Geniza Lab

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Dealing with small business transactions. Regards to [Sitt] Naʿīm and her husband Abū ʿAlī Ḥasan.

List in Hebrew. Perhaps items pertaining to a shop or a house. On verso there is a date in Arabic script: 4 Dhū l-Qaʿda 505 AH, which is 2 May 1112 CE.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic.

Informal note in Judaeo-Arabic. Handwriting of Avraham Maimonides. Addressed to al-Shaykh al-Melammed Tamīm(?). Telling him to ask (yataqaḍḍā ilā) Maḥāsin al-Ṭabīb to attend the court case (muḥākama) of Abū l-Majd al-Ḥazzan (probably Meir b. Yakhin). ASE.

Recto: Informal note in Judaeo-Arabic. "Tell Faḍā'il that if he wants to live with his cousins (awlād khālatihi) he should move with them." There have been raqqāṣīn (errand boys) milling about the house all day. Verso: Accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentioning Abū l-Ḥasan al-Malījī.

Letter fragment addressed to [...] al-Maghribī, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic with the address in Arabic script. The writer sends good wishes for Shavuʿot; mentions Abū l-Surūr; says that "the sleep flew from my eyes," meaning that he was preoccupied on account of the addressee or somebody else.

Informal note in Judaeo-Arabic addressed to al-Ḥedvat. Handwriting of Avraham Maimonides. Letter of recommendation for the poor man al-Shaykh al-Kohen al-Talmid Abū l-Riḍā.

Business accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Extensive, listing many names.

Letter addressed to the home of ʿArūs b. Yosef. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Probably late 11th century. Needs examination.

Letter fragment. Late. Only the address is preserved. Addressed to Yaʿaqov Sofer. The word Damascus appears. There may be one or two words in Ladino, but this needs further examination. On verso there are pen trials.

Recto: Two lines from an official letter. In Arabic script. Verso: Medical prescription in Arabic script.

Letter from a brother (probably) to a sister. in Judaeo-Arabic. Meditating on suffering and isolation and distance and "the fear due to this matter is present at all times." The writer urges the addressee not to cut off her letters, "by the ukhuwwa (the fact that we are siblings) and by the breast that we nursed at." He has sent her two mandīls with the bearer of this letter. The handwriting is extremely familiar; the writer has the habit of putting two dots over some תs and הs.

Fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The story is interesting but very fragmented. Refers to a girl (ṣabiyya), probably the sender's sister-in-law, who behaves erratically (kānat takhruj min ḥāl ilā ḥāl) and to a female slave (jāriya). "She has completed [...] and whoring and [...]...., for the neighbors said to my brother, "Get up! ... you have killed yourself, since when something happens to your household.... with them in this madness (khabṭ). Even if you stole right now.... everyone in the city in selling her, because if she remains with the girl (al-ṣaghīra), [she will continue to behave?] erratically." For my mother (? sittī), God have mercy on her, did not [get stricken with a fatal illness?] except because of her. My brother swore by the Torah that if there should remain in... [possession] this female slave, until she comes (or you come), and he will see what should be done with her... Efrayim.... and she is dreadful (fazʿāna)... the eyes of the female slave.... and Sitt al-[...]."

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Full of glimpses of interesting subjects. The writer complains about the heavy rain this winter; he mentions the customs tax (maks); the great "ḥamas"; there is a section on the "shaḥn(?) of the courtyard of the house of the Sayyid Eliyyahu (the Prophet?)"—it seems some sort of construction work requiring measurements to be taken; mentions the shrine at Dammūh; and finally mentions copies of manuscripts and drugs that either have been sent or are to be sent.

Letter fragment addressed to [...] b. Yosef ha-Kohen. In Judaeo-Arabic. Concerning business in silk.

Recto: Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Likely 13th or 14th century based on handwriting. Reporting that someone is in a sorry state and under house arrest (tarsīm). He is charged 1/2 nuqra a day, and now owes 20 dirhams. He sent a letter asking Dāʾūd for help to no avail. Now he has sent another, heartbreaking letter. The sender presumably goes on to ask the addressee to help this man. Verso: Letter fragment. In Arabic script. Addressed to a son or son-like figure ("yā waladī..."). Exhorting him to "do his work" (iqḍi shughlak) and also refers to "this man" (the same unfortunate man from recto?). Urges haste (surʿa surʿa). Needs further examination.

Letter fragment. In Hebrew. Last two lines only, blessing the addressee's children and the enitre congregation with prosperity. Signed by Yiṣḥaq b. Shemuel ha-Sefaradi.

Letter fragment. In Hebrew. Repeatedly mentioning "our master the Nagid"; may also mention Tripoli on verso.

Letter of appeal from Bū Saʿd al-Baghd[ādī]. The Hebrew introduction and a few words of the Judaeo-Arabic body are preserved.

Letter, probably. In poetic Hebrew.