Geniza Lab

Late business letter in Judaeo-Arabic addressed to Yaʿaqov b. Ḥabīb.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic, mentioning Marseilles (? מרסליה).

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic.

Fragment of a late document in Judaeo-Arabic, probably a letter.

Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic to ha-Dayyan ha-Meẓuyan, Me'ir ben Naʿim, dated Aug/Sept 1824 CE (Elul 5584).

Late account in Judaeo-Arabic, listing many materia medica and chemicals: tamarind (tamr hindī), arsenic (zarnīkh), chicory seeds (bizr hindibāʾ), barberries, cloves, chebulic myrobalan, mercury (zaybaq), mouse poison (samm faʾr), kohl, etc.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic dated 5 July 1836 (20 Tammuz 5596), from Rashid, addressed to Moshe Bunān, Fusṭāṭ. The address is in Arabic (al-Muʿallim Mūsā Bunān. . .). Verso also contains numerous lines and dots.

Late Judaeo-Arabic dowry list, probably, since it is headed "be-siman tov ve-ʿosher ve-banim be-mazal ẓomeaḥ ve-ʿoleh." There follows a list of numerous items, mostly garments, along with their numbers.

Late Judaeo-Arabic record of funds raised, perhaps from the Sephardic congregation. Names include Yosef Fārūkhī (?) and Yaʿaqov Portos and Kuḥla [...].

Fragment of a late letter in Judaeo-Arabic, including the sad phrase "your brothers died."

Recto: Brief note in Judaeo-Arabic, reassuring the recipient that everyone is well and that conditions in the region are the same as they have been. After the holiday, certain people will decide whether or not they will visit the recipient. Verso: Shabbat zemirot?

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic from a certain Reuven [Najjar y Feliz?] to Moshe Najjar y Feliz, probably his brother, dated 4 Settembre '56. It deals primarily with the trade in textiles and clothing. In addition to the recipient, two other business partners are awaiting news and a shipment from the writer: Se. Simḥa (אלס׳ סמחה) and Se. Iro (? אלס׳ אירו). The writer has sent a shipment bearing the the name "Fratelli Najjar" in Italian ("fī-l-talyāno") and bearing the initials FN (which he writes out in Latin script). Another interesting linguistic feature: the recipient seems to be addressed in the second line as "O Mosas" (יא מוזאז). In the second line of the margin, the writer alludes to information that R. Moshe Castro had conveyed to the recipient, suggesting a date of mid-16th-century—so perhaps 4 September, 1556 CE. ASE.

Almost certainly the address of the letter in the previous shelfmark: to Fusṭāṭ, to Fratelli Najjar. Again mentions Moshe Castro in a postscript.

Substantial, late acccount in Judaeo-Arabic, at least one part of which is headed "list of debts." People named include: Avraham Yerushalmi; Yehuda Leon; Yeshūʿa al-Ḥāmī; Moshe Sūsī ("the stranger"); Avraham Abulafia; Meir and Yehuda Garizon (? גאריזון). On the other side: a Castro, Yehuda Leon again; Meir Garizon again; Avraham Yerushalmi again.

Late accounts in Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew. Somebody (with a Greek name?) bought "the rest of Plato's Laws (nāmūsiyya)." A cane seller (bayyāʿ al-qaṣab) is mentioned. The writer's business is not immediately clear; needs further examination. There is a note in a different hand in which Naḥum Binyamin Shelomo agrees that he owes Eliyyahu Kaspi (perhaps the scribe of the accounts) 130 gerushim.

Late accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Currencies include the "real" and "qurūsh."

Late accounts in Judaeo-Arabic.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Late. Needs further examination.

List in Judeo-Arabic from which only the bottom right corner of the page is portrayed in this fragment. The paleography helps to estimate the dating of this fragment as 18th/19th-century. There are two columns in eastern Arabic numerals alongside detailed entries each beginning with a day of the week. Like many of the other list fragments in JRL SERIES C the left may possibly represent the coinage kurush and the right could indicate "פצה". MCD.

List of sales "מוביע" and purchases "מושתרא" in Judeo-Arabic that is dated solely as 68/٦٨ or 67/٦٧. The paleography and details of each transaction do not make it clear whether this year is to be read as Hijri or in the Jewish calendar. Likewise the document may be 18th or 19th-century so the years under consideration are: 1168AH, 5468AM, 1268AH, and 5568CE. It may be possible to rule out either century with further analysis of the individual lifespans of those mentioned, such as: Nissim de Curiel, Eliyyahu 'Akubas, (on recto) and Ḥasan Ağa (l. 2) and Ḥuseyn Ağa (on verso). Date: 18th c or 19th c. MCD.