Geniza Lab

Memorandum by Nahray b. Nissim. Around 1045. The addressee in unknown but it might be Barhun b. Musa al-Tahirti. Contains instructions about payment deduction and details about different shipments and their expenses. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, #272) VMR

Recto: Informal note (ruqʿa). In Arabic script. Perhaps containing detailed orders of payment--consists almost entirely of sums of money and begins with the word "yaṣil." Verso: Informal note. In Judaeo-Arabic. Addresed to Yaʿaqov ha-Ḥazzan. Asking him to speak to various people on behalf of the writer, including Ḥasan and ʿAqbān. All those people are to pay what they owe (? mā rusima bihi) (referring to recto?) to Abū ʿAlī who will deliver the money to the writer.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic addressed to a certain Yiṣḥaq, who is asked to convey the note (ruqʿa) to the judge, "for the shaykh has killed me." Requires further examination to determine how the shaykh killed the writer: something to do with yesterday evening and money.

Recto: Informal note in Judaeo-Arabic asking Bū l-Ḥasan to purchase 2.5 raṭls of pepper, 1 raṭl of almonds, and 1 raṭl of "bustaj lubbān ṣāliḥ" = good-quality olibanum incense(?). Ṣāfī will do something with the almond oil and the myrtle (marsīn). Dating: Probably late 12th or early 13th century. Might be related to the family of Abū l-Ḥasan Yedutun ha-Levi (who often dealt in small quantities of materia medica and had a factotum named Ṣāfī), but the handwriting still needs to be identified.

Informal note in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer reports that he is preparing to travel on Friday morning, so he bids farewell to the addressee, Abū l-Ṭāhir Tif'eret ha-Soḥarim ('the glory of the merchants').

Informal note to Abū l-Riḍā, involving someone named Raḍiyy al-Dawla, a copy to be made, and Abū l-Faraj. Verso has the remains of single word in large, calligraphic Arabic script.

Informal note from Shemuel urgently requesting that the addressee send him with the bearer "two and a half" of the item that Barakāt had given to the addressee.

Informal note from an unknown writer, to Yiṣḥaq ha-Sar ha-Rofe. The addressee is called "father." The writer explains that there has been a setback in the matter of the qamāqim (misspelled as קאמקם—is this why the writer started over?). They had asked Ṭāhir to make them, but he didn't. ASE.

Short note to Muwaffaq, accompanied by quantities of “hindi” and “lādan” (labdanum), instructing the addressee to sell them. (Information from Goitein's index cards) EMS

Note describing the distribution of flour and mentioning Abu al-Faraj and Abu al-Fadl. Dated Tammuz 1062. (Information from Goitein's index cards and F. Niessen and A. Shivtiel, ed., Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic Manuscripts in the Cambridge Genizah Collections, 610) EMS

Informal note in Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic to a certain Nasi regarding various expenses and mentioning the judge and the Andalusian ḥazzān. There is an additional note about Ismāʿīl and a money changer written in Judaeo-Arabic at the bottom. Needs further examination.

Entry in court notebook (#38). Note stating that a letter shall be written to 'our lord' to Amīn al-Dawla (and) to Ben Naḥman telling them that 26.5 dinars and 13 qirats have arrived and that the writer yearns for them. NB: Goitein referred to this document as folio 16 (Firk. II NS 1700.16AII, with the A indicating recto and the II indicating text block) in accordance with the foliation written in pen; but the correct folio is 17, as written in pencil (the librarian with the pen gave two folios the number 8). ASE.