Geniza Lab

Letter from Faraḥ b. Nuʿmān to the Mumḥe who lives in Damsīs (الممحا المقيم بدمسيس). In Arabic script. A son was born on Tuesday and the addressee is asked to come and circumcise him on Saturday or Sunday (so not 8 days after birth?). (Information from Goitein's note card)

Letter addressed to Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAllūn b. [...]. In Arabic script. Refers to a circumcision on the upcoming Sabbath and someone named Mūsā. Needs further examination for content. The letter is followed on verso by a formulary for circumcision blessings in Hebrew. Maybe this is what the addressee was asked for, and he sent the letter back with the requested text? (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The hand may be identifiable. Dating: Probably 12th or 13th century. This fragment (lower half of recto, upper half of verso) begins in medias res: the sender is writing about his time with some community, probably near Minyat Zifta; he describes a circumcision that was done on Shabbat; the sender organized a drive (pesiqa) for "the female captives"; and he found the congregation impoverished (fa-wajadtu l-[qaw]m fī ḥāl ṣaʿb... baqā al-jamāʿa ʿaniyyim marudim) on account of the ḍamān incumbent on them (a guarantee they had undertaken? or payments owed to a tax farmer?). He specifically mentions a loss of 100 dinars. It was resolved to inform Rabbenu about all this, and the Parnas went to do that. The sender awaits (the Parnas's? Rabbenu's?) arrival, and he plans to go to Minyat Zifta. He asks Abū l-Makārim "to obtain a rescript (tawqīʿ) regarding [...]."

Circumcision certificate, Qaraite. Location: Cairo. Dating: Of the original date, only Wednesday the first of [...], [..]70 Seleucid is preserved. The certificate is for Abū l-Khayr b. ʿOvadya b. Avraham b. Moshe b. Shelomo b. David b. Eliezer b. ʿUzziyahu b. [David?] b. Ḥisday b. Yeḥizqiyahu b. Shelomo b. David b. Boʿaz b. Yoshiyahu b. Sha'ul b. ʿAnan. ʿUzziyahu may be a brother of Shelomo b. David b. Ḥisday, who died in 600 AH (1203/04 CE) according to Ibn al-Hiti's Arabic Chronicle of Arabic Doctors. In that case, the present document can be dated to roughly seven generations following ~1200 CE.

Circumcision certificate, Qaraite. Location: Cairo. Dated: Adar I 5377 AM, which is 1617 CE. Also dated 1929 Seleucid, which should be 1618 CE. Contains a lengthy genealogy of Qaraite Nasis all the way to Adam ha-Rishon. For the genealogy, see Yevr. II A 1318 (either a cleaner copy of the same document, or just a different document produced for a different circumcision in the same month). There are additional genealogical entries in the upper margin, written in the style of Genesis, and describing migrations between Damascus and Fustat/Cairo. The first entry is confusingly dated Thursday, 23 Sivan 5613 AM, which is 1853 CE. It is not out of the question that the scribe meant to write שלש but forgot the ל. Nor is it out of the question that a latter-day Nasi reused the document. Needs further examination.

Circumcision certificate, Qaraite. Calligraphic, with a decorated margin. Location: Cairo. Dated: Monday, 6 Adar I 5377 AM, which is 1617 CE. Also dated 1929 Seleucid, which should be 1618 CE. Contains a lengthy genealogy of Qaraite Nasis that probably extended all the way to Adam ha-Rishon, but the bottom of the document is torn off. (1) Pedayahu David b. (2) Pedayahu Aharon b. (3) Elieʿezer Ẓemaḥ b. (4) Pedayahu Aharon ha-Zaqen b. (5) Eliyyahu Yakhin b. (6) Sar Shalom b. (7) Yoshiyyahu Moshe b. (8) Amaẓyahu Yosef b. (9) Eliezer Ẓemaḥ b. (10) Shelomo b. (11) David the martyr b. (12) Shelomo b. (13) Yoshiyyahu Moshe b. (14) Boʿaz b. (15) ʿOvadya b. (16) Shelomo b. (17) David b. (18) Ḥisda'el b. (19) Yeḥizqiyahu b. (20) Shelomo b. (21) David the exegete b. (22) Boʿaz b. (23) Yehoshafaṭ b. (24) Yoshiyyahu b. (25) Sha'ul b. (26) ʿAnan b. (27) David b. (28) Bustanay b. (29) Ḥaninay b. (30) Kafnay, etc. etc. etc.

Circumcision certificate, Qaraite. Location: Cairo. Dated: Wednesday, 20 Tevet 1771 Seleucid, which is 1459/60 CE. (1) Shemuel Faraj'el b. (2) Ḥananyahu Avraham b. (3) Shelomo b. (4) ʿOvadyahu b. (5) David b. (6) Shelomo b. (7) Amaẓyahu Yosef b. (8) Shelomo b. (9) David b. (10) Ḥisday b. (11) Yeḥizqiyahu b. (12) Shelomo b. (13) David the exegete b. (14) Boʿaz b. (15) Yehoshafaṭ b. [Yoshiyyahu b. Sha'ul b. ʿAnan etc. etc. etc.]

Circumcision certificate, Qaraite. Location: Damascus. Dated: Tuesday, [..] Adar II 1752 Seleucid, which is 1441 CE. (1) Eliyyahu ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. (2) Avraham b. (3) [X] b. (4) David b. (5) [X] b. (6) ʿUzziyahu b. (7) Eliezer Ẓemaḥ b. (8) [X] b. (9) Yeḥizqiyyahu b. (10) Shelomo b. (11) David the exegete b. (12) Boʿaz b. (13) [Yehoshafaṭ] b. (14) Yoshiyyahu b. (15) Sha'ul b. (16) ʿAnan etc. etc. etc.