Geniza Lab

Business letter in Arabic script to Nahray b. Nissim, possibly to Nissim b. Ḥalfon (Aodeh), in Arabic script. On verso, Nahray's notes.

Commercial letter from Mūsā b. Shahriyār to the three Tustarī brothers, Abū al-Faḍl Sahl, Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf and Abū Sahl Saʿīd, in Fusṭāt. The letter is in Judaeo-Persian and the address is in Arabic script. The writer may be identical with the Moshe b. Shahriyār who appears in a legal document from Damascus in 1007 CE (T-S 16.14; information from Goitein's note card). The fragment is labeled "L15" in Shaul Shaked's (unpublished) classification of Early Judeo-Persian texts.

Letter in Arabic script. Possibly from a mother to a son. Handwriting and spelling are dreadful. There are many greetings as well as instructions about transactions involving Fakhr. Also, "Take your wife and come visit Dammūh." On verso, the addressee writes back in Judaeo-Arabic: "May whoever wrote such a letter never enjoy health! Next time you send me a letter, don't let anyone write it except someone who knows how to write and read, like Bū Ṭayyib or someone from the kuttāb of the teacher."

Accounts in Arabic script. The name Bū Ṭāhir b. Barakāt appears at the top.

Two orders of payment in Arabic script, and perhaps a remnant of a third. The first one: yadfaʿ al-shaykh al-ajall li-muwaṣṣilihā dīnārayn wa-nuṣr wa-thumn.

Arabic script (VMR)

Letter from a woman, in New Cairo, to her brother Abū l-Ḥasan b. Wahb the brother-in-law of [...], in Malīj. In Arabic script. The sender is identified as "his sister" (karīmatuhū) in the address on verso. It was written on her behalf either by a son or a nephew, who calls the addressee "my father" in the letter itself. Ever since the addressee departed, she has been weeping copiously. They have sent him several letters with no response. The addressee's children and the children of his sister send their regards and urge him to come see them ("fa-mā baqiya fī l-ʿumr akthar mimmā maḍā," cf. PGP record for T-S NS J380). The sister urges the addressee to come celebrate the holiday with her. Greetings from Sayyid al-Ahl. There is a note in the margin stating that they have sent with the bearer 3 dirhams.

State document: A set of responses to petitons (?). Join: Marina Rustow. T-S Ar.31.58 is dated 507. Possibly related to BL OR 5553.1 + BL OR 5553.2 + T-S Ar.51.49 + BL OR 5553A.1 + BL OR 5553A.2.

Small fragment of a Fatimid decree containing a truncated closing formula and the beginning of the date (day of the week only — Thursday). Interesting for truncation of formula (informal decree from a midlevel official to lower one?). The preserved text reads "liyaʿlam Inshāʾ Allah wa kutiba yawm al-khamīs".

Arabic script (VMR)

Nine lines in two different hands; one hand seems to be a chancery hand and the other one is not as elegant. The document starts with a basmala and then becomes relatively difficult to read. The first line reads '..Lawlā l-ḥāl fī l-ḥad li-l-ḥukm'. Contains "innā" as well as "lām" multiple times, possibly "mālik" and "mamluk". Towards the end, the writer also mentions that he doesn't grieve upon something, 'lam yaḥzun ʿalā'.

Arabic script (VMR)

Arabic script (VMR)

Account in Arabic script, Ottoman period.

Arabic script (VMR)

Arabic script (VMR)

Arabic script (VMR)

Document in Arabic script, perhaps accounts of some kind. Reused for Judaeo-Arabic love poetry (يا سادتي... انا مغرم بهواكم \ جودوا ... ارحموا وتعطفوا بي...), which bears a passing resemblance to some of the poetry in the tale of the "Mock Caliph" in the 1837 Habicht edition of the 1001 Nights.

Arabic script (VMR). On verso there's a curious drawing along with Hebrew alphabet practice.

Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. The hand may be known. Likely a join with ENA 3740.2–3. Mentions people such as Yaʿqub b. Naḥūm. Mentions goods such as pearls and coral and carnelian. Also mentions "the large ledger" (al-daftar al-kabīr) in Arabic script. (Information in part from Goitein’s index card)