Geniza Lab

Letter from Yisra'el b. Daniel, in one of the towns of the Rīf, to Salāma b. ʿAllūn al-Ṣayrafī, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 11th century. The writer refers to himself as Ra's al-Kill (Rosh Kalla), probably since he was among the heads of the Babylonian congregation in his town, or in the Maghrib. The letter deals with business in textiles. It is written on a reused piece of paper containing the beginning of an Arabic-script letter to a Qāḍī that was abandoned. Information mostly from Gil

Report to an Ayyubid official mentioning al-Malik al-ʿĀdil and a deceased official named Shams al-Dīn. The Mainz shelfmark is how it's listed in FGP, but it's not actually in Mainz. The image in FGP is from a microfilm at the National Library of Israel; the original was at a paper museum in Mainz that has since closed, now presumed lost. Join: Marina Rustow.

Sundry jottings in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script in the margins and on verso of a Hebrew literary text. The jottings include a draft or formulary for the opening of a letter/petition addressed to the caliph, in Judaeo-Arabic. They also include a couple orders of payment (e.g. Abū Naṣr should pay the bearer 5 1/3 dinars).

Document or documents in Arabic script on verso of a page from Maimonides' Mishne Torah. There are some accounts (مما بلغ في الشهر دينارين ونصف). And there are verses by al-Mutanabbī on the east wind, copied by someone who was not a fan (lā raḍiya Allāh ʿanhu): الجزوا (الجزء) الاول من ديوان ابي الطيب المتنبي البصري(؟) لا رضي الله عنه من قوله في الصبا: أَبلى الهَوى أَسَفاً يَومَ النَوى بَدَني وَفَرَّقَ الهَجرُ بَينَ الجَفنِ وَالوَسَنِ. Needs further examination.

Note in Arabic script in the upper left margin of a page of dirges. May mention Sharaf al-Umarā'.

Business letter in Arabic script. Dated: 1119 AH, which is 1708 CE. Concerning a property dispute in Damietta. On verso there is a seal as well as a ẓidduq ha-din in Hebrew. Information kindly provided by Jane Hathaway. Line 3 mentions "الامير(?) محمد اغا" and other Ottoman officials throughout, line 4 "waqf"?

Document in Arabic script. Wide space between the lines. Miniature طs above certain words (=ihmāl). May simply be pen trials. On verso there are seliḥot.

Document in Arabic script. Unidentified. Reused for lamentations for the Ninth of Av. Information from Penn Catalog.

Arabic text, undeciphered. Line four includes the phrase من الامور وحكم الله(؟). Sharing a fragment with Hebrew poetry (arhāṭ) by (or dedicated to?) Abū Saʿd b. Yisra'el ha-Zaqen (al-Tustari?), copied by his student.

Document in Arabic script. Chancery hand, huge space between the lines. Probably a state document or petition. Three lines are preserved. On recto there is Hebrew literary text.

Legal document in Arabic script. A woman named Jamīla has an eye disease and contracts Hibat Allāh b. Ibrāhīm b. Yaʿqūb al-Yahūdī to treat her. The date is given but difficult to read. Needs examination. ASE.

Legal document from the Muslim (qāḍī) courts. In Arabic script, with a Judaeo-Arabic filing note. Dated: 945 AH, which is 1538 CE. Concerning the estate of a merchant in Damietta. Information kindly provided by Jane Hathaway.

Legal document in Arabic script. Involves a certain [...] al-Yahūdī. One of the witnesses is Aḥmad b. Nuṣayr b. Muḥammad. Needs further examination.

Letter fragment in Arabic script. Very deferential. Twice mentions "the late Mujāhid." Needs further examination.

On recto there is the beginning of Fuṣūl Ibuqrāṭ (Hippocrates) in Arabic script. It is not clear whether verso is part of the same text, or an independent document. It may be business accounts, listing various foods and materia medica and weights. Needs further examination.

Table in Arabic script. Accounts? In the margin there is also a note in Judaeo-Arabic, likely unrelated: "...the wretched slave Abū ʿAlī wrote this..."

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script and Coptic numerals.

Legal document in Arabic script. The last four lines are preserved as well as the witness statements. Needs examination. Later reused for a complicated set of notes by Avraham Ibn Yiju (see separate record).

Petition, Fatimid(?). In Arabic script. Last 9 lines. With hamdala and hasbala at end. Needs further examination.

Fiscal account beginning with the words waṣala ilā bayt al-māl al-maʿmūr. Mentions several amount in dinars