Geniza Lab

Letter from Ibrāhīm al-Naqīb to ʿAbd al-Karīm. In Arabic script. Dating: Probably late Mamluk or early Ottoman era. The sender repeatedly asserts that he serves as the representative or head (naqīb) of 'the councils' (al-majālis) in a certain community (al-jamāʿa), and that there is no naqīb other than him. However, the community apparently wishes to receive an order from the majlis confirming him in this position. So the addressee is asked to inform 'them' (the majālis? the community?) and to greet them for the holiday. There is a basmala at the top, a tarjama (sender's name) in the right margin, and the first two lines of the letter are indented. Opens with a brief taqbīl ("kissing the earth") and inhāʾ ("the slave reports...") and ends with a ḥamdala. YU. ASE.

Letter in Arabic script. Faded/damaged. The format is unusual—could this be a formulary? The fifth line from the bottom reads, "Forgive me for my foolishness."

Letter, in Arabic script, well preserved. Begins with basmala and “wallahi laqad ṣadaqa ḥaḍrat maulāya l-shaykh”, my Master was right, and contains the “inhāʾ” (“slave reports..”) formula. The sender seems to be a lower-level (coptic?) administrator or a tax farmer describing his job. He mentions al-Mastay, the town in Nile delta, and reports an affair during the tenure of the addressee (ayyām ʿahdihi/ʿamalihi l-nājiya/nāḥīyya) and that it is a lousy place to be a tax collector as it is difficult to even extract a dirham from anyone "wa mā bihā ṣāniʿ yurjā minhu l-dirham". Needs further examination.

Letter, in Arabic script. Starts with a basmala and contains the "inhāʾ" formula. Mentions difficulties; "ويشهد الله تعلى لقد صنعت علينا غاية الصعوبه والله تعالى يجعلها بجميل...."

Legal document, most probably Ottoman (it is not immediately clear if this is a letter, as cataloged). Contains a seal (part of which reads علوالهمة) and two signatures. Needs examination for content.

Letter, probably a correspondence between two officials, in Arabic script, with the "inhāʾ" formula and tarjama. The sender reports (yunhī) on a man who owes him "anna hādhā l-rajul lahu ʿalayya" and seeks the addressee's help in settling his accounts. The addressee, whose name in the tarjama reads as "al-awḥad al-amīr Raḍī l-Dīn", is a military official (walī al-shadd) whom the sender promises to convey news of his area "anā ūkātibuka bi l-khabr". The accounts that the sender is asking the addressee's help in settling could be taxes as the "al-shadd" was a military officer, classified by al-Qalqashandī as belonging to the 'arbāb al-suyūf' 'masters of the sword'. These officers assissted local staff to carry out their duties, especially in the collection of taxes (See Khan, ALAD, pg. 447, no. 117). Needs further examination. YU

Recto: Business letter. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dealing with the copying of quires (karārīs) for Sayyidnā al-Nasi. Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān told the writer that the addressee had sent 4.5 dirhams, but the money never arrived. Verso: List in Arabic script. Needs examination.

Recto: Letter in Arabic script. The writer excuses himself from attending in person on account of an illness (lines 7–8). Verso: Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Very damaged. Unclear how it is related to recto.

Mercantile letter, in Arabic script. From Ifrāyim b. Ismaʿīl to Abī ʿĀbd Allah at the Dār al-Wakāla. The writer mentions sending several commodities along Mubārak al-Ḥalabī and urges that their names be registered in the Dīwān, al-Dīwān al-Ṣināʿa, and al-Dār al-Wakāla.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Only the formulaic ending is preserved. Regards to Abū Zikrī b.(?) Sar Shalom.

Recto and three lines of verso: Note in Hebrew addressed to some important person. The hand and spellings are very rudimentary. The writer seems to be inviting the addressee to join him and R. [Mi?]khael to do something together. Verso: Note in Judaeo-Arabic, perhaps the response, mentioniong R. Yiṣḥaq and Abū l-Khayr and traveling somewhere.

Recto: Letter in Arabic script, regarding financial matters "innanī katabtu ilā marʾ(?) lahu ʿindahu danānīr", concerning a teacher (qad addanī muʿallim l-ṣabīyy). Also mentions Cairo. Needs examination. Verso: Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. The writer urges the addressee to help him again with money for rent for the qāʿa where he lives, because his landlady, the sister of al-Najīb "has destroyed me from all that she demands [it] from me."

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. The hand may be known. Dealing with business matters. Mentions 25 qinṭārs of something and ginger (zanjabīl).

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Possibly 11th century. Mentions the owner of the boat (ṣāḥib al-markab) and Alexandria.

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions goods such as high-quality knives and a red kerchief.

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Little of the content remains.

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Persian. Needs examination.

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Little of the content remains; mentions [ar]bāb al-dawla.

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dealing with business matters; mentions quantities of goods and prices.

Letter of appeal for charity. Draft. In Judaeo-Arabic. On verso there is also a maxim: "Indeed the world is a market, containing . . . merchants who gain profit and those who are idle." Translation slightly uncertain.