Geniza Lab

Part of a letter or document in Arabic script (might mention al-Ramla and a date). Reused for writing exercises in Hebrew and for piyyuṭ on verso. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter in Arabic script. The addressee is asked to send something (dirhams?) with the bearer. On verso there is piyyuṭ. (Information from CUDL)

Piyyuṭ and unidentified text in Arabic, possibly a letter draft. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: grammatical text in Hebrew. Verso: part of a letter (?) in Arabic, and an unidentified text in Hebrew. (Information from CUDL)

Tiny fragment from a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. (Information from CUDL)

Magical amulets to protect against scorpions, designed to be worn rolled up in an amulet case around the neck. The magician has repeatedly copied the amulet, drawing a crude scorpion at the bottom of each. Several have evidently been cut off and sold. (Information from CUDL.) See Gideon Bohak, "Some 'mass-produced' Scorpion-amulets from the Cairo Genizah," in A Wandering Galilean (2009), 35–50.

Daily records of foods with amounts for two weeks (possibly accounts). (Information from CUDL)

ff. 1r-2.r: unidentified document in Judaeo-Arabic mentioning the Harem of Muḥammad ʿĀli in the Citadel of Cairo, and a certain Jamīla. Some of the phrases on f. 1v are repeated on f. 2r. On f. 1r there are Judaeo-Arabic pen trials in the hand of the writer of the letter found on f. 2v. Fol. 2v is a letter in Hebrew written in a different hand, mentioning a certain Zuntanai and Joseph Pinto. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document signed by Abraham b. Shemaʿya. (Information from CUDL)

Accounts with Hebrew (and possibly Greek/Coptic) numerals. (Information from CUDL)

Letter fragment. "... the coming, at all, because she arrived in our absence ... and the people of Fustat (al-Misriin) treated her well, may God reward them... even the Rayyis and his wife and al-Shaykh al-Muhadhdhab...I was surprised that I did not receive a letter from you informing me of..." ASE.

Letter from Shelomo Mizraḥi or a female family member, in Alexandria, to Ibrāhīm/Brahim Aghion, in Cairo (Miṣr). In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in slightly broken French ("Monsier Brahim Aghion: si vous plez de le remettre tout de suite"). Dated: 20 Luglio 1885 CE. The letter is signed by Shelomo Mizraḥi, but the narrator of the letter seems to be a woman, as she uses feminine adjectives—perhaps she is Shelomo's sister. The relationship with the addressee is also confusing, because the sender refers to her "wālida" (mother) and "umm" (mother) as if they are different people. It seems that the "wālida," who is named סרינא, is actually the sender's paternal grandmother, and the addressee is her brother, which would explain why he is addressed as ʿamm (paternal uncle). In any case, everyone in the sender's household is sick (ʿayyān, ʿayyānīn). "The son of your sister" is swollen (wārim, manfūkh). "Your sister" is sick (ʿayyāna). The sender's mother (ummī) has swollen legs (rijlayhā wārimīn). The sender has a stomach ailment (ʿayyāna bi-miʿdatī). One man in the household was especially sick. The physician came to visit him twice every day. He remained bedbound for 22 days, but is now doing better. (There may be a rebuke here for the addressee, who failed to write and inquire about his health.) There may also be a couple lines of poetry (the part with long hyphens), but this needs examination. (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE

Document, entitled ‘list of registers’ (ṯabt al-dafātir), followed by names, such as Ibn Ḥātim. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment from a letter or note. (Information from CUDL)

Probably part of an address, mentioning the sender Shelomo, son of the judge Elijah. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: letter to Benjamin b. Qalyūsa (?) al-Ḡazwī with address on verso, mentioning Abū Saʿīd. Verso: reply to the first letter, sent to Simeon b. Ḥunayn by the aforementioned Benjamin (reply to the letter on recto); with address on recto. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment of a letter or drafts of letters and documents, mentioning the elder Abū Ṭāhir b. Abraham. (Information from CUDL)

Accounts. (Information from CUDL)

Late letter, apparently written by a certain Ḏārā (?). (Information from CUDL)

Letter to the Nasi. (Information from CUDL)