Geniza Lab

Letter fragment (part of the right side of recto and verso). Asking the addressee to enlighten the sender about various talmudic passages.

Legal testimony. Involves Faḍā'il the cantor, R. Ye[ḥi]el, Bū Naṣr b. al-[...], and Makhlūf. There is a dispute over the ritual slaughter of a sheep. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter with greetings. (Information from CUDL)

Accounts. (Information from CUDL.) Late, sephardic hand.

Aramaic legal document with a few Judaeo-Arabic words. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: probably a legal document, mentioning maintenance. Verso: possibly a prayer or sermon (?). (Information from CUDL)

Legal document mentioning the name Joseph. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document; probably a witness statement. (Information from CUDL)

Legal testimony. Dated: Wednesday, 10 Av [possibly 5348 AM?? אבנש]. In Judaeo-Arabic. Al-Shaykh al-Fakhr Mūsā b. Hārūn al-Shāmī takes an oath that he will not leave(?) [...] from the teacher Alkūsh(?) to another teacher, except with the consent of the first teacher. Witnesses: מכטרה (?) ʿAbd al-Wāḥid Ibn Fayrūz, Farajallāh b. Yosef b. Fāḍil. There is also a potentially third witness signature in Arabic script. (Information in part from CUDL)

Legal document; witness statement from Fusṭāṭ, mentioning the Nagid and a certain al-Marjānī (‘the coral merchant’). (Information from CUDL)

Probably a legal document, mentioning Mufarraj b. Isaac and Joseph b. ʿAzarya. Arabic jottings below. (Information from CUDL)

Legal document. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Recto and verso are two versions of a similar letter concerning the same issues, recto in Arabic and verso in Judaeo-Persian (with occasional Arabic). Dating: Late 10th or early 11th century. There are several names and place names in Arabic script (e.g., Abū Naṣr, al-Fāḍil Abū ʿAlī, Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan (b.) Zakariyya, Damascus, and Baghdad. It seems the sender is aiming to force a business partner to pay an outstanding amount. The document is labeled "L5" in Shaul Shaked's (unpublished) classification of Early Judeo-Persian texts. (Information in part from CUDL) OH

Accounts with Coptic numerals. Mentions various female and male names such as Farajallāh, Bint al-Kātib Abū Shaʿra, Ibrahim Dhabbāḥ (‘the butcher’), Yiṣḥaq al-Faranjī and Yosef al-Faranjī. (Information from CUDL)

Letter from Ḥayyūn to 'the noble merchant, the noble Kohen.' The sender has sent the 'qaḍīb'(?) along with 4 dinars with Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf. A certain Yehuda has sent 11 dinars. The sender gives instructions for what do with his business deals and with the money. Abū Surūr adds his greetings at the bottom. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Order of payment in which Abū l-Faraj is instructed to pay 15 dirhams to the bearer, who is a plasterer (jabbās). The sum is also written in Arabic script and Greek/Coptic numerals at the top. There is also a note in Arabic script on verso, unclear if/how related. (Information in part from CUDL)

Legal document of communal let, signed by Nāḥūm, Hilāl ibn [...], Ṯābit b. [...] and Muʿāla b. Isaac. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: probably part of trousseau list, mentioning vessels and values. Verso: marriage (betrothal) settlement, mentioning the sum of 10 dinars, signed; names mentioned: Manṣūr, Ḥiyya b. Isaac and [Nath]an b. Shemuʾel he-Ḥaver. (Information from CUDL)

Recto: Letter from Abū Sahl Levi to his son Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi. He has sent: parchments (ruqūq), scissors (miqaṣṣ), a belt (zunnār), a razor (mūs), and a hook (? khaṭfa). He blames ʿUthmān for the delay: he spends every day looking around trying to find him. Mentions Ṣāfī and Khalaf. Verso: Letter from Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi, presumably to his father Abū Sahl Levi. He asks for news of three different women (perhaps related to BL OR 12186.12, in which his father offers him the choice of several brides?). These identifications are based on handwriting and typical content and phrases. ASE

Letter sent by a certain Shelomo, mentioning the Nagid [...] b. David, Moses, Egypt and Cairo. (Information from CUDL)