Geniza Lab

A 16-page Ottoman-era notebook with diverse contents. Pages 1–2: Judaeo-Arabic translation of Daniel 1:4–10. "Chief of the eunuchs" is translated as "Sārī l-Aghawāt." There follow writing exercises and the date, 23 Jumāda II. Pages 3–4: Writing exercises. Page 5: Draft or copy of a Judaeo-Arabic letter, mentioning a certain Khawāja Mesīḥa (?) Bāsh[a?], the secretary in Dīwān al-Isti'nāf. Page 6: Writing exercises. Page 7: Judaeo-Arabic formulary for a legal document dated Thursday 3 Rajab. Page 8: Writing exercises and the date 7 Rajab. Page 9: Draft or copy of a legal document involving the shaykh Mūlṭafa (=Muṣṭafa?) al-Damanhūrī, dated Tuesday 27 Muharram. Page 10: Writing exercises and the date 8 Rajab. Page 11: Writing exercises and the date 11 Rajab. Page 12: Biblical or apocryphal-sounding text in Judaeo-Arabic, but identification is elusive ("The eighth word. . . O Children of Israel, do not steal. . . Son of man. . . Your mother's womb. . ."). Page 13: Judaeo-Arabic translation of Isaiah 60:1–3. Page 14: Writing exercises dated "Raḥamim" (Av). Page 15: Writing exercises dated 12 Rajab. Page 16: Writing exercises (Hebrew alphabet).

Recto: Long, calligraphic legal document in Arabic, from Fustat (مصر المحروسة), dated October 1649 CE (7 Shawwal 1059). It bears seven signatures along the side, a seal at the top, and perhaps the scribe's name at top left (الامر كما ذكر فيه حرره الفقير اليه سبحانه احمد ال . . .). The seal may be that of the Ottoman governor in Fustat/Cairo (Tarhoncu Ahmed Pasha?): (. . . بين يدي متوليها سيدنا ومولانا الحاكم الشرعي الذي سيقع خطه الكريم اعلاه). The main protagonists are (1) al-Amīr Yūsuf b. (the late) Muḥammad, the provincial governor/inspector of the vilayet of Gaza (the word for provincial governor is kāshif—see Michael Winter, "Re-emergence of the Mamluks," in "The Mamluks in Egyptian Politics and Society," p. 92); (2) a certain Abū Turābī; and (3) al-Muʿallim Muṣliḥ b. Binyamil (i.e. Binyamin) al-Yahūdī al-Rabbān al-Ṣarrāf [...] bi-l-Dīwān al-ʿĀlī. The document addressed numerous matters, chiefly financial; it requires deeper examination. Verso: There is a legend in Judaeo-Arabic on the outermost fold of the folded document (חוגת אלאמיר יוסף. . . ). There are also several Arabic supplements to the document on recto, at least the upper two referring to al-Muʿallim Muṣliḥ al-Yahūdī.

Letter in Ottoman Turkish addressed to Maʿallim Salmūn in Alexandria from Sulaymān Bostancı[?] dating from the sixteenth-eighteenth centuries. There is some damage to the sender's signature but if this reading of his title is correct, this may be a letter sent from Istanbul by a member of the Imperial Guard / Bostancı corps. This seems plausible given that the letter mentions at least four other members of the Ottoman military– Sinān Ağa, Qāsim Ağa, ʿİssa Ağa, and Meḥmed Aǧa. These state functionaries, are occasionally referenced as such i.e. "Sinān Ağa ṣaḥib-i devlet / protector of the state" (l. 8). One other business partner is mentioned in line four, a certain Maʿallam İsḥāk. Much of the letter's contents are related to payments and other correspondence between those referenced. The verso bears two ink stamps and an address on the upper fold, which suggests that this letter was likely sent and received by the recipient Muʿallim Salmūn. MCD.

Deeds of sale issued by Ottoman courts in 1519CE, with a possible endorsement on the verso mentioning both 925AH and 926AH (1519CE-1520CE). The ḥujja on the recto was recorded by an unknown qadi court (possibly in Baḥṭīṭ or nearby Bilbeis) in 925AH. The ḥujja on the verso was clearly issued by the chief qadi court in Cairo "al-Bāb al-ʿĀlī" (l. 3v). The properties which are being sold on the recto are in Bilbays (l. 7r, 11r) and purchased by a Jewish dyer from Baḥṭīṭ (l. 2r). There is extensive description of the spatial orientation and perimeters of these properties. This fragment was first cited by Goitein in Med. Soc. III in 1978 and, most recently, by James Baldwin on p.36 of the book Islamic Law and Empire in Ottoman Cairo (2017). For a full overview of relevant citations see the FGP bibliography for this fragment. MCD. (information from Goitein's index cards, Baldwin, and Baker/Polliack catalogue).

Corner of a document containing an official signature followed by the clearly written words ARABIC, and an oval-shaped seal imprint containing featuring names such as `Uthman and Sulayman, possibly Ottoman. FGP