Geniza Lab

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Moshe Bibas to Karo y Frances & Company. Dated Adar 1808 CE (5568).

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic to Karo y Frances & Company.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Moshe Bibas to Karo y Frances & Company. Dated Heshvan 1807 CE (5568).

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Needs examination.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment: missing the upper part. Needs examination.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic to Merkado Karo and Shimʿon Frances (of Karo y Frances & Company). Fragment: missing the lower part.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic to Yiṣḥaq Bialobos.

Recto: Appears to be the draft of the beginning of a late letter in Judaeo-Arabic. (Halfway down the page the writer rewrites the opening line and then stops.) Subsequently it was used for writing practice of Arabic letters and "Sulyamān b. David" which is related to verso. Verso: Calligraphic title page for the book of Proverbs, with "amthāl Sulaymān" in small letters below.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic (1809 CE) to Karo y Frances & Company, from Avraham Haman and Gavriel Ḥefez. Information from Wagner, Linguistic Variety of Judaeo-Arabic, 24.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic (1807 CE?) to Merkado Karo [of Karo y Frances & Company], from Avraham Haman and Gavriel Ḥefez. Information from Wagner, Linguistic Variety of Judaeo-Arabic, 24. Goitein's attached transcription belongs to a different shelfmark.

Letter (fragment) of which only the bottom section of the body and marginal portion of the text remains. In l. 15r one S[eñor] Curiel is mentioned and on several occasions there is reference to Istanbul, for example: "the ships travel every day from Istanbul / אל מראכיב כול יום בסאפרו מין קוסטה" (l. 21-22r). Perhaps collectively indicating "Egypt" or, alternatively, "Cairo" the locational term "מציר" (l. 10r, 12r) is also in use, which although it does not reflect common Judeo-Arabic orthography may demonstrate influence of the Ottoman Turkish term "Misir." There is much discussion of prices rendered in eastern Arabic numerals and, for example, in "רייל דהבי" (l. 10r). In the margin's final line there is also mention of one S[eñor] Yisrael Silmon [?] "ס יסראל שילמון". The fragment's verso is blank. MCD.

Fragment of a late letter in Judaeo-Arabic, probably ca.1800. Mentions Se. Yehiel and Se. Eliyyahu.

28 pages of communal and financial and legal records. Pages 1 and 14 are registers of deaths, one on page 14 dated 1662 CE (5422). Pages 2–9 contain alternating entries in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic about who received how much, from whom, for what. Pages 10–13 are accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Page 15 is a fragmentary account of Ottoman rulers active in Egypt from 1659–72 CE (1070–72 Hijri), naming Gazi Basha, Usman al-Wali, Ḥasan Bey Mustafa, and others. There is also a small piece of a printed text peeping through a tear in the paper. Page 16 returns to accounts. Pages 17-19 have to do with the rents of the houses of the qodesh, listing their locations and tenants. Page 20 then moves onto the houses of the qodesh of the Musta'ribim Synagogue. Pages 22–23 are registers of births ca.1680 CE (e.g. 5436 and 5442). Pages 24–28 are mostly in Arabic script. Some of the birth and death registers are in the first person and in different hands. ASE.

Half of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Meir b. Naʿim to David b. Naʿim, appears to be dated August 1823 (Elul 5583).

12369.7 and 8 are drafts of several Judaeo-Arabic letters and documents by Yisrael al-Gevili (אלגוילי) writing in Cairo it seems circa 1755/6 CE (the lower segment on recto mentions the year [5]516; the second digit could also be a ר, making the date 1855/6, but it is closer to his ק and the fonducli - an Ottoman coin - would be more likely to be circulating in Egypt in 1756 than 1856.) Upper segment of recto: Some sort of testimony, perhaps that the Shaykh al-Islām Naṣr al-Dīn Abū Zayn al-Dī al-Iskandarānī pledges to pay a sum of 120 to al-Ḥajj Muṣṭafa in the Gamaliyya neighborhood. Lower segment of recto: Documentation that Yūsuf al-Ḥarīrī who is living in the wakāla of al-Fayyūmī has paid the price for the courtyard and the apartment, and then something to do with six months of payments involving al-Ḥajj Muṣṭafa al-Ramlāwī. Verso: Draft of a letter to his brother regarding business matters. Yisrael reports on the status and likely price of the goods that his brother had sent to him with Murād al-Jawharji. He orders Indian textiles because the demand this year is very high, as none of the ḥajj pilgrims brought any textiles with them. Verso of 12369.8 is another draft of the same letter. ASE.

12369.7 and 8 are drafts of several Judaeo-Arabic letters and documents by Yisrael al-Gevili (אלגוילי) writing in Cairo it seems circa 1755/6 CE (the lower segment on recto of 12369.7 mentions the year [5]516; the second digit could also be a ר, making the date 1855/6, but it is closer to his ק and the fonducli - an Ottoman coin - would be more likely to be circulating in Egypt in 1756 than 1856.) Recto: Draft of a letter to his brother. His brother seems to have gotten upset about the lack of letters from Yisrael and the lack of any shipment of goods or money. Yisrael apologizes and says he had intended to send them sooner, but encountered various difficulties including with selling the goods. However he plans to send everything on Monday. Verso: Draft of a letter to his brother regarding business matters. Yisrael reports on the status and likely price of the goods that his brother had sent to him with Murād al-Jawharjī. He orders Indian textiles because the demand this year is very high, as none of the ḥajj pilgrims brought any textiles with them. Verso of 12369.7 is another draft of the same letter. ASE.

Letter from Yosef Yuʿbaṣ to Yaʿaqov Yuʿbaṣ. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: 18th or 19th century. Needs examination.

Letter from Avraham Hamān and Gavriel Ḥefeẓ to Karo y Frances & Company. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 5568 AM, which is 1807/08 CE. Needs examination for content.

Letter from Avraham Hamān and Gavriel Ḥefeẓ to Karo y Frances & Company. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: Elul (Raḥamim) 5569 AM, which is 1809 CE. Needs examination for content.

Letter from Avraham Hamān and Gavriel Ḥefeẓ to Karo y Frances & Company. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 5568 AM, which is 1807/08 CE. Needs examination for content.