Geniza Lab

Fragment of a letter, probably from a son to his father in Fusṭāṭ. He mainly discusses the flax business and sends regards to numerous people. He concludes, "The amir intends to come in [to Fusṭāṭ], and you must go to him and welcome him and thank him. Likewise Muwaffaq al-Dawla al-Ustādh. By God, I have the utmost gratitude for him." Possibly by the same writer: T-S 12.31.

Legal testimony (קבלת עדות). Location: the testimony was collected in Sunbāṭ and the document was drawn up three months later in Minyat Ashna. Dated: Middle decade of Iyyār 1459 Seleucid, which is May 1148 CE. Written by Ṭoviyya b. ʿEli ha-Kohen. Signed by Ṭoviyya and by Shela b. Yefet. Testimony of Berakhot b. Aharon ha-Mumhe ha-Kohen and Avraham b. Yiṣḥaq about the sequestering of the belongings of Rafāʾīl b. Abu Runa, probably a Christian, which were deposited with a Jew named Musallam b. Yiṣḥaq by a government official ("ustādh"). The story involves a mule and the denouncing of people to the government. (Information in part from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 488.) Join: Oded Zinger. OZ. ASE.

Letter addressed to a certain Abū l-Faṭḥ (according to the internal address) or to the perfume/drug shop of Abū l-ʿIzz (according to the external address). In a mixture of Arabic in Arabic script and Judaeo-Arabic. The Arabic-script hand and spellings are somewhat rudimentary, while the Hebrew-script hand seems more practiced. The sender is agitated about having misplaced the bag (kharīṭa) containing the Torah codex and the fūṭa garment. He suspects the camel drivers might have taken it—"Wālī and his rabāʿa"—maybe the head driver is named Wālī and "rabāʿa" refers to his workers? In any case, Wālī has announced a reward of three dirhams for whoever returns it. The sender asks the addressee to complain about them (the goods? the camel drivers?) to 'the ustādh,' likely a government official. He asks the addressee to send the skins/hides (al-julūd, misspelled اجلود). The main part of the letter concludes with greetings for the addressee and Khalaf. There is a postscript (or possibly a response?) in Judaeo-Arabic, which repeats verbatim some of the information from the main part of the letter but also has some differences. "If the fūṭa is not with you on the maṣṭaba, the mukārīs (animal drivers) have taken them... Wālī said that he will give 2 or 3 dirhams to whoever returns it. I told him to have it delivered to the shop, and they will pay you whatever they lost." In this section, it says that the muṣḥaf will arrive with Khalaf, and the fūṭa—with God's help. ASE

Copy of a letter addressed to "the ustādh." The titles ʿAḍud al-Dawla wa-Tāj al-[...] appear. Written in Arabic script, in eloquent style but lousy handwriting with diacritics and vowels. The addressee is compared to silver, gold, and camphor. It is not clear if any of the substance of the original message is preserved. Further evidence that this was a writing exercise is that it fills the page and abruptly stops mid-sentence. On verso: "the handwriting (or: the document) of Abū Naṣr." Underneath that, there are doodles including a decorated square containing a basmala and the name Abū Naṣr.