Geniza Lab

Letter in Arabic script. Two lines. Refers to recovery from an illness.

Letter(s) in Arabic script. The section on recto has formal language and resembles a petition.

Order. In Arabic script. Abū l-Munā is to give the boy some medicinal syrups (sharāb), including one ounce of rose syrup.

Informal note addressed to a certain Abū l-Rabīʿ. In Arabic script. Very faded. Apparently asking him to "send another five" (dirhams?) to a certain group of people.

Informal note addressed to Abū l-Faraj. Mainly in Arabic script, with several words in Hebrew (in Hebrew script). The sender is making a request concerning some books, perhaps the tractates Berakhot and Shabbat and a book of Halakhot. The name Shelomo appears.

Letter fragment. In Arabic script, with a single word in Hebrew (ירושלים). The sender is urging the addressee ('my brother') to come immediately, as soon as he reads this letter. On verso there are the remnants of a text in Hebrew script.

Letter in Arabic script. It seems addressed to Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAllān al-Ḥibr (the ḥaver), whose name appears both at upper left and in the first line of the text, telling him what items have been sent with the bearer.

Letter. In Arabic script. Faded, but may be mostly legible. Needs examination.

Letter or petition (هذا الاعراض) addressed to an Ottoman official. In Arabic script. Dating: Probably 18th or 19th century. Deals with a family matter concerning a poor Jew named Khiḍr ىالمىو (Palombo?). The poor cousin (ibn ʿamm) of Khiḍr may have been married to the mother of the writer. Because of the repeated reference to the man's poverty, it seems the basis for this petition is the inheritance of money or property. In the last line, the writer asks that the diwan and the consul (القنسل) make a decision in the matter. (Information mainly from JRL catalogue). Needs further examination.

Recto: Letter(s) in Arabic script. These may be copies or model letters. Each seems to contain only the opening portion and consists mainly of formulaic expressions of longing. They are in different hands and are very similar (but not identical) to each other. One of them is addressed to Shabbetay عثيبي(?). Verso: A few lines of a letter draft in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic, a few numbers in eastern Arabic numerals, and some geography homework in Arabic script. "Who founded the kingdom of Babylon? Nimrod. Who lived in Tuscany in ancient times? The Etruscans (الاتورويانيون)." The part about the Etruscans is from one of the chapters of Kitāb Tawārīkh Mukhtaṣar Yunabbi'u ʿan Mamālik wa-Bilād ʿAdīda, printed in Malta by the English Church Missionary Society in 1833 CE (see JRL Gaster heb. ms 2110b/17 and corresponding PGP record).

Letter in Arabic script. Small fragment, containing only a few words. Mentions Cairo (al-Qāhira al-Maḥrūsa).

Letter addressed to Shimʿon and [...], in Ḥārat al-Yahūd, in Cairo. In Arabic script. Dating: Probably 18th or 19th century. Needs examination for content.

Letter of recommendation. In Hebrew. Location: Tunis. Dated: 5610 AM, which is 1849/50 CE. On behalf of Yiṣḥaq Yosef b. Shemarya. The Portuguese Congregation of Tunis added an endorsement, and there are two more endorsements underneath.

Letter of recommendation. In Hebrew. Location: Salonika. Dated: Adar 5609 AM, which is 1849 CE. On behalf of Yiṣḥaq Yosef b. Shemarya of Palestine. The writers attest that he bears letters from the sages of Spain and Italy and German and add their own.

Lower left fragment: Letter in the hand of Moshe b. Levi ha-Levi (d. 1212). He has sent two notes, one with Abū l-Ṭāhir and one with Ibrāhīm al-Dimashqī, to the effect that Sulaymān should pay Ibrāhīm the remainder of what is owed to the distinguished judge Yiṣḥaq ("ha-paṭish ha-ḥazaq"), namely 50-something and a quarter (dirhams?).

Letter of appeal, perhaps. In Judaeo-Arabic. Opens with יענך ייי ביום צרה and continues with greetings for the dear 'walad' ha-ḥazzan ha-talmid ha-sar ha-nikhbad..... The body of the letter is not preserved.

Letter fragment. In Hebrew. Wide space between the lines. Mentions the 'confusion of the kingdoms of the land.'

Lower fragment: Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Opens with a poem in Hebrew. The addressee is asked to bring a "fine ingot" (sabīka ṭayyiba) from India weighing 5 raṭls, free of "taqalluʿ(?)." The handwriting is probably known. ASE

Letter in Judaeo-Arabic. Very deferent. Mentions (or is addressed to?) the Gaon and the Av ha-Yeshiva. Needs examination and transcription.

Letter fragment in Judaeo-Arabic. Concerning bibles or codices (maṣāḥif).