Geniza Lab

Letter from Nissim b. Ḥalfon, probably from Tinnīs, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Dating: Probably from November 17, 1046. The letter contains personal information: the destruction of the writer’s house and his illness. Mentions Sahlān b. Avraham. Also mentions shipments of money and goods: honey, crocus, linen, linen fabrics, and “lāsīn” silk. The illness passage (v12–16) reads as follows: "My lord, I have a great pain (wajaʿ) in my thigh (bi-fakhdhī), and I lack the strength (ʿayītu). . . a medicine for me to drink (dawā' nashrabuhu). I went (wajjahtu) {to} the doctor, but it/he was of no avail. When I go to the bazaar, I am forced to sit on the road five times and more. I have ceased all my work. May God have mercy on me." The translations of Goitein and Gil diverge significantly. Goitein reads "bi-kabdī" (in my liver) and Gil reads "bi-fikrī" (in my estimation) instead of "bi-fakhdhī." Both read "mayyit" (incurable, fatal) instead of ʿayītu, but as the next word is almost illegible, the only way to decide between the two readings is via comparing it with Nissim's other מs and עs. Goitein reads "wajba" instead of "wajjahtu" and understands it as "the prescription of the doctor." Goitein suggests that he is "sitting on his heels" five times or more in order to urinate, whereas Gil remains agnostic about why he has to sit down. Perhaps it is simply to rest. Information from Goitein's note card (#27131), and Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #585. VMR. ASE.

Letter from ʿEli b. Yehezqel ha-Kohen, Jerusalem, to Eli b. Hayyim ha-Kohen, Fustat, concerning Eli b. Yehezqel's travels to Acre and Tyre, return to Ramla, and his serious illness there. "I was attacked by vomiting; I exploded from above and below, over 300 times (lit. "sittings"); everybody in the house gave me up. The doctors came on Saturday night and saw that I was finished and that there was nothing to be done any more. I made my will... [then improved]... but I still have terrible weakness." Also mentions the rent from the heqdesh (pious foundation) to the poor people in Jerusalem and other private and public affairs. 1060 (Gil's estimation). (Information from Gil, Palestine; and Goitein's index cards, including index card #27100.) VMR; ASE.

Letter from Yosef b. Peraḥya Yijū, in Mazara, writing to an important merchant, also in Sicily., ca. 1154. Yosef states that his sins are the source of his misfortunes. These misfortunes include a swelling (waram) in the finger of his eldest son Peraḥya who assisted him as schoolteacher. They have been looking for an effective medicine for some time without success. ASE.

Letter from Moshe b. Yaʿaqov, Jerusalem, to his wife's brother Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Dating: June 1053 CE. The letter is mainly about arrangements for the long-deferred pilgrimage of Mūsā b. Barhūn al-Tāhirtī to Jerusalem. On verso, amidst family greetings and business matters, Moshe conveys his wife's urgent request for myrobalan for her to drink. There are no details about why she needs it, but presumably it is as medicine for an illness.The block of text containing the order set off from the previous block. At least four letters from Moshe to Nahray survive: see also T-S 13J13.5 (from March), T-S 13J17.18 (from July), and Halper 411 (May 1054 CE).

Letter from an unknown writer, in Alexandria, to Maṣliaḥ Gaon, in Fustat. Dating: 1127–38 CE. In Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew. The purpose of the letter is to beseech Maṣliaḥ to investigate the matter of the death of a family member of the writer, a case with which Maṣliaḥ was clearly somewhat familiar already. It seems that the legal proceedings in Alexandria had not gone in the writer's favor, and he blames a group of evildoers not only for this but also for the death of the family member in the first place. The writer opens with the rabbinic dictum (Bava Meṣiʿa 58b) that verbal oppression is graver than monetary oppression, because the latter can be restituted but the former cannot. This is all the more true, he adds, when frauds or conspiracies (ghabā'in) have been perpetrated on somebody. He continues by saying that a physician who has personal experience of illness and treatment is all the more effective in treating others; that Maṣliaḥ himself has been the victim of conspiracy of rank (? ḥāl) and money (māl), but God in his mercy restored to each person what they deserved; thus, Maṣliaḥ will be the most suitable person to take up the case the writer is about to present, which is one of conspiracy of rank and money and family and connections (? wasā'iṭ) and witnesses. Indeed, there is a group of well-known evildoers in Alexandria who seek to pervert justice and corrupt the judges, and make it appear as if their victims are the ones at fault. As for the dead man (l. 20f), and how he lost his mind and perished after drinking the medicine—what truly killed him, according to the writer, was the fact that he had been slandered by others who complained about him to Maṣliaḥ, when in fact the dead man was the one who was wronged and ought to have been the one complaining. The writer's only desire is for Maṣliaḥ to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter. The writer prefers this to the entire inheritance, for which he has no need. He then cites a (sadly faded) saying of certain physicians about the delirium (hadhayān) that certain illnesses produce; all the more so for someone (the dead man) who suffered multiple illnesses, of mind, of body, and a conspiracy (ghabīna) against him. He concludes with formulaic praises and pleas, and finally writes, cryptically, "Ben Zoma is still outside" (Ḥagiga 15a). ASE.

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Fragment (long vertical strip from the middle of the document). Dating: ca. 1135 CE, according to CUDL. Settlement about the cost of medical treatment for a young wife. Names mentioned: Abū l-Riḍā M[...], Abū l-Faraj Netanel, and Abū Saʿīd (the husband). Involves a ketubba payment of 100 dinars and a dowry of 50 dinars; possibly the husband agrees to pay for the treatment and in return the ketubba payment will be reduced by half. But many key details are missing. (Information in part from CUDL and Goitein's index card.)

Letter dated 15 Sivan 1208 from Yehuda b. Aharon b. al-'Ammani (Alexandria) to Abu l-Majd Meir b. Yakhin (Fustat). The first part (r.6-17) deals with exchanges of piyyutim between the two cantors. “You mention that the dirges have arrived and that you have everything. That is impossible. Had you said 'I have one out of ten,' all right; but that you have all of them is impossible, for some of them were composed [meaning recently] by my uncle Zadok—may his Rock keep him" (Med Soc V, 179, 556). Yehuda also conveys the news that Abu l-Majd's brother Sa'id was very ill but has now recovered, while Abu l-Majd's mother and his brother Hilal are well. The remainder of the original letter (r.18-v.12) is a recommendation for the bearer, the Maghrebi Moshe b. Khalifa who arrived in Alexandria at least a year and a half prior and who was blinded by an eye disease and a failed operation. For two months after the operation, he suffered elevated pulse (? צרבאן) and "saw dreadful things in his soul" (? אבצר אלעטאים פי רוחה), and today he remains like a dumb stone. He has dependents including a wife, a virgin daughter, and a 6-month old son. The community has supported them for a year and a half, but the pesiqah no longer suffices, and his own relatives in Alexandria are unable to provide for him. Moshe carries another letter with signatures from "the Judge"; Sadoq the cantor; Bu Sa'id b. Alqash; Bu 'Umar al-Levi b. al-Baghdadi; Yehuda himself; Bu 'Imran b. Ghulayb; R. Simha ha-Kohen; and Eliyyahu the Judge. There is a postscript (v.16-20) written two days after the original letter, when Yehuda heard that Abu l-Majd's wife is dangerously ill. He prays that he will hear of her recovery soon. There is a second postscript (v.21-24) noting that Moshe cannot travel at the present moment because he would be required to pay the capitation tax twice, but that Abu l-Majd should take care of him whenever he does arrive. Ashtor misread the date as 1400+168 by the Seleucid calendar (1257 CE), while it is in fact 4800+168=4968 since Creation (1208 CE). The same is true for T-S 13J21.25 which Yehuda wrote one week after this letter. Information in part from Goitein's note card. ASE.

Letter from a man, in al-Maḥalla, to his son or younger relative. In Judaeo-Arabic, elegantly written. Lines 1-4: A Judaeo-Arabic poem, damaged. Lines 5-12: Opening blessings. The writer reports receipt from Abū l-Majd of the carpet, two turbans (miqʿaṭayn), and the gold leaf. He requests a letter from the recipient. Lines 12-17: The writer suffered an attack of burnt yellow bile one night. He tried every medicine to no avail, but continues to take a half dose of medicine each day. He has been proscribed eating anything at all or drinking wine, and he is in great distress from this. Lines 17-19: Fortunately, the astrologers are all in agreement that his good fortune is imminent starting on the eighteenth of this month. Lines 20-22: “Do not worry if you hear that somebody drowned in al-Maḥalla. It was a youth named Abū l-Faraj, known as Abū l-Faraj b. al-Sunbāṭī.” Lines 22-25: Greetings to the recipient, the mother, the paternal aunt, the maternal aunt, and the old man, likely the father, Abū ʿUmar or Abu ʿUmr (which may be a kunya for a man who has a child at an old age; cf. DK 238.4, lines 19 and 23). ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, probably 13th-century or later, from a physician or druggist to a respected person named Avraham who also has a son named Shelomo. The writer greets Avraham's wife and wishes her a speedy recovery. He then says he was greatly distressed ("it utterly blotted out my mind") to learn of the illness "of the noble mother." The word used to describe her state is khudūra—numbness or paralysis? withdrawal to women's quarters? Another possibility is that the khudūra refers to the writer's own mental faculties and the impact on him of the news of the mother's setback. In any case, the great bulk of the letter it taken up with conventional expressions of longing and respect. He concludes, "As for what you insisted that the slave respond to every letter and letter, I have done so in a separate letter that has been sent with this one. As for what you mentioned regarding the hiera [a medicine], the slave intends to make it this very week, God willing." ASE

Recto: Letter from an unknown busybody in Minyat Zifta to the Nagid Avraham (II?) in Fustat/Cairo. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. The purpose of the letter is to relate various improprieties ("matters proceeding not as they should," r13–14) of a muqaddam (perhaps of Minyat Ghamr?), al-Shaykh al-Sadīd. The first episode (r17–32): The local schoolteacher had to go to Cairo to pay his capitation tax (jizya) because he was originally from the Levant. When the teacher was delayed in returning, the community began talking about hiring a new teacher. Al-Sadīd caught wind of this and vetoed the proposal, fearing that a new teacher would be a nuisance (tashwīsh) to him, and he insisted that he teach the children himself. They responded that he was far too busy with his medical practice and serving as muqaddam, not to mention his business dealings. He persisted, and they said, "But you don't even live here!" He said that he would come live there until the original teacher came back. The teacher came back, and al-Sadīd was so enthusiastic about the additional income that he refused to let the children return to the original teacher, and he had made their parents vow to that effect. The community felt pity on the original teacher because of his poverty. The second episode (r32–45): During the same period of al-Sadīd teaching the children, someone fell sick in Minyat Zifta. A group of people, including another physician named al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab, came to visit the patient and found al-Sadīd attending him. Al-Sadīd rudely ignored al-Muhadhdhab. After everyone had sat around the patient, al-Muhadhdhab said, "Are you angry at me? I have been courteous to you, just like the community. I don't know what you want from me. I left you the synagogue and didn't attend today." Al-Sadīd (saracastically): "Thank God you found people to support you (against me?)." The writer of the letter editorializes: There were many people present who also don't attend the synagogue, but not because they were supporting al-Muhadhdhab, rather because they heard about how al-Sadīd had disparaged them. Back to the story: Al-Sadīd sighed and said: "How I hold back from complaining about my travails!" The writer: He didn't hold back at all. The third episode (r45–end): A certain judge (qāḍī al-ḥukm) was seriously ill (marīḍ bi-maraḍ shadīd), and al-Muhadhdhab was attending him "[against] his will and not for his good." This is unclear: was al-Muhadhdhab treating the judge incompetently, or was al-Muhadhdhab the one somehow coerced into this job? Meanwhile, al-Sadīd had been angling to get a connection to this judge. The judge had a slave with jaundice (khadīm bihi yaraqān). This too is unclear: is the slave acutely ill, or is this simply a description of his chronic state? Al-Sadīd came and spoke to the slave, and then came back with something to give to the slave—and the story ends here, unless the join is found. This document is possibly related to Bodl. MS heb. a 3/15, a letter from Avraham (I) Maimonides ordering a territorial muqaddam in Minyat Zifta/Minyat Ghamr to share his duties with his cousin al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 189, 560.) Verso: Mysterious page of notes in Judaeo-Arabic in at least two different hands. The items on this page include two recipes for staining (or dying? or removing stains? the word is tulaṭṭakh/laṭkh); Judaeo-Arabic poetry; a riddle or two; and an extended grammatical discussion of case endings after 'kāna and her sisters' and related topics. ASE.

Letter fragment in the hand of Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi Nisaburi about his cost in an affair concerning Abu Sa‘id Makhlūf al-Nafusi. (Information from Goitein's index cards; and Mediterranean Society, 4:413.) EMS. The writer also wants more bibles sent and warns him of any more business with Makhlūf. He mentions further matters regarding Abu l-Faraj and Abū Tahir, and sends greeting to a number of people, including Abu Sahl, Abu l-Rida and Abū l-ʿAla who are admonished for not writing for a long time. (Information from CUDL.) He also describes a prolonged illness (60 days) this winter and asks Abū l-Munā to try to obtain a drug called Abū Zīdān for him; the physicians tell him there is no alternative. Join: Oded Zinger. ASE.

Letter from Natan b. Shelomo ha-Kohen, Fustat, to his cousin Toviyya b. Eli ha-Kohen, in a smaller town, in which the writer refers to the health of the recipient’s brother’s eyes, stating “I received a note from your brother in which he complained that his eyes were in a very bad state and asked for medicaments. I went to the oculists [in the plural], informed them about his complaints, and they prescribed ointments and powders which I sent to him. However, the doctors said to me that the medicines would be of no avail, as long as he continued to work in sunlight, which his profession forces him to do.” The letter also references a ‘maker of razors’ (mawwas) and mentions Ibn al-Minqar Abu al-Ma’ali. Twelfth century. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 1:421; 2:255, 579; and S. D. Goitein and Mordechai Friedman, India Book, 642) EMS

Letter from Bū l-Faraj to Umm Yūsuf the mother-in-law of Bayān al-Bukhtaj ('the cooked,' from Middle Persian pokhtag), sent via Eliyyahu the Judge. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Early 13th century. The occasion for the letter is that the writer heard that Umm Yūsuf, probably a woman of some social standing, had fallen ill. The letter is prefaced with a note to Eliyyahu, asking him in urgent terms to read the note to Umm Yūsuf and to greet her sons (ashbāl, lit. 'lion cubs') on his behalf. In the letter proper, Bū l-Faraj first reports to Umm Yūsuf that he remains in the same distress (illness?) as "on the day you met me in the synagogue," and that was before his heart was afflicted with anxiety on her behalf, especially when the dreadful news reached him today (of her illness). "If you wish to consult me (in istanṣaḥtīnī), send to me Bū l-Ḥajjāj Yūsuf or whomever you see fit." The nature of this consultation is not clear. Is Bū l-Faraj a physician who wishes to help treat her in her illness? He urges her repeatedly to send a mesenger without delay. He excuses himself for not visiting her in person, 'due to my condition which is not hidden from you.' (See S.D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 2:144, 550; and Eve Krakowski, “Female adolescence in the Cairo Geniza documents,” PhD diss., University of Chicago, 2012, p. 134.) EMS. ASE.

Letter from Alexandria to Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment: Bottom half only. Dating: There are reports of men seized for forced labor to dig a ditch around the city. Goitein and Frenkel both suggest that this reference can date the document to 1219 CE, during the fifth crusade. The crusaders besieged Damietta from May 1218 until November 2019 when they finally took it. Evidently, people feared that Alexandria would be next. (See also T-S 16.286, a letter from Alexandria dated 21 October 1219.) This letter reports on the state of the city: "The city is in a dire state because of the digging of the ditch. The city is locked up, and forced labor is imposed upon the population." The writer then gives a detailed report about the medical condition and treatment of a woman who had been injured in an unrelated accident, then discusses some small errands, then an important family affair, and concludes with greetings to at least fifteen persons. Two postscripts are added. "As to Abū l-ʿAlā'—when I arrived, I found the city locked up; no male person could appear in the streets, because he would be taken to the [digging of the] ditch. That's why I was unable to meet him. As to the malḥafa [a blanket serving also as outer garment], the bazaars are locked and no one sells and buys. I am telling you this that you should not think that I am neglectful of your affairs." Regarding the injury of Yumn: "When coming home, I found Yumn—on whom the door fell—in a serious condition. She has been ill for forty days. At the time she was impure and remained in that state; thus all the other members of the household became impure together with her. Only God knows how the situation is; she cries so much that I forget my own tribulations. However, if God wills, she has good prospect for recovery. Her leg is in a case (tābūt) especially made for her. A Christian doctor (ʿarel) treats her and I was told that he did not take any money for her treatment. He at that time was treating the wounded (al-majārīḥ). I did not find any bandage (or plaster/dressing) of palm fibers (marham al-nakhlī) in the house and could not move her; for she cannot get up or sit; she bends forward only a little (qad ittajaha qalīl). Her foot and leg are swollen (manfūkh)." Information and translations from Goitein, Med Soc, V, 56, and note cards #27138–39. This date-palm plaster is recommended for treating wounds and abscesses in the medieval medical literature—a Google search of مرهم نخلي will lead to citations in works by the Andalusians Aḥmad b. ʿIsā al-Hāshimī (d. 1077) and Ibn Zuhr (d. 1162). For Ibn Zuhr, its consistency is like that of honey, and threads are dipped in it before being used to wick fluid out of a wound. Thus, perhaps it is a substance deriving from the date itself, rather than from the palm-fibers. The solution might also be found in Yevr.-Arab. I 1700.22, recto, text block c (PGPID 2724), which may be a recipe for מרהם נכלי. Note also that "ittajaha" in the context of injury or illness most often means "improved" (rather than "bend"), and sick people are often described as "having improved a little" even if they are still in critical condition. The hand of the letter resembles that of T-S 16.272, written by an Alexandrian judge. ASE.

Informal note from an unknown writer to R. Ḥiyya. In Judaeo-Arabic. The writer requests the excellent jug of wine (al-nabīdh al-mamzūj) that Ḥiyya had promised him on Saturday, as he received bloodletting today, and the doctor prescribed that he drink wine afterward. Trans. Goitein, Med Soc IV, 255.

Letter, likely sent to Abū l-Majd Meir b. Yakhin, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 1216/17 CE (1528 Seleucid). The writer urges the addressee to come see his sister, who is very sick. She has a throbbing pain (ḍarabān) in her right hip; a burning pain in her heart; a nonhealing wound (the word looks like khalal) in her right thigh; and her tongue is dry. She prays to God that she will see the addressee's face before she dies. "When your [brother?] said to her, 'Let her take the rhubarb-barberry pastille and make it […] and hopefully it will abate,' my master, she said, 'I do not want any of this unless he obtains a prescription, and the prescribing physician prepares it for me and sends it.' This is deliverance, my master. They prescribed hiera oil (duhn al-iyārij) for her thigh, but it was not effective. What is killing her is the pain in her thigh. I do not need to urge you to come. If her condition becomes fatal, your mother will die next. She will never live after her. The best is for them to slake their yearning for you, and you will gain your mother’s prayers." The letter continues with an update on the addressee's brother Hilāl ('his condition is the same'); a description of a large funeral; something to do with the addressee's request for Masā'il Ḥullin and how he needs to be more specific; a long series of rebukes for the addressee's negligence in writing; and regards to various people. ASE.

Letter from the wife of Baṣīr the bell-maker (al-jalājilī) to the Nagid David, asking him to help return her husband, who was living in a Sufi community, to his family and to the Jewish faith. She also asks for medicine for her child. "Our Lord has promised the little one a medicine for the ear, for he suffers from it. There is no harm in trying it out, seeing that even the barber is playing with it without experience. May God have mercy!." "[This very night.]" (Information from CUDL)

Letter from a woman to her brother in Fustat expressing her loneliness. She gives advice regarding the recipient's relationship with their other brother. "You know that he is like your son, for you raised him and you know his character. [Do not let] people divide the two of you. If he makes an error, you must bear the consequences." The recipient's ʿamma (in general paternal aunt, but Goitein interprets it as mother in this case) wants to see him before she dies. At the end of the letter, either the writer or the aunt/mother asks him to send two (ounces? dirhems?) of Isfahani kohl (antimony), since her eyes are sore and none is available where they are. Information in part from Goitein's index cards. Join: Oded Zinger. ASE.

Letter from Yaʿaqov the physician (known as 'the effective'), in Shamṭūniyya, near Kūfa, Iraq, to his pupil and perhaps son-in-law Yūsuf, in Jūma Mazīdat (unidentified location; Gil suggests that it is also in Iraq, near Sūra). Dating: Probably beginning of the 11th century. Yaʿaqov reports that he arrived safely in Baghdad on the 15th of Tammuz. He looked for Mājid but was told that he had already come and gone before Shavuot, and he looked for Abū l-Riḍā b. al-Ṣadr al-Tājir al-Baghdādī but was told that he had traveled to Hamadān. Yaʿaqov is optimistic that these men will return with the ḥajj caravans. As for the two yeshivot, Yaʿaqov declined to join either one of them so as not to offend the other. He told them that he had made a vow to visit the graves of holy men (Gil suggests specifically the grave of Ezekiel). He then traveled to Shamṭuniyya, where he found everyone sick from an epidemic disease. The writer himself became ill with a swelling, probably an abscess, on his leg, from which he developed a fever and was bedbound for 17 days. His son Abū l-Barakāt then became ill with a very high constant fever ("like a blazing fire"). Yaʿaqov sent to Baghdad for materia medica and mixed the medicinal syrup (sharāb) for his son himself, which he gave him each day together with barley water (mā' al-shaʿīrūn). His son is now feeling better. At first they were staying in the house of Abū Saʿd 'the paqid' b. Khalaf (probably a relative, at least by marriage, see verso lines 4–5), but when he and his family became ill, they 'cut off' their guests, "and you know that the people of Shamṭuniyya, even when they are healthy, do not care for foreigners." The saving grace for Yaʿaqov was that the people of Shamṭuniyya needed his services as a physician. The geography of Shamṭūniyya/Shamṭūnya is also described by Golb as follows: "[T]his locality is now a ruin known as Tell el-Shamṭūnī, located to the south of Baghdad on the western side of the Tigris near Ctesiphon (al-Madāʾin)." Norman Golb, "A Marriage Deed from 'Wardūniā of Baghdad,'" JNES 43 no. 2 (1984), 154. VMR. ASE.

Interesting letter from a sick man to Mevorakh, probably his brother. The language is Judaeo-Arabic with Hebrew vowels (!). The writer revised the letter, probably after completing it, and added in several missing alifs. He has an unspecified illness. He is lying sick in the house of Baqā' b. al-Muṣinn (at least in the daytime), also attended by Ibn al-ʿAṣṣār. "From inactivity (qillat al-qawām) my state has weakened (talif ḥālī). I am now accustomed to bloodletting and purging (sakb al-dam wa-l-ishāl)." He describes his nights and days twice. Ibn al-Muṣinn is also in distress because his little boy is also sick. [The physician] Ibn al-ʿAṣṣār was summoned and asked whether the patient would live or die and said to him something cryptic ('You are either (illam) going to survive or (illam) completely recover' (?)). Upon which, Baqā' said to him, 'For the sake of deliverance, do exactly as he says.' People (nās) concerned themselves (ihtammū) and kindly brought the patient everything he needed (itfaḍḍalū bi-kull mā aḥtāj). In the nights he has rosebuds (? al-zirr al-ward) but these only last him for one third of the night (?), and thus he also needs sugar (?). Purpose of writing: Requesting sugar, and a blanket "from the kitchen." He had previously written regarding the sugar. It resembles a letter of appeal except that it is quite informal, probably disrespectful if the recipient were not his actual brother. The writer states that he has already tried drawing money from other sources so as not to be a burden. Writes once, "you ask me what afflicts me," and then again, "Do not neglect me so as not to [later] ask what afflicts me." Date: Probably early 13th century. Abū l-Baqā' b. al-Muṣinn ("son of the stinkard") appears also in T-S NS J32, but this document is undated. A Kohen b. al-Muṣinn appears in a 1237 document (T-S 12.413), and the daughter of al-Muṣinn appears in a 1243 document (T-S 8J6.15), but these are not necessarily related. Most compellingly: a physician named Ibn al-ʿAṣṣār appears in a 1227 document (T-S 8J32.7). ASE.