ten travelers; he reports on the high prices of pepper and ginger in Damascus and regrets not having brought a certain commodity with him to sell there. Many people are named in the closing greetings. Needs further examination.