Geniza Lab

Book list in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script, with some overlap between the two sections. From Avraham Maimonides' own library? These are all but a few: • al-Adwiya by [...] (on medicines) • al-Mayāmir ('the book of homilies') • Manāfiʿ al-Aʿḍā' • The Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī • [Galen's Therapeutics to] Glaucon (اغلوقن/אגלוקן) • Sharḥ al-ʿAqqār by Ibn Jannāḥ • Nihāyat al-Iqdām by al-Shahrastānī (on kalām theology) • Sharḥ al-Khiṭāba (on oratory) • al-Ḥummāyāt wa-l-Buḥrān (on fevers and crises) • al-Taysīr by Ibn Zuhr • al-Kāfī fī l-Ṭibb • Tadbīr al-Ṣiḥḥa (on regimen) • Al-Miʿyār [fī l-ʿIlm] by al-Ghazālī (on logic) • Isḥāq b. ʿImrān "On the Head"

Legal document in Arabic script. A contract made before a Muslim notary, in which the proprietor of a Nubian slave promises to pay to the Jewish physician Makārim b. Isḥāq b. Makārim an honorarium for the successful treatment of the slave's left eye (June, 1245)—how much is not said. The fee perhaps depended on the degree of satisfaction of the contractor. The idea that payment should be made to a physician only after successful treatment is as old as the Codex Hammurabi (paragraphs 215 ff.), and presumably much older. Med Soc II, 257, 580.

Family letter from Natan b. Yehuda (Alexandria, ca. 1160) to Moshe b. Ṣemaḥ and his brother (Fustat), the writer’s cousins-in-law. Natan b. Yehuda reports that everyone in the house was ill because of a great epidemic of sweating sickness (wakham) in Alexandria. He praises the brothers for their munificence but also politely reminds them that it was time for them to marry and wishes that their mother may see their “joy”. (Information from Goitein notes and index card linked below and from Goitein, MedSoc, Vol. 3, p. 61 and p. 440n61 and Vol. 5, p. 113.)

Letter, Somewhat cryptic. "As for what you mentioned about the istiʿmāl and the musakhkhināt (warming drugs?) and the [...], and as the 'season' (of illnesses?) is here, I will do that, and may God cure. As for the condition of Abū l-Manṣūr al-Qūṣī. . . ." ASE

The last page of a Judaeo-Arabic transcription of Ṣāliḥ b. Naṣrullāh Ibn Sallūm al-Ḥalabī's Arabic translation of Paracelsian works ("The New Chemical Medicine Invented by Paracelsus" + Crollius' Basilica Chymica). This passage is where the theory behind the efficacy of the "weapon salve" is described (it works via the world soul / anima mundi / rūḥ al-ʿālam in the same way that a magnet works on iron, and it is not merely due to the power of suggestion / placebo). This precise passage is quoted and translated in Natalia Bachour's 2019 article "Die Rezeption der Waffensalbe und des sympathetischen Pulvers im Osmanischen Reich des 17. Jahrhunderts." The tapering format of the lines is extremely similar to the copy of the Arabic text in the Library of Congress: https://www.wdl.org/en/item/3125/. On verso there is also a medical recipe in Arabic script using galingale, emblic, elephant fig, Ceylon cinnamon, gum Arabic, and honey (it is not immediately clear if this is part of the same work, al-Kīmiyā' al-Malikiyya).

Letter from a certain Asad to a certain Avraham. In Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably 13th century. He conveys his longing (including kissing the addressee's letter). He explains that he sent the quires (karārīs) for Sayyidnā with his father, and they were only delayed because he could not find a messenger. He wants al-Shaykh al-Makīn ('my teacher') to send the recipe for the collyrium (ashyāfa) known as al-maktūma (or al-makhtūma). On verso there are also some adages in Arabic script (also attested in literary sources), including "He who knows that he will be forgotten when he dies, let him act well and not be forgotten."

Letter from Yosef b. Yehuda b. Simḥa (Alexandria) to Abū Zikrī Yaḥyā b. Nissim (Fustat), ca. 1050. The writer mentions a number of deals in beads and pearls. He is worried about owing money to a number of people including Yaḥyā b. Nissim and, although they do not demand payment, is anxious to settle the issue. He also mentions having heard about diseases (amrāḍ) that have spread in Fustat. The address is written in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script. (Information from Gil.)

Legal query addressed to a Muslim faqīh. In two drafts. In Arabic script. Concerning a Jewish man who teaches medicine in public and in the antechamber (dihlīz) of his house. Is he permitted to teach "things in Hebrew" "from his religion" alongside the medicine that he teaches? One of the drafts adds that the teaching of medicine is "for the benefit of Muslims and others." This fragment also has geomancy markings, miscellaneous jottings, and the following text: "These are the materia medica that I need: aloeswood 1/2 ounce; Indian boxthorn 1/2 ounce. The itemized sum mentioned in the large daftar is 1,160 (or 2,160?) and a quarter and kharrūba and a ḥabba."

Letter from Ḥayyim b. ʿAmmār b. Madīnī (Alexandria) to Yosef b. Mūsā al-Tāhirtī, ca. 1062. The sender explains why a load of a medicinal herb greater celandine has not been sold: the price for it is currently low but might go up when a ḥajj caravan or ships from Spain arrive. There is more demand for the herb in Fustat. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 4, p. 165.)

Announcement of the Jewish community in establishing a religious institution for the training of faith leaders, kosher slaughterers, and mohelim beginning with the sending forth of a delegation to Palestine on account of the circumstances of the war and the establishment of an optical clinic – during the Second World War – Museum of Islamic Art – (number 197) Arabic- and French-language. (information from Ḥassanein Muḥammad Rabīʿa. ed. Dalīl Wathā'iq al-Janīza al-Jadīda / Catalogue of the Documents of the New Geniza, 28). MCD.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic, in an elegant hand with tall, flamingo-like lameds. The sender appears to be a well-connected physician or medical student. Dating: Probably 1170s–90s, based on the mention of Qarāqūsh. Some excerpts: "... I have not found a stable position... in Cairo until that thing is fulfilled... in Fustat... I sat... our Rabbi... the head of the physicians (muqaddam al-ṭibb)... a physician and said to me... Cairo, and sometimes with Abū l-Riḍā, and I stay with him two nights a week and learn from him... your excellence, for 30 dinars' brokerage... entered to Qarāqūsh (likely Bahāʾ al-Dīn Qarāqūsh, active in Egypt 1169–1201) and told him the situation, and he fired him. Your excellence should be reassured, because everything is going well for you. Your excellence should kindly send a letter to 'our master' (Sayyidnā) thanking him for his advocacy for you... does not open his door to a Jew... your slave Abū Isḥāq (=the sender?)... and Abū l-Riḍā and his mother kiss your feet... and Abū l-Ṭāhir sends his regards." (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE

Letter from Mufaḍḍal, probably in Fustat, to Abū l-Majd al-Melammed, in Qūṣ. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Uncertain, but perhaps ca. 1230s CE, since T-S 13J26.6 (1234 CE) is a letter from Abū l-Majd in Qūṣ to Abū l-Mufaḍḍal in Fustat requesting guidance from the capital on communal affairs; if this decade is correct, plausible options are 1230 and 1237 CE (since the letter was written on Thursday, 1 Tammuz). Concerning a distinguished physician, evidently also the Head of the Jews ("Sayyidnā al-Rayyis") whose burdensome medical responsibilities affected his ability to respond to the needs of the Jewish community. This physician is likely Avraham Maimonides based on the above identifications as well as corroborating evidence (cf. T-S 10J14.5 and Cohen's discussion of this possibility, pp. 134–35 in his article). The sender reports that two different queries for legal opinions (fatwās) had been sent to the physician in the Egyptian capital. He had misplaced the first query and had recovered it only after the second arrived. The sender informs the addressee, who had submitted the two questions, that the physician had composed an answer (jawāb) to both and it was enclosed it the present letter. The verso contains greetings from Abū l-Faraj, Abū l-Riḍā, Yosef, Hiba, and their mother, as well as the address. Upside down, there is also a list of medicinal herbs in Arabic script, unrelated to the letter. The scribe of this letter has distinctive handwriting with very tall, hooked lameds. (Published by Mark Cohen, “The Burdensome Life of a Jewish Physician and Communal Leader,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 16 (1993), 125–36.) Join: Alan Elbaum. EMS. ASE

Letter from a son to his father with detailed description of his illness and recovery. Same writer and recipient as T-S 13J21.13 (addressed to Minyat al-Qa'id) and T-S 13J21.14 and Stras. 4110/90 (see tag). His fever finally abated yesterday with the onset of diarrhea (or successful purging?), however a woman in the house is still feverish. He relates the details of the treatment that he received at the hands of Ibn Habib, which, as far as can be determined through the lacunae, involves oxymel mixed with hot water, and timing something for the fifth day and the seventh day but not during the crisis. Khatir has not yet arrived from Alexandria, as he was detained by the wedding of a relative. Join: Alan Elbaum. ASE.

Legal document. Partnership agreement. Dated: January 1207. Location: Fustat. This document records a six-month partnership between Abū al-Fakhr b. Abū al-Futūḥ ha-Levi al-Shammā‘ (who invested 1,000 dirhams) and Abū al-Bahā b. Khalaf (who invested 100 dirhams). The two partners are to transact in "medicinal commodities"; their business will transport these commodities between Fusṭāṭ and Cairo. Profits and losses are to be shared evenly. Goitein calls this a commenda, perhaps because Abū al-Fakhr’s investment dwarfs that of Khalaf, although both of the partners are to trade actively. On the other hand, the partners agree to avoid deceiving each other and relying upon divine supervision, suggesting that the two do not work side-by-side at all times. As is common in these agreements, lines 4, 11 and 14 acknowledge the role of God in the success or failure of the venture. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 226)

Legal document. Court record. Dated: 1083-1084. Location: Fustat. Abū al-‘Alā ‘Ūlla ha-Levi b. Joseph al-Dimashqī and Abū Zikrī Yaḥyā ha-Levi b. Joseph ha-Levi dispute the details of a partnership. The verso records ‘Ūlla’s testimony that Yaḥyā would receive one-third of the profits after expenses, following the commenda model, while Yaḥyā argued that profits were to be split evenly, and the expenses were to come out of the proceeds of the sale. Goitein points out that in addition to the partnership funds trusted to Yaḥyā, ‘Ūlla entrusted a consignment of scammony (a medicinal plant) which was “on commission”, suggesting that “business in general was largely conducted on the basis of mutual trust and friendship”. On the other hand, the dispute at hand concerns specific details of the partnership, including a dispute concerning the possible markets to which Yaḥyā was empowered to travel (Damietta, Alexandria, and the Maghreb); the partnership is terminated prior to Yaḥyā’s journey to the Maghreb. This document may have been a draft, given the many strikeouts, and blank space in the document has been used for some Arabic material whis seems to be unrelated. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 146)

Legal document in the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Fragment (long vertical strip from the middle of the document). Dating: ca. 1135 CE, according to CUDL. Settlement about the cost of medical treatment for a young wife. Names mentioned: Abū l-Riḍā M[...], Abū l-Faraj Netanel, and Abū Saʿīd (the husband). Involves a ketubba payment of 100 dinars and a dowry of 50 dinars; possibly the husband agrees to pay for the treatment and in return the ketubba payment will be reduced by half. But many key details are missing. (Information in part from CUDL and Goitein's index card.)

Letter from a man, in al-Maḥalla, to his son or younger relative. In Judaeo-Arabic, elegantly written. Lines 1-4: A Judaeo-Arabic poem, damaged. Lines 5-12: Opening blessings. The writer reports receipt from Abū l-Majd of the carpet, two turbans (miqʿaṭayn), and the gold leaf. He requests a letter from the recipient. Lines 12-17: The writer suffered an attack of burnt yellow bile one night. He tried every medicine to no avail, but continues to take a half dose of medicine each day. He has been proscribed eating anything at all or drinking wine, and he is in great distress from this. Lines 17-19: Fortunately, the astrologers are all in agreement that his good fortune is imminent starting on the eighteenth of this month. Lines 20-22: “Do not worry if you hear that somebody drowned in al-Maḥalla. It was a youth named Abū l-Faraj, known as Abū l-Faraj b. al-Sunbāṭī.” Lines 22-25: Greetings to the recipient, the mother, the paternal aunt, the maternal aunt, and the old man, likely the father, Abū ʿUmar or Abu ʿUmr (which may be a kunya for a man who has a child at an old age; cf. DK 238.4, lines 19 and 23). ASE.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic, probably 13th-century or later, from a physician or druggist to a respected person named Avraham who also has a son named Shelomo. The writer greets Avraham's wife and wishes her a speedy recovery. He then says he was greatly distressed ("it utterly blotted out my mind") to learn of the illness "of the noble mother." The word used to describe her state is khudūra—numbness or paralysis? withdrawal to women's quarters? Another possibility is that the khudūra refers to the writer's own mental faculties and the impact on him of the news of the mother's setback. In any case, the great bulk of the letter it taken up with conventional expressions of longing and respect. He concludes, "As for what you insisted that the slave respond to every letter and letter, I have done so in a separate letter that has been sent with this one. As for what you mentioned regarding the hiera [a medicine], the slave intends to make it this very week, God willing." ASE

Letter from the teacher Bū l-Ḥusayn Yehuda (b. Aharon?) Ibn al-ʿAmmānī, in Alexandria, to his third cousin and brother-in-law the physician Yeshuʿa b. Aharon Ibn al-ʿAmmānī, in the hospital in Cairo. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: 12 Elul [4800+]168 = 4968 AM, which is 1208 CE (although Goitein's index card says 1217 or 1228 CE, maybe because he was working from a photostat). First section (r5–34): Yehuda specifies the steps he has taken to ensure the addressee's success in the study of medicine in Fustat/Cairo in order to begin practicing in Alexandria. (The pronouns are somewhat confusing in this letter, and it is not out of the question that 'my brother' refers to someone other than the addressee.) Yehuda previously sent instructions with the boy Muhadhdhab b. Merayot al-Kohen. Yehuda advises the aspiring physician to present letters of recommendation to the wālī, to the qāḍī, to al-Muwaffaq, to Ibn Tammām the supervisor (al-mushārif), and to Ibn Ṣadaqa (Goitein says this is a well-known Samaritan physician). Whoever wishes to study with them must study in Fustat and gain his 'certificate of good conduct' (tazkiya) in Fustat. He should strive for nothing but the tazkiya and spare no expenses, because if he obtains the tazkiya, then he will have obtained everything, and he will quickly recover the money that he lost. Yehuda has also enclosed three additional letters with the bearer of the present letter, one of which is a letter from Ibn Alqāsh to al-Shaykh al-Sadīd the aspiring physician's professor (ustādh). Yehuda has also sent 5 letters with the gentile Manṣūr al-Ḥarīrī who is, a relative of the wife of Ibn al-Tinnīsī. 3 of these are from the faqīh Ibn ʿĪsā: the first is a response to the letter from the aspiring physician, the second is a letter of recommendation to a man called al-Sharaf in the hospital, and the third is a letter to the son of the faqīh Salāma Ibn al-Aʿmā (this one is unrelated to the aspiring physician). The other 2 of the 5 letters are from Yehuda himself, one addressed to the aspiring physician and one to the professor al-Sadīd. Yehuda wants to write a letter to al-Shaykh al-Muwaffaq Ibn al-Dimyāṭī but doesn't know his Hebrew name (Goitein understood "fluency"), so he asks the aspiring physician to send a letter with that information. There are further instructions about Ibn al-Tinnīsī and obtaining a ruqʿa in the hand of the judge (al-dayyān) from the Qaraite al-Shaykh al-Thiqa. Second section (r35–48): Yehuda has sent several additional letters with ʿUmar the animal driver (al-mukārī) because he was worried about his brother. Yehuda is in distress from the capitation tax. Ibn Ruzayq told him that the addressee had guaranteed it for Yehuda. Yehuda argued with Ibn Ruzayq about this, and Yehuda secretly went to the Christian tax administrator (ʿāmil) and obtained an 10-day extension. It seems that the question is whether they ought to pay Yehuda's brother's capitation tax in Alexandria; Yehuda thinks the money would be wasted, since he can't believe that it hasn't already been paid in Fustat, a month in a half after the deadline. The Christian told him that he heard from someone that Yehuda's brother had already paid it to the treasury (bayt al-māl) and that the receipt (wuṣūl) should arrive soon. Yehuda is desperate to know soon, because they are already 'under threat' (taḥt al-tahdīd). Third section (r49–end): Yehuda describes a shameful matter in Alexandria, namely, how the government banished the scholar and merchant Yosef al-Baghdādī as a result of false accusations made by associates of the judge Anatoli. Yehuda had previously sent an update on this matter with ʿUmar al-Baghdādī. There was an initial denunciation to the Jewish judge somehow involving a convert and a claim that Yosef threw watermelon rinds and urine at someone (v3–4). Then there was a scene in the synagogue involving the tearing of clothes and Yosef either genuinely fainting or pretending to faint. Anatoli, Seʿadya al-Ḥasid, Hilāl (probably the brother of Meʾir b. Yakhin), and the allies of Anatoli were also there. Yosef was then denounced to the amir Ḥusām al-Dīn as someone who curses the Jewish law and who must be banished from the city. So the amir sent 'the black slave' and his attendant (farrāsh) to search for Yosef, calling out, 'Where is the foreigner who is cursing people and their ancestors?' Yehuda attempted to conceal Yosef from the search party by saying, 'This is a humble scholar and teacher who would never do such a thing.' But their informer Ṭāhir al-Dimashqī told on Yosef, and Yehuda received a reprimand for obstructing the government's justice. There follows a detailed description of the expulsion of Yosef. (Information in part from Frenkel, Goitein's index card, and Goitein, Med Soc II, 250.) ASE

Medical treatise, mentioning for example drinks made from poppies and violets (Information from S. D. Goitein's index cards and CUDL) EMS