Geniza Lab

Magical spells, 1 for arousing love (tahayyuj) and 1 for binding someone's tongue (ʿaqd lisān). Probably in the hand of Abū Sahl Levi (see tag). They are written in charming style ("may the love of X settle on the heart of Y, like the shade on an apple, like rose wafting fragrance" followed by a racy blazon; the next one, "may God make you an ass").

Eight lines of mysterious strings of Arabic letters and numbers. Likely but not definitively a join with CUL Or.1080 14.25.

Diagrams, text, and calculations of an astrological/astronomical nature, perhaps also magical. Arabic, late.

Mysterious strings of Arabic letters and numbers along with two diagrams. One diagram has a caption, stating that it protects a person against iron and guns (banādiq) and spears and anything else which a person fears. Likely but not definitively a join with CUL Or.1080 14.13.

Bifolium from an Arabic work, mostly consisting of prayers and verses from the Quran and names of God, but also including a line of probably-magical symbols, headed with a six-pointed star.

Magical recipes in two different hands, including for the protection of Yosef b. Me'ir. (Information from FGP)

Long magical spell/amulet for Baghīḍa bt. Ḥā'iza, with the purpose of making Mufaḍḍal b. ʿIrāq fall in love with her and marry her without delay.

Amulet for Abū Saʿd b. Baldīn (?) to annul the evil wishes of his enemies and make everyone love him. In Hebrew, Aramaic, and nomina barbara.

Recipes, probably medical or alchemical, in Arabic script, accompanied with pious invocations and some magical characters.

Instructions for some sort of magical procedure. "Take seven pebbles, throw one in each of the four cardinal directions, and three will remain with you. Then recite the following verses sven times. . . ."

"The chapter of knowing the unknown (taʿallum al-ghayb)." One takes a certain animal on Shabbat, breaks open its back, and eats its heart while still hot.

Spell book in Judaeo-Arabic.

Left fragment: Magical text with the header ללמטלקה = for the divorcee

Letter from Mordekhai ha-Levi Mizraḥi, probably in Meron or Safed, to Moshe Ḥayyim and Yiṣḥaq Ḥayyim, unknown location. This fragment also contains the end of the letter from ENA 2634.2 (dated: 7 Av, 5656 AM, which is 1896 CE). Written in Hebrew, by a professional Ashkenazi scribe. The writer is a maker of amulets and segulot who has gone at least partially blind. He complains about his tremendous expenses paying for the scribe who had to repeat the amuletic drawing "50 times" and paying for a postal delivery (הפוסטה), because he initially trusted Agha Baba Tehrani to deliver the letters and amulets, but that man absconded and failed him, leaving no option but to use the post. (All this seems to be by way of exhorting the addressees to reimburse him for his pains.) He mentions the same ʿEzra from the preceding letter and Avraham Dayyan in the context of the amulets and segulot for conceiving a male child. ASE.

Letter from Mordekhai ha-Levi Mizraḥi, probably in Meron or Safed, to Agha Meir b. Eliyyahu, unknown location. The letter continues onto the upper part of ENA 2634.1. Dated: 7 Av, 5656 AM, which is 1896 CE. Written in Hebrew, by a professional Ashkenazi scribe. The writer is a maker of amulets and segulot who has gone at least partially blind. In this letter he describes in detail how to make an amulet for a woman to conceive a male child: it should be engraved on refined silver, the person who makes it must be in a state of purity and fasting, and a human figure should be drawn with the appropriate dimensions (including a large belly) and filled in with the appropriate letters. Psalm 121 should be engraved underneath the figure and the priestly blessing above the figure. When the time of birth comes near, the pregnant woman should dress herself entirely in linen, and the boy should be dressed only in linen until age 3, and even better if that continues until age 10. The addressee is also to light oil lamps for the soul of Rashbi and R. Meir Baʿal ha-Nes. Mordekhai reminds the addressee in a roundabout way to send him money (lirot) for his pains. He also seems to instruct the addressee to name the newborn son Mordekhai after him. He asks again for money, for he and his son Yiṣḥaq are in difficult straits. He also mentions a certain M. ʿEzra b. Yaʿaqov Dā'ūdī in the addressee's location. ASE.

Tables for divination in Arabic script. Late.

A leaf from a book of segulot in Ladino and Hebrew.

Love spell in Judaeo-Arabic. For Esther bt. Nazlī to fall in love with Ḥayyim b. Barda. The hand looks late and possibly Iraqi—but that is speculative.

Magical spells. One folio from a larger booklet. In Arabic script. Possibly for arousing love (tahyīj al-ḥubb?). One of them is to be placed inside the shoe of the man. VMR. ASE.

Magical text. Written in a mixture of Arabic script and Judaeo-Arabic.