Geniza Lab

Letter addressed to Avraham ha-Dayyan (called ha-Sar ha-Nikhbad). In Judaeo-Arabic. This is a letter of recommendation for charity for the bearer. He was one of the notables of al-Maḥalla but fell into poverty. He owes money (200 dinars?) to the government. No one will accept his promissory notes (this part is tricky to understand, ll. 4–5). The addressee and the congregation and the elders are asked to help him. Greetings to the addressee's son, Abū ʿAlī ha-Talmid. (Information in part from CUDL)

List of names and persons, mentioning names such as Abū l-Ṭāhir, Abū l-Faraj, Umm Abū Saʿīd, Joseph ha-Kohen, and many more, mostly followed by ṯawb ‘cloth’. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment from a Karaite ketubba for Sitt al-Faḍl and Judah. Ca. 11th century. Olszowy-Schlanger (1998:375) notes that the additional marriage payment of 13 dinars is one of the smallest listed in Karaite marriage contracts. (Information from CUDL)

Letter probably from [Yehuda Ibn al-ʿAmmānī] al-Melammed, probably in Alexandria, to Abū l-Majd (Meʾir b Yakhin), probably in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 23 Adar (4800 +) 175 = 4975 AM = 24 February 1215 CE. On recto, mentions that the addressee's letter for his brother Hilāl arrived. On verso, mentions that God has delivered Abū l-Surūr from the terrible straits he was in (לטף אללה ברוך שמו וכאן . . . שדיד אלדי כאן פיה), possibly recovery from an illness, and that he took out the Torah scroll (to offer a prayer of gratitude before the congregation?). (Information in part from CUDL.)

Account-related transactions listed in Ladino with many names, including Yosef and Ya'aqov; with Hebrew alphanumerical numerals. (Information from CUDL) There are three columns, from right to left that list: the detail of the transaction, the quantity of the monetary sum, and the coinage type– which appears throughout as the silver medin abbreviated as "מאי". Some of the entries offer the formula "מאש אה ר׳ יוסף / More to R. Yosef" which gives the sense of outgoing payments/expenses. MCD.

Letter; on verso Arabic, probably part of another document. (Information from CUDL)

Small fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Refers to Rabbenu Simḥa he-Ḥakham; New Cairo; [...] b. Abū Sahl; that Sitt al-ʿAlam bestowed benefaction on someone; "the rulers over these [...]"; "her mother, for Abū Zikrī..."; "and he will not catch up with Sitt al-R[...]; "in the lands, and his confusion... only with calming him down..." (Information in part from CUDL)

Accounts with list of names and Coptic numerals. (Information from CUDL)

Letter fragment (only a few words of both recto and verso). Ma'ani b. Nu'man (מעאני בן נעמן) is mentioned. ASE.

Recto: Beginning of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 11th century. Verso: Small piece of an Arabic document, mentioning Cairo (من كل بد فقال له هم في القاهرة مداو...). (Information in part from CUDL)

Recto: letter. Verso: Arabic astrological or astronomical text, mentioning the sun, moon and planets. (Information from CUDL)

Letter mentioning a number of names (although most are broken off after Abū) such as Abū l-Makārim. (Information from CUDL)

Legal fragment in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Involves an engagement (qiddushin). The title "peʾer ha-qehilot" and the name yaʿaqov are mentioned. (Information from CUDL)

Letter in the hand of Yefet b. Menashshe probably to one of his brothers. Fragment (a piece from the right side of recto). The addressee is not clearly identified. There are greetings to his brother Ḥalfon's wife Sitt Naʿīm. Also the addressee's "mother and sisters" are mentioned. Yefet reports that Ḥassūn b. ʿAllūn arrived. Mentions Baqāʾ. Mentions a radda (a garment alternately identified as "scarf" or "turban"). Mentions Cairo. (Information in part from CUDL)

Address: to Moses the judge b. M[...]. (Information from CUDL)

Letter by Yehoshuaʿ Maimonides (with motto) to the cantor Faraj Allah. (Information from CUDL)

End of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions Sayyidnā and (possibly in the address) [...] b. Moshe. (Information in part from CUDL.)

Accounts; with Coptic numerals. (Information from CUDL)

Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentioning several ships and bundles of letters. Possibly related to the India trade based on the reference to a nākhudhā. (Information in part from CUDL)

Letter fragment (part of a few lines of recto. Legible phrases include "I ask my master for help. . . . al-jalīl adām allāh 'izzahu. . . .). ASE.