Geniza Lab

Account ledger in a mixture of Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic (and Greek/Coptic numerals). Fol. 1r: Mentions two lumps of gold (faṣṣayn dhahab). One entry reads "the acquaintance of my brother-in-law al-Thiqa in the Fayyūm whose name is [...]. 7 1/4 dirhams." An Abū l-Faraj is also mentioned. Fol. 1v: The main text appears to be a donors/revenue list in Judaeo-Arabic. al-Thiqa: 3. Kāfūr: 1 (crossed out). Mufaḍḍal b. N[...]: 3. Ibn al-Sadīd: 2. Ibn Saʿd al-Mulk: 2. Abū l-Faraj: 1. "The delayed"(?): 14, 16. "We took from the house of the captive": 8. There are also a few lines of accounting in Arabic script. Fol. 2r: Mentions ʿAlī the neighbor of Ṣāliḥ and al-Zakiyy b. al-Nākhudhā. Fol. 2v: Mentions Ḥasan of Dār al-Raqīq (which may be the slave market); Ismāʿīl al-Qazzāz(?) al-Maghribī who lives on Darb al-Nā'ib; and ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Ḥadīd.

Nearly complete letter in Arabic, written by a Muslim and/or addressed to a Muslim (concludes with prayers for the prophet Muhammad), sent to somebody close to the India trader and Nagid Maḍmūn b. al-Ḥasan (active 1131–51). Unfortunately, the beginning of the letter and the address are lost. The writer reports meeting with [Abū?] l-Faraj b. al-Surūr and learning that the addressee had directed his business (? taklīfak) to the West (bilād al-gharb) and has been left without strong connections in India (bilād al-hind). He then brings up Maḍmūn b. al-Ḥasan and (it seems) how Maḍmūn has bestowed his favor on the addressee more than on others. He then explains why he has been unable to travel: his East African slave (al-ʿabd al-zanjī) died, and the [In]dian slave who was with him in Sunkhalā (= present-day Songkhla) had already departed. . . . "and I remained cut off" (? wa-baqītu munqaṭiʿ). Despite this, he is doing well (qalbī ṭayyib), and he requests a favor from Maḍmūn. In the margin he mentions the ship-owner (nākhudhā) Abū ʿAbd al-Qahhār (? this word is uncertain) Abū l-K[...]. Merits further examination. ASE.