Geniza Lab

Literary text, Arabic script recto and verso.

List in Judaeo-Arabic of at least seven of the "blemishes" (ʿuyūb) a woman can have, such as a bad odor, a propensity to sweat, a coarse voice, and at least two having to do with the breasts. Of documentary interest not least because there are a number of documents in which a man complains about the "blemishes" of his wife (e.g. T-S AS 147.17) or a female slave (e.g. T-S Misc.23.8). On verso is a medical text (literary) in Arabic script, and there are additional jottings in Arabic script filling the margins of each side. ASE.

Recto: Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. The same scribe probably wrote ENA NS 69.20 and T-S AS 156.42, based on the handwriting similarity combined with the presence of the relatively uncommon blessing "min dār al-fanā' wa-l-shaqā' ilā dār al-naʿīm wa-l-baqā' (from the abode of perdition and woe to the abode of blessing and immortality)." In this letter he conveys his terrible distress ('the waters have reached the seat of breath') on account of imprisonment and lack and inability to buy food. He is evidently asking for money. Verso: Recipes in Arabic script. The first is for a laurel-based ophthalmic (ṣifat kuḥl al-sādhaj al-ḥāfiẓ) that strengthens the vision. The second is for a coolant (barūd) that the caliph al-Ma'mūn purportedly used to preserve health and strengthen eyesight. ASE.

Magical fragment in Arabic script, including a spell for 'inflaming' (tahyīj).

Literary. Fragment of a bifolium of a medical work in Arabic script. Mentions evacuation; the stomach; vomiting; what one should take/eat; something being effective.

Literary. Astronomical or calendrical work in an unusual mixture of Arabic (in Arabic script) and Hebrew.

Bifolium from Kitāb Tawārīkh Mukhtaṣar Yunabbi'u ʿan Mamālik wa-Bilād ʿAdīda. Printed in Malta by the Church Missionary Society in 1833 CE. The faces of the people in the frontispiece have been scratched out. On the background of Arabic printing in Malta and the Church Missionary Society, see Geoffrey J. Roper, "Arabic Printing in Malta 1825–45" (PhD Diss, University of Durham, 1988). Scans of the full book may be readily found online, e.g., https://archive.org/details/1164pdf2228/page/n137/mode/2up.

Literary text in Arabic script, with diacritics and vowels. Perhaps ethical advice (yā bunayy: kuthrat al...)

Main text: Literary work in Arabic script, mentioning Aristotle and the third clime. Margins: Recipe in Judaeo-Arabic. Join (noncontinuous) by Alan Elbaum.

Letter from Avraham b. Saadya the Hebronite, (the muqaddam of?) Bilbays, to Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel the Sefaradi, Fustat, beginning of the twelfth century. Discusses in detail the communal problems that arose around the proposal of tearing down the synagogue and rebuilding it. The Muslm governor said that a synagogue may not be built under the reign of al-Mawla al-Afḍal. Verso has been reused for drafts of Arabic medical writings. CUDL description: Recto: letter in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic from Abraham b. Saʿadya he-Ḥebroni, on behalf of refugees from Hebron that are now in Bilbays. Abraham writes to Isaac b. Shemuʾel ha-Sefaradi (active ca. 1090-1130 CE) in Fusṭāṭ, concerning the building of a new synagogue in Bilbays, replacing an old synagogue that had been torn down. The entire community joined forces to dismantle the synagogue and rebuild the new building. The letter lists the donations given by members of the community, and describes in detail the surrounding properties and their owners. A muslim judge initially objected to the construction of the new synagogue, so the community tactically rebranded their construction as a ‘home’, to which the judge had no objection. Verso: jottings of an Arabic philosophical text. (Information from CUDL)

An Arabic literary work. "The ʿulamā' of the Arabs informed us of ʿUmar b. al-[...] al-Tamīmī who said, 'There was a drought in the lands of Banū Tamīm. . . ."

Biography (sīra) of the Prophet Muḥammad in beautiful Arabic script. Bifolium.

Medical treatise in Arabic script, probably. Needs further examination.

Recto and part of verso: A full page of prayers in Arabic script. Verso: In a different hand and ink, a basmala, then: "from the words of our master, amīr al-mu'minīn, ʿAlī."

Literary. Bifolium in Arabic script of Kitāb al-Shihāb, a collection of sayings ascribed to Muḥammad, by Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad b. Salāma b. Jaʿfar al-Quḍāʿī (d. 1062). Includes the final page. ASE.

Epistle or maqāma in Arabic on medicine and physicians. Quotes some poetry of Abū Nuwās. Needs further examination.

Arabic literary text with monumental medallion and calligraphy at the top of the column.

Pharmacological text including various recipes for drugs mostly based on vegetable ingredients and aimed at curing the digestive system. A page from an Arabic literary work on medical recipes. The first full recipe begins with three dirhams of murda-sang (litharge).

Mostly Arabic with some Judaeo-Arabic. Drafts of literary text, either philosophical or poetic or both.

Jewish (not Muslim) religious text. Written mainly in Arabic script but with some Hebrew mixed in. Having to do with the Exodus. Some of the phrases sound like biblical translations, but identification of exact source verses is tricky.