Geniza Lab

Tables for divination or magic, e.g. giving the names of the angels of different lands. Judaeo-Arabic, late hand.

Late letter that begins in Hebrew and transitions into Judaeo-Arabic from an unidentified merchant to Yosef Muḥibb. He writes that he traveled this year to Tripoli (Libya?) to look for a Jew who took 100 peraḥim from him and fled to Venice. He was not successful. He has purchased garments and sent them with Saadya Kohen and Yaʿaqov b. Hīnī (also mentioned in ENA NS 50.25) to try to sell. Recto is damaged, but deals almost entirely with business matters. He mentions R. Yosef Nahon (?) who died after a year of being bedridden and consuming half of his wealth. In his will, he left 200 peraḥim for the study of Torah and for the visiting of the ill and for the poor. The writer also mentions the addressee's brother Khubayr, his own nephew Yosef, and Shelomo Abulafia. The addressee's sister Maḥbūba sends her regards and urges him to take care of their other sister and find a husband for her. On verso he returns to business matters and requests a Cypriot commodity (קוברסי/קוברסיין) and orders tin (קזדיר) from a place called גמאע אלטיילון. He mentions Yaʿaqov Bū Saʿda and David al-Ashqar. ASE.

Letter from Yiṣḥaq bayt ʿAṭṭān, in Syracuse, to Moshe b. Yehuda, in Alexandria. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Last quarter of the 15th century. Contains a colorful tale of the writer's voyage. His ship was taking on too much water, so they had to stop in Rhodes. He and his party stayed there for a couple months before resuming the journey. They landed in מדון/MDWN, probably Methoni (aka Modone) in Messenia, to do business in bread and wine. The locals were about to steal the boat, so they took off in a hurry and abandoned their companion R. Ṣuriel who was still in town. Then the purpose of the letter: it is a letter of introduction ("a benefit for you and for him") for the Catalan Messer Bernard Lo Azina (לו אזינה), "a good Christian," who is bringing 500 kosher cheeses the writer saw him purchase, along with a hekhsher letter from the local judge. There are several curious linguistic aspects, too, including באש for "in order to."

Letter from Yehuda Pinto and Moshe Ḥaddād to Karo y Frances & Company. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 22 Av 5568 AM, which is 1808 CE. Needs examination for content.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic (1819 CE?) from Me'ir ben Naʿim to David ben Naʿim. Information from Wagner, Linguistic Variety of Judaeo-Arabic, 24.

Letter, late, in Judaeo-Arabic from Yosef Yaʿveṣ to Ya'aqov Yaʿveṣ (or Yuʿbaṣ?). Information from Wagner, Linguistic Variety of Judaeo-Arabic, 24.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic, late.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Late. Mainly for foodstuffs: eggplant, coriander, mulūkhiyya, chickpeas, etc.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Ottoman era. The year actually appears on verso but does not make immediate sense: 24 Ramadan נסץ(?). Beautiful hand. Items sold include food, materia medica, and steel.

Letter to Meshullam b. Elazar. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. It seems to consist solely of flattering greetings. Dating: Probably late.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic, dated 29 January 1807 (20 Shevat 5567), from Avraham Haman and Gavriel Hefez to Merkado Karo and his partner Avraham ha-Levi.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic, from a certain Merkado [Karo?] to Yosef (?) Najjār in Fustat/Cairo. Needs examination.

Late letter (or a copy of one) in Judaeo-Arabic.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic (dated, but confusingly) to Ḥayyim ha-Kohen and Ḥayyim Ṭaliṭ (?).

Late and unusual letter in Judaeo-Arabic to the writer's brother Faraj Allāh. The writer opens with greetings to a large number of family members and friends. He has sent 5 chickens, a pair of pigeons, blue and white yarn, white buttons, and colored silk. Faraj Allāh is instructed to sell these only to Jews in the ḥārah, not to any goyim. The people greeted at the beginning (after the brother Faraj Allāh) include: the writer's sister; the boy Manṣūr and the boy Yūsuf; the writer's maternal aunt; the teacher Shemuel; the boy Faraj Allāh; the (female) teacher Qamr; the (female) teacher Sawād; Umm Sulaymān and her daughter ʿAzīzah; the son and wife of his maternal uncle; the neighbors; Manṣūr Dayyān and his mother and wife and children.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic (and eastern Arabic numerals). Dated: 5582 AM, which is 1821/22 CE. Mentions the mustaʿrib congregation in the header. All the documents in this folder appear to be in the same hand, though this one pertains to the mustaʿrib congregation and the next to the sephardic congregation. Needs examination.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic (and eastern Arabic numerals). Dated: 5582 AM, which is 1821/22 CE. Headed: "The expenses (maṣrūf) of the Sephardic [congregation] in Fustat/Cairo for the year 5582." Many names familiar from other Geniza documents of the period feature in this list. Needs examination. VMR. ASE.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic (and eastern Arabic numerals). Dated: 5582 AM, which is 1821/22 CE. Mentioning R. Petro and Se. Shemuel, and the holidays of Sukkot, Purim, and Pesaḥ. VMR. ASE.

Letter from Shelomo Kohen and Yaʿaqov Portos to Efrayim [...]. Dated: 12 Elul 5566 AM (1806 CE). (Someone wrote the date 1706 CE on the fragment because they read the century digit as a ת, but more likely it is a ק, with the initial הת implied.)

Letter from Avraham Hamān and Gavriel Ḥefez to Karo y Frances & Company. Dated: 1 Elul, 5568 AM, which is 1808 CE. (Someone wrote the date 1708 CE on the fragment because they read the century digit as a ת, but it is a ק, with the initial הת implied.)