Geniza Lab

Fragment from a letter. (Information from CUDL)

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions trouble with the government ('it would take too long to explain') and reporting the death of a female relative. (Information in part from CUDL)

Legal document(s) with testimony concerning property and huge sums of money. Recto: "I said that she owes me a great deal of money and there are קבאלאת I have written in her name and an account for 23,000 dirhams, and a testimony (? ishhād) for 9,500 dirhams, and household items she acknowledged, and it was written in the shimmush (court ledger).... that which I owe her, in the name of Yosef b. Ibrāhīm... he should collect it from me and return it to her..." Verso: "..written that which was paid by Yosef b. Ḥasan... to Yosef b. Avraham from the money of this document... 3,000 dirham... and he still owes [...]... and there is against him a testimony from two trustworthy people that... And we said to Yosef b. Ḥasan, this document is valid, and on its back (it is recorded that) he repaid some of the total..." The format and content are unusual for a routine legal document. The handwriting is similar to some bifolios from books of responsa, such as T-S Ar.48.53, T-S Ar.48.89, and T-S NS 164.175. Needs further examination. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Two fragments of a legal document concerning the rent for a property located in Qaṣr al-Shamʿ on the Nile bank. In the hand of Natan b. Shemuel or Natan b. Shelomo. The lessor is al-Shaykh al-Raḍiyy. The lessee (al-mustaʾjir) is Ibn Wahbān. Dating: Mentions the year 1542 Seleucid, which is 1230/31 CE. The rent is 25 dirhams a month, which comes out to 2100 dirhams over the period of the 7-year lease. There will also be a new storey constructed overlooking the Nile. Join: Moshe Yagur. (Information from Goitein's index card and CUDL.)

Legal document mentioning a certain Efrayim; mirrored script. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment from the beginning of a legal document concerning Shemuel b. Eliʿezer. (Information from CUDL)

Dowry list for the marriage of Ḡālib b. Ḥalfon and Sitt al-Ḥusn bat Berakhot, with Coptic numerals and jottings in Arabic script in the margin. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document concerning a debt between Abū l-Manṣūr al-Ṣabāwī, known as M[....], Makārim b. Saʿīd and the orphaned children of his brother Abū l-Surūr. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment from a legal document mentioning a certain Moses. (Information from CUDL)

Recto and verso: Begging letter from Baqāʾ the cantor to the Nagid David Maimonides, asking for support. In Judaeo-Arabic. Touching on various issues such as copying of books and composition of religious poetry, renting out of a house, and alimony. Mentions the sender's paternal aunt’s son Ismāʿīl. Join: Alan Elbaum.

Verso: accounts in Arabic script, probably concerning debts and expenses, with Coptic numerals. Mentions names such as Abū ʿAlī. (Information from CUDL.)

Recto: letter from a father to his son. Verso: jottings in Hebrew and Arabic script, which includes names such as ‘the leader Abū l-Mufaḍḍal’. (Information from CUDL)

Responsum on the division of property, with citations from the Palestinian Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud. Possibly a product of one of the French rabbis who immigrated to Fusṭāṭ in the 13th century. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: short letter or note to Yosef ha-Sar the doctor. The writer had tried to visit Yosef several times but didn’t find him in and hasn’t heard from him. He has heard that Joseph is due to go traveling (spelled ללך). If he intends to travel to Shoresh (near Jerusalem), then the writer would like to go with him. Verso: three names are written, in the same hand: Yishay(?) Nostimos (? נושטימוש); Ḥananel Eliyya(?)ha-Kohen; and Yehuda S[…]n the elder. (Information in part from CUDL)

Recto: note in the hand of Shelomo b. Elijah to Abū Saʿīd, asking to be sent sums of money paid by Abū l-Ḥasan. Verso: list of month names, in Hebrew and Arabic. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Hilāl to his brother Abū l-Majd (aka Meʾir b. Yakhin). In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably early 13th century, as these figures are known from other documents from that time. Sent to Fusṭāṭ, to the caravanserai of al-Maḥallī, to be given to Abū Isḥāq b. Yaʿaqov, who will forward it to Abu l-Majd. Written by Abū l-Munā who also sends greetings. The writer sends condolences on the death of a child (ṭufayyil), with the description of the pain that an elderly female relative went through after hearing the news. "She remembered the grief for all who have passed away, and bore it on her heart, and she cries day and night on account of the preoccupation of your heart." Greetings are sent to and from various family members and to the teacher Yiṣḥaq. Also mentions a Ḥaver and Ibn Daʾūd, and that the silk the writer had sent arrived at Maḥāsin’s. (Information in part from CUDL.) Join by Oded Zinger. ASE.

Letter, top and bottom missing, referring to a dispute between Jews and Muslims, the synagogue, a certain Binyamin, and two physicians, one of them called Yosef. No bibliography; merits further examination. (Information from CUDL and from Marina Rustow)

Letter to Mishaʾel ha-Sar from Hiba Ibn Zaʿafrān, a poor inhabitant of Fusṭāṭ. Hiba asks for assistance paying the capitation tax, and has already been arrested and beaten for not paying it. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from a father and his family to his son, with holiday greetings to Abū l-Faraj, Khalaf, and his son. (Information from CUDL)

Letter to Abī Sālim (?) b. Efrayim and Yaḥyā b. Efrayim, replying to previous correspondence, explaining the writer’s bad situation and asking for support. In a crude hand. (Information from CUDL)