Geniza Lab

Letter draft addressed to Mīkhāʾīl [...]. Dating: 18th or 19th century. Possibly dealing with a container of sal ammoniac (looks like "al-qafaṣ al-nushādir"). The sender wants half of his capital back. The main text on this fragment is Hebrew and literary. This letter draft is written at 90 degrees on one of the blank pages.

Letter in Ladino (fragment) which the heading addresses Nissim Ḥayyim Rafael Aharon de Segura and opens with the warm phrase: "despues de bezarle las manos" or "after kissing your hands". The letter recipient is none other than R. Nissim Ḥayyim Rafael Aharon b. Meʾir de Segura, one of the leading rabbinic leaders in Cairo at the turn of the nineteenth century whose published work can be traced, for example: Nissim Ḥayyim Rafael Aharon b. Meʾir de Segura, Sefer Shaʿare Ḥayyim (Thessaloniki: 1807). Line 10 mentions Eretz Israel "ארץ ישראל" and the locational adjective "Candiote/קאנדיוטי" most likely in referencing an individual's surname. Line 18 mentions "Egypt" or possibly Cairo/Fustat as "Miẓrayim". Date: 18th c or 19th c. MCD.

Letter from Yosef Mir to Efrayim ʿAda. In Ladino. Dating: Late 18th or early 19th century, based on the names mentioned and the overall appearance. The address gives the name of Alexandria on the right side and the name of Fustat/Cairo on the left side, however both are prefaced with "to." Perhaps it was sent to Alexandria to be forwarded to Cairo, or perhaps the first "to" is an error, and it was written in Alexandria and sent to Cairo. The ends of all the lines are missing, making interpretation somewhat difficult. Yosef is about to set sail for Izmir as soon as the weather turns favorable; in fact he may already be embarked. He makes excuses for failing to write earlier. There is very little, if any, discussion of business matters. Mainly Yosef sends regards ("bezo las manos...") to the addressee and various other people: סי׳ רוביסה, Rubi [...], Shabbetay אספנדאהשי, Rubi Ṣevi, Rubi Ḥezqel(?), and Eliyyahu Frances. Rubi/רובי might be a title rather than a name since it appears before most of the names. MCD. ASE.

Dowry list for Hannah bt. Yakov Bibas. This document is undated but specifically titled as a "nota del ashugar" (l.1r) or "note of dowry" in Ladino. On the right margin, a column is titled with "gurushi[m]/גרושי" followed by a numerical value 1500 that is labeled "kontante y boda" which could mean that the monetary dowry alone is valued at 1,500 silver gurushim (or "guruş" in Turkish) before factoring in the value of the itemized material gifts. This seems plausible because once the list ends a final monetary value is offered of 8,500 guruş, which implies that the contents of this "nota de ashugar" are altogether valued at 7,000 guruş. Some of the material gifts listed are: "panyo" (l.12r), "ropa franca" (l.12r), "kamizas... de seda" (l.13r), "estanpa" (l.15r), "fezes mughrabis" (l.15-16r), "sabanas" (l.25r) (or in English: cloth, French clothing, silk shirts, stamp, Maghribi Fez hats, and bedsheets) MCD.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Yaʿaqov Yuʿbaṣ to קונפראדה כומסה דינה (?).

Recto: Legal document involving a business arrangement between Avraham Yuʿbaṣ and Shabbetay Skandarī and at least one other person. The bottom is missing, along with the date. Verso: On the left are two signatures of Nissim b. Yosef. On the right is a list of many men, some known from other documents ca. 1800 CE (including Shelomo Cesana), along with the names of certain synagogues or schools (? one is "Talmud Torah").

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Moshe ben Naʿim, to his father Me'ir ben Naʿim and to Se[nyor] David ben Naʿim. The letter also contains blocks of Arabic text. Needs further examination.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic to David ben Naʿim.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic from the son of Me'ir ben Naʿim (Moshe?), Fustat/Cairo, to his father Me'ir ben Naʿim, Damietta. The date is given but the last two digits are tricky to read.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic to Yaʿīsh Ḥarrār in Alexandria from Yaʿaqov ha-Levi.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic to Yūsuf Yaʿīsh Ḥarrār in Alexandria, it seems from his mother.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic to Karo y Frances & Company. A Yehezqel Ḥefeẓ is mentioned in the last couple lines.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Yiṣḥaq ben Naʿim, Damietta, to Me'ir ben Naʿim, Cairo/Fustat.

Letter to Moshe Bunān in Cairo. Exact dating is not possible because the letter's heading is torn and missing from the recto but the name of the letter recipient is also attested in the nineteenth century (for example JRL Series B 2925). Taking the handwriting into consideration, this letter likely originates from some point between 1750–1850CE and may perhaps be addressed to the same Moshe Bunān in JRL Series B 2925. In the portion of the letter that remains, a certain Rafael is mentioned twice (l. l. 8r, 4r in margin). MCD.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic to an Avraham [...].

Late letter(s) in Judaeo-Arabic to Yaʿaqov Yuʿbaṣ.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic from Avraham Haman and Gavriel Hefez to Merkado Karo and Shimʿon Frances, of Karo y Frances & Company (see tags).

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic to Moshe (?) ben Naʿim. There are also some sums on Pages 2 and 3.

Late letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Needs examination.