Geniza Lab

Recto: Draft of a legal declaration in which Abū ʿAlī b. Abū l-ʿIzz b. ʿImrān the Jew swears on the head of the sultan al-Malik al-Kāmil that he will not practice the trade of physician (lā ataṣarraf fī ṣināʿat al-ṭabāʾiʿī) without a license (illā bi-tazkiya). Dated: 635 AH = 1237/38 CE. On verso there is a passage from ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā, Tadhkirat al-Kaḥḥālīn (‘Memorandum for opticians’) in Arabic script, along with grammatical exercises in Judaeo-Arabic. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter/petition from Yehuda(?), probably in Cairo, to an important person called Sayyidnā, probably in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Rudimentary orthography. Dating: Probably late 12th or early 13th century. He first makes an excuse about why he could not come in person. Then he asks the addressee to obtain for him a copy of Tadhkirat al-Kaḥḥālīn ("The Oculists' Handbook") in the best handwriting possible. "For this is a khilʿa (robe of honor?) from Sayydinā"—i.e., receiving the book would be like receiving a robe of honor? He explains that the book cannot be found in Cairo. The addressee should spare no expense; the sender will reimburse him. ASE