Geniza Lab

Fragment with an elaborate illustration, perhaps for the frontispiece of a book. Above it there is a line in Aramaic from the beginning of a piyyut: ברשותא דמרי עלמא הוא אלהא רבא וגברא. On verso there are doodles and pen trials in Hebrew ("ערוך מקור") and in Spanish ("hun homen a poder en mançebos" = "a man has power over boys"). There is also the name Rodrigues Perez. (Information in part from Avi Kallenbach, Amir Ashur, Ramon Sarobe, and Daniel Duran Duelt.) ASE

A colorful drawing of what looks like a man setting off a cannon.

ENA 2592.6r: Memorial list for Hayya Gaon, the exilach Yeḥizqiyyahu, and his son David. This is followed by another memorial list (Dukran Tav) for Avraham Aluf ha-Yeshiva and his two sons Sahlān and Neḥemya. On verso there are jottings: a line in Arabic script, and Psalm 91 (יושב בסתר עליון) in the shape of a cat head. The list continues on ENA 2592.7

Magical recipes in Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script and magical script. Including a birth control recipe: "If you want a woman not to become pregnant. . ." Contains some Arabic words inserted into Hebrew script; 'law taʿllaq ʿalā', muʿallaq ʿalaihā, muʿallaq. The bottom half of the recto contains 6 lines in what looks like code or a cipher with some symbols that look like Arabic letters. Possibly a talisman or incantation. Verso contains lines of Hebrew script and a box bisected by two lines with Hebrew script inside and on the outside.

Recto: Magical instructions in Judaeo-Arabic. Verso: A page of magical letters encompassed by an ouroboros. (Information in part from Goitein's index card)

State document, probably. In Arabic script. Dated: Rabīʿ II 425 kharājiyya, which is roughly a year or two prior to 1034 CE. Mentions some sums of dinars and perhaps khuddām. Needs further examination for content. There is a drawing of a boat. On verso there is a Hebrew alphabet and atbash.

Arabic script. One part of it looks literary. There is also a string of titles addressing someone (al-qurashī . . . al-ajall); there are some drawings; and there is what looks like a signature in Arabic script.*

Legal declaration (moda'a) in which a man declares that any release or compromise he will do in the future is invalid because he is coerced by Shelomo Mamulian (?) שלמה ממולייאן. This is a draft or a formulary: there is no date, there are no witnesses, and several of the identifying details are left blank. On verso there are several pen trials and little drawings.

Fragment with extremely faded Hebrew script. Remarkable mainly for a drawing of a four-legged creature.

Letter from ʿImrān b. Yaḥyā Ibn al-Rofe, unknown location, to Eliyyahu the Judge, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. The addressee opens with the death of his son Yaḥyā. He apparently moves on to business matters, since he mentions "cloves" three lines further down. Recto was reused for pen trials of ornate Hebrew letters, and verso was reused for what looks almost like an architectural drawing. (Information in part from Goitein's index cards and CUDL.)

Recto: Bible in Hebrew language, Arabic script (Arabo-Hebrew). Bible: Michah 6:6 – 8; Hosea 6:6; Proverbs 21:3. On verso there are Hebrew jottings from Jeremiah 17:7, Arabic and Hebrew marginalia, and a drawing of interlacing circles.

Parchment fragment with pen trials and drawings. Recto: monumental Hebrew characters with full masoretic vocalization and decorative flourishes; a sun or other concentric shape with rays; and a pair of small houses, which Goitein (see index card) interprets as a Nile boat. Verso: basmala in Arabic script, Hebrew aleph-bet in order; ink blots that have been spread out with a pen. (MR, with thanks to RSK for rediscovering the fragment)

A magical recipe with a drawing, entitled מצדת שפטים. Judaeo-Arabic translation and commentary of Deuteronomy 3:21-24 on f. 1v. (Information from CUDL.)

Work on the calendar