Geniza Lab

Recto: Four lines in Arabic, perhaps writing exercises or drafts of a literary work, since lines 1 and 3 (mentioning watermelon and squash) are identical, as are lines 2 and 4 (mentioning silver). At the bottom appears the word "faṣl" (Section) in Arabic, and "salām" in Judaeo-Arabic, and what looks a lot like the number 29 (suggesting a relatively late date). Verso: Scattered Arabic text of unclear significance, along with "He who writes to you [...] is Isḥāq al-Yahūdī al-Ḥakīm.

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.

Detailed but incomplete letter to an army doctor, possibly from his son-in-law, end of the 11th century. Contains many details about accounts, selling of books, the health of the family, misfortunes of acquaintances, and public affairs. The family had houses in Cairo and Fustat and also agriculture land where they kept sheep, certainly for the production of cheese. (Information from Goitein index card and notes linked below.)

Court record containing signatures of three Jewish witnesses in Arabic script, in which a Jewish woman is charged by two Muslims with being intimate with a Christian physician. They reported seeing her loitering by his apothecary practice, and spied on her for 40 days before taking their suspicions to a judge. (Information from CUDL and Mediterranean Society,II, p. 330)

Recto: Note from Rashīd inviting a physician to come urgently to Rashīd's home, and to bring a friend. Verso: The physician responds that if he is being invited to a drinking party, he cannot come today because the Christians prevent him (? li-ajli moqesh al-'arelim). If he is being summoned to treat (mudāwā) somebody, probably al-Sadīd, it can be postponed to another day. Rashīd should tell al-Sadīd that the writer already came looking for him several times but could not find him. He was worried on his account ("the first was in my heart"), and he wondered if perhaps al-Sadīd no longer needed his services. Changing the topic, he concludes, "As for the the [Ar?]abic letter, I have it with me. I will make a copy of it and return it." Information in part from Goitein's index cards. ASE.

Letter sent by a physician from Qalyub, who had opened an office in Fustat, inviting his wife (who is his paternal cousin) to join him there and mentioning that the response of the public had been excellent, although he suffers from professional competition. Her daughter, who lives in the capital, is pregnant and wishes her mother to assist her at the time of birth. Information from Mediterranean Society, II, p. 256; III, p. 30. The writer also conveys his sadness upon hearing that the addressee had an eye illness; he wishes he could be there to treat in in person, but suffices with sending a prescription together with this letter. ASE.

Letter from the physician Ibrahim to the physician Ya‘qub in Bilbays, whom he addresses as “my brother.” Ibrahim rebukes Ya‘qub for his failure to send letters or to fulfill his end of various agreements. This is a response to a recent letter in which Ya‘qub rebuked Ibrahim for a delay in forwarding the recipes of two compound drugs: the preventer (al-māni‘) and a drug for swelling (li-l-natwā). Ibrahim explains that he had to research the former and that he had to wait for Abu l-Baha to arrive and verify his recipe for the latter. He promises to send the mirror and the sign together with the rest of Ya‘qub’s goods, but not until Ya‘qub sends him the Shaykh, a medical textbook. Abu l-Ḥasan the physician is also upset at Ya‘qub’s tardiness and failure to communicate, and Ibrahim has had to make excuses for him, saying that he is busy in the shop. After finishing the letter, Ibrahim wrote the requested prescriptions in the margins (one version of the Preventer and two versions of the drug for swelling) and noted that all the ingredients for the third prescription are available in Bilbays. In yet another postscript, he emphasizes that it is only to be used after purging the patient. Greetings are sent by: Abu l-Ḥasan the physician. Greetings are sent to: Ya‘qub’s brothers, Najib, and R. Shemuel. ASE.

Petition in Arabic script from a physician employed in the hospital in Cairo who had received orders to the effect that his pay would be cut (?), even though he hardly earns five dinars per month. He asks for the benefaction and kindness of a decree to the effect that (there the petition is cut off). The formulary is Fatimid but suggests the 12th century rather than the 11th. Reused for a private petition in Arabic and Hebrew script from and/or two a woman.

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 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 to al-Shulal b. Avraham and to a physician informing them that some people had died. In Hebrew (very late). 15th-16th century. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Letter from a physician to a Kohen expressing thanks for condolences. At the end he writes a prescription for the growing of hair on skin where none would grow. The letter is in Judaeo-Arabic, but he introduces the prescription with a line of Arabic. (Information from Mediterranean Society, I, 253, 578.) "Let a black raven be taken. Let it be burned, pulverized, and kneaded with oil, and let it be applied to the spot on which no hair grows. It will grow with God's permission." Translation from Goitein's note card #27141.

Letter to a physician, mentioning Saadya and Abu Mansur and the sender's longing for a third person. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Recto: Letter from a physician named Abu Zikri to a senior colleague, Abu 'Ali. Abu Zikri writes, apparently from the Rīf, seeking advice on the management of three patients. The first patient has a corneal ulcer ("of the third type"), marble-like leucoma, and acute ophthalmia that is bloody and yellow-bilious. Abu Zikri has tried bloodletting and draining the ulcer with a pastille of sweet violet to no avail. The second patient has very acute ophthalmia, lachrymation, and an inveterate scaly eruption in the eye ("of the fourth type"). The third patient has an unspecified perforation "like that of the patient whom you were treating." Abu Zikri also requests that Abu 'Ali send him a black-lead ophthalmic from his own stock, since all the ophthalmics Abu 'Ali's father had sent were ineffective. He invites Abu 'Ali to spend time with him outside of the capital and sends regards to the recipient's mother, father, and Abu l-Ḥasan. On verso: Abu 'Ali responds to Abu Zikri's questions, writing in the spaces around three lines of large chancery-script Arabic. The upper part of the page is damaged. Abu 'Ali states that these are very serious conditions. Regarding the first patient, Abu 'Ali recommends the use of the "white" (ophthalmic), gradual and careful application of frankincense to clean the ulcer, followed by application of a powder from washed "shanj" (Cytinus hypocistis according to Efraim Lev, citing Issa Bey), and then administration of three ounces, morning and evening, of a potion of sweet violet and water lily or a potion of cherry. The patient must refrain from sleeping in the daytime. Abu 'Ali recommends that Abu Zikri bring him the patient so that he can examine him himself. Regarding the second patient, Abu 'Ali says that the remedy varies according to whether the ophthalmia is simple or complex. Abu Zikri must not neglect the scaly eruption, in that the use of too much ben tree or water lily or white alum can exacerbate it. Regarding the third patient, Abu 'Ali suggests the use of the black-lead ophthalmic, burnt, together with ben tree and camphor or whatever else Abu Zikri sees fit to use. Abu 'Ali recommends lightening the diet as much as possible. He alludes to a potion that Abu Zikri is already familiar with, and suggests that the patient may benefit from smelling myrtle, water lily, or dates. If the condition is refractory, Abu Zikri may give almonds or a potion of sweet violet. Finally, he requests to be informed whether these remedies work, and whether the patients have headaches or not. Information from: Ashur and Lev, "Three Fragments on Practical Medicine in Medieval Egypt." Goitein, Med Soc V, 95 and 532. Goitein's index cards. Alan Elbaum 11/2019. Technical terminology follows Oliver Kahl, The Dispensatory of Ibn al-Tilmīdh, Brill: Boston, 2007.

Astrological instructions for a doctor regarding how to know the illness of a patient by using the constellation of the stars at the time of the visit. (Information from Goitein's index cards)

Prescription for a medical treatment containing eighteen ingredients (including myrobalan, red raisins and borage), and ending with the usual expressions of piety. (Information from Mediterranean Society, II, pp. 254, 574).

Letter from a certain Moshe to his son, the physician Avraham. Fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. What remains is largely taken up with expressions of the preoccupation of the writer and his wife for their son's health. If they receive good news of Avraham, his mother rejoices, and if they receive bad news, she becomes sad and distressed. Moshe and his wife seem to be concerned because Avraham is traveling frequently (r11–15), and perhaps because of something to do with his wife (rm1). On verso, there are repetitive instructions about not allowing a certain man (Avraham's brother?) to go anywhere without taking Avraham's mother with him. At the end of the letter, Moshe reports that he has obtained the ophthalmic medications (ashyāf) from the physician Abū l-Faraj as requested, and has forwarded them along with a letter from the same Abū l-Faraj. Several towns of the Delta are mentioned in the letter: Bilbays, Minyat Ghamr, and—if this a place name—al-Ṣāliḥiyya. Avraham responded on the same piece of paper, writing nothing more than that he read the letter and thanked God for the health of his father and mother and the children. There are also some Arabic jottings on verso. ASE.

Letter from a physician in Silifke (Seleucia) to his sister's husband, presumably in Fustat. Dated 21 July 1137. "The Emperor John II Comnenus was on his way to Antioch—held at that time by Raymond of Poitiers—and a part of his powerful army passed through the town in which this letter was written. The Byzantines arrived before the gates of Antioch on August 29. Our letter, however, reports a rumor that the city had already fallen forty days earlier. The writer, a physician, even expresses the expectation that the Emperor might take Aleppo and Damascus as well and already placed an order for medical books which would be looted there from the homes of his colleagues." The writer had emigrated from Fatimid Egypt to Byzantium. Goitein suggests that he traveled initially with the Fatimid navy, as he lists letters he sent in previous years from the army camp at Jaffa, from Rhodes, and from the island of Chios, which were occupied by the Venetian navy in 1224. The physician also stayed in Constantinople before settling in Seleucia and marring a woman with a Greek name (Korasi). He repeatedly describes how wealthy he is despite having arrived penniless, and urges his in-laws to follow his example and join him, no matter how much they have to leave behind. [Recto 1-8:] He opens with a discussion of the fertility of his sister; she has already borne two girls to the recipient, who is now presumably hoping for a son. She has not been able to become pregnant "due to her emaciated state"; the writer believes he would be able to give her medications to allow her to conceive "even after the emaciation." (Goitein's reads shurb instead of shaḥb, and zawāl instead of huzāl, yielding, "My sister did not become pregnant despite the many medicines. If you were here, I would fix her pregnancy, by my life, even after she had ceased to bear children.") The writer's own wife never conceived except with medication. [Recto 8-9:] The writer was unable to cure Avraham, "the little beggar from Akko," who died and left his son an orphan. [Recto 10-17:] The writer provides a detailed list of the dowry that he gave his son-in-law Shemuel b. Moshe b. Shemuel the Longobardian merchant, worth altogether 200 dinars. [Recto 17-21:] The writer explains that his own letters may have never arrived because he used to send valuable materia medica with them, including mulberry concentrate (rubb tūt), ribes (rībās), barberries (barbārīs), Gentiana (ghāfit) leaves and extract, and absinthe (afsintīn). [Recto 21-27:] He lists the five letters he has sent in past years in exchange for only one from the recipients, including Abū Zikrī Yaḥyā and Abū Naṣr b. Isḥāq. [Recto 27-31:] He offers messianic wishes, citing Daniel 12:11 and a piyyut for Havdala written by the recipient's father. [Recto 31-38:] He writes of his great happiness and wealth, including a house worth 200 dinars and 400 barrels of wine. [Verso 1-4:] If the recipient really does join him, he should bring the medical books that the writer left behind. Regardless, he is hoping to obtain some medical books from the loot of Aleppo and Damascus. [Verso 4-22:] He conveys news of family and friends. [Verso 22-24:] He requests a quarter dirhem of seeds of mallow (mulūkhiyah), mandrake (yabrūḥ), and althaea (khiṭmiyyah), as these are unavailable in his location. Information from Goitein's attached summary and translation. EMS. ASE.

Letter from Muslim to his son ʿIwaḍ. In Judaeo-Arabic. Concerning sugar cane molasses (quṭāra) and wine. "Stop occupying yourself with marriage plans and such idle things," writes a father, reminding his son, a fledgling physician, that he had not yet made enough money for such ventures. (wa-tukhalli ʿannak al-ishtighāl bil-jīza (=zija) wa-l-umūr al-hadhayāniyya. First Goitein took bljyzh as bil-ijāza (with Imāla) in the sense of tazkiya (certificate of good conduct for a physician), see Med. Soc, II, 250. But the reading suggested here seems to be preferable. Later in the letter the father says: anta muḥārif, "you are a poor man." (Information from Goitein, Med Soc III, p. 245 and 480 note 158).

Deathbed declaration of a physician who includes in his will a gift to his wife in addition to the money owed to her as written in her ketubba, Fustat, Ab 1552/July-August 1241.