Geniza Lab

List in Judaeo-Arabic, neat and well-preserved, with quantities of food items and materia medica on the recto. There are three columns from right to left which list the materials, units of measurement, and perhaps Coptic-numerical quantities. Among the goods listed are two types of soap ( "בלדי" and "שאמי" ), pepper, and plums. A diverse array of units of measurement are in use such as the raṭl and the wayba, which Goitein notes "comprised about 15 liters (approximately 4 gallons) and the irdabb consisted of 6 waybas." (Goitein, Mediterranean Society I, 361). These details help estimate the dating of this document as 14th-16th-century. The verso features a different hand, however, that is listing similar goods such as pepper, almond, and wax albeit without the organized column structure of units and numerical quantities. MCD.

Letter from Yeshua b. Ismaʿīl al-Makhmūrī from Alexandria, probably to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. Around 1056. In the handwriting of Yeshua b. Isma’il, with an addition in the handwriting of Musa b. Abi al-Hayy Khalila. Information about transferring money, including money that was hidden in a book cover. Also mentions different goods: lead, almonds, cloth, wood, camphor, cheese, Bible codices, flax, and incense. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #311)

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic and western Arabic numerals. Dated: 1004 AH, which is 1595/96 CE. In the verso note mentioning the year of recording, the scribe has also noted that the "defter'" offers accounts regarding "קומאש" (fabric). On the recto, the list heading on the right of the bifolium is in the name of Shemuʾel Tortos and the entries below it mention goods such as "almonds/לוז", "olive oil/זית", "cheese/גבן", and other Judaeo-Arabic terms. Near the inner crease on the left side of the recto, the Turkish "kırmızı/קרמזי/red" may be in use. MCD.

Letter from Yehuda b. Ismāʿīl al-Andalusī, Sicily, to Nissim b. ʿAyyāsh, Fustat. Dating: ca. 1060. Mentions a shipment of shelled almonds and lāsīn silk sent from Sicily in the ship of Ibn al-Baʿbāʿ and its distribution to its owners in Fustat. Also mentions selling pepper that was sent to Sicily. Ismāʿīl, Yehuda’s father, is mentioned in the blessing for the people who passed away. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #577) VMR