Geniza Lab

Medical treatise in Arabic script. "If the yellow bile burns, a strong fright ensues. . . the cure of phrenitis (birsām) is. . . "

Medical treatise in Arabic script.

Medical treatise in Arabic script.

Medical treatise in Arabic script. Agaric (al-ghāriqūn). . . Turbid (turpeth). . .

Medical treatise in Arabic script.

4 pages from the medical text of the infamous medieval Persian polymath Muḥammad b. Zakarīyyā al-Rāzī (d. 925 or 935 CE) entitled al-Ḥāwī fī-l-Ṭibb. The pages are from the section of 'Hospital experiences' at the end of volume 2 and the second folio is from the end of volume 3 and the beginning of volume 4.

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 text in Judaeo-Arabic. Late. Medical, at least in part. There is a section on tashwīsh al-qawlanj, which includes jaundice of the face.

Late fragment with scattered recipes in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic, mostly medical, but one is also titled "for banishing mice."

Medico-philosophical riddle. "The proof that the pupil (thaqb al-ʿinabiyya) is filled with spirit (rūḥ): when a person dies, the e[y]es sink. This is the answer." The hand looks familiar, probably ca.1200.

Letter to a doctor of general clinic under the supervision of the Agudat Israel explaining that the treatment of the patient will be completed with the required payment of 230 qirsh – undated – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 222) – in Hebrew and French. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 76). MCD.

Announcement by the Holim medical clinic to the Jewish public in the opening of the daily clinic for the service of the poor – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 230) – in Arabic and French. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 50). MCD.

Confirmation from the Jewish hospital of in Cairo acknowledging that the patient will pay the cost of the free treatment if it is found that he is capable of paying it – November 15 1938CE – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 70) – in Arabic and in French. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa, ed., Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 53). MCD.

Medical prescription, which includes ingredients such as crushed marsh mallow, liquorice, chicory seed, senna, and lemon juice. (CUDL). AA.

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)

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

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

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).

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. There is also one page of a medical treatise in Judaeo-Arabic, discussing the factors to consider (temperament, strength, habitus, age) in deciding how to evacuate the patient. On the facing page there is a brief booklist, including a commentary on Ketubbot, a large Maghribī aqrābadhīn (pharmacopoeia/medical formulary) and two volumes of Shemuel b. Ḥofni. The remaining accounts require further examination.

Medical treatise in Arabic script.