Geniza Lab

Magical fragment. In Arabic script, with pious Islamic phrases (incl. lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwa illā billāhi al-ʿaliyy al-ʿaẓīm). With stars of David.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script. Late.

Medical prescription. In Arabic script. Reused for accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 11th century.

Recto: Two lines in Arabic script, probably a petition to a Fatimid vizier "al-Wazīr al-Ajal Ṣafiyy Amīr l-Mumineen wa-khāliṣihi". In Judaeo-Arabic, between the lines and upside down, "God guard the servant of the Shaykh Abū ʿImrān." Verso: Prognostications in Judaeo-Arabic. If the year is born in Gemini (الجوزاء): harvests will be rich, the Nile will flood, the cattle will die, a skin disease will break out, and the Byzantines will set sail and their ships will founder. The noblest kings will die and fitna will break out. There will be many refugees. It ends "allāhu aʿlam bi-l-ghayb" (only God knows the unknown). ASE.

Recto: Accounts, probably. In Judaeo-Arabic. Very cursive. Verso: List in Arabic script.

A few words in enormous, calligraphic Arabic script. Reused for Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew literary text.

Business letter, fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 11th or 12th century. The writer crossed out the first three lines (following the Arabic-script basmala) and began anew. This may be a draft. There are several lines of Arabic script on verso that do not appear to be an address. Perhaps an account?

Business letter from Abū l-Ḥusayn al-Ṭulayṭulī to Abū al-Najm Hilāl b. Yosef ha-Qara. In Arabic script. For other Qaraites from Toledo, see T-S 13J9.4 (PGPID 1236, discussed in Rustow, "Karaites Real and Imagined," Past & Present 2007). In line 7, instead of Aodeh's "وقد يخصك السلام," read, "وقد دخل الحمام," yielding, "Your son is in good health; he has entered the bathhouse (i.e., he has recovered from his illness)." ASE

Recto: Letter fragment in Arabic script. Verso: An Abū Zikrī Kohen cheque.

Document filled with Arabic script. Needs examination.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic (FGP). Quite damaged. Addressed to [... ha-Pa]rnas ha-Kohen ha-Ne'eman. On verso there are several lines of Arabic script.

Document in Arabic script. Listing various sums of money in dinars.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic and in Arabic script. Dating: 12th century. Featuring Abū ʿAlī Yeḥezqel Al-Dimyāṭī, the brother of Ḥalfon b. Netanel, as well as Khalaf al-ʿAdanī.

Business letter. In Judaeo-Arabic, wtih the address in Arabic script. Dating: possibly 11th century. The name of the addressee may be legible (Saʿd al-[...]?). People mentioned: Avraham b. [...] Rabīʿ; Ibn al-Ṣabbāgh. Verso: In addition to the address of the letter, there is an list in Arabic script.

Accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals. Dating: late.

Table in Arabic script, likely business accounts. This is not a business letter, as it is listed on FGP.

Document in calligraphic Arabic script. Maybe a state document. Needs examination.

Recto: Legal fragment in Arabic script. Only a portion of the last two lines and what appear to be witness signatures are preserved. Verso: Document in Judaeo-Arabic. Appears to be an inventory of various legal deeds, including a ketubba and a fatwā and two wills and a promissory note (ḥujja) and a deed of "my paternal aunt" against her husband Abū M[...]. Many names are mentioned. Needs further examination. ASE.

Document in unconnected Arabic script interspersed with cryptic symbols. Only the first few characters of each line are preserved. Perhaps magical. The fragment was reused for Hebrew literary text.

Accounts in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals (and maybe some actual Coptic as well?)