Geniza Lab

List of books sold in the Palestinian Synagogue at Fusṭāṭ belonging to the late Abraham he-Ḥasid, in the presence of Abraham Maimonides the Nagid on two consecutive Tuesdays. The names of buyers are given and the prices fetched. Folded down centre so as to make 4 columns. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Elijah (probably in Salonika) to his brother, a scholar (probably in Fusṭāṭ), written in the 11th-century. The letter mentions Elijah’s compatriot, Abū ʿAlī, who had visited Fusṭāṭ and brought back letters from Elijah's brother, and letters for a community leader, Elijah b. Shabbetay, dealing with the case of a Jewish man in prison. Elijah’s brother had sent him a gift of a scroll of Esther on vellum, and in return Elijah sent his brother a collection of piyyuṭim. Elijah describes friction between the Karaites and Rabbanites in Byzantium and requests his brother’s help in championing the Karaite cause. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from the judge Yefet b. Shelomo to Meshullam b. Elʿazar ha-Kohen. Greetings to the addressee's sons Elʿazar and Shelomo. There are many lines of ornate introduction in Hebrew, followed by a few lines of good wishes for the holidays in Judaeo-Arabic. The rest of the fragment is torn away. (Information from CUDL and from Goitein's index card)

Recto: agreement between Moshe b. Yehuda the cantor and Ḥasan b. Salmān. Another copy of the same contract found in T-S NS J161 + T-S 12.5. Verso is faded and illegible. (Information from CUDL and Moshe Yagur.)

Marriage contract (ketubba). Dated: 12 Ḥeshvan 1467 Seleucid, which is 1156 CE. Groom: Peraḥya b. Tiqva ha-Levi. Bride: Sitt al-Thanāʾ bt. Avraham. Signed by Berakhot b. Shela ha-Kohen, Nadiv b. Yeshuʿa, and Shelomo b. Shemuel ha-Levi. Approved by Ḥiyya b. Yiṣḥaq, Efrayim b. Meshullam, and Hillel b. Ṣadoq. (Information from CUDL.) See also Goitein's index card.

Bill of release, dated 1066 CE, concerning the heirs of Ḥasan b. Solomon: his children Ḥalfon b. Ḥasan and Shela b. Ḥasan, his brother Ḥalfon b. Solomon, and his wife Hinda. Signed by Yehuda ha-Kohen b. Yosef, Yehuda b. Menashshe, and Ḥayyim b. ʿAmmār, and approved by Mevorakh b. Seʿadya, Joseph b. Elʿazar Ibn ha-Shofet, and Ruwayya (רויה) b. Shemuel. (Information from CUDL.) See also Goitein's index card.

Letter from one community to another (possibly from Byzantium to Egypt), appealing for assistance on behalf of prisoners and the poor. Signed by Joseph b. ʿAm[..], Ḥayyim b. [...], Moses b. [...], and Nathan b. [...]. On verso there is a midrash on Esther, quoting Psalms 8:3 and 29:11. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Bill of gift, in which a house in Qaṣr al-Šamʿ is given by [Isaa]c b. Abraham to his daughter, the wife of Mevasser b. Ḡalib. The house is described as abutting the houses of Abū Yaḥyā (אבו יחיי) the uncircumcised, Yošaʿnaʾ (יושענא) the uncircumcised (both Christians), and Abdah Zerah Šalalʿabʾad (עבדה זרה שללעבאד). Witnessed by [...] b. Ṣemaḥ. Dated 126[.] of the Seleucid Era (= 948-958 CE). Verso: alchemical text mentioning a cooking pot and the following ingredients: lead, arsenic, urine, silver, egg white, salt, and blood. (Information from CUDL.) See also Goitein's index card.

State document in Arabic script, an internal memorandum or report containing multiple hands. Containing (on the last fragment) the signature of the vizier Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad (441 AH/1049–50 CE). The dating is discussed in Stern's article and should be considered definite; it is also corroborated by the caliph's name. The Arabic text is written in five different hands, reflecting administrative procedure. NB: This is a continuous join: T-S Ar.18(2).193 + T-S Ar.30.306 + T-S Ar.30.314. Whether T-S 24.21 and ENA NS 10.31 also join is less clear: they were reused by the same scribe for the same text, but may not have been part of the same state document. If they were, the first two fragments don't join continuously with the last three. Between the lines on recto is a Judaeo-Arabic letter (see separate record, PGPID 16773). On verso is Shemuʾel b. Ḥofni's Kitāb Aḥkām al-Shurūṭ, parallel to the text in SP RNL Evr-Arab. I 2938 fol. 3b. (Information from CUDL and Marina Rustow.) Joins: Marina Rustow.

Recto: a rhyming letter (in ‫-‬יה), each verse ending marked with sof pasuq. It opens מגמת הכתב הזה אדוני. In black ink. Verso: Leviticus 23 in a crude hand, brown ink, unvocalised. The Bible text continues on recto, at the bottom of the leaf in six lines, upside-down in relation to the letter. (Information from CUDL)

Part of a poorly preserved letter, perhaps from [...] b. Joseph, to Shemuʾel he-Ḥaver b. Shelomo, mentioning the good deeds of Yeshuʿa b. Isaac. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Saʿadya's Tafsir on Psalms 116:7–118:2. Verso: a letter containing praises (Information from CUDL)

Recto: a letter from Elḥanan b. Shemarya to [Sahlān] b. Abraham ha-Mumḥe. Verso: various poems of praise, including one addressing Judah and his son Saʿadya (Information from CUDL)

Letter from one of the followers of Natan b. Avraham. Dating: probably 1042 CE. On verso there are astronomical calculations regarding the position of the moon. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Yosef al-Muṣallī to Yeshuʿa the Cantor. In Judaeo-Arabic, with 14 lines of biblical quotations at the top. In between, the body of the letter is written in a smaller, semi-cursive script. Dating: No earlier than 13th century. The sender expresses his profuse gratitude for how the addressee aided Umm S[...] and accompanied her to the synagogues. In the next section, he greets the addressee's son Moshe, Peraḥya, the noble lady Mudallala, and ʿAlāʾ al-[...]. He conveys greetings from Farajallāh. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter from Yaʿaqov ha-Meshorer b. Yiṣḥaq b. David Maʿaravi, in Hebron, to Yehoshuaʿ, descendant of the Negidim. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Possibly Mamluk era. The letter opens with four short biblical quotations; extensive rhymed blessings follow. Yaʿaqov describes his devastation upon the death of ʿOvadya, descendant of the Negidim. He goes on to describe the poverty of the community of Hebron, and especially his own poverty. He receives 8 dirhams a month from Yeshuʿa al-Ḥakīm b. Menaḥem of Damascus, bu this hardly suffices (he cites the Talmudic idiom "a handful does not sate a lion"). He asks for charity from the addressee. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Letter from Ḥushiel b. Elḥanan, in Qayrawān, to Shemarya b. Elḥanan, in Fusṭāṭ. In which Ḥushiel praises both the addressee and his son Elḥanan, and describes how he came from Italy to settle in Qayrawān. Mentions Yehuda Resh [Sidra], Yosef b. Berakhya, Nissim, and Avraham b. Natan. Dating: ca. beginning of the 11th century. (Information from CUDL.) This was among the first Geniza documents to be published; see Schechter, "Geniza Specimens: A Letter of Chushiel," JQR Old Series Vol. 11, No. 4 (1899), 643–50.

Collection of halakhic rulings, concerning legal deeds and marriage. The scribe is well known from other collections of geʾonic responsa, from the beginning of the 11th century. (Information from CUDL)

Collection of geʾonic responsa. The scribe is well known from other collections of geʾonic responsa, from the beginning of the 11th century. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Josiah Gaʾon (c. 1024 CE) describing the imposition by the Muslim authorities of a special, heavy tax on the Jews of Jerusalem. Mentions Abū Naṣr b. ʿAbdūn (who spoke on his behalf to the governor); Ibn Garmān (possibly a Christian); Joseph the Av; Joseph’s son-in-law Ibn al-ʿAkkī; Abū Naṣr Furqān; and the Karaite elders, the brother of Abū Isḥaq and Abū Faḍl Sahl b. […]. (Information from CUDL)