Geniza Lab

Recto: Account in Judaeo-Arabic. Late. Verso: Pen trials in Ladino.

Accounts. In Hebrew, possibly Ladino, and western Arabic numerals. Dated: Heshvan 5502 AM, which is 1742 CE.

ENA NS 27.7: Accounts in Ladino listed in western Arabic numerals. Dates are provided at the bottom of each entry and indicate what is most likely the year [54]92. The months Temuz and Tevet are also listed which helps to date this fragment as January-July 1732CE, which aligns closely with the join ENA NS 39.2. On the recto of ENA NS 27.7, the first entry also mentions one Moshe Ḥason "חסון" (l. 5r), whose name is repeated on the verso (l. 3v). This fragment's join mentions the usage of silver medin coinage which may carry over to the figures listed here. MCD.

Letter fragment. In Ladino. Mentions R. Nissim. Very faded.

Legal. Engagement (shiddukhin) contract. Dating: No earlier than 1697 CE, based on the mention of the coin (zer-i) maḥbūb. Groom: Yosef b. Yaʿaqov Najjār. Bride: Ḥanna bt. Hillel אלחירקו(?), a widow. There follows a trousseau list and conditions. Currency: maḥbūb. On the facing page there is another list (also a trousseau list?) in a different hand. Several of the items are written in Ladino.

Letter from Yiṣḥaq to Avraham Krispin. In Ladino. Mentions Yiṣḥaq de Curiel. Needs examination

Business letter in Ladino to Avraham דאלותה (?) from "your little brother." Mentions people such as Menaḥem and Yiṣḥaq ha-Levi. Needs further examination

Business letter in Ladino. Join by Idan Perez.

Letter from a parent, unknown location, to a son, in Fustat/Cairo. In Ladino. The writer tells the son to write more often, which should not be so difficult for him because people arrive in his or her location every day from Fustat/Cairo (Miẓrayim). The writer asks if he received the 10 reals that she sent him with Yehuda Canbiador (קאנבייאדור, the money changer). The writer mentions the daughters of their baʿal ha-bayit (לאש מוגאגאש די מי בעל הבית)—perhaps meaning her husband, but this is not completely clear. The writer lists various items that he or she has sent to the son and how much they cost (in muayyadis). ASE.

ENA NS 39.2: Accounts in Ladino in western Arabic numerals dated on the verso most likely as 28 Nisan [54]92 or 23 April 1732. The accounting format on the recto is orderly and may be a fragment from a broader commercial ledger. The dated passage on the verso might not be directly associated with the recto yet is in the same hand and offers useful information on the coinage involved: "mayedes / מאיידיס" or Ottoman silver medin. The last two lines of the verso also mention an unknown commodity related to cloth that can be transliterated as "crisales de panyo" or alternatively "carisales de panyo." MCD.

Small fragment in Ladino, probably from a letter.

Recto: Business letter. In Ladino. Currency: muayyadi/medin. Verso: Table filled in with numbers, presumably for lots.

Letter. In Ladino, with the address in Hebrew. Needs examination.

Multifragment. Fragment 1: Document in Judaeo-Arabic. Probably medieval. Only one line, very faded, is preserved. Fragment 2: Business letter, fragment. In Ladino.

Letter from Yehuda Rozanes(?), unknown location, to Yosef Amarillio, in Salonica. In Hebrew (first two lines) and Ladino (remainder). Dating: Probably prior to 1485 CE. The content deals with business matters. NB: Not from the Geniza. Judge Mayer Sulzberger found this letter in the binding of the first edition of the Mahzor Roma (1485). Information from FGP.

Letter from an unknown writer, in Safed, to Yosef Mataron (מאטארון), in Fustat/Cairo. In Ladino. Mentions the Ottoman coin para. The writer reports that the addressee's son Eliezer is in Tripoli, which he knows because he received a letter from Eliezer the same day the caravan from Egypt arrived. The letter deals with business matters and shipments received, some of which were unsatisfactory: "y como me mandastes aquella ropa tan desbaratada"; in fact the writer seems quite annoyed at the merchandise he is receiving and says he does not understand what he is supposed to do with it. Needs further examination.

Document in Ladino. Unclear what it is. Needs further examination.

Document in Ladino, perhaps a letter.

Upper left corner of a letter in Ladino. A Gatenio is mentioned.

Fragment of a letter in Hebrew and Ladino. Not much is legible. "Ha-Ish ha-Hafetz Hayyim. . . Avraham. . . Y agora. . ." and some pors and paras.