Geniza Lab

Medical recipes in Judaeo-Arabic, two folios faded with water damage but legible in most places. On the recto of the first folio the term "rūḥ / רוח" is reused in varied combinations such as "רוח אל כצרד", "רוח אל שראב", "רוח אל בארוד" (l. 7r, 10r, 13r). On the first folio's verso the unit of measure "אווק" is also in use which in medieval Geniza documents is similar to our current notion of ounces that are proportional to pounds (Goldberg, Trade and Institutions in the Medieval Mediterranean, xix). In an early modern context, however, these "אווק" may indicate a much heavier unit of weight closer to 1.28 kilograms per "אווק" (Pamuk, A Monetary History of the Ottoman Empire, 157). These units are accompanied by eastern Arabic numerals that indicate the weight of ingredients such as "wax / שמע" and perhaps "saffron / זפראן" (f. 1 l. 6-7v). Based on the script usage in this fragment it is likely that its date of recording lies between the 15th-19th centuries therfore these weights are more likely in the heavier Ottoman-era variant of "אווק". MCD.

List in Judaeo-Arabic, neat and well-preserved, with quantities of food items and materia medica on the recto. There are three columns from right to left which list the materials, units of measurement, and perhaps Coptic-numerical quantities. Among the goods listed are two types of soap ( "בלדי" and "שאמי" ), pepper, and plums. A diverse array of units of measurement are in use such as the raṭl and the wayba, which Goitein notes "comprised about 15 liters (approximately 4 gallons) and the irdabb consisted of 6 waybas." (Goitein, Mediterranean Society I, 361). These details help estimate the dating of this document as 14th-16th-century. The verso features a different hand, however, that is listing similar goods such as pepper, almond, and wax albeit without the organized column structure of units and numerical quantities. MCD.

Letter from Yosef b. Yaʿaqov al-Iṭrābulusī (Alexandria) to Yosef b. Yaʿaqov b. ʿAwkal (Fustat). Gives information about ships arriving in Egypt, their consignments and passengers. Mentions shipments of flax (probably on their way to Sicily or Maghreb), which were kept in Alexandria in the dār al-sulṭān, and shipments of wax, bought by the sultan. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 2, p. 492.) About Ifrīqiyan goods sent to Rosetta. Beginning of 11th century. (Information from S. D. Goitein, Index cards.)

Accounts in the hand of Nissim b. Ḥalfon, presented to Nahray b. Nissim; 1066 CE. Lists payments for various goods, made either directly or through others, and gives details of various shipments, some of them to Tripoli, Libya. Mentions skins, textiles, beads, sugar, red wood, ammonia, furs, lead, baked goods, wine, meat, camphor, wax, tin, cloves, pearls and laque. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, p. 986.)

Letter from a factotum to his boss. Reporting that everyone at home is well and giving the prices of different goods. Wheat: 1 dinar per 9 waybas. Honey: 5 dinars per 1 qinṭār. Wax sells well. Flax is exported to the Syro-Palestinian coast. Mufarrij and Shūʿa the Bāniyāsī escaped from the enemy attacking Caesarea (although Goitein read this as Mufarrij and Shūʿa escaping to Bāniyās). Shūʿa returned to Malīj. Mufarrij will come in Elul. (Information from Goitein's index cards.) The letter ends on verso with three lines of Arabic script (يخصو حضرته بافضل السلام وكتابه لا يقطعه عني...), not yet transcribed. ASE

Detailed letter from Yiṣḥaq b. Simḥa Naysābūrī, Alexandria, to Abū l-ʿAlā Sā'id (i.e. ʿŪllā) b. Yosef ha-Levi the Trustee of the rabbinical court of Fustat in Fustat. (Gil's ID based on handwriting.) Dating: ca.1120 CE. The main topic of the letter is a great disaster that befell the writer and many other merchants. Of a convoy of five ships, three, carrying a load to the value of about 200,000 dinars, were lost. In the ship carrying the writer's goods, there were ten Jews, prominent in their home town (most probably Tripoli), who, in addition to merchandise to the value of 7,000 dinars, lost all their money, belongings and even clothing. The writer's cargo amounted to 500 d., of which 320 d. were his own and the rest on commission. One of the Jewish travellers, Abū l-Faḍl b. Abū l-Yumn al-Dimashqī, known to the addressee from a previous visit to Fustat, perished. As the writer obviously was hit hard by that disaster, he asks his friend to take steps to coerce merchants owing him money—Siman Tav (not Tov), Abū Manṣūr, and Jaʿfarī—to fulfill their obligations. In addition, the letter deals with many other business affairs. In a postscript, the writer reports that the banker (ṣārafī, to be pronounced ṣayrafī) Abū l-Maʿālī died bankrupt, owing people about a thousand dinars, to Jews alone about 600, and to the writer 27d. Many other names mentioned. Main merchandise: silk and other textiles, corals, but also wax and millstones. Information from Goitein's attached notes.

Letter from Barhūn b. Mūsā b. Barhūn al-Tāhirtī, in Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, in Fustat. Dating: ca. 1050–60 CE, at the beginning of Nahray's activities in Egypt.

Letter from Isma’il b. Farah, Alexandria, to Nahray b. Nissim, Fustat. September 23, 1056. The letter contains details about shipments of money and goods, and several requests to send letters, as well as requests related to buying goods (mainly sugar) and selling goods (mainly silk) in Fustat. Also mentions a large shipment of wax that was sent to the government. (Information from Gil, Kingdom, Vol. 3, #490) VMR

Legal document concerning business matters, particularly the price of wax (thaman al-sham’), and citing various sums of money. Abu Yaqub Yusuf al-Fasi, Ibn Ishaq al-Andalusi, al-Farah b. Ishaq al-Muqaddas, and Yusuf b. ‘Ali are all mentioned. EMS