Geniza Lab

Medical prescription in Judaeo-Arabic.

Literary work in Hebrew by Khiḍr/Eliyyahu b. Binyamin. Dated: Ziv (=Nisan) 5549 AM, which is 1789 CE. Location: "the city of Eqron." This fragment is written in rhymed Hebrew and contains some autobiographical information. ENA NS 5.13–24 are leaves of the work he composed, it seems a collection of kabbalistic sermons. Khiḍr's elaborate signature may be found on ENA NS 5.20.

Recipes in Judaeo-Arabic. Probably alchemical, but possibly medical. Magnesia (מגניסיא) is mentioned. This is not a legal document related to business, as it is listed on FGP.

Probably a colophon, but conceivably a letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Opens with the titles and names of various distinguished people: the Gaon Rav [...] and al-Rayyis al-[...] and Yehosef his son Rosh ha-Midrash Qahal Yehosef and Rav Shemuel ha-Levi. "I have gathered in this book [what has come] into my hand from the words [al-kalām]. . . of my brother(?) . . . and I wrote it in my own hand. . ." The writer then gives the date of completion, probably Dhū l-Qaʿda 6[..] AH (although אלקדעה is written instead of אלקעדה) and 4[...] AM. If these readings are correct, the fragment was written betwen 1204 CE and 1239 CE.

Medical prescriptions against bleeding, [urin]ary incontinence, melancholia, arthritis, infertility. . . . and for sleeping with whomever one wants to (all it takes is a crocodile fang).

Recto: Recipe in Judaeo-Arabic that begins with taking a new white jug and perforating it. Verso: One line in Judaeo-Arabic, perhaps from an account: 3/4 of [...] of wax/candles.

Literary work containing Hebrew poetry and a section on the calendar including for the years 5923–78 AM, which corresponds to 1142–1218 CE. The hand is Sefaradi. There are two different colophons in two different hands (the first may be identical with the hand of the main text, but it is more stylized). The first gives the location as Fustat and the date as Tammuz [4]9[.]6 AM, perhaps Tammuz 4926 AM, which would be 1166 CE. The second mentions Alexandria and gives the year 1481 Seleucid = 566 AH, which is 1170 CE.

Recto: Magical fragment. In Aramaic, mainly. Includes the phrase בלבול אללה בלבול. Verso: Jottings in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic.

Formularies for a love (maḥabba) spell and a love (tahayyuj) potion (using סבנאדג, the brain of a colored pigeon, and some of your urine).

Magical and/or religious formulae. In Arabic script and magical symbols.

Amulet against scorpions: same spell as the ones in T-S AS 143.26, except with two more magical names and no illustration. On verso there is a list in a cryptic script. See Gideon Bohak, "Some 'mass-produced' Scorpion-amulets from the Cairo Genizah," in A Wandering Galilean (2009), 35–50.

Colophon in Judaeo-Arabic. The work (...ʿalā madhhab al-[???]...) was completed in Rabīʿ I 1023 AH, which is 1614 CE, in the synagogue of al-Ḥakham ʿAṭiyya. There are several additional text blocks.

Medical (or magical?) prescription. Late. In Judaeo-Arabic. "To release the 'bound' (al-marbūṭ)."

Recipe or prescription, probably. In Judaeo-Arabic.

Possibly a magical or mystical fragment in Hebrew. Mentions "Bat Asher" and the angel Sandalfon.

Recto: Names of planets in Judaeo-Arabic, scribbled out. Verso: Geomancy markings.

Magical fragment in Arabic script, including a spell for 'inflaming' (tahyīj).

Looks like a fragment torn from the beginning of a book, with notes about the contents and owners. In Arabic script. Needs examination.

Ownership note, originally in the first volume of a literary treatise. It belonged to Abū l-Ḥasan b. Abū l-Maʿālī al-Mutaṭabbib (the physician). Above, there is a note documenting the transfer of ownership by sale (the names here still need to be deciphered). There is a jotting of אבגד at the top of the page.

Writing practice in Arabic script with a drawing of a horse on verso. Looks late.