Geniza Lab

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Mentions a ruqʿa numerous times; difficult to figure out what is being discussed.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Very damaged. Mentions somebody "prostrated on the bed (firāsh)," meaning someone who is very sick. Also mentions the Jews and justice.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Extremely faded.

Left fragment: Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. There is an address: to [...] al-Dawla Moshe ha-Zaqen ha-Sar the tax farmer (ḍāmin), in Damīra. But it is not entirely clear that this address belongs with the note on the other side, which is a letter of recommendation. The addressee is asked to help reconcile the bearer, al-Shaykh al-Makīn, with his wife "and listen to his complaint (shakwā), [because] he is a good boy and his father is a good man. . . and you know his intellect and his piety." The writer later states, "Maybe I will come to Fustat," implying that the addressee of the letter of recommendation is in Fustat (rather than Damīra). But needs further examination. (Information in part from Oded Zinger's forthcoming edition.)

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Very damaged.

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dealing with business in brazilwood and perhaps kohl/antimony. Mentions Banīn the boy of al-Maḥālī(?).

Small fragment of a business letter, probably. In Hebrew.

Minute fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic. May mention (not) blaming (the sender), and the tardiness of the work. But it is too fragmentary to know.

Possibly a letter and/or accounts in Judaeo-Arabic. Possibly two different fragments stuck together. Needs further examination.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. "We have been patient for that / have borne that... the lord, for he is steadfast and others are corrupt... the son of Elḥanan (אלחאנאן), for we have no preference in..."

Letter fragment, probably. In Judaeo-Arabic. Mamluk-era?

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. The sender opens with sympathy for the addressee's plight. Dated: 25 Av [4800 +] 175 AM, which is 4975 AM, which is 1215 CE.

Minute fragment of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic.

Minute fragment from the end of a letter in Judaeo-Arabic.

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Small fragment, containing only the opening and part of the address. The sender is M[...] b. Ḥassūn(?).

List recording distribution or, equally if not more likely, contributions of wheat (as in T-S AS 145.21, 'thabat qamḥ al-[ʿaniyyim]'). See also ENA NS 77.94.

Letter fragment. In Judaeo-Arabic. Concerning urgent business transactions. Mentions gold, silk, a mattress (maṭraḥ). Regards to the sender's maternal aunt, to Umm Ghā[lib?], to Abū l-Ḥasan, and to Ghulayb.

Administrative note. In Judaeo-Arabic. "The community should be aware that..." Mentions al-Shaykh Rashīd. Written on 18 Elul (the year is missing).

Letter from Yefet b. Menashshe to one of his brothers. In Judaeo-Arabic. Fragment (upper right corner of recto). Seems to refer to a shipwreck (cf. ENA 2739.3, which isn't a direct join) in which 30 dinars worth of goods and 13 fellow Jewish merchants (aṣḥābnā) drowned.

Possibly a letter from a professional scribe. In Judaeo-Arabic. Very faded. Mentions "finishing all of the sections of..." (istīfāʾ jamīʿ furūʿ), including a Murshid (Guide) and two books of Abū Zakariyyā (al-Rāzī?).