Geniza Lab

Leaf from a medical work, which discusses preparations of ointments, including one to to treat scrofula and bubo, a lead ointment to treat ulcers, and a verdigris ointment to treat deeply penetrating and chronic ulcers. (Information from CUDL)

List of materia medica, including simples such as Convolvulus scammonia, mastic, amber, liquorice, and camphor. (Information from CUDL)

Lists of materia medica, with simples such as indigo, Mimosa nilotica, pomegranate flower, and turpeth. In columns, with quantities in 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 ware-house keeper has paid the sum of two and a half (dirhams?) on behalf of Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb 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 al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Bahār, and the accountant Abū l-Sarī Theodor b. Yuḥannis. Dated: 10 Ṣafar 404 AH, which is August 1013 CE. Verso: beginning of an Arabic letter to a judge (see separate entry). (Information from CUDL)

Beginning of an Arabic letter to a judge. Verso: tax receipt (see separate entry). (Information from CUDL)

Management of feverish patients, with rose-water and bread made from white flour recommended as their food and drink. Either notes or correspondence, as verso is written inverted in relation to recto, and the two sides seem to be in different hands. (Information from CUDL)

Ophthalmological text, mentioning the lens and layers of the eyes, and couching as a treatment for cataracts. In the margins are many different jottings in Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic, including epistolary formulae. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: very damaged text of a makhzuma (ledger of receipts). Verso: makhzūma (ledger of receipts) submitted in Rajab 495 AH (= April-May 1102 CE) by Muḥammad b. ʿAlī, representative of a sugar cane extraction factory and a honey factory, to the office of supervision (dīwān al-ishrāf). The makhzūma is witnessed and signed by ʿAlī b. al-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī. The accounts are for the kharājī years 490 and 491, corresponding respectively to 493/94 AH and 494/95 AH. The makhzūma was so named apparently owing to the fact that it was sealed or strung together with other leaves by 'piercing' (khazama). (Information from CUDL and Khan.)

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 3 and a half and a sixteenth (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: 13 Jumādā II 403 AH, which is December 1012 CE. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Mūsā b. Hibatallāh al-Yahūdī al-Mutaṭabbib ("the Jewish doctor") to an unidentified dignitary. In Arabic script. Dating: Perhaps 12th or 13th century based on handwriting and style. Preserved text: افضل تحياته وسلامه على . . . وعلى ابائه الطاهرين. The sender may be Moshe b. Netanʾel ha-Levi, known to have served as a physician in a government hospital; see Goitein, Med Soc II, pp. 528 and 578, and M. A. Friedman, “Maimonides and Zuta: A Tale of Three Bans.” Zion 74 (2005): 473–527. However, not enough is preserved, so this identification is speculative. (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE

Recto: recipe, introduced with the basmala and including Prunus mahaleb, Cistus ladaniferus, nard, and rose seeds. Verso: the last line of a letter or document mentioning ‘our lord the Nagid’. (Information from CUDL)

List of materia medica, containing simples such as anise, galingale and mint. (Information from CUDL)

List of materia medica in Arabic script, containing simples such as endive, Armenian bole, and red arsenic (realgar) and yellow arsenic, probably part of a letter as verso contains an address (‘this letter should be sent to …’). On recto, many of the entries are crossed out, some with red ink. (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 3 and a half and a sixteenth (dirhams?) for the estates in Al-Fayyūm, under the supervision of the judge Fakhr al-Dawla Abū l-Faḍl Jaʿfar b. Ibrāhīm b. Sulaymān. Dated: 30 Jumādā I 403 AH, which is December 1012 CE. (Information from CUDL)

Small fragment of a letter, probably. In Arabic script. (Information from CUDL)

Letter referring to the capitation tax (al-jizya) owed by a man and his son. (Information from CUDL)

Accounts, including names and Coptic numerals. (Information from CUDL)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Written in purple ink. Dating: Probably 19th century. Joins: Oded Zinger.

Verso, with the address on recto: Letter addressed to R. Muvḥar b. Shemuel, in New Cairo. In Judaeo-Arabic. Telling him not to delay something; mentioning difficult circumstances (aḥwāl muqāraba); bad news that was received; [Abū] l-Ṭāhir and his colleagues; and a blind man. (Information in part from CUDL) Recto: Written around the address, in a different hand, possibly the response to the letter.

Merchant's notebook. In Ladino and Hebrew numerals. Join: Alan Elbaum. (Information in part from CUDL) Needs examination.