Geniza Lab

List of materia medica with weights. In Judaeo-Arabic.

Accounts of a druggist. A complete order in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals of sixty-seven commodities of drugs/perfumes/materia medica (ʿiṭr). Filfil (pepper) is once repeated, the others are all different. Quantities range from one-fourth to one and one-half pounds. The prices are written in different ink, meaning that they might have been added by the wholesaler. Similar format as T-S NS J446. (Information from Goitein's index card)

Letter to Yosef b. Ṣāliḥ from his son Ṣāliḥ, containing many orders, such as for Iraqian purple; brazilwood for a quarter of a dinar; combs; mirwads; pepper; sarcocolla (ʿanzarūt); verdigris (zinjār); "marāzībī" tutty (according to the review by Theo Loinaz, this commodity is discussed on pp. 368-9 of Fabian Käs (2010), Die Mineralien in der arabischen Pharmakologie); ammoniac (kalakh); and many more. Mentions the arrival of Khalaf b. Qashīshāt (an Ibn Qashīshāt is also mentioned in ENA 2738.23) and other unusual names: Wahīb b. Safīq (?) and Ibn Maqḥaf. The writer sends regards to Abū Isḥāq and his business partner. ASE.

Letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Rudimentary hand. The spellings are closer to classical Arabic than usual (e.g. שיא for شيء). The two folios were originally two folios (i.e. not a single folio that was torn in half), because the recto of folio 2 is the direct continuation of the verso of folio 1. The writer is a merchant who lists a number of materia medica (he calls them 'akhbār ʿiṭriyya'). The part of the letter that Goitein typed is the middle portion relating the harrowing events that befell the writer on a boat journey. The writer was attacked in the dead of night and his belt (himyān) was tied around his neck. He cried for help to the Muslims around him, and Muḥammad al-Najjār al-Ishbīlī set him free.

Letter. Possibly from Yaʿqūb b. Isḥāq to his mother (l. 3: "I ask God that He decree the good health of my mother"). But these identifications are tentative. Written in Judaeo-Arabic with the basmala in Arabic script. The entire letter, or at least what is not too faded to read, is an order for many types of materia medica. On verso there is literary text, including one segment on the laws of sale and another on the laws of carrying.

Bifolio, vellum. Multiple text blocks. All in Judaeo-Arabic. (1) Recto, right page: Possibly a colophon (Kitāb...), but possibly something mercantile. There is a date: 1 Ḥeshvan '362. (2) Recto, left page: Bill of lading (maʿrifa mā ʿubbiya fī al-qafaṣ...). There follows a long list of goods together with their quantities. There are several garments and numerous materia medica. (3) Verso, left page: Miscellaneous accounts. Upper section: Amounts of money collected. From Isḥāq: 8 rubāʿīs. From Abū Yūsuf: [...] rubāʿīs and a half. From Abū l-Faḍl: 9 rubāʿīs. Lower section: "The day of my departure from Mazara was Wednesday [...] Elul '770... in the ship of my lord the qāḍi..." The dates are very faded, but it seems that the first one is 1 Ḥeshvan 4762 AM (1001 CE) and the second one is Elul 4770 AM (1010 CE). AA. ASE.

Fragment of a letter in the hand of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi (d. 1212). Dealing with goods such as red antimony (rāsakht), perfumed cherry bark (qishr maḥlab), sour dough/yeast (khamīra), and rose water. Also mentions the name Ibn al-Mushanqiṣ. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter of Abū l-Maḥāsin b. ʿAlī the trader, introduced by citations from Proverbs 3:4, Psalms 37:11 and 119:165. Mentions consingments of medical commodities such as betel palm (fawfal), amomum (qāqulla) and quince (safarjal), a doctor’s visit and names such as Naḥūm the perfumer and Abū Manṣūr Ibn al-Ṣāʾiḡ (goldsmith), cousin of the writer. (Information from CUDL.) The writer excuses the poor appearance of his letter ('my mind is not present') on account of his great preoccupation for his two friends who are sick, Naḥum al-ʿAṭṭār and his cousin (b. ʿammatī) Abū Manṣūr the son of the tax farmer of ברמא. The writer leaves the shop and visits each of them 5 or 6 times a day, because they are 'cut off' from anyone who can go to the physician for them. ASE.

List in large Arabic script. Perhaps materia medica? Saffron (zaʿfarān) appears. Reused for Judaeo-Arabic jottings of formulaic phrases from a letter and the beginning of a recipe for hiera (iyārij) which includes saffron.

Legal document. Location: Fustat. Dated: 6 Tishrei 1530 Seleucid, which is 1218 CE. Inventory of a dead perfumer's shop, taken for purposes of dividing the goods between his son Abū l-Faḍl and Abū Saʿīd b. Abū l-Manṣūr. The executor is Netanel ha-Sar ha-Rofe. Goods include ʿabīr; ʿūd; rāwand. On verso there is a note in a different hand with the name of a woman. (Information from Goitein's index card.)

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic (and perhaps elements of other languages). Dating: Late, probably no earlier than 16th century. Many of the commodities mentioned are spices or materia medica (e.g., pepper, frankincense, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, chebulic (myrobalan)). Mentions various people with Muslim names (e.g., Badr al-Dīn, al-Ḥājj Yūnus) and others with European names (e.g., Dominguez, Carlo מארי בירו(?), and a consul).

Summary of the extraction and medicinal uses of myrrh gum (from "a type of tree in Yemen"). In Judaeo-Arabic.

Notebook of a merchant and/or druggist. Bifolium from what was probably a larger notebook. Dating: Unknown. Catalogued as 16th century. A date is given at the bottom of the last page, but it is difficult to interpret. In Judaeo-Arabic. Uses the usually-Ottoman-era honorific khawāja. The document contains medical recipes and several detailed first-person accounts e.g. of arriving in Jerusalem and the commodities dealt with and the expenses incurred. Needs further examination.