Geniza Lab

Receipt relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Accounts on behalf of the Office of Supervision: Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb has paid the sum of two, a half, a third and an eighth (dirham?) for the estates in Al-Fayyūm, under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, of the judge Abū ʿAlī b. Yaḥyā b. Bahār and the elder accountant Sadīd al-Dawla Abū l-Faraj ʿAbd al-Masīḥ b. Qūrīl. Dated: 3 Shawwāl 405 AH, which is March 1015 CE. See separate entry for recto. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Judaeo-arabic list of materia medica, such as ammonia, camphor and saffron, with quantities in Hebrew numerals. Verso: list in Arabic script, jottings and Coptic numerals. (Information from CUDL)

Receipt relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Accounts on behalf of the Office of Supervision: the people of the town of al-Shūbays have paid two and a half (dirhams?), under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, the deputy judge Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan b. Yaḥyā b. Bahār and the elder accountant Sadīd al-Dawla Abū l-Faraj ʿAbd al-Masīḥ b. Qūrīl. Dated: 22 Jumādā I 403 AH, which is December 1012 CE. (Information from CUDL)

Recipes and lists of materia medica, including simples such as rose oil, salt, copper filings, and sal ammoniac. On verso, two different hands and inks, plus Coptic numerals. (Information from CUDL)

Too little text remains to identify; possibly a letter. (Information from CUDL)

List of materia medica. (Information from CUDL)

List of materia medica, including simples such as celery, false bdellium, turpeth, aloes, sarcocolnla, and wormwood. (Information from CUDL)

List of materia medica, including simples such as tamarind, saffron, jujube, berbers, and plums. (Information from CUDL)

List of materia medica. (Information from CUDL)

List of materia medica, with Coptic numerals. Isaacs (1994) suggests that it presents a ‘diet for invalids’. (Information from CUDL)

Receipt relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Accounts on behalf of the Office of Supervision: Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb has paid the sum of two, a half, a quarter and a sixth (of a dirham?) for the estates in Al-Fayyūm, under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, and the accountant Abū l-Sarī Theodor b. Yuḥannis. Dated: Middle of Dhū l-Qa‘da 403 AH, which is May 1013 CE. (Information from CUDL)

Receipt relating to the tax farm of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb written by Mīkhāʾīl b. ʿAbd al-Masīḥ, the cashier, and registered by the Office of Accounts on behalf of the Office of Supervision: Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb has paid the sum of two, a quarter and a sixth (dirhams?) for the estates in Al-Fayyūm, under the supervision of the judge Ṯiqat al-Mulk Makīn al-Dawla wa-Amīnuhā, of the protégé of the commander of the faithful Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, and the accountant Abū l-Sarī Theodor b. Yuḥannis. Dated: Beginning of Dhū l-Ḥijja 403 AH, which is June 1013 CE. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: letter from a certain Abū l-Qasam (?). Verso: title page of a book of recipes used in the ʿAḍūḍī hospital in Baghdad. (Information from CUDL)

List of quantities of materia medica, including simples such as senna, purslane seeds, apricot, almond oil, saffron oil, and Chinese cinnamon. Judging by the continuation sign on the top of the page, this is page is part of another document (in fact this is the mysterious glyph whose meaning is still unknown as of 2022; it does not necessarily mean that this is a continuation). (Information in part from CUDL)

List of materia medica, including simples such as lavender, sebesten, peruse, ground gallnut, myrtle seeds, caraway, pepper, and poppy. With Coptic numerals. (Information from CUDL)

List of materia medica, including simples such as pepper, nard, and Prunus mahaleb. With Coptic numerals. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: document, with a continuation sign at the top of the page, indicating that it is part of a longer document, perhaps a letter. Verso: list of materia medica, such as doronicum, Chinese cinnamon, crystalline sugar, mace, borage-water, nard, cloves, Myristica fragrant, Elettaria cardamom and Cissus vitiginea. With Coptic numerals. (Information from CUDL)

List of materia medica, with Coptic numerals. (Information from CUDL)

Report of the death of a Jewish woman. In Arabic script. The deceased is Fāḍila, who was survived by her son Abū Dāʾūd. Dating: 621–29 AH, which corresponds to the range 1224–31 CE. (Information from CUDL)

Legal query to Muslim jurisconsults regarding the practice of prostration (sujūd) and genuflection (rukūʿ), during the synagogue liturgy. The said practice was customary for the previous 20 years, and there are concerns regarding its recent abrogation. Dating: ca. 638 AH, which is 1240/41 CE. This was written after the death of Avraham Maimonides, who had innovated these practices. Writing exercises are found on the upper margin of recto and on verso. (Information from CUDL)