Geniza Lab

Letter from Mūsā b. Abū [...] to an unknown addressee (c/o a certain Turjumān). In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in both Judaeo-Arabic and Arabic script. The content is difficult to decipher. There are at least three further fragments under this shelfmark, one of which may even belong together with the main fragment

Letterbook in Judaeo-Arabic (fragment) likely eighteenth- or nineteenth-century that contains drafts and possibly copies of business-related correspondence. The letters frequently use the phrase "יא אכי/ O my brother" which implies the possibility that this was business correspondence between brothers (l. 1v, 6v, 14v, 7-8r, 12r). On the recto, the same letter is practiced five times and discusses maritime trade in Beiruti silk where the coinage is silver reales. The spelling shifts between the instances of "אל רייס מחמד" and "אל ריס מחמד" (l. 5-6r, 11r, etc.) yet it seems possible that this could be referencing "the captain Muḥammed" of the maritime vessel "מרכב" mentioned in each draft (l. 2r, 8r, etc.). In the closing of each draft the phrase "נרסלהם לכם צוחבתו ושלום" appears which is drawing on the Ottoman Turkish "ṣohbet" or "friendly conversation" (l. 6r, 11r, etc.). On the verso, there is more evidence of drafting with the repeated phrase "בית אל קונסול וטאלבהם" (l. 3v, 8v, etc.) but the epistolary passages vary in length and content ("בית אל קונסול" is likely a reference to European consuls in the Ottoman empire). Date: 18th c or 19th c. MCD.

Mercantile accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 12th century. Mentions nutmeg (jawza), aromatic wood (ʿūd), musk, and cassia (salīkha). Also mentions someone called "the interpreter" (al-turjumān).

Fragment of a Judaeo-Arabic letter mentioning Gaza and appealing for money for the redemption of captives, citing various biblical and rabbinic dicta, and how virtuous deeds rescue you from the Day of Judgment and hellfire (nar jahannam). Interestingly, "The bearer of this letter will be the translator (?! turjumān) for you of these letters."

Legal testimony? In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Ottoman-era. it is a first-person narrative recounting the events of several years, involving financial disputes, a shofar, the Muslim courts, and a certain "Turjuman Effendi."

Letter to Eliyya Levi. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Ottoman-era. Recto consists of greetings. On verso the writer relates various types of bad news (violence, financial losses) inolving relations with the Rabbanites and with the local Ottoman rulers (al-Chelebi, Kaykhiya al-Basha/Kaykhiya al-Shāwīshīyya, Turjumān al-Bāsha). Needs examination