Geniza Lab

Legal query addressed to Moses Maimonides with his autograph responsum, ca. 1170-1204.

Responsa in the autograph of Maimonides.

Responsa in the autograph of Maimonides.

Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic, preserving ~12 lines, likely in the hand of Moses Maimonides. See Shailat's edition of the letters of Maimonides, ה2. איגרת המלצה לבן תורה.

A Maimonides autograph of the Guide for the Perplexed. Information from FGP.

Two autograph signatures of Moshe Maimonides, written on the margin of a sheet of unrelated piyyuṭim and sundry jottings in different hands (mainly in Hebrew script, some in Arabic script). Discovered by Alan Elbaum in June 2022.

Autograph fragment of Maimonides' epitomes of Galen. Belongs together with T-S Ar.21.112 and JRL SERIES A 1019, ed. Hopkins, "A New Autograph Fragment of Maimonides's "Epitomes" of Galen ("De Locis Affectis")," BSOAS vol. 57 no. 1 (1994), pp. 126–32. (Information from Amir Ashur.)

A Maimonides autograph of the Guide for the Perplexed. Information from FGP.

A Maimonides autograph of the Guide for the Perplexed. Information from FGP.

Responsum of Maimonides addressed to his brother-in-law al-Shaykh al-Thiqa. Answers a legal query about how to deal with the ketubba of a divorcee who had converted to Islam. (Information from Goitein's index cards.) Translated by Moshe Yagur as follows (with transliterations slightly modified for PGP): "Shall his honor, my father and patron, al-Shaykh al-Thiqa al-Amīn, send for al-Shaykh al-Ḥaver, [may his] r[ock] p[reserve him], and inform him that he is not permitted, under any circumstances, to testify at the [court of] the Muslim qāḍī regarding the dowry (ketubba) of that apostate woman (poshaʿat). Instead, he should claim that this is a bill of dower (ṣadāq), and we do not know the witnesses. I do not allow, under any circumstances, deviation from this. Also, the witnesses are not allowed to testify regarding this bill. May your peace increase." (Information from Moshe Yagur, "Several Documents from the Cairo Geniza Concerning Conversion to Islam," (2020).)

Literary texts. Possibly a Maimonides autograph. See FGP for identifications.

A legal query to Maimonides written by Yosef b. Shmuel b. Sa'adya and Maomonides autographed reply. Published in Maimonides Responsa (Blau) no. 273. The query is dealing with a circumciser who use to perform circumcission in the vilages. He had a quarell with another person, a physician, who use to perform circumcission in order to harm the circumciser's livelihood. Maimonides eulrd that the physician act wrongly. AA

Legal document. Bill of attorney, written by Yosef b. Shemuʾel Halevi and approved by Maimonides, in his own hand. Published: מע"פ פרידמן, ר' משה בן מימון בתעודות משפטיות מן הגניזה, שנתון המשפט העברי, יד-טו (תשמח-תשמט), עמ' 180-181. Names mentioned: סלימאן, מוסי, אבו אלמנגא, מחאסן Signed by: Shemuʾel b. Saadya Halevi (the scribe's father), Shemuʾel b. Yosef, Moshe Hakohen b. Mordechai Judeo-Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic. AA

Recto: Letter fragment, probably addressed to Moshe Maimonides. In Judaeo-Arabic. Reporting on the arrival of Abū l-Mufaḍḍal and mentioning a letter to Abū l-Fakhr al-Ṣayrafī b. Saʿīd. Possibly mentioning the capitation tax (jizya) of someone's father. Verso: Letter from Moshe Maimonides. Autograph. Giving instructions to a certain judge to go to the dyehouse (maṭbakh, maṣbagh) where Abū Isḥāq works and confirm the value of its rent. Information in part from Friedman, Dictionary, p. 723.

Letter from Moshe Maimonides to Abū l-Munā. Autograph. In Judaeo-Arabic. Abū l-Munā is asked to convey Moshe's gratitude to Najm [al]-Dīn on account of the benefaction he bestowed by helping a certain prisoner. Moshe cannot come in person to thank him.

Commentary on the Mishna. Maimonides autograph.

Commentary on the Mishna. Maimonides autograph.

Mishneh Torah. Maimonides autograph. There are joins: see FGP.

Guide for the Perplexed. Maimonides autograph.

Botanical work in the handwriting of Maimonides. See partial transcription and translation in Friedman, Dictionary, p. 563.